Un-couplings

Author: Mario E. Bautista
Column: Dream Factory

ASIDE from Jolina Magdangal/Bebong Munoz and BethTamayo/Johnny Wong, two more couples are said to have broken up at the start of 2009. These are Aleck Bovick/Carlo Maceda and Assunta de Rossi/Jules Ledesma (Assunta has denied this. – Ed).

Friends of Aleck and Carlo, who have a son, were surprised about their breakup as they were just so sweet to each other at the preview of "Sisa," which Carlo co-produced and where Aleck Bovick appears as Donya Consolacion. Is it true Carlo, a former Mossimo bikini winner, got tired of Aleck’s Donya Buding figure? Aleck got fat when she was pregnant and was never able to shed off the excess pounds she got since then. "E, ano naman ang ipagrereklamo ni Carlo doon?" says one Aleck defender. "Tumaba rin naman siya at hindi na hunky."

As for Assunta and Jules, is it true got Assunta got tired of her hubby’s controlling and domineering ways as he treats her like a child? One party who can shed light on this is Assunta’s sister, Alessandra. But Alex is currently vacationing with their parents in Italy. But knowing her, we won’t be surprised if her first reaction would be: "I’ve always known it would happen."

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What is Angel Locsin’s reaction to the words of praise that Gov. Vilma Santos has heaped on her, saying she changed her son Luis Manzano for the better?

"Siempre, I’m very much flattered and honored," she says. "And also thankful kasi masarap isiping nagugustuhan ka ng isang taong nirerespeto mo nang sobra. Hindi ko nga inaasahan ‘yun but I’m really grateful to her for all the kind words."

Is it true she’s now being managed by Malou Santos of Star Cinema?

"Hindi po. Nagugulat nga ako kung bakit nasusulat na ganun. Nakakahiya kay Tita Malou at sa other stars who think si Tita Malou na ang manager ko, pero hindi talaga. Siya lang ‘yung contact namin sa ABS when I transferred here. We coordinated everything with her. But it’s still Tita Becky (Aguila) who handles all my schedules."

She still feels she made the right decision in moving to ABS-CBN. "It’s my choice na humaba-haba ang rest period ko between my projects dahil I don’t want to be overworked. That way, mas napaghahandaan ko rin nang husto ang bawat trabaho ko. I prefer it this waykasi mas napipili ko rin ang roles that I accept and I can make sure that I’ll be proud sa bawat project na gagawin ko, tulad nitong ‘Love Me Again’ na ibang-iba talaga kaysa sa anumang movie that I did before as it was shot in Bukidnon and Australia no less."

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Cherry Pie Picache played an uber-villain as the manipulative Isadora in "Iisa Pa Lamang." Now, she’s back on primetime playing an entirely different role as Marlene in "Tayong Dalawa." "Ako naman ang api-apihan dito, for a change," she says. "My mother, Gina Pareno, is a prostitute at ako, naging prostitute din. I fall in love with an American, Miguel Faustmann, and we have a son, Gerald Anderson. I didn’t know may iba pa siyang asawa, Agot Isidro, and they also have a son, Jake Cuenca. Both Gerald and Jake have the same name, David Garcia Jr., and they don’t know magkapatid sila."

ABS-CBN showed how much they respect the senior actresses who support Gerald, Jake and Kim Chiu in the show by holding a special presscon just for them. Aside from Cherry Pie, also present at the presscon were Agot, Gina (who came late for a grand entrance) and Helen Gamboa (as Agot’s rich and snooty mom).

Also in the cast are Anita Linda, Mylene Dizon, Baron Geisler, Alessandra de Rossi, Jiro Manio, Coco Martin and Spanky Manikan.

"We want to make sure that Kim, Gerald and Jake will be supported by the best award-winning performers in the business for them to be challenged to give their best," says "Tayong Dalawa" production manager Dagang Vilbar. "Even the other young actors dito like Mylene, Baron, Jiro, Coco and Alessandra, puro nanalo na ng awards."

