'Takaw-tulog'

Author: Mario E. Bautista
Column: Freehand

IT'S not surprising that so many intrigues come Richard Gutierrez's way these days as he rules both TV and the movies. It was in his "Mulawin" that GMA-7 became numero uno in the ratings game. Since then, all his solo shows on TV where he himself plays the title role like "Captain Barbell," "Sugo," "Lupin," "Kamandag" and now, "Codename: Asero," are all topraters. On the big screen, he's the king of Valentine movies as his films shown on that playdate all rake it in, starting from "Let the Love Begin" to "My Best Friend's Girl Friend," no matter who his leading lady is. In other words, he's not just the other half of a popular love team as he can stand on his own, which is why he's rightfully billed as King of Primetime TV.

What we like about Richard is that, despite his success, he remains ever humble. He refuses to claim sole credit for the success of his shows and movies. "It's collaborative work and I want to share the success of my shows and films with all my co-stars, producers, writers, directors and the rest of the production staff," he says. "We all work so hard to give the viewers topnotch entertainment. "

Richard admits he's often sleep-deprived, especially now that he's finishing "For the First Time" with KC Concepcion (who calls him "takaw tulog") that will be shown on August 27. It's a very apt title as it's Richard's first project with Star Cinema, KC's very first movie, their first movie with Director Joyce Bernal, and their first time to go to Greece where they shot for ten days. Even alone, Richard can be electrifying and send viewers trooping to the theaters. But with KC, their tandem spells magic since they have great chemistry and fantastic rapport.

"So kahit kulang ako sa tulog, it's all worth it," says Richard. "Happy akong tanggap ako ng tao kahit sinong leading lady ko. My partnership with Heart Evangelista is so well received and I have no doubt my movie with KC will also be successful. "

Aside from TV and the movies, Richard is also busy with so many endorsements. This coming September alone, he's all set to shoot four new TV commercials.

"Nahihilo na nga ako sa pagbibigay ng schedules niya for the commercial shoots," says his mom-manager Annabelle Rama. "Kaya masarap na rin siya kahit iniintriga siya, ang kapalit naman nito, maraming blessings like all these new endorsements. Kaya wala siyang panahong patulan ang mga paninira sa kanya, so ako na lang ang nagre-react para sa anak ko. But now, I already realized na kaysa intindihin ko pa ang mga intriga, ubusin ko na lang ang time ko in entertaining more offers for Richard and for my other talents. Gaya niyan, iniintriga akong tinawagan ko si Dr. Vicki Belo dahil naiinggit ako sa launching noong isang talent niya. Hindi na ko mage-explain dahil hindi naman totoo. Tutulong na lang ako sa promo ng 'For the First Time' kaysa bigyan ko pa ng free publicity 'yung karibal ng anak ko dahil sa kapapatol ko. Basta ako, thankful sa anak ko. Napakabait. Walang reklamo. Trabaho lang nang trabaho at laging thankful sa magagandang projects na dumarating sa kanya. Ang problema ko ngayon, gusto ng Star Cinema na um-attend siya sa global premiere nights ng 'For the First Time' sa Spain, Greece, L. A. at San Francisco in September. So kailangan kong ayusin ang tapings ni Richard for 'Asero' at yung commercial shoots niya to accommodate the global premieres. "

ROBIN'S PERSONAL CHOICE
IS it true that Sunshine Dizon is annoyed that Katrina Halili is added into the cast of GMA Films' horror flick, "Sundo," to be megged by Topel Lee? She was earlier made to understand that she's the lone leading lady. But now, Katrina is sharing topbilling with her.

"Walang magagawa," says someone connected with the film. "Si Robin Padilla mismo na leading man ang nag-request for Katrina to play one of the female roles in 'Sundo. ' Mas malaki pa rin naman ang role ni Sunshine, so she shouldn't worry. Bale special participation lang si Katrina rito. "

With Katrina in "Sundo", is it true Robin hoping is they will have a love scene? "Kailangang pag-aralan ko munang mabuti ang story at role ko," he's quoted saying. "Lalo't kasingganda't kasing-sexy ni Katrina ang makakasama ko. "

Looks like he's got the hots for Katrina, who's really hot these days, what with her also starring in GMA-7's new Thursday night drama show, "Obra. "

"Hindi naman love story ang 'Sundo' kundi horror film," says our source. "Kapag nagkaroon ng love scene, hindi na 'Sundo' ang dapat na title dun kundi 'Sundot' na. "

GMA7 TRUSTS KATRINA
GOING back to Katrina, she feels so honored that GMA-7 got her to be the star of the pilot month of "Obra. " "SObrang nagpapasalamat ako sa tiwala nila sa kakayahan ko," she says. "I promise to do my best in each of the four episodes assigned to me para mapaganda namin nang husto ang show. "

