Gretchen mum on man who'd marry her

Author: Mario E. Bautista
Column: Freehand

GRETCHEN Barreto got the platinum record award from Star Records exec Annabelle Regalado last Sunday in ASAP for her first album, "Unexpected," a certified hit that deserves a second album so she's now releasing "Complicated,", which she says is a title that fits her and her life perfectly. The music video of its carrier single, "Ready To Take a Chance Again" by Barry Manilow, was shown at the album launching and it's quite sexy, with Greta cavorting with a hunky Persian model. The album has an innovative jacket as it comes with different photos of Greta that you can put into the album cover, which is designed like a picture frame.

"There are actually 12 different photos na puwedeng pagpalit-palitin depende sa mood mo or what your favorite song in the album is," she says. "The album has 14 songs kaya you have many choices. "

Two songs are original compositions: "This Far" (which carries a nice message) by Louie Ocampo and Angelo Villegas, and "Complicated" by Archie D, with lyrics by Rachel Ann Wolfe. The revivals (chosen by her) include "Special Memory," "Tell Me," "I'll Be There for You," "Memories," "Trouble with Hello is Goodbye" (said to be Tonyboy Cojuangco's favorite), "Never My Love," and "Looking through the Eyes of Love. "

A few days before the launching, she had a revealing interview with her manager, Boy Abunda, in "The Buzz. " Boy told her that the public perception of her is she's very rich. How much is she worth? "I think I'm priceless. If you're referring to material wealth, I don't count it. Baka sabihin ng tayo, nagyayabang ako. "

The public believes you have everything. Do you? "No. I'm fond of taking fotos now. A friend gave me a small digital camera, but I want a professional camera sana. I don't have that. "

Who are the three men with the biggest impact in your life? "First is Kuya Germs, then Robbie Tan. In 1988, when I was 18, I was in Kuya Germs' 'GMA Supershow' and I was earning only P2,750 per Sunday. I approached Robbie Tan to give me projects kasi I have no movies then. So dahil dun nagawa kong buhay ang sarili ko. Then Boy Abunda because I can run to him no matter what happens. "

What about someone she's in love with? "Tama na. I don't wanna cry. "

What is love for you? "It's like crystal. You have to handle it with care. When you take good care of love, you can see its sparkle. If you hold it too tightly, it might break, and you can't mend it anymore. That's love. It's complicated. " Why? "Because when your situation is complicated, love also becomes complicated. You have to be courageous and if you really love the person, you have to go for it, fight for it. "

If there's one guy who she doesn't want to say goodbye to her, who would it be? Gretchen doesn't answer. How important is a wedding to you? "I live for the moment when I will finally say I do. " How would you describe your groom? "He's talented. He sings. He's also got a complicated life. He's got a golden smile. He holds on even when I choose to let go. " What song will you sing to your groom? She sings: "You ask me it there'll come a time when I'll grow tired of you. Never my love, never my love. "

Has your groom already proposed to you: "Will you marry me?" Again, Gretchen refuses to answer.

MOTHER LILY WANTS TO TRY OTHER MARKETS

WE want to thank Mother Lily Monteverde for coming to the recent wedding of our son Mario Miguel Bautista to Shirleen Albino at Sacred Heart Church, with reception at Plaza Ibarra. Mother Lily is very happy with her new film project, "OMG (Oh My Girl") that has started shooting last week. It stars Judy Ann Santos and Ogie Alcasid, directed by Juday's friend Dante Garcia who megged her in "Ploning. " "It's a feel good love story and I know it's a good solo buena mano for Regal in 2009," she says. "In the story, Juday and Ogie are childhood friends in an orphanage. Nagkahiwalay sila and when they grew up, they become worlds apart. Juday becomes a superstar at si Ogie, cellphone repairman. How they meet again and how they overcome the hindrances in their way will surely win the hearts of viewers. This is a different kind of romantic comedy about friendship, love and the crazy things people do for love. "