Cherry Pie says it’s a joy working with Gina and Helen. "Si Tita Gina, nakatrabaho ko na before kaya vibes na kami. SiMs. Helen, first time ko and she’s a very gracious, pleasant lady. Very maternal kasi she takes care of all of us and brings food to the set, lalo na her great pasta with tuyo and tinapa. Masarap din kaeksena as there’s fire in her craft. ‘Yung eksena namin shown satrailer na sinampal ko siya` and she said ‘Pagbabayaran mo yan ng mahal,’ ilang na ilang ako kasi kutis porselana siya. Ewan ko nga sa ABS, kasi si Susan Roces, sinampal ko rin at si Tita Gloria Romero, binugbog ko pa. Senior sila sa’kin, so it’s really nakakailang. But always, before the take, sinasabi ko na sa kanila, pasensiya na po, trabaho lang. I’m also grateful to ABS kasi right after ‘Iisa,’ heto binigyan nila ako agad ng another good project with their hottest young love team. I’m very happy with Kim and Gerald, also Jake, kasi they have passion for their work and they really work hard. Kahit pagod sila sa magdamagang taping, no complaints. They have a good attitude and are very dedicated."

Pie won three international best actress awards this year for "Kaleldo" and "Foster Child." "I’m not a big star naman, so it’s very fulfilling for me to be recognized as an actress. Medyo embarrassed na nga ako so I said to the Lord, okay na okay na po ako sa prestige, so gusto po ngayon, cash naman. But I accept all the blessings at ninanamnam ko na lang ‘yung sarap ng pananalo ko these past two years kasi I don’t think I can do it again."

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ABS-CBN instituted some changes in its afternoon programming. "Pieta" starring Ryan Agoncillo used to be scheduled right after the noontime show, "Wowowee." It’s now being pushed upward and taking its place at around 3 p.m. is the new comedy series, "Parekoy," the story of three good friends who don’t know they’re half-brothers: John Prats, Zanjoe Marudo and Jayson Gainza.

Zanjoe says he’s very happy to be reunited with John and Jayson.

"We all got to work together in ‘Aalog-alog’ before and we really clicked," he says. "We felt sad when it ended but we’re glad to be together again in ‘Parekoy.’ Naiiba ito kasi before, ‘Aalog-alog’ was just a once a week sitcom. This one is a daily series and we have two directors to help us, Randy Santiago and Quark Henares."

So he’ll now be seen twice daily, as he’s also in Primetime Bida’s "Dyosa" opposite Anne Curtis. "Actually, bale three times na, kasi they’re also replaying ‘Super Inggo’ in the morning where I play Makisig Morales’ superhero dad. But ‘Dyosa’ naman is ending na sa third week of January."

So how was the past year for him? "Very good. Maraming magandang nangyari. Career-wise, busy talaga ako with one project after another. Tapos, I got to go to do shows in the US with the Cover Boys. It’s my first trip and it gave me the chance to visit my father and siblings na napetisyon na and who now live there. Ako kasi, over-age na kaya hindi na puedeng ipetisyon. But at least, I got the chance to visit them."

And he got officially hooked up with Mariel Rodriguez. How did they spend Christmas? "On the 24th, doon kami nag-noche buena sa kanila.On the 26th naman, isinama ko siya sa family ko. My dad is here now to spend Christmas kaya nagkakilala na sila."

What’s Mariel’s gift to him?

"A nice sports bag."

And his gift to her?

"Christmas card na may Bench gift certificates that she can use to buy her giveaways."

For 2009, he dreams of doing a serious drama on TV.

"Kahit remake ng isang magandang Koreanovela.May movie rin ako with Bong Revilla and I look forward to that kasi gusto kong makagawa ng action film."