So why is Katrina chosen to open "Obra"? "Because she deserves it," says program manager Redgie Acuna. "She has proven her talent as a contravida in 'MariMar' and now she shines in a lead role in 'Magdusa Ka'. Dapat lang na isang versatile young actress like her ang magbukas ng 'Obra'. "

The first episode is directed by Joel Lamangan and Katrina plays a "taong grasa. " "First time ko to work with her and she did her best to come up with a good episode," says Joel. "Marami siyang puwedeng ibigay bilang artista kasi open-minded siya. "

The second episode is directed by Jun Lana and she plays a dual role, with Ian Veneracion as leading man. One is a good girl and the other one is accused of killing her own husband. "Misteryosa siya rito at bagay sa kanyang maging woman of mystery," says Jun.

The third episode is directed by Bibeth Orteza and she plays a golddigger. "I've worked with Katrina in the comedy 'Ganda ng Lola Mo' and we're doing a comedy episode so I have no doubt she'll deliver," says Bibeth, who came to the presscon with her dear mother in law, Armida Siguion Reyna. "Parang French farce ito with a twist in the end and I'm glad I have Eddie Garcia, Paolo Contis and Eugene Domingo with us in this episode. "

The last episode is megged by Maryo de los Reyes and she plays a prostitute who finds true love and is about to get married but tragedy strikes. "Katrina is a doll," says Maryo. "I'm directing her in 'Magdusa Ka' at hindi ako nagdusa sa kanya. Naaliw ako sa kanyang pagkatao at honest kami sa isa't isa. We respect each other. "

So will Katrina be GMA's next most important actress after Marian Rivera? "Wala akong iniisip na ganun," she says. "Basta ako, nag-e-enjoy lang na trabaho nang trabaho at lagi kong pinagbubuti ito. "

THE BIRTH OF TV5
ABC-5 is now history and from now on, Channel 5 will be known as TV5, a brand of MPB Primedia Inc. that entered into a long-term block airtime agreement with Tonyboy Cojuangco's Associated Broadcasting Company. CEO Chris Sy (formerly of EMI) says they offer new and fresh programs that will provide pleasant alternative viewing to those offered by current TV stations who bank on teleseryes for their primetime shows. "Sa amin, we offer diverse genres like reality, variety, drama, teens and toons and first rate movies," he adds. Here are some of the new shows they offer:

"Talentadong Pinoy" - Saturday, 6:05 p. m. . A reality-talent show hosted by Ryan Agoncillo. "Juicy" - Monday to Friday, 4 p. m. (with replay at 12 mn). - Showbiz news and intrigues, hosted by Alx Gonzaga, sister of Toni. "LokoMoko" - Friday, 10 p. m. . A gag show doing tricks on people on cam. "TEN, The Evening News" - Monday to Friday, 10:30 p. m. . Reports on the top ten news stories of the day, anchored by Martin Andanar and Cheryl Mercado. "Pulis, Pulis" - Sat. 10 p. m. . Actual police operations hosted by Martin Andanar. "Lipgloss" - Sat. 5 p. m. . A teen show ala-Gossip Girl with Sam Concepcion, Fred Payawan, Mikee Lee, Rodjun Cruz, Micki Hahn, Cheska Ortega, and new teen stars. "Hush Hush" - Wednesday, 7:30 p. m. - About the local entertainment scene. Who'll survive in the cruel world of showbiz. "Batang X, The New Generation" - Friday, 7 p. m. and replay on Sunday, 2 p. m. Directed by Peque Gallaga, it features today's kid superheroes. "Rakista" - Thursday, 7 p. m. - The brainchild of Director Quark Henares, it's about the world of rock en roll featuring Pinoy rockers. "Midnight DJ" - Monday, 7 p. m. - A horror show, it stars Paolo Contis as Patrick, the famous DJ of a midnight radio show who has a third eye and gets to talk with spirits. "Chicklit" - Tuesday, 7 p. m. - Best selling chick lit bestsellers like "No Boyfriend Since Birth" and "Have Baby, Will Date" will now be shown on TV with the premiere episode starring Valerie Concepcion, TJ Trinidad, Beth Tamayo and Bobby Andrews. Their top Hollywood films include hits like "Kung Fu Hustle" of Stephen Chow, "Hitch", Bad Boys 2" and Men in Black II" all starring Will Smith, "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" with Johnny Depp, "13 Going 30" with Jennifer Garner, Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Terminator 3", "Spiderman 3", and many more, plus the award-winning "Crying Ladies" starring Sharon Cuneta. So, don't miss all these new shows on TV5. But the biggst star on TV5 remains to be Lucy Torres, whose "Shall We Dance" is retained, Sunday, 9:30 p. m. . Lucy did a rousing dance number in the launch and everyone can't help but admire her stunning beauty in her revealing mini skirt that shows off her sexy fantastic legs. How lucky Goma really is!

