Marian in pain but won’t slow down

Author: Mario E. Bautista
Column: Dream Factory

Marian Rivera is a real professional. After fracturing the small toe in her right foot in an accident at the shooting of the "Nieves" episode in "Shake, Rattle & Roll X," she still went on to fulfill all her obligations like attending the victory party of "One True Love," accepting her Kuya Germs Youth Award in the FAMAS, finishing the shoot of all her remaining scenes for both "Shake" and her other filmfest entry, "Desperadas 2," going to the launch of Jag for their website with Will Devaughn at Mall of Asia and the presscon of "Desperadas 2" at Century Imperial last Monday night.

The show must really go on as she’s leaving for L.A. to do her show there with Dingdong Dantes on December 6, even if she’s still in crutches. Upon her return here, she’ll start taping her new show with Dingdong, "Babaeng Hinugot sa Akin Tadyang" that will start airing on the first week of February, which will coincide with the opening of the Richard-KC Valentine movie. The cast on her leg and foot is made of fiberglass so it’s quite light, but Marian says the fractured part is still painful so she can’t walk without a crutch.

"Nakakatuwa lang kasi I got a lot of ‘Get Well Soon’ cards and wishes from my friends who are my fans," she says. "Now I know they really care for me."

Her photos with Will taken in Australia for Jag Black Jeans are really something they can be both proud of. In "Desperadas 2," Marian reprises the role of Courtney and she’s also paired with Will. In the first "Desperadas," they were just sweethearts. In Part 2, they’re now married and trying to have their own kid. Marian says 2008 has been a very good year for her. For 2009, Marian wants to buy a new condo as she’s just renting her current place. She wants a bigger, more exclusive unit in a place where neigHBOrs will respect her privacy.

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In an interview with "E-Live," Karylle admitted that she and ex-boyfriend Dingdong Dantes are not exactly friends but they do talk to each other. She says at this point, she has already accepted their breakup but what’s funny is that her friends and family are the ones who are still mad at Dingdong. "Dumaan din ako sa stage na nagagalit ako, pero tapos na ‘yun. I can’t blame my family kasi we were on for three and a half years at naging very close ‘yung families namin kaya pati sila, nasaktan din."

So what will happen if she sees Dingdong in Manny Pacquiao’s fight this weekend in Las Vegas. "I don’t know. Siguro naman, magiging maayos ang lahat."

Will she still consider reconciling with him?

"Ay, huwag na lang sana. I saw a lot of things that I didn’t see before because I refused to see them then. Marami akong na-realize for myself. Babalikan ko pa ba naman ‘yung mga ‘yun?"

One female writer says Karylle is just saying this because she’s bitter. "Kasi siya ang inisiplitan ni Dingdong kaya masama talaga ang loob niya."

A Karylle defender, though, says it’s Dingdong’s loss. "SiKarylle ang tipo ng babaeng pinapakasalan dahil mukhang magiging ideal and supportive wife. Sayang at pinakawalan pa niya."

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Now that director Joey Reyes has finished shooting his two filmfest entries, "One Night Only" and "Magkaibigan," he can focus on the Valentine movie starring Richard Gutierrez and KC Concepcion for GMA Films and Regal Entertainment, with "Save the Best for Last" as its working title. The casting has yet to be finalized. Ryan Agoncillo is originally in it but he begged off as the role being assigned to him is very small. Jewel Mische was also earlier considered to play the role of the girl who comes between Richard and KC but so many quarters are against it so they’re now considering another actress who’s equally as controversial.

Richard is now busy taping his new show, "Full Force of Nature," while KC is also busy rehearsing for her play on Katy de la Cruz with Jericho Rosales and Gab Valenciano, directed by Freddie Santos with music by Ryan Cayabyab and libretto by the ubiquitous Joey Reyes. After the movie with Richard, KC will next be paired with Piolo Pascual in a soap that ABS-CBN is now cooking for them. Some say it will be an adaptation of "Lovers in Paris," a hit Koreanovela, but this is not yet sure as they’re also considering an original material for the first team-up of KC and Piolo.

