FREEHAND by Mario E. Bautista
OGIE ALCASID was grilled in Behind the Wall of Showbiz Central last Sunday to promote “Hole in the Wall”. The first secret informant’s question is: May konting tension ba sa inyo ni Janno Gibbs kahit long time friends na kayo? “Sexual tension siguro,” he jokes. “Rivals kami noon pero wala yun. Small brother nga ang turing ko dyan.” Anong meron sa’yo that attracts girls like former Ms. Australia and Asia’s Songbird? “Siguro kasi mabait ako. Hindi naman ako kaguwapuhan at katangkaran. Siguro I’ve been blessed with a lot of other things.” Hindi ka ba nasasaktan o napipikon when Regine Velasquez has kissing scenes with her leading men like TJ Trinidad in “Diva”? “Naiinggit ako, kasi gusto ko ring halikan si TJ. Regine has this uncanny ability that when she kisses a guy, you’d think feel na feel niya talaga yun. It’s a great performance. But when I met her, trabaho na niya yan, kaya I’m just so proud of her because of the success of ‘Diva’.” Ogie was not able to guess who the three informants are: his discoverer Arsi Baltazar of GMA Artist Center, his nephew who was not introduced on air, and Regine herself who he mistook for a gay. “Bading pala ko, huh,” Regine chides him.
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ALLEN DIZON started as a sexy actor but he has since earned respectability with his acclaimed and award-winning performances in “Twilight Dancers”, “Paupahan” and last year’s “Dukot” that has won plaudits in various filmfests abroad and continues to be invited for screening in various countries. In the Cinemalaya Filmfest that starts at the CCP tomorrow, he has two entries: Joel Lamangan’s “Sigwa” (to be shown tomorrow night) and Jay Altarejos’ “Pink Halo-Halo”. We’ve seen “Sigwa” and he really gives a masterful portrayal as a political activist who turns out to have a deep dark secret that causes the rift between him and the woman he loves, Megan Young. The scene where he asks for forgiveness makes his performance truly “markado”. We’re watching “Pink Halo-Halo” this Sunday at 6PM at CCP. Allan says he has another demanding role in it. “I play a soldier, Capt. Lino Bolante, who fights in the war in Mindanao,” he says. “I get severely wounded and as I bleed, I was shown on TV while waiting for rescue. My son, Paolo Constantino, and my wife, Angeli Bayani, see this on air. The film shows that even if the war is in far away Mindanao, it’s something that we Filipinos confront every day. The incident also robs my son of his innocence. I was able to identify with my role as my own dad was killed when I was only 12 years old. I remembered our last bonding moments before he died kaya napaiyak ako sa mga eksena ko in ‘Pink Halo-Halo’. Totoo yung mga luha ko roon and even the crew members around me were so touched at napaiyak din sila.”
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ONE OF THE entries in the Cinemalaya Filmfest is “Magkakapatid” by new director Kim Homer Garcia, a graduate of the International Academy of Film and TV who teaches film at Batangas State University. It’s the story of three siblings who drift apart but are reunited by a tragedy. This is based on an unusual murder case in a remote area in San Pascual, Batangas where a brother kills his own brother. “I researched on it and learned that on the day of the murder, a funeral and a wedding also took place,” says Kim. “From the stories I gathered, I was able to weave a story of a complex relationship connecting the murder, the funeral and the wedding, then I fictionalized it in ‘Magkakapatid’. The funeral is for the husband of Raquel Villavicencio who’s the eldest brother of Ces Quesada and Julio Diaz. Raquel buried her husband right away as he has a mistress and she doesn’t want the mistress to attend the funeral. Banaue Miclat is Raquel’s daughter who arrives from abroad na nalibing na ang ama niya, kaya galit siya sa ina niya. Ces has two sons, Nico Antonio and Jerald Napoles. Nico has a dual personality as Carlos and Caloy. He murders his own brother nang mag-away sila dahil sa ulam. Julio is the barangay captain with two daughters, Mercedes Cabral and Kathlyn Castillo. Si Kathlyn ang kinasal that day. I feel so lucky that the whole cast is cooperative kahit ang layo ng location namin, I’m a neophyte director and it’s the middle of summer when we shot this kaya sobrang init. I’m very proud of their performances dahil lahat sila magaling.” “Magkakapatid” will be shown on Sunday at 3:30 PM at the CCP Little Theatre.
