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| Dennis, Carlene and Cristine in messy love triangle?Column: Freehand FOR sometime now, there have been talks that Dennis Trillo and Cristine Reyes have been going steady since they got to work together in "Super Twins. " Both of them deny this but, obviously, Carlene Aguilar, the mother of Dennis' love child, does not believe their denial as she reportedly confronted Cristine who was a guest at the taping of "All Star K" at Broadway Centrum last Wednesday. Another guest there was Jenny Miller, who is said to be Carlene's friend. Jenny mentioned that Cristine would be there and Carlene said she'd visit the studio to give her a present that she brought over from the States. It slipped Jenny's mind that there could be a conflict between the two since Cristine is being linked to Dennis. In the dressing room, Carlene approached Cristine and declared: "I'm Carlene and I know you're Cristine. " When they shook hands, Carlene gripped Cristine's hand very tightly as if trying to hurt her. When Jenny saw what happened, she intervened and tried to convince Carlene that they go home. Director Rico Gutierrez had to go to the dressing room to help Jenny persuade Carlene to leave. Cristine was obviously unnerved by the experience as she was quickly eliminated from the contest when the taping resumed. She confided to a friend that when she saw Dennis admitting on TV that he is indeed the father of Carlene's son, she immediately broke up with him but he implored her to give him another chance. She says she doesn't want to be accused of being the cause of the breakup of Dennis and Carlene, especially now that they have a son. Dennis keeps on saying he and Carlene have broken up even before she went to the U. S. to deliver their baby. But how come Carlene acts like a wronged wife? Have they really split up or it's just a press release from Dennis? Some folks believe having sired Carlene's baby might not hurt Dennis' career but being unfaithful to the woman who's the mother of his first born might. But another faction says Dennis has long wanted to call it quits with Carlene but it's her who doesn't want to let him go. Now, they're in this very messy situation that's perfect fodder for gossip columns. GLADYS BITTEN BY CAT AT PRESSCON Since the venue is in open air, stray cats were around and one of them bit Gladys Reyes' foot, so she ended up in the hospital getting anti-rabies shots. We felt bad for Gladys who even came with her child to the presscon. It's good it's not the boy that was bitten by the cat. Gladys wasn't able to participate in the open forum anymore because of what happened. SHERYL IS KIDS' NEMESIS "This is my second show na naka-costume ako after 'Cindy Rella' with Kim Chiu," she says. "Once again, may aapihin akong bata. " This isn't new to her since she was also villain to Crystal Reyes in "Mga Mata ni Anghelita," her last show with GMA-7. Playing the title role of Sarah is Sharlene San Pedro, with Albert Martinez as her dad Christopher Crewe. Supporting them are Diether Ocampo as Master Brandon, Carlos Agassi as Philip Burrows, Ai Ai de las Alas as Ramadas, Candy Pangilinan as Miss Amelia, Irish Fullerton as Miss Viola, Bubbles Praiso as Kalela, France Bonnin as Matilda, Matt Evans as Paul, Melissa Ricks as Mariette, Lui Villaruz as Picolina, and child stars Julijo Pisk (the boy actor in "Hide and Seek" who looks much cuter than all the other girls in the cast someone naughtily quips he should have been cast as Sarah), Sophia Baars, Bianca Pulmana, Divina Penaflor, Khaycee Aboloc, Noemi Oineza, Eunice Lagusad, Angel Sy and Andrew Muhlach. The show is directed by Don Cuaresma and Nuel Naval. Don said that they included swashbuckling elements in the series to make sure they capture not only female but also male viewers. They built a galleon on Fortune Island for the action sequences where Albert and Diet are attacked by pirates. "We were marooned in the island for three days at binagyo kami," he adds. "Walang tubig and we only had to rely on rain water. I want to thank the cast as they're real troupers. " "Our version is different from the film and cartoons," says Nuel. "May fantasy ito and adventure with talking animals so I'm sure it will please all kinds of viewers, lalo na nga all out ang ABS sa budget nito with all the expensive costumes and production design. " GINA'S SUITORS INTIMIDATED BY SONS "Wala namang problema kasi we even get together as a family with our three sons kasama ang bagong girlfriend ni Mike," says Gina. How about her? Does she have a new boyfriend? "Pa-date-date, but nothing serious. Nai-intimidate yata sa tatlong anak kong puro lalaki. " Gina is happy to do a new play with Mike. "The first time we did one, 'Amanda', was in the early '80s pa. Ngayon lang naulit. This is also my first play in English kasi all the past ones like 'Larawan' and 'Misteryo ng Pumpon ng Rosas' are all in Tagalog. Tony Mabesa is helping me with my English enunciation. " With them in "Dog-eaters" are 14 other actors like Rez Cortez, Jon Santos, Andoy Ranay, and many more. "All of 16 actors play multiple roles," adds Gina. "I play the wife of Rez Cortez who's a general, Lola Narcisa, and in the ending, Pres. Gloria Arroyo. Si Mike plays five characters naman. " "Dogeaters" is based on Hagedorn's New York Times best selling novel and set in Manila in 1982 before the Marcos regime was toppled. It follows the stories of Rio, a young upper middle class girl who's obsessed with the movies, and Joey, a young poor Afro-Filipino hustler. Their coming of age stories are connected with the stories of corrupt generals and politicians, a bomba star, the richest man in Manila, journalists, a drag queen, a fugitive and the First Lady of the Philipines. The play was first staged in California in 1998 and moved to New York. Now, after 10 years, "Dogeaters" finally get to the city where