FREEHAND by Mario E. Bautista
RYAN AGONCILLO is wondering why some folks continue to spread false stories about his wife Judy Ann Santos' pregnancy. After she was rumored to have had a miscarriage some weeks ago, the latest scuttlebutt was that she failed to attend to the baby shower Sharon Cuneta is hosting for her because she was rushed to the hospital due to some bleeding. "Nakakainis pero tinatawanan na lang namin ni Juday ang ganung mga balita," says Ryan. "Ewan kung bakit ayaw nilang tumigil pero sa awa ng Diyos, my wife is okay, our baby is okay and there's nothing to worry about."
After JC De Vera, it'll be Ryan's turn to be featured in TV5's "5-Star Specials". This time, he won't be hosting but acting. They chose to do a comedy material for him as "Lady Dada". "Bagong challenge ito for me," he says. "Kasi parang roles nina Dustin Hoffman in 'Tootsie' and Robin Williams in 'Mrs. Doubtfire' ang gagawin ko," he says. "I'll disguise as a woman. Hindi bading, ha, kundi babae talaga. Also, hindi ito gaya ng stint nina Ruffa Gutierrez and JC na tapusan ang mga kuwento and they do different kinds of stories. In my case, tuloy-tuloy ang kuwento and it will run for several weeks."
They've started casting the show and they're getting Keempee de Leon as his friend. As we all know, Keempee is an expert when it comes to gay roles. For his leading lady, they want to borrow Iza Calzado from GMA-7. They're hoping GMA management will be generous enough to lend Iza to them. We talked to Iza when she saw her at GMA, she said she's now co-managed by GMA Artist Center and Noel Ferrer. Since she doesn't have a regular show with GMA, she's hoping they'll allow her to guest in TV 5 and also in a special episode of ABS-CBN's "Maalaala Mo Kaya".
**********
REGINE Velasquez laughs off the rumor that her concert series with Ogie Alcasid, Marian Rivera and Dingdong Dantes in the U.S. and Canada was a flop. "Tanungin na lang ang mga nanood at sila mismo ang magsasami na puno talaga lahat ng venues ng aming shows," she says. "We thought magtitipid ang mga kababayan natin kasi may recession but all the venues were really full packed at parang ayaw na nila kaming paalisin on stage. Kaya tinatawanan na lang namin yung mga nagkakalat na flop ang shows namin kasi sa dami pa lang ng fans nina Dingdong at Marian, hit na talaga.
Grabe ang dami ng fans nila. Maski sila mismo, they didn't expect ganun karami kaya ganado sila mag-show. Pero siempre, hindi kami nagpatalo ni Ogie sa dalawang yan. May mga kinikilig din namang fans sa amin, no? Actually, the tour did me a lot of good kasi bakasyon na rin. Hindi ako inatake ng migraine ko, siguro dahil naibang environment at mahaba ang tulog ko. Pero nilagnat ako ng konti kasi when we left, sobrang init sa Manila, tapos biglang lamig doon. But sandali lang. Ngayon, heto, balik sa taping ng 'Diva', but Ogie said hinay-hinay na lang kasi nga madali ng mapagod ang lola nyo, no?"
"Diva" is rating so well so it was extended for two more weeks in July. "Nagulat nga ako, pati Pinoys sa U.S., alam ang 'Diva' dahil sa GMA Pinoy TV. So ayan, inspired kami to do more fabulous musical numbers kasi inaabangan pala nila yung song and dance namin at alam nila kung sino-sino ng celebrities ang nag-guest sa show so far.
Nakakatuwa talaga kasi gusto rin nila ang message ng show na huwag mawawalan ng hope. Kasi si Sam, sobrang pangit niya, di ba? But never siyang nawalan ng pag-asa na gaganda rin ang buhay niya at laging positive ang outlook niya kaya maraming nakaka-relate sa kanya na hindi siya basta sumusuko. Kamukha ngayon, umiigting ang rivalry nila ni Tiffany na inaaway ako as Melody kasi nai-insecure sa'kin. E, ang galing-galing ni Glaiza de Castro as Tiffany kaya wag kayong bibitaw dahil ang gaganda talaga ng mga eksena na tarayan namin sa 'Diva'."
