| | Charlene leaves Aga Author: Mario E. Bautista
Column: Freehand CHARLENE Gonzales left last Friday for the U. S. after she and husband Aga Muhlach attended the piano recital of their daughter Atasha. With them was Atasha's twin brother, Andres. Charlene will be going back to school for an intensive one-month course on business management entrepreneurship at the Harvard Business School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
"I will have to be back on May 1 in time for my birthday and to bring Atasha to her first day of school at the Brent International School," she said before she left. "Si Andres naman studies at the International School. In Harvard, I will be following a rigid schedule, Classes start at 7 in the morning up to about 10 p. m. This is everyday, mind you. Mabuti na lang, I will be staying in a dorm inside the campus mismo so it'll be easier for me. Right now, malamig pa rin kahit spring na so I'm bringing thick coats with me. "
Was it easy to get into Harvard Business School? "No. Ang daming requirements that needed to be submitted to them even if it's just a short course. It helped that I took up a one-on-one mentorship program in business management at the AIM (Asian Institute of Management). Also the fact na tapos ako ng college. "
Charlene holds a degree in B. S. psychology from UST. She earlier wanted to go to medical school but then she got married and had kids. This is not the first time she's studying in the U. S. She finished elementary and high school at the Bishop Amat School in California. It's good Aga allowed her to go the U. S. for her studies.
"I really want to thank my husband for being so supportive. He was even the one who encouraged me to go on with my studies while he takes care of our two kids and our home while I'm away. Just like me, he knows the importance of having a good education. He himself took special courses in business at the U. P. Up to now, he goes on educating himself by reading a lot of books and magazines. Ngayon, our kids are asking me if their papa would allow them to also study in the States later. "
RICHARD WANTS NEW BABY
Richard Gomez is turning 42 on April 7 and his 11th wedding anniversary is on April 28. He'll have a special birthday edition in "Family Feud" with his family and close friends playing for him. His wish is for him and wife Lucy Torres to have another baby soon. Right now, Goma is happy as he has proven that he can be an effective game show host, with "Family Feud," which is ending this week, rating so well. It will be replaced by "Hole in the Wall" with Ogie Alcasid and Michael V.
"But it will return on air after them," he says. "Masaya ako sa 'Family Feud' dahil nailapit ako nito sa tao. Before, people thought suplado ako at mayabang, but with 'Family Feud', they saw I'm warm and caring to our contestants. "
He's playing a father role in "All About Eve," but he doesn't mind. "It's a good role at puro magagaling lahat ng kasama ko, from Jean Garcia and Eula Valdez to Sunshine Dizon, Iza Calzado and Mark Anthony Fernandez kaya masaya ako sa show na ito. "
For their wedding anniversary, he and Lucy will fly to the U. S. for a vacation and to watch the fight of Manny Pacquiao with Ricky Hatton in Las Vegas. Richard has tried various sports, including carting, motocross, rowing, car racing, and fencing. He's now into baseball.
DINGDONG SURPRISED BY IMPENDING CASE
HOW did Dingdong Dantes feel when it was reported that the author of "Zuma" who's now based in the U. S. , Jim Fernandez, will sue him if he'd do the remake of the komiks novel turned movie?
"I was surprised dahil wala naman akong kinalaman sa remake na 'yun," he says on the set of "Ang Babaeng Hinugot sa Aking Tadyang. " "Sabi, I'm being considered daw for the role, but nothing is final. Nagugulat nga ako sa mga balita sa'kin. Kesyo may gagawin daw akong movie sa Hollywood. Wala pa namang formal offer. But if ever it's true, sino naman ako para tumanggi, lalo na kung maganda talaga ang project. "
Dingdong is happy that the ratings of "Babaeng Hinugot" has picked up and he's sure it will go higher in the next few days as the story becomes more engrossing. His character, Homer, is shot by Rado (Paolo Contis) and goes into coma. Proserfina (Marian Rivera) prays hard to the Lord to save his life but Homer's mom, Hera (Carmi Martin), blames her for what happened. Homer finally regains consciousness and proposes to Proserfina in front of so many people in the hospital, but she says no. Instead, it's Proserfina who proposes to Homer. Meantime, Aris (Prince Stefan) realizes that Jason (Kevin Santos) also has designs for Athena (Lovi Poe) and they figure in a fight.
DENNIS SCREWED
Dennis Trillo got screwed. His right knee was operated on at St. Luke's on March 31. "Nilagyan nila ng mga turnilyo," he says.
It was damaged when he did an action scene while taping his last series, "Gagambino. " "The ligament was torn after I had a bad fall when I did a stunt without any double," he said. "I thought, simpleng pilay lang, pero kailangan palang operahan. "
The doctors wanted to perform surgery on him even then but he chose to finish the series first. He also got to finish taping the Black Saturday TV movie, "Sugat ng Puso," with Marian Rivera, and the Cinemalaya entry, "Astig," the directorial debut of GB Sampedro. His doctors said it will take about a month before he is fully recovered but Dennis can feel he's recuperating very fast. "Sabi nila, one week bago ako makalakad, but after only three days, I can already move around with the help of a crutch. So palagay ko, gagaling ako agad. At least, may time akong magbakasyon, lalo ngayong Holy Week. I'll spend it with my son Calix. "
BONGGO IN THE LEAGUE OF REGINE, SARAH
MAYOR James Gordon of Olongapo City, better known as Bonggo to his relatives and friends, was elated when he was informed that his album, "Deep Inside My Mind," which was released late last year, was one of the top sellers at Odyssey Music outlets last month, joining the league of other local best sellers like Regine Velasquez and Sarah Geronimo. Slowly but surely, the singing mayor is making a mark in the local recording industry.