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Sam Milby says he and Anne Curtis talked at the ABS-CBN trade show last week and they’re on better terms with each other. "I’m the one who first talked to her since I’m the guy and I’m glad that, at least, we now have communication again, which is an important factor in any relationship," he says.

Does that mean they’ve reconciled?

"No, but we’re okay again as friends."

Exclusively dating again?

"No, just friends. Don’t ask me anymore about the details of our talk as it’s very personal. All I’d say is we had a good talk and everything’s fine as of now."

How come Kris Aquino said "inirapan ako ni Sam" when he guested in "The Buzz"?

"I was talking to Jobert Sucaldito when I saw her (Kris) coming so I turned to her to greet her. But I don’t know if she didn’t see kasi she kept on talking on her cellphone. So I thought she didn’t like to talk to me and I turned to Tito Boy Abunda to talk to him. When I turned my head, she (Kris) was walking right past me and she’s still talking on her phone so I thought, ayaw niya talaga kong kausapin. But then she talked to me and I made beso to her. Kaya nagulat ako when she said later that I snubbed her. Who am I to snub someone like her?"

Sam is happy with the good feedback for his performance in his offbeat action role in "Cul de Sac," the digifilm he did that starts showing today in SM Cinemas. He plays a call center agent with a mysterious past. It also stars Jodi Santamaria and Chin Chin Gutierrez.

Sam’s wish for this Christmas is to be reunited with his family in the States but he has so many commitments here in Manila so it’s impossible for him to spend the holidays with them.

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FOR WHATEVER IT’S worth, here’s there list of major winners in the 56th FAMAS awards held only last weekend at the Manila Hotel when the year is almost over.

Best picture - "Katas ng Saudi" written and directed by Joey Reyes. Best director - Maryo de los Reyes in "A Love Story." Best actor and actress - Jinggoy Estrada and Lorna Tolentino in "Katas ng Saudi." Best supporting actor and actress - Mon Confiado in "Faces of Love" and Irma Adlawan in "Ataul for Rent."

In the 22nd PMPC Star Awards for TV, the Philippine Movie Press Club that’s commonly perceived to be ABS-CBN territory gave the best station award to GMA-7 this time, obviously to court back the support of the Kapuso who has not been attending their awards night for some years now. But even if GMA won best station, it’s still the Kapamilya network that won the most number of trophies, 26 to GMA’s 21.

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We got the chance to watch three Cinema One entries, "UPCAT," "Dose" and "Imburnal," at their special screening at the U.P. Film Institute.

The screening of "UPCAT" was really jam-packed with UP students who were able to relate with the experiences the lead characters in the movie go through. The story revolves on Lucas (Felix Roco) whose dad (Bembol Roco, Felix’ real dad) is against his plan to study in U.P. Lucas is also experiencing the pangs of first love with Jane (Yasmin Neri), but her own father (Mark Gil), the town mayor, is against him. The story is told with liberal doses of humor, largely contributed by Lucas’ wisecracking friend (Joseph Roble, the best friend of Jiro Manio in "Magnifico"), who will later grow up to be an activist and a rebel leader (played by Alan Paule).

Roxanne Barcelo appears only in one sequence but is quite a scene stealer in her role as a cousin of Jane who’s already studying in UP and talks about her experiences with boys from various colleges inside the UP campus in Diliman (but the movie itself is set in UP Los Banos). Generally, "UPCAT" is fun to watch even if you’re not from UP, but the revelation on Bembol’s secret as to why he refuses to allow his son to study in UP (hazing has something to do with it) is really quite a letdown. You’d wish the reason given was really more traumatic for him and, truth to tell, that kind of secret is something you should really impart early on to your child to serve as a warning or lesson for him not to be a member of any fraternity with a history of violent initiation rites.