**********
SOMEONE WROTE that Eugene Domingo wears ridiculous getups as host of "Comedy Bar" and she's a fashion victim. "O, sikat na ko talaga kasi pati mga sinusuot ko, napapansin na," she laughs. "Tinatawanan ko lang ang ganyang comments kasi clear for me na naglalaro lang kami sa mga damit ko in 'Comedy Bar'. Hit and miss yan, e. What's important is that for each new episode, may bago akong pinapakita. At saka okay lang naman kung pagtawanan ako kasi, siempre, nagloloka-lokahan ako doon, di ba? Kung minsan nga, I show some skin, for a change. Kung minsan, binabagay ko what I wear sa kung ano ang feelings ko that day, ano ang mga kakantahin ko. So kung tingin nila, fashion victim ako, okay rin lang kasi never naman akong nag-claim na glamorous movie queen ako."
Eugene is now in a quandary. She has signed up with Unitel to do the sitcom "Inday Wanda" to be aired on TV5. But now, GMA-7 has also given her a sitcom, "JejeMom". So which one will she choose?
**********
NOY
NOY reportedly got a unanimous A from the Cinema Evaluation Board. Does that mean its members didn't notice the holes in the film? Or were they all just carried away by the fact that it's about the new president? If this film were shown before the election, it would no doubt have been branded as propaganda for Noynoy, which it is. No wonder Star Cinema, the film arm of ABS-CBN who's unabashedly pro-Noynoy, agreed to distribute this indie flick.
The story revolves on Noy (Coco Martin), a fake TV journalist who's assigned to cover the campaign of then candidate Noynoy Aquino. His boss (Vice Ganda) is mad ay Noy for the lackluster footage he takes of Noynoy. But honestly, we can't understand why they were not able to detect early on that Noy's credentials are fake. In his job interview, it could have been easily detected that he's not really a college graduate as he doesn't even know what a sound byte means and he thinks the name of Noynoy's party is Legal Party, not Liberal Party.
And what's even more confounding is that, despite all his gaffes, his boss doesn't fire him and just lets him to continue covering Noynoy. We also can't understand how a total newbie like him will be given such personal access to Noynoy. Kris Aquino even calls him on a first name basis like they've been friends for ages. This is very unlikely as we know of several much more senior broadcasters who are not on the same footing with Noy in their kind of relationship any candidate. Here, Noy is allowed to interview Noynoy up close even when he's having a make over.
Another glaring error is the fact that the footage Vice Ganda complains about as bad is actually good and very interesting, like Noynoy horsing around with Baby James and Boy Abunda dancing around while Noynoy records a rap song. The truth is no other broadcast journalist was allowed to tape those scenes in real life, so what's Vice Ganda squawking about?
Noy is made to appear as a sympathetic character since he cares so much for his illiterate mom (Cherry Pie Picache) who gets battered by his black American suitor, his crippled brother (Joem Bascom) who resorts to drug trafficking and his younger sister (Cheska Billones) who turns out to have diabetes and goes blind because of glaucoma. They live in a place that's perpetually flooded somewhere in Malabon, which has already been used before as a location by Dante Mendoza in the much more superior. "Lola". He is in love with his girlfriend (Erich Gonzales), whose generosity he exploits for him to get new clothes, but he's willing to give her up to marry someone else for the sake of his family.
Noy is not that really sympathetic as he's a user. Not only has he no qualms in using a fake diploma, he also shamelessly asks dollars from his mom's suitor and looks at the guy as someone who can help them escape from poverty. He wants to be close to Noynoy so he can use him later on if he'd win. As a matter of fact, he already asked Noynoy to give a wheelchair to his brother. What Noy fails to foresee is the violence of the drug pushers his brother is working with, ending all his dreams.
In the end, like some deus ex machina resolution, suddenly brightens up after Noynoy gets elected as president. Noy's blind sister is treated by an eye specialist and gets to see again. His disabled brother gets to work as a technician in some factory. They get a beautiful new house from some government housing project. We won't be surprised if poor people who'd get to see this film will have similar hopes for a doleout from the new government as that is what the ending of "Noy" implies.