"To be cited in the same list alongside big names in the local music scene is really an honor for me," says Mayor Bonggo. "I consider it an achievement not only for me but for the city of Olongapo and its people who I aim to promote also through the album. "
Made by Gawang Gapo Music and distributed by Viva Records, one of the singles in the album, "You Say," continues to enjoy good airplay in various FM stations today with his new single, the title track "Deep Inside My Mind. "
'WOLVERINE' LEAKED
THE new X-Men movie showing the origin of "Wolverine" starring Hugh Jackman is now available online and in pirated copies. A friend watched it on his computer and he says the copy is very clear. The only hitch is that the computer generated special effects have not been polished yet. You can still see the wires used in the harness scenes and they have yet to be erased. This happened one month before the scheduled opening of the film in theaters on May 1. We pity the film's distributor, 20th Century Fox.
For sure, this will affect the box office take of the much anticipated film. They say that iIlicit recordings of films usually appear on the Internet shortly after their theater debuts, but leaks before the premiere dates are rare. Hollywood studios spend millions of dollars to track every step of the film production process to avoid such potentially costly leaks.
The studio said the F. B. I. and the Motion Picture Association of America were both investigating the film's premature distribution. The source of the initial leak and any subsequent postings will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, the company said, adding "the courts have handed down significant criminal sentences for such acts in the past. "
MOVIE REVIEW: 'KNOWING'
NICOLAS Cage has had nothing but flops lately, like "The Wicker Man," "Next" and "Bangkok Dangerous. " His new movie, "Knowing," finally makes it again at the top spot when it opened in the U. S. two weeks ago.
It is an ominous numerological thriller where Cage is an MIT professor who figures out that the end of the world is near.
The movie opens with a prologue set 50 years ago. A grade school in Massachusetts buries a time capsule with the aim of opening it in 2009. Each pupil is made to submit a drawing about what they think the world will be in 50 years. Instead of drawing a picture, Lucinda Embry (Lara Robinson) writes a series of numbers on her paper. She later goes missing and is found writing more numbers on a door with her fingers.
In 2009, the capsule is opened and Lucinda's paper goes to Caleb Koestler (Chandler Canterbury), the son of an astrophysicist, John (Cage), who sees the paper and becomes obsessed by the numbers written on it. He correctly figures out that it's a list of all the major disasters that happened all over the world for the past 50 years, starting with World Trace Center and 9/11. Three future cataclysms are also listed and he consults other people to prevent them happening, but no one would believe him.
The first disaster involves the crashing of a plane on a busy highway, confirming John's hunch derived from Lucinda's numbers as indicated in the longitude and latitude on his GPS. He is able to track down the daughter of Lucinda, Diana (Rose Byrne), whose daughter Abby (also played by Lara Robinson) proves to be a kindred spirit of John's son. She and Caleb both hear voices and are visited by strange blonde men in the middle of the night who give them warnings.
"Knowing" is a disaster movie, but it's not a simplistic one like "Waterworld," "Deep Impact" or "Armageddon. " It delves into some serious ideas like fate, faith, predestination, prophecy, even the presence of angels. The problem is that it fails to integrate all these elements satisfyingly and does not succeed in getting the viewer fully involved in the issues that it aims to present on screen. The climax involves a Biblical allegory about the prophet Ezekiel that a lot of viewers who just go for mindless entertainment might find off putting since it posits that everything has already been scheduled, including the end of the world.
As directed by Alex Proyas ("Dark City," "The Crow," "I Robot"), "Knowing" starts as something mistifying and concludes as an "end of days" prophecy referred to in the Bible, which we're sure most viewers won't buy. It also delivers a message about families reconciling in time for such an unavoidable fatal event, like John going back to his parents. He's very effective in establishing a creepy atmosphere, like the eerie presence of the blonde strangers in the woods, and also in executing the disaster sequences that feature some eye-popping special effects, notable the subway train crash in New York.
The finale also offers awesome CGI work concerning massive destruction, just like what we saw in the recent "The Day the Earth Stood Still. " One problem area is the script, which failed to make most of the characters sympathetic, especially that of Diana who drives away stupidly with John's son only to figure in a far worse fate than she expected. After we see what happens to her, instead of grieving for her, our tendency is to say: "Buti nga sa'yo, tanga!"
The acting is also nothing to be excited about. Cage is in full manic mode as the harrassed astrophysicist. He gives another edgy portrayal, but his character is not well developed so you can't really emphatize with him. He's even upstaged by the cute little boy who plays his son in a number of scenes. Source: People's Journal |
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