'WALL-E:' CHARMING, SENSIBLE
THE newest animated work from Pixar/Disney, "Wall-E", is a wonderful sci-fi adventure story that also carries a timely message about laziness and caring for our environment. It's also a romantic comedy between two robots that's quite endearing.

Set about 700 years in the future after an apocalypse caused by pollution left our world a wasteland of trash and caused its inhabitants to abandon it, the title roler is the last robot on our planet. His name, Wall-E means Waste Allocation Load Lifter, Earth-Class. Solar powered (with voice by Ben Burtt who doesn't really speak but just grunts and beeps), he wanders around the devastated surroundings, dutifully doing his directed job of collecting trash and compacting them into tidy cubes then stacking them into skyscraping structures.

The first half hour of the film is virtually without dialogue as it's only later that human characters are introduced. This is animated filmmaking at it's most basic, with the filmmakers creating a lot of challenges for themselves to tell a wordless story and you can't help but be enthralled by the way they accomplish it.

As we move with Wall-E in the abandoned streets full of advertising for Buy N Large corporation, we're told that humans have become insatiable consumers who covered the earth with garbage and killed the environment that nurtures the planet. The Buy N Large corporation's solution to this is for them to escape to space aboard enormous ships.

Wall-E is lonely like Will Smith in "I Am Legend". He's only companion is a pesky cockroach that cannot be destroyed. For amusement, he keeps on watching clips from the musical "Hello Dolly" repeatedly when he returns to the container van that has become his home. This is why the veritable theme songs of the movie are "It Only Takes a Moment" and "Bring Out Your Sunday Clothes" that are both from "Hello Dolly". Walla-E also collects various items from toys to trinkets that he keeps in well ordered bins, material things that may have once been meaningful and important to some humans.

Wall-E's routine life gets exciting when a search robot named Eve is sent by a spaceship on our planet for research. She's more elegantly polished and more advanced than him, but he suppresses his fear of her and befriends her. Eve eventually finds out that Wall-E has inadvertently discovered the key to the renewal of our planet: a small planet. When Eve suddenly shuts down, Wall-E panics and tries to revive her. But this is not at all effective so he just tries his best to protect her, until her spaceship returns. He doesn't want to lose her so he hangs on the side of the spaceship as it zooms away into space.

They get to Axiom, a huge spaceship, and Wall-E learns what has happened to those who have chosen to leave Planet Earth. These remnants of humanity have all become fat as they haven't done anything for themselves in generations. They can't even walk and are just served by robots. Axiom's captain, a human being (Jeff Garlin), wants to return to earth but his assistant, a robot called Auto Pilot that will remind you of HAL in Kubrick's "2001 Space Odyssey", has ideas to the contrary and wants to prevent returning to earth. This leads to some hilarious misadventures in which Wall-E and Eve repeatedly get separated and then reunited.

The movie is good entertainment for the whole family that even grownups can watch and appreciate without kids in tow. It might deal with some serious issues of universal concern, but it remains very funny, particularly Wall-E's courtship of Eve. It does a great job of balancing its various elements, coupled with Pixar's expertise in visual detail that makes the movie a joy to watch. A big plus is Thomas Newman's splendid score that range from being wistfully romantic to thrillingly suspenseful. There are even chase scenes for those who want some action, involving rogue robots. A very amusing scene shows Wall-E and Eve dancing in outer space with him using a fire extinguisher to propel himself toward her.

What's amazing is that Wall-E and Eve don't have a real identifiable face and they cannot even really speak except for electronic voicing of their respective names. They are not humanized the way the vehicles in "Cars" are given human faces, but even if they remain robots all throughout, they make a great screen couple. We learn to care for them even more than we do for Christian Bale and Maggie Gyllenhaal in "Dark Knight". The digital wizards at Pixar succeed in humanizing them through small gestures and in giving us a solid story with a lot of heart in it.

Wall-E might be a robot but he has acquired human traits, like his compassion and desire for company. The movie is really about learning how to care for other people and for the ecology, which surely benefits us back in the end. Its writer-director, Andrew Stanton ("Toy Story", "Finding Nemo") has a mature and charming sensibility that makes "Wall-E" the most lovable animated film we've seen recently.

Source: People's Journal