RYAN AGONCILLO is wondering why some folks continue to spread false stories about his wife Judy Ann Santos' pregnancy. After she was rumored to have had a miscarriage some weeks ago, the latest scuttlebutt was that she failed to attend to the baby shower Sharon Cuneta is hosting for her because she was rushed to the hospital due to some bleeding. "Nakakainis pero tinatawanan na lang namin ni Juday ang ganung mga balita," says Ryan. "Ewan kung bakit ayaw nilang tumigil pero sa awa ng Diyos, my wife is okay, our baby is okay and there's nothing to worry about."
After JC De Vera, it'll be Ryan's turn to be featured in TV5's "5-Star Specials". This time, he won't be hosting but acting. They chose to do a comedy material for him as "Lady Dada". "Bagong challenge ito for me," he says. "Kasi parang roles nina Dustin Hoffman in 'Tootsie' and Robin Williams in 'Mrs. Doubtfire' ang gagawin ko," he says. "I'll disguise as a woman. Hindi bading, ha, kundi babae talaga. Also, hindi ito gaya ng stint nina Ruffa Gutierrez and JC na tapusan ang mga kuwento and they do different kinds of stories. In my case, tuloy-tuloy ang kuwento and it will run for several weeks."
They've started casting the show and they're getting Keempee de Leon as his friend. As we all know, Keempee is an expert when it comes to gay roles. For his leading lady, they want to borrow Iza Calzado from GMA-7. They're hoping GMA management will be generous enough to lend Iza to them. We talked to Iza when she saw her at GMA, she said she's now co-managed by GMA Artist Center and Noel Ferrer. Since she doesn't have a regular show with GMA, she's hoping they'll allow her to guest in TV 5 and also in a special episode of ABS-CBN's "Maalaala Mo Kaya".
**********
REGINE Velasquez laughs off the rumor that her concert series with Ogie Alcasid, Marian Rivera and Dingdong Dantes in the U.S. and Canada was a flop. "Tanungin na lang ang mga nanood at sila mismo ang magsasami na puno talaga lahat ng venues ng aming shows," she says. "We thought magtitipid ang mga kababayan natin kasi may recession but all the venues were really full packed at parang ayaw na nila kaming paalisin on stage. Kaya tinatawanan na lang namin yung mga nagkakalat na flop ang shows namin kasi sa dami pa lang ng fans nina Dingdong at Marian, hit na talaga.
Grabe ang dami ng fans nila. Maski sila mismo, they didn't expect ganun karami kaya ganado sila mag-show. Pero siempre, hindi kami nagpatalo ni Ogie sa dalawang yan. May mga kinikilig din namang fans sa amin, no? Actually, the tour did me a lot of good kasi bakasyon na rin. Hindi ako inatake ng migraine ko, siguro dahil naibang environment at mahaba ang tulog ko. Pero nilagnat ako ng konti kasi when we left, sobrang init sa Manila, tapos biglang lamig doon. But sandali lang. Ngayon, heto, balik sa taping ng 'Diva', but Ogie said hinay-hinay na lang kasi nga madali ng mapagod ang lola nyo, no?"
"Diva" is rating so well so it was extended for two more weeks in July. "Nagulat nga ako, pati Pinoys sa U.S., alam ang 'Diva' dahil sa GMA Pinoy TV. So ayan, inspired kami to do more fabulous musical numbers kasi inaabangan pala nila yung song and dance namin at alam nila kung sino-sino ng celebrities ang nag-guest sa show so far.
Nakakatuwa talaga kasi gusto rin nila ang message ng show na huwag mawawalan ng hope. Kasi si Sam, sobrang pangit niya, di ba? But never siyang nawalan ng pag-asa na gaganda rin ang buhay niya at laging positive ang outlook niya kaya maraming nakaka-relate sa kanya na hindi siya basta sumusuko. Kamukha ngayon, umiigting ang rivalry nila ni Tiffany na inaaway ako as Melody kasi nai-insecure sa'kin. E, ang galing-galing ni Glaiza de Castro as Tiffany kaya wag kayong bibitaw dahil ang gaganda talaga ng mga eksena na tarayan namin sa 'Diva'."