The epilogue showing the boys growing up (with Lucas now played by Arnold Reyes) is also unwarranted and only prolongs the movie unnecessarily. It can be totally deleted without damaging the main core of the material, which should really just focus on the boys wanting to take up the UPCAT and not what happens to each of them after college. So many scenes can really be trimmed from the movie to hasten the pacing and make it tighter. Despite these quibbles, though, we must say that "UPCAT" is a fairly impressive debut for new director Roman Olivarez.

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As a scriptwriter, Senedy Que is best known for co-writing the award-winning "Mga Munting Tinig" starring Alessandra de Rossi as a teacher in a remote town who coaches her pupils how to sing. "Dose" is his first directorial work and he also wrote the script. The lead character is Edy (Emilio Garcia), who celebrates his 40th birthday at the start of the film. When asked what his birthday wish, he expressed his desire to see again one man who’s very important to him. This turns off his current live-in partner (Ray An Dulay), who gets jealous and leaves him.

The story of Edy and the man he wants to see again is then told in flashbacks. We see Edy as a 12-year-old boy being sent his impoverish mom in La Union to live with his rich aunt (Irma Adlawan) in Manila. His rich aunt has an earthy driver-gardener, Danny (Yul Servo), who makes love not only with the neigHBOr’s housemaid but, as Edy later discovers, also with his own aunt whose husband is working abroad.

It’s established early on that Edy is gay. He’s fond of watching local movies and imitates the acting of Nora Aunor in "Ina Ka ng Anak Mo" and Vilma Santos in "Darna" and "Dyesebel." Alone and lonely in Manila, he gets attracted to Danny who he calls Ya-ku instead of the usual Kuya. Danny even defends him from a school bully. One thing leads to another and he loses his innocence to Danny.

His relationship with Danny ends abruptly. After he enters him (nothing is shown, everything is just tastefully suggested) while they’re on the swing in the garden, he wakes up the next day looking for him and he’s gone. Obviously, his aunt has fired him after Edy also calls her attention about the hickey on her neck given to her by Danny while they’re trysting in his room. He never sees Danny again and he wants to have proper closure so he looks for him, finally finding him working as a gardener at a memorial park. The final meeting between Edy and the Danny, now looking so old (the prosthetic makeup on Yul is not that convincing but it serves its purpose) is very touching, no matter what your gender is. Senedy Que wisely makes it a wordless scene. They just look and hug each other. Edy quietly leaves and you can feel that particular chapter in his life closing forever.

Sennedy is well-served by his cast. The boy Edy, Fritz Chavez, is a revelation and fits the role perfectly. The scene where he cries profusely while searching for Danny is particularly moving. Yul is also very convincing as the driver-gardener who’s so randy he can do it with both sexes, even with young boys. Irma Adlawan gives great support as the well-meaning aunt and Emilio Garcia also does well in a short but very important role.

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As for "Imburnal," we tried our best to sit through it, but we left after the first 45 minutes. It runs for almost four hours but the pacing is so achingly slow we were bored to death. The opening scene, showing an unconscious boy lying in the sewer or imburnal for about five minutes with nothing happening, is already very tedious viewing.

The scene after that shows the sea and we can hear the voices of several women talking uninhibitedly about their sexual experiences. It’s only much, much later that we get to see the women. We don’t really mind if a film stars unknowns as long as we care for their characters. Here, we still don’t get to sympathize with any of them even after 45 minutes.

Scenes are so drawn out (babad na babad) like an old woman giving a boy a bath and yet we don’t even know who they are. We are usually very patient even with the "art films" we see no matter how funereal the exposition maybe, but with this one, we decided we have had enough and we left the theater without looking back. We really believe that a really good filmmaker can impart anything he wants to say in a good two hours. Anything more than that is just plain self-indulgence or he really doesn’t know how to say what he wants to say more succinctly.

Cinema One movies are now showing at Robinsons Galleria’s Indie Sine.

Source: Malaya

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