Ogie just played a woman in "Desperadas 2. " At the first shooting day of "OMG," he goes cross-dressing again as an old woman named Frieda just so he can be close to Juday. "Ang galing ni Ogie. I didn't see him putting on make up so while I was watching the director's monitor sa shooting, sabi ko, sino 'yung matandang babaeng 'yan? And it turned out to be Ogie. I didn't recognize him. He's really good. Tapos, nag-sing pa siya ng 'Sa Kabukiran,' parang si Sylvia La Torre noong araw. It's so funny. I told them to finish the shooting of the whole movie in time for the birthday of Juday and her wedding to Ryan Agoncillo in May. "

Mother Lily wants to make more films this year. She got back the rights of the cult classic "Temptation Island" from ABS-CBN to remake it for the big screen. The 1980 movie directed by the late Joey Gosiengfiao starred Dina Bonnevie, Bambi Arambulo, Azenith Briones and others as beauty pageant contestants who get stranded in a desert like island. The remake will be megged by screenwriter Chris Martinez ("Bikini Open," "Caregiver") who just debuted as a director in the acclaimed "100. ""We're now casting the movie," says Mother Lily. "We'll also make a horror movie, 'Tarot', with Dennis Trillo, and another horror comedy for Halloween, 'Atang Family,' to be directed by Joel Lamangan. It's about a family of monsters at puno ng special effects. For the next filmfest, we'll do a new 'Mano Po' movie and 'Nieves,' an expanded version of the engkanto slayer story in 'Shake, Rattle & Roll X' starring Marian Rivera. "

How about co-productions with GMA Films like "When I Met U"? "We're supposed to do one with Dingdong Dantes pero sila ang nagpe-prepare ng project doon. What my daughter Roselle and I intend to do is to give breaks to new young directors to do digital films that can gain recognition in international filmfests. We want it to make money pa rin sa local release, but we don't expect that big a return. What we want is to explore international markets by making films that will appeal to a broader audience. This is the only way now for the local film industry to grow, by conquering other markets, and I want to try it. "
ATE VI AT IT AGAIN

GOV. Vilma Santos' loyal fans are rejoicing because their idol is in the thick of shooting a new movie for Star Cinema. They're now shooting all the local scenes before leaving for abroad on April 19. Ate Vi will guest first in "Wowowee" on April 16 before her departure. She will first visit her sisters and mom in California then fly to the East Coast a week later to shoot the New York scenes there with son Luis Manzano and John Lloyd Cruz. The director is Olive "Inang" Lamasan, with Charlie Peralta as cinematographer.

Ate Vi plays a character named Shirley and she is made to wear a fat suit in the movie to make her look overweight. She also has a pet cat in the story, named Kiki, which is owned by Olive in real life. Dimples Romana plays her daughter in the film. Her Vilmanians visited Ate Vi on the set and gifted her with six of her movies that came out on DVD, including "Inspiration", a movie she did with the late Jay Ilagan for Tagalog Ilang-Ilang Productions, directed by the late Ishmael Bernal.

GOOD FEEDBACK

CES Drilon's new show, "I Survived", started last Thursday after "Bandila" and got good feedback for its efforts to highlight the courage and fighting spirit of Pinoys in the face of danger and seemingly insurmountable odds. The segment on Jeyson Himmayod, a miner trapped by flashfloods in Itogon, Benguet, made use of re-enactments and real footage and is very compelling viewing.

"It shows how the Pinoy spirit can empower you through the most difficult situations," says Ces who's a survivor of an infamous kidnapping herself last year. "I will interview people who lived through life-threatening situations like disasters, crime, accidents, risky journerys and even adventures. "

"I Survived" took the place of Gus Abelgas' "S. O. C. O. " (Scene of the Crime), which is now shown on Fridays.
MOVIE REVIEW: 'KNOWING'

NICOLAS Cage has had nothing but flops lately, like "The Wicker Man", "Next" and "Bangkok Dangerous". His new movie, "Knowing," finally made it to 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 down 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 from whom he's been estranged for sometime. The director's style proves very effective in establishing a creepy atmosphere, like the eerie presence of the blonde strangers in the woods, and also in the execution of 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 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 fully 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