it's set, Manila, directed by Bobby Garcia. Because of explicit content, parental discretion is advised. For tickets, call Atlantis Productions at 892-7078 or Ticketworld at 891-9999. LIONS FOR LAMBS: A THINKING FILM "Lions for Lambs" shows three separate situations happening in three different places. In a university in California, an absentee student, Todd Hayes (Andrew Garfield), is interviewed by his political science professor, Dr. Stephen Malley (Robert Redford, who's also the film's director), in his office. Across the country in Washington D. C. , a seasoned reporter who's been writing for 40 years, Janine Roth (Meryl Streep), is called by a young Republican senator, Jasper Irving (Tom Cruise), for an exclusive one-hour interview. Meantime, a small platoon of American soldiers is shown on board a helicopter on a mission in Afghanistan to fight the Taliban. Two of the soldiers in it are former students of Dr. Malley: Ernest Rodriguez (Michael Pena) and Arian Finch (Derek Luke. ) As the film goes back and forth to these three strands of stories, it will dawn on you that they are somehow connected to each other. Dr. Malley is asking why Todd, a quite well off white student, has lost his enthusiasm in his studies and has become complacent even with what is going on in his country. He was once impressed by philosophers Socrates, Aristotle and Plato, but he now chooses to be more into girls and fraternity life, lacking focus. He tries to agitate Todd to get involved by telling the story of Ernest and Arian, a Hispanic and an African-American who are both underprivileged compared to Todd since they're both from the ghetto and just got into college on a scholarship. Yet they choose to become actively involved and enlisted as soldiers in Afghanistan, where a grim fate, unknown to Dr. Malley, awaits them. He chides Todd for doing nothing and the film ends with Todd watching the news on TV and having second thoughts about his apathetical attitude of just sitting back and doing nothing. The encounter between the journalist and the senator is an example of two opposing views: anti-war vs. pro-war. The charismatic Sen. Irving says the new plan is to send small groups (like the platoons in Vietnam) to secure advance positions before the snow thaws in the Afghan mountains. Janine asks him when this will be implemented and he answers: "Ten minutes ago. " Janine realizes that the senator's ambitious plan for winning the war is really untenable and more just a ploy to get him to the White House. She eventually defies her editor (Kevin Dunn) and rejects the idea of printing the story even if it's considered a big scoop. The film, which businessmen will surely brand as something not commercial, got its title from a comment a German officer made during World War I praising the courage of ordinary British soldiers (the lions) compared to their dumb officers who prefer to stay out of danger (the lambs). It's an analogy where Robert Redford as director shows that the poor enlisted men are the real lions while those who run the U. S. government are the cowardly lambs. Written by Matthew Michael Carnahan (who wrote another similar film but more action oriented, "The Kingdom," that is also soon to be released here), the underlying theme of the film (which can actually be staged as a play) is commitment (which right-wingers will no doubt call preachy. ) Todd is not willing to commit on anything truly serious. Ernest and Arian commit themselves by volunteering and yet pay for it dearly. Sen. Irving is actually more committed in propagating his political career while Janine wants to be more committed to the truth. Robert Redford is one Hollywood star who's always been vocal about his political views and it's obvious in this anti-Bush film which side he is on. It's apparent in his kind of patriotism that he no longers believes in the role of the U. S. as policeman of the world. The three stories in his film end differently. For Ernest and Arian, it's sad as they make a useless personal sacrifice resulting from military bungling. For Janine and Sen. Irving, it's resignation on the part of Janine after debating with the senator as she realizes how hopelessly futile things will be in the hands of selfish politicians. In the case of Malley and Todd, there seems to be some hope as it sets Todd into thinking, which, we believe, is what Redford is asking his viewers to do: don't just accept things as they are. Think. The acting is quite good. The most well acted segment is that of Janine and the senator. Streep is perfectly cast as the veteran reporter who question's the senator's motives and points out past mistakes made in Vietnam from a moral and practical standpoint. But Cruise crackles and generates sparks even more as the self-serving young politician who thinks the U. S. is a force of righteousness and its credibility is now at stake, so he doesn't care if more lives are sacrificed. You wish Ernest and Arian were given a bit more of a backstory to make their characters even more sympathetic as the helpless cannon fodders. Redford invests his role with a relaxed aura like he's some elderly didactic statesman who has seen it all and refuses to believe that the world is hopeless especially when he compares their situation now to the burning of Rome and no one did anything to stop it. British actor Garfield is also persuasive as the young student at the crossroad of life. Iincidentally, in the press preview of "Lions", we saw the full trailer of Johnny Depp's new film with Director Tim Burton, "Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet St. ", a hit but very dark Broadway musical, and we were completely overwhelmed by it. The cinematography, the production design, and the acting by Depp is just too splendid we can't wait to see the film in full. We have a feeling Depp will finally win an Oscar with this one. Source: People's Journal |
