Ethel after Megan's head?

Column: Freehand
Author: Mario E. Bautista

IN the first PBB Celebrity 2 eviction night last Saturday, Megan Young was saved by text voters with a very high 87. 89%. Ethel Booba as head of household nominated her automatically for the second time and Megan's supporters feel she did so because she's envious of Megan who's prettier, younger and not a retokada like her.

But will her supporters be able to save Megan again tonight now that she's up against Zara Aldana (who got ten votes) and two-in-one housemates Baron and Donald Geisler (actually, it was Baron who got nine votes and Donald was "nadamay lang")? If you want to vote for Megan text BB 2; for Baron and Donald, BB 7; and for Zara, BB 11, then send to 2331 for Globe and 231 for Smart.

For its Halloween presentation, "PBB" gave its housemates the chance to sacrifice for people in need. Riza, McCoy and Victor were allowed to leave the house to help the family of someone who died. They were sent to the morgue to prepare the remains of the deceased for the funeral. Riza, current head of household, was chosen as she had a cousin who died recently in Canada and she was not able to go there because of commitments here in the Philippines. Victor was chosen because his dad died five years ago and he wasn't even able to go to the wake as he's a love child. McCoy accompanied them since he's used to dead people since his family has a funeral parlor.

Racer Gaby and comedian Ruben were told to act like the statues of St. Michael and the Devil at the PBB garden, with Baron putting hot melted candle on their hands as part of their sacrifice. But later, Gaby felt bad as she thought Kuya did not acknowledge the sacrifice she did with Ruben. Kuya explained that he's just waiting for everyone to finish all their assignments and 'all's well that ends well' with them. The housemates won for all their sacrifices. Some of them even cried knowing that they were able to help some people on All Souls Day, even if Kuya subjected them to some scary experiences during the season. About 100 kids also visited them in costume for Trick or Treat and the housemates were also in costume as they celebrated Halloween in Kuya's house.

AT LAST, THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT DANITA
DANITA Paner launched an album with Viva Records but it was hardly noticed. Now, because of her tiff with her mom, Daisy Romualdez, she's being talked about and suddenly became hot.

"Dapat magpasalamat siya kay Daisy dahil, sa wakas, napasikat siya nito," says one wag.

But some folks are asking: "Hindi kaya pakana rin ito nina Daisy at Danita mismo para mas mapansin siya ng publiko? Ayan ngayon, dahil sa nangyari, biglang talk of the town na siya, di ba? Sumikat siya dahil sa kontrobersiya. "

Honestly, we doubt if Daisy would stoop that low just to make Danita gain fame. Besides, the exchange of words between mother and daughter has become too harsh and too bitter that we doubt if they're just making it up.

JODI ON VICTOR: 'SA TINGIN KO, LALAKI SIYA'
JODI Sta. Maria is paired with Victor Basa in the Cinema One Originals entry, "Maling Akala. " She's the only one present at the movie's presscon as Victor is now inside Kuya's house being one of PBB Celebrity Edition 2's housemates. We told the film's directors, Veronica Velasco and Pablo Biglang-awa, that they should have made a hookup inside Kuya's house so the writers present could have interviewed Victor directly as to why he accepted his role in "Maling Akala" as a gay man when some quarters are already questioning his masculinity.

"Sayang nga," says Veronica. "But Victor told us he really likes the role, considering this is his first movie, at bida agad siya. He auditioned for the role and is very excited with it. He says he doesn't mind playing it even if it's rumored that he's gay. The important thing is that as far as he knows , he's straight. "

What does Jodi think about Victor? "Sa tingin ko, lalaki nga siya. "

In the story, Jodi as Teta is impregnated by her boyfriend in the city and she returns home to the province with her baby. On the way home, she meets Victor in a bus and they become friends. She presents Victor to her parents as the father of her child, without knowing he is really gay and he's running away from cops because of a crime he committed. Even if she found out that Victor is gay, she still falls in love with him. We ask Jodi if she watches "PBB 2" because it's not only Victor who's there but another housemate who's her ex-BF and who claims he has not forgotten her: Baron Geisler.

"Matagal na po 'yun kaya huwag na lang natin siyang pag-usapan," says Jodi.

Direk Veronica says "Maling Akala" is a tribute to the place where she grew up, Sasmuan, Pampanga, where "Maling Akala" was shot on location. "Jodi is very good as Teta and just like Maricel Soriano in our 'Inang Yaya', I'm sure mahahanay rin siya sa list of the year's best actresses. "

Aside from "Maling Akala", Jodi has also finished "Nars" for Direk Adolf Alix where she co-stars with another PBB 2 housemate, Jon Avila.

TWO FUNNY STAR MAGIC TALENTS
STAR Magic's Rikka Dylim announces that they've signed up two talented comedians as part of their growing family: Chokoleit and Empoy. Chokoleit started as a standup comic in comedy bars where he became a much sought after showmaster. He then branched out to TV and played the hilarious sidekick of the villain, Dugong, in "Marina. " His life story was featured in "Maalaala Mo Kaya" where viewers learned about his hard work as a beautician. He then became a regular in "Bora" and "Kampanerang Kuba" and won a best supporting actor award for his role as Rustom Padilla's sidekick in the film "Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah. " He's now a mainstay in "Prinsesa ng Banyera. "

Empoy was discovered in "MTB" as grand winner of the Mr. Suave search in 2004 and was managed by Direk Danni Caparas. He was featured in several films, including "Mr. Suave," "All About Love" and "First Day High. " He was a mainstay in QTV 11's "Family Zoo". In "Super Inggo," he played Petrang Kabayo and was also seen in "May Minamahal". He's now Carlo Guevarra's sidekick in "Abt Ur Luv" every Saturday at 10 a. m. He and Chokoleit expect their career to flourish now that they're Star Magic talents.

