Robin wants Marian for next project

Author: Mario E. Bautista
Column: Freehand

WHAT can Marian Rivera say about Robin Padilla's statement that after his "Totoy Bato," he'd request GMA7 management to be paired with her in his next project?

"It'll be an honor," she says. "Siempre, Robin Padilla 'yan. Also, wala akong karapatang tumanggi sa sinumang gustong ipareha sa'kin ng management. Ewan ko lang kung papayag si Dingdong (Dantes). "

"Oo naman," says Dingdong. "Even if I were him, si Marian din talaga ang pipiliin ko. "

Won't he get jealous since Robin is a ladies' man?

"No, trabaho lang, and I trust Marian. Kami naman ni Marian, pinaghahandaan na namin ang time na ipapareha kami sa iba. "

As of now, they're both happy with the good feedback they're getting for "Ang Babaeng Hinugot sa Aking Tadyang. " "Lahat nagsa-sabing mas gumaganda ang takbo ng story lalo na noong magkasama na kami sa isang safehouse as Homer and Proserfina," says Marian. "Our characters have also evolved. Noong una, si Proserfina ang palaban. Ngayon naman, si Homer na. De kalidad talaga ang show kaya thankful kami sa creative team ng GMA at nagagawa nilang puno ng drama at action ang bawat episode.

"Clear na sa viewers kung bakit naging matigas at matapang ang mister-yosang si Proserfina. Marami siyang mapait na pinagdaanan dahil lumaki silang walang ina, namatay ang bunso nilang kapatid, dating lider ng sindikato ang tatay nila, naging addict ang kapatid niyang si Ulysses (Mart Escudero) at ngayon naman ay inaapi-api siya nina Rado (Paolo Contis) at Shiela (Francine Prieto). Kung dati, Marimar at Dyesebel ang tawag sa akin ng tao when they see me in public, ngayon, ang tawag na nila sa'kin is Proserfina. "

NOT ABOUT MONEY
Ara Mina is very convincing as the young widow who becomes Aljur Abrenica's
mistress and makes Kris Bernal's life miserable in "Dapat Ka Bang Mahalin?" We're sure fans of the Aljur-Kris love team will hate her with relish. "I hope they realize I'm just playing a role, although I admit ako talaga ang nagdadala ng love scenes namin ni Aljur kasi ako naman ang mas may experience sa paggawa ng ganyang mga eksena. "

Ara is really busy these days on both TV and films as she's also shooting the movie about the lives of seamen, "Marino," with Allen Dizon, who also produces it.

Ara is surprised that some writers keep on asking her about the breakup of Jomari Yllana and Pops Fernandez. Would she care to comment like what Martin Nievera did?

"No," she says. "Bakit naman ako makikisawsaw pa diyan? Whatever happened between them, sa kanila na lang 'yun. I'm just wondering why si Jom, parang hindi makatagal sa isang babae. He's not getting any younger. Does he want to be a bachelor for life? Friends na kami uli ngayon kaya nagagawa ko na siyang biruin. I ask him kung ano ba talaga ang gusto niya't hinahanap niya sa isang makaka-partner niya for life. In fairness to Jom, hindi siya 'yung type ng lalaki na nananakit ng babae physically. Malapit lang siya talaga sa mga babae. As for me, he knows may bago na akong boyfriend at sinabi pa niya sa'king he's happy for me and I deserve to be happy. Pero I'd never ask him kung bakit sila nag-break ni Pops. Bawat couple, may kanya-kanya namang reason and who am I to interfere, di ba?"

Jom and Pops reportedly broke up due to money matters, although they won't admit it. Was money one of the reasons why they also broke up? "Hindi ko alam kung may kinalaman nga ang pera sa paghihiwalay nila. Pero sa amin, wala talagang naging kinalaman ang money at all. May time nga noon that I have bills to pay at ako pa ang nanghiram sa kanya ng pambayad. Marami rin siyang regalong naibigay sa akin that I didn't expect lalo sa special occasions like my birthday at Christmas. So hindi rin ako naniniwalang pera ang dahilan ng split nila. All I can say is that they're both mature at alam na nila ang ginagawa nila. "

Since both she and Jom are now with the Kapuso Network (Jom is in "Zorro"), will she be willing to be paired with him in a show? "Why not? Pero huwag na kayong mag-insinuate na magkakabalikan pa kami dahil malayo at malabo nang mangyari 'yun. We've both moved on at happy ako ngayon sa boyfriend ko. Jom and I are better off as just friends. Isa pa, wala sa track record na may binalikan akong boyfriend. Pag tapos na, tapos na. "

NO SIBLING RIVALRY
BEMBOL Roco's twin sons, Felix and Dominic Roco, started with ABS-CBN Star Magic but are now bonafide GMA Artist Center talents.

