DIRECTOR JOEL LAMANGAN has nothing but praises for the members of his cast in the fun movie “That Thing Called Tanga Na” led by Eric Quizon, Billy Crawford, Martin Escudero, Kean Cipriano and Angeline Quinto. This is his fifth movie about friendship and relationship between gays and the people around them after “Pusong Mamon”, “So Happy Together” and “Manay Po 1 and 2”.
“Maganda yung script ni Sennedy Que for ‘That Thing Called Tanga Na’ and viewers of all genders will surely enjoy it,” says Direk Joel. “Si Eric, who also starred in ‘Pusong Mamon’ and ‘So Happy Together’, is a rich lawyer and businessman, si Rafael Chu, and he’s called by everyone as Papa Chu for short. May asawa siya, pero hiwalay na, at may anak sila. Ang toyboy niya is Albie Casino and he gets mad when he finds out Albie is having an affair with a gay talent manager na hindi naman kagandahan, si Jerald Napoles. Si Billy Crawford is a macho looking security guard sa building ni Eric. Closeta siya but he has a live in lover, si Paolo Gumabao. Na-out siya when Paolo dies and his mom, Vangie Labalan, wants to get from Billy everything na naipundar nila while they’re living together. Si Kean is a fashion designer with a long time boyfriend, a male model, si Ken Alfonso. He has made a wedding gown for himself which he plans to wear when they have a same sex marriage, but it turns out Ken plans to marry his girlfriend, Korean actress Shine Ku, so broken hearted siya. Si Martin ang crossdresser sa kanila as Georgette, the only one with a happy love life. Parlorista siya whose lover is Luke Conde, na married kay Nikki Valdez. Nakipaghiwalay si Luke kay Nikki pero naging friends silang lahat and Nikki helps Martin and Luke to get something that will complete their life and relationship. The only girl in their group is Angeline Quinto as Shirley, the secretary of Eric who's also an events specialist and trying hard singer. She’s married to Timothy Yap and she suspects may babae ito, without knowing na inaahas pala ito from her ng best friend niya mismo, si Kean Cipiriano.”
He has worked with Eric and Martin before, but it’s his first time to work with Angeline, Billy and Kean. So how is it? “Magagaling sila lahat. Angeline surprised me. Akala ko hindi marunong but she turned out to be a good actress who has good comic timing and is willing to learn. Si Kean naman is a dedicated actor, very effective in his interpretation of his gay role. As for Billy, kahit lalaking-lalaki siya, wala siyang hangups in the scenes na nag-out siya at nagpakabakla na. The movie is a sure winner kasi ang daming hugot lines na makaka-relate ang audience and the hilarious scenes come one after another. Meron din kaming actual interviews with real life couples who had same sex marriage, like Directors Jun Lana and Perci Intalan at sina Aiza Seguerra and Liza Dino. This will open in theaters on August 10 and you can watch the full trailer on Youtube and on our Facebook page.”Direk Joel remains to be one of our busiest filmmakers today. His new dramas “Tomodachi” and “Sekyu” just won awards in film festivals abroad. He has also completed a sex drama, "Siphayo", launching Natalie Hart with Joem Bascon and Luis Alanday. He’s now also shooting a different kind of romcom, “Never Been Kissed, Never Been Touched”, starring Angeline Quinto & Jake Cuenca, with Tommy Esguerra and Miho Nishida of Pinoy Big Brother.