**********
SOMEONE WROTE that Eugene Domingo wears ridiculous getups as host of "Comedy Bar" and she's a fashion victim. "O, sikat na ko talaga kasi pati mga sinusuot ko, napapansin na," she laughs. "Tinatawanan ko lang ang ganyang comments kasi clear for me na naglalaro lang kami sa mga damit ko in 'Comedy Bar'. Hit and miss yan, e. What's important is that for each new episode, may bago akong pinapakita. At saka okay lang naman kung pagtawanan ako kasi, siempre, nagloloka-lokahan ako doon, di ba? Kung minsan nga, I show some skin, for a change. Kung minsan, binabagay ko what I wear sa kung ano ang feelings ko that day, ano ang mga kakantahin ko. So kung tingin nila, fashion victim ako, okay rin lang kasi never naman akong nag-claim na glamorous movie queen ako."
Eugene is now in a quandary. She has signed up with Unitel to do the sitcom "Inday Wanda" to be aired on TV5. But now, GMA-7 has also given her a sitcom, "JejeMom". So which one will she choose?
**********
NOY
NOY reportedly got a unanimous A from the Cinema Evaluation Board. Does that mean its members didn't notice the holes in the film? Or were they all just carried away by the fact that it's about the new president? If this film were shown before the election, it would no doubt have been branded as propaganda for Noynoy, which it is. No wonder Star Cinema, the film arm of ABS-CBN who's unabashedly pro-Noynoy, agreed to distribute this indie flick.
The story revolves on Noy (Coco Martin), a fake TV journalist who's assigned to cover the campaign of then candidate Noynoy Aquino. His boss (Vice Ganda) is mad ay Noy for the lackluster footage he takes of Noynoy. But honestly, we can't understand why they were not able to detect early on that Noy's credentials are fake. In his job interview, it could have been easily detected that he's not really a college graduate as he doesn't even know what a sound byte means and he thinks the name of Noynoy's party is Legal Party, not Liberal Party.
And what's even more confounding is that, despite all his gaffes, his boss doesn't fire him and just lets him to continue covering Noynoy. We also can't understand how a total newbie like him will be given such personal access to Noynoy. Kris Aquino even calls him on a first name basis like they've been friends for ages. This is very unlikely as we know of several much more senior broadcasters who are not on the same footing with Noy in their kind of relationship any candidate. Here, Noy is allowed to interview Noynoy up close even when he's having a make over.
Another glaring error is the fact that the footage Vice Ganda complains about as bad is actually good and very interesting, like Noynoy horsing around with Baby James and Boy Abunda dancing around while Noynoy records a rap song. The truth is no other broadcast journalist was allowed to tape those scenes in real life, so what's Vice Ganda squawking about?
Noy is made to appear as a sympathetic character since he cares so much for his illiterate mom (Cherry Pie Picache) who gets battered by his black American suitor, his crippled brother (Joem Bascom) who resorts to drug trafficking and his younger sister (Cheska Billones) who turns out to have diabetes and goes blind because of glaucoma. They live in a place that's perpetually flooded somewhere in Malabon, which has already been used before as a location by Dante Mendoza in the much more superior. "Lola". He is in love with his girlfriend (Erich Gonzales), whose generosity he exploits for him to get new clothes, but he's willing to give her up to marry someone else for the sake of his family.
Noy is not that really sympathetic as he's a user. Not only has he no qualms in using a fake diploma, he also shamelessly asks dollars from his mom's suitor and looks at the guy as someone who can help them escape from poverty. He wants to be close to Noynoy so he can use him later on if he'd win. As a matter of fact, he already asked Noynoy to give a wheelchair to his brother. What Noy fails to foresee is the violence of the drug pushers his brother is working with, ending all his dreams.
In the end, like some deus ex machina resolution, suddenly brightens up after Noynoy gets elected as president. Noy's blind sister is treated by an eye specialist and gets to see again. His disabled brother gets to work as a technician in some factory. They get a beautiful new house from some government housing project. We won't be surprised if poor people who'd get to see this film will have similar hopes for a doleout from the new government as that is what the ending of "Noy" implies.