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Allen Dizon is happy to be part of an award-winning film like "Baler," where he played the role of Lt. Col. Simon Tecson, one of the real-life officers who facilitated the surrender of the Spanish soldiers who holed themselves up inside the church in Baler. The Tecson family is from San Miguel, Bulacan and his grandchildren still live there up to now. What’s amazing is that when they showed the picture of Lt. Col. Tecson to the makers of "Baler," he really looked like Allen, so casting Allen in the role was just perfect.

Allen is really bent on making himself shine in serious roles. He has just finished a new film, "Butas" (Loophole), directed by Alejandro "Bong" Ramos, which is about the elusiveness of truth in a crime of passion. It’s a sexy movie but Allen does no undressing at all. He plays the weakling husband of the unfaithful Gwen Garci. It’s newcomer Marco Morales who did all the bold scenes along with Mercedes Cabral who did full frontal nudity in "Serbis." Marco also did full frontal nudity in "Walang Kawala," his first movie. In "Butas," he has no less than 12 revealing scenes showing his manhood.

"Tapos na ako sa paggawa ng sexy movie kaya pabayaan na lang ‘yan sa mga baguhan," says Allen. "I really want to focus on having a more serious acting career."

After "Butas," which will be shown this January pending approval of the MTRCB, Allen is doing a politically relevant film on desaparecidos and extrajudicial killings, "Dukot," written by Palanca awardee Boni Ilagan and to be directed by Joel Lamangan. It’s said to be today’s version of the late Lino Brocka’s acclaimed "Ora Pro Nobis" that was about human rights violations. Allen is also doing another significant film, "Marino," which is about the lives of seamen and the families they leave behind while they travel around the world. They’re hoping to have a tie-up with maritime schools in producing this film.

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Like what we’ve previously reported, there were more indie digital films made and shown last year than mainstream ones. Indie films tackle more serious stories and issues than mainstream flicks while mainstream movies are confined with audience-pleasing stories that center on love stories starring bankable love teams and better-known stars. So it’s not surprising that they’re the ones that are winning awards in international film festivals.

But although our choices of best films last year are indie films, we somehow feel sad for them as they don’t get the wider viewership that they deserve since they’re usually shown in only one or two theaters. Most of them are losing propositions that never recover their capital, even those that try to capture the gay market, which is already limited and is also now oversaturated with cheap gay-themed flicks.

Also, some jurors of digital film festivals, instead of helping indie filmmakers, only encourage them to be more obscure, as in the case of Cinema One where the best picture winner, "Imburnal," was never shown in commercial theaters. To begin with, it’s nearly four hours long, definitely a big turn off for moviegoers now who have such short attention spans. We ourselves are already very patient when it comes to so-called "art films," but we still were not able to stand the film’s very cumbersome funereal pacing. We’re sure all filmmakers want more viewers to get to watch their work, so they should be more considerate of the viewing habits of moviegoers when they make their movies if they want viewers to be able to sit through the entire films. Anything else will be more a case of self-indulgence.

But lovers of meaningful films should really support the ones that say something significant without being artsy obnoxious, like "Jay," "100" and "Boses." Even 2007’s "Pisay," "Still Life" and "Endo." They can tap schools where they can show their work to students and teachers who might be in a better frame of mind to support them than the general public who only wants diversion, no matter how silly. A Q&A with the writers, directors and stars of these films can also be conducted to broaden the students’ knowledge of film appreciation.

It will help also if they have a big star in the cast, like Piolo Pascual in his coming remake of "Jaguar/Manila By Night" twin bill. But this will not necessarily mean it can pull in audiences, just like in the case of Sam Milby in "Cul De Sac." We admire Sam’s interpretation of his tortured character in it, but the movie itself is another test of patience. The director, a newcomer, just doesn’t know how to make an interesting movie. To begin with, even its technical aspects are bad. The cinematography is so dark you have a hard time figuring out what’s happening on the big screen most of the time.

Source: Malaya

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