HIDE AND SEEK MAKES GRADE AT CEB AND BOX-OFFICE
CONGRATS to Mother Lily Monteverde. Regal's Halloween presentation, "Hide and Seek" written by Gina Marissa Tagasa and directed by Rahyan Carlos, did very well at the box office on opening day and earned P4 million. This is quite high considering that the film, which got a B rating from the CEB and will get 50% rebate of taxes, has no real big stars and the love team of Jennica Garcia and Mart Escudero is just starting.

Regal shows once again that it is a top maker of horror movies. The film was commended for its technical excellence, good storytelling and fine acting from the cast composed of Eric Quizon, Jean Garcia, Alessandra de Rossi, Ryan Eigenmann, the love team of Jennica Garcia and Mart Escudero, comedienne Rubirubi and child performers Julijo Pisk and Angel Sy. Raves were given to Eric, Jean and Ryan who are always outstanding. Kudos also went to Julijo and Angel who shone in their roles and to Rubirubi who played the yaya who stole her scenes with her funny antics.

Fans are celebrating the success of the big-screen debut of Mart and Jennica. The chemistry they displayed in the movie confirms that Mart and Jennica are indeed a tandem to watch for. "Hide and Seek" is now showing in theaters nationwide.

RENDITION: EXPOSING WHAT HAS BEEN DENIED

A POLITICAL thriller that shows Hollywood does not make only escapist films is "Rendition. " Rendition is the term used for the policy of taking political suspects to other countries (so they cannot be subject to due process) for interrogation (that includes torture) started by the Clinton Administration without much regard for human rights. The World Trade Center bombing gave the Bush administration the chance to make use of this more extensively. The morality of "rendition" has been debated upon since then and there have been calls to end it but it goes on up to now. Bush keeps on proclaiming that "we don't torture. " Now, here's a movie that aims to show what happens.

The story is told from the point of view of Isabella (Reese Witherspoon), who's married to an Egyptian-born, American-educated chemical engineer, Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally). They live in Chicago with their son. Anwar attended a conference in Cape Town, South Africa. On his way back home, he is abducted by US agents and, upon the order of anti-terrorist spymaster Corinne Whitman (Meryl Streep), flown to North Africa where he is interrogated about a bombing incident to get his secret contacts and lead the CIA to the parties responsible for the bombing that killed an agent. What no one suspects is that Anwar has long been under the watch of a security agency because of his foreign name and foreign travels. There's a phone record of him talking to a potential terrorist. His interrogator is Abasi Fawal (Igal Naor), the man who was the target of the bombing. Fawal has his own problems as a strict disciplinarian of a father whose young daughter disappeared to be with her lover and he can inflict endless pain on his captive that, he is convinced, is always lying.

The rookie CIA operative also involved in the case is Douglas Freeman (Jake Gyllenhaal) who at first just observes the torture inflicted by Fawal on their subject. He eventually starts doubting that Anwar is guilty and gets disgusted with Fawal's violent techniques. But when tortured, the naked Fawal breaks down and recites a list of names.

In the meantime, Isabella is agonizing over her missing husband and asks the help of a boyfriend, Alan Smith (Peter Sarsgaard) who works for Sen. Harkins (Alan Arkin) to help her get some answers. She presents evidence that Anwar was on the flight home, something that officials deny, and she gets to confront Corinne Whitman herself, who is so steely and offers no sympathy.

The film is the Hollywood debut of Director Gavin Hood from South Africa whose "Tsotsi" won the Oscar best foreign language film. The script by Kelly Sane is quite simplistic and obviously anti-rendition, but Hood succeeds in giving the film an engrossing tone (like "Syriana") with so many characters and subplots, including a young couple, Khalid (Moa Khouas) and Fawal's daughter Fatima (Zineb Oukach), that expound on love, family and extremism. The characters are eventually shown to be all part of a single story, with the events in their lives and the shadowy workings behind the scenes all interwoven like today's news headlines.

The film shows that the U. S. government is not above kidnapping and torturing people who are never charged with any crime.

It also asks whether this inhuman abuse of power is worth whatever security information that they may gain from it. There's some attempt to justify "rendition":

"Because of this, there are 7,000 people alive in London who would otherwise be dead. " But Hood takes a position, addresses these issues with honesty, and you can't take it against him for standing up to what he believes in, no matter what military experts may say to the contrary.

The acting is generally fine. Jake Gyllenhaal delivers a very convincing performance as the center of the film as he witnesses the torture personally and his principles begin to be shaky about the morality of "rendition. " Reese plays a smaller role as a distraught wife who is determined to get to the bottom of what really happened to her husband and is also effective.

If you were turned off by Meryl's character as the comically bullying boss in "The Devil Wears Prada," you'd find her even more detestable here in a one-dimensional role that will remind you of Dick Cheney. Alan Arkin is definitely a scene stealer and Peter Sarsgaard is terrific as his caring aid. Also persuasive is Igor Naor as the brutal interrogator and Metwally as Reese's husband who spends all his time being tortured. We now wish a local filmmaker would also make a timely film about the political disappearances now so prevalent in our own country.

Source: People's Journal