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AFTER THE political drama “Sigwa”, Direk Joel Lamangan returns to gay films in “Lihis” and he’s casting it now. It’ll be recalled that he megged hit gay themed flicks like “Walang Kawala” and “Heavenly Touch”. He’s glad that after a long, long while, he has no entry in the Metro filmfest this December. “Kaya I intend to take a long vacation and spend Christmas with my relatives abroad,” he says.
But he’s still busy directing “Basahang Ginto” on TV. “We’re all so happy that our ratings continue to go up. I should credit my cast dahil mahusay silang lahat, lalo na sina Carla Abellana as Orang and Geoff Eigenmann as Danny. This week, Orang allows Danny to use her in his efforts na pagselosin ang girlfriend na si Sylvia, played by Vaness del Moral. She’ll be enrolled in a finishing school at doon babaguhin ang kanyang kilos, pagsasalita and the way she carries herself para maging sosyal na sosyal siya. Then she’ll be introduced as Laura Leyva in a big big party where everyone will admire her. Sa sobrang galit ni Sylvia kay Orang, she sets her gown on fire. Orang gets back at her, sinapok siya sa mukha at knocked out siya.”
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TV5’S PAPARAZZI had a phone interview with James Yap’s mother who lives in Escalante, Negros. She said she pities Baby James for the separation of his parents but she’s praying that the relationship can still be saved. With James declaring in his statement that he will do everything to reconcile with Kris, it’s now Kris herself who appears as the villain in what’s happening to them as she’s the one who firmly stated on TV that her decision is final and there will be no more “balikan”. She now tries to counter the stories that are starting to come out saying there’s really a third party involved and it’s not James who has a paramour but her. She says this is just a move of her detractors who even plan to link her to Coco Martin, her co-star in “Kung Tayo’y Magkakalayo”. She insists she’s faithful to James the whole time they were together.
OGIE ALCASID was grilled in Behind the Wall of Showbiz Central last Sunday to promote “Hole in the Wall”. The first secret informant’s question is: May konting tension ba sa inyo ni Janno Gibbs kahit long time friends na kayo? “Sexual tension siguro,” he jokes. “Rivals kami noon pero wala yun. Small brother nga ang turing ko dyan.” Anong meron sa’yo that attracts girls like former Ms. Australia and Asia’s Songbird? “Siguro kasi mabait ako. Hindi naman ako kaguwapuhan at katangkaran. Siguro I’ve been blessed with a lot of other things.” Hindi ka ba nasasaktan o napipikon when Regine Velasquez has kissing scenes with her leading men like TJ Trinidad in “Diva”? “Naiinggit ako, kasi gusto ko ring halikan si TJ. Regine has this uncanny ability that when she kisses a guy, you’d think feel na feel niya talaga yun. It’s a great performance. But when I met her, trabaho na niya yan, kaya I’m just so proud of her because of the success of ‘Diva’.” Ogie was not able to guess who the three informants are: his discoverer Arsi Baltazar of GMA Artist Center, his nephew who was not introduced on air, and Regine herself who he mistook for a gay. “Bading pala ko, huh,” Regine chides him.
**********
ALLEN DIZON started as a sexy actor but he has since earned respectability with his acclaimed and award-winning performances in “Twilight Dancers”, “Paupahan” and last year’s “Dukot” that has won plaudits in various filmfests abroad and continues to be invited for screening in various countries. In the Cinemalaya Filmfest that starts at the CCP tomorrow, he has two entries: Joel Lamangan’s “Sigwa” (to be shown tomorrow night) and Jay Altarejos’ “Pink Halo-Halo”. We’ve seen “Sigwa” and he really gives a masterful portrayal as a political activist who turns out to have a deep dark secret that causes the rift between him and the woman he loves, Megan Young. The scene where he asks for forgiveness makes his performance truly “markado”. We’re watching “Pink Halo-Halo” this Sunday at 6PM at CCP. Allan says he has another demanding role in it. “I play a soldier, Capt. Lino Bolante, who fights in the war in Mindanao,” he says. “I get severely wounded and as I bleed, I was shown on TV while waiting for rescue. My son, Paolo Constantino, and my wife, Angeli Bayani, see this on air. The film shows that even if the war is in far away Mindanao, it’s something that we Filipinos confront every day. The incident also robs my son of his innocence. I was able to identify with my role as my own dad was killed when I was only 12 years old. I remembered our last bonding moments before he died kaya napaiyak ako sa mga eksena ko in ‘Pink Halo-Halo’. Totoo yung mga luha ko roon and even the crew members around me were so touched at napaiyak din sila.”