"Nagpaalam kami nang maayos kay Mr. Johnny Manahan sa ABS and he let us go as he knows there were no projects for us there," says Felix who is two minutes older than Dom. "Between us, akala ng tao, suplado ako but the truth is mas makulit ako. "

Felix got nominated as best actor in Cinema One Digital Filmfest for his performance as a high school student who wants to go to college in UP in the indie film, "UPCAT," the topgrosser in the filmfest. "The movie was very well received and it's not being shown in various campuses. " It's a memorable film for me as our dad played my own dad in the movie and it was my first time to act with him. Kabado ako as its a serious role and we have scenes that are real heavy drama. I'm glad people tell me I played my role well. "

Are they happy with GMA Artist Center? "Yes," says Dom. "They even gave us a values formation seminar that we found very helpful. It helps your spiritual development at nakakatulong talaga sa pagkatao mo. It makes you realize you have to take your job seriously and learn to appreciate the blessings that come your way. "

Have they seen their dad's past films? "Yes, we saw 'Maynila: Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag' and 'Orapronobis'. He's really good. But we want to step away from being identified as the sons of Bembol Roco. We know we can't surpass his accomplishments but we want to have our own identity," says Dom.

We saw them acting together in the play "Gabun," Are they a package deal? "No, we're not. We have our own individual careers," says Felix. "Kaya nga sa 'UPCAT', I'm just by myself and Dom is now also doing a film na siya lang, 'Rock and Roll', with other GMA Artist Center talents. "

Do they have sibling rivarly? "No," they both say. "We're the best of friends and we support each other. "

MOVIE REVIEW: 'SUNDO'
THERE'S a belief that people who are about to die have souls of loved ones from the great beyond who fetch (sundo) them to take them to the afterlife. This is the subject of "Sundo," directed by Topel Lee and written by Aloy Adlawan. Topel was successful with "Ouija" before but this time, we're afraid he failed to scare us in "Sundo. " The last local horror film that really worked for us was Jun Lana's "Kulam. "

"Sundo" concerns a soldier, Romano (Robin Padilla), who nearly died in combat. When he regains consciousness, he starts seeing souls of dead people around him and becomes a recluse in their house in Baguio.

His friend Louella (Sunshine Dizon) visits him and offers to take his blind sister Isabel (Rhian Ramos) to a doctor in Manila so she can see again. In their trip to Manila, they take other passengers into their van (Glydel Mercado, Hero Angeles and Katrina Halili), with Mark Bautista as their driver. Along the way, Romano dreamed that they had an accident and this helped them avoid it. They were saved but the "fetchers" who are supposed to take them will later show up again to fulfill their date with the Grim Reaper.

"Sundo" is derivative of various Hollywood flicks, "The Sixth Sense" (about a character who can see dead people), "Final Destination" (those who avoid death all die later one after the other), and the Thai-Hong Kong movie also remade in "The Eye" (about fetchers).

The problem with "Sundo" is that instead of scaring us, so many scenes made us laugh. And it's so easy to predict what will happen in every scene, including the twist in the ending where one character turns out to have been already dead. Such scary tactics showing shadows passing by in the background or foreground or ghostly characters who don't bother to wash their darkened faces have been utilized in countless other horror flicks so they're not effective anymore.

They should be outlawed from now on and any director worth his salt should avoid using them ever again. "Sundo" also does not have any scenes that jolt the viewers. We hate to think that Topel Lee has a very limited bag of tricks. We hope he will be able to redeem himself in his next project.

So far, Chito Roño's "Feng Shui" remains to be the most effective local horror flick for us. We hope his "T2" will similarly be potent in giving good scares and not like his "Sukob" which is so non-sensical.

Source: People's Journal