**********
ONE OF THE entries in the Cinemalaya Filmfest is “Magkakapatid” by new director Kim Homer Garcia, a graduate of the International Academy of Film and TV who teaches film at Batangas State University. It’s the story of three siblings who drift apart but are reunited by a tragedy. This is based on an unusual murder case in a remote area in San Pascual, Batangas where a brother kills his own brother. “I researched on it and learned that on the day of the murder, a funeral and a wedding also took place,” says Kim. “From the stories I gathered, I was able to weave a story of a complex relationship connecting the murder, the funeral and the wedding, then I fictionalized it in ‘Magkakapatid’. The funeral is for the husband of Raquel Villavicencio who’s the eldest brother of Ces Quesada and Julio Diaz. Raquel buried her husband right away as he has a mistress and she doesn’t want the mistress to attend the funeral. Banaue Miclat is Raquel’s daughter who arrives from abroad na nalibing na ang ama niya, kaya galit siya sa ina niya. Ces has two sons, Nico Antonio and Jerald Napoles. Nico has a dual personality as Carlos and Caloy. He murders his own brother nang mag-away sila dahil sa ulam. Julio is the barangay captain with two daughters, Mercedes Cabral and Kathlyn Castillo. Si Kathlyn ang kinasal that day. I feel so lucky that the whole cast is cooperative kahit ang layo ng location namin, I’m a neophyte director and it’s the middle of summer when we shot this kaya sobrang init. I’m very proud of their performances dahil lahat sila magaling.” “Magkakapatid” will be shown on Sunday at 3:30 PM at the CCP Little Theatre.
**********
AFTER THE political drama “Sigwa”, Direk Joel Lamangan returns to gay films in “Lihis” and he’s casting it now. It’ll be recalled that he megged hit gay themed flicks like “Walang Kawala” and “Heavenly Touch”. He’s glad that after a long, long while, he has no entry in the Metro filmfest this December. “Kaya I intend to take a long vacation and spend Christmas with my relatives abroad,” he says.
But he’s still busy directing “Basahang Ginto” on TV. “We’re all so happy that our ratings continue to go up. I should credit my cast dahil mahusay silang lahat, lalo na sina Carla Abellana as Orang and Geoff Eigenmann as Danny. This week, Orang allows Danny to use her in his efforts na pagselosin ang girlfriend na si Sylvia, played by Vaness del Moral. She’ll be enrolled in a finishing school at doon babaguhin ang kanyang kilos, pagsasalita and the way she carries herself para maging sosyal na sosyal siya. Then she’ll be introduced as Laura Leyva in a big big party where everyone will admire her. Sa sobrang galit ni Sylvia kay Orang, she sets her gown on fire. Orang gets back at her, sinapok siya sa mukha at knocked out siya.”
**********
TV5’S PAPARAZZI had a phone interview with James Yap’s mother who lives in Escalante, Negros. She said she pities Baby James for the separation of his parents but she’s praying that the relationship can still be saved. With James declaring in his statement that he will do everything to reconcile with Kris, it’s now Kris herself who appears as the villain in what’s happening to them as she’s the one who firmly stated on TV that her decision is final and there will be no more “balikan”. She now tries to counter the stories that are starting to come out saying there’s really a third party involved and it’s not James who has a paramour but her. She says this is just a move of her detractors who even plan to link her to Coco Martin, her co-star in “Kung Tayo’y Magkakalayo”. She insists she’s faithful to James the whole time they were together.
