Best Tagalog Movie For Summer '08

When commitment starts, does the passion end?

Such is the premise of the latest Aga Muhlach-Anne Curtis starrer, "When Love Begins", written and directed by my favorite Director Joey Reyes. If it's a Joey Reyes movie you can be assured of great chemistry between the lead stars, and crisp, witty and memorable dialogue. Sa trailer pa nga lang, makikita mo na :)

And oh my, the theme song - "One Hello" by Randy Crawford sent me reeling down memory lane. A huge hit in 1982 when I was fresh out of high school and in love for the very first time. O diba, when love begins...

And how time flies, the year after "One Hello" became a hit, a young mestizo was creating aves of his own and zoomed to stardom by way of a hit, youth movie called "Bagets". Guess who?

What grabbed my attention from the films stills and trailer was the VERY fit and hot Aga Muhlach who only a year and a half ago was admittedly a blob. Look at him now! Naku, super vindication! I was telling my friend Girlie Rodis when I saw a photo of Aga and Anne on her site -- "Pabata ng pabata ang mga leading lady ni Aga". But hey, the man can carry it off! Super! He doesn't look like a day over 25. Seriously. I would love to see a Gabby Concepcion-Aga Muhlach-Edu Manzano starrer. Box office hit sigurado. Ageless men who have it all.

View the trailer below to see why "When Love Begins" is looking to be truly, the must-see Tagalog movie of the summer. Hardly anyone makes decent Tagalog films nowadays, we al need to go out and support a dying industry everytime it produces a good one. See you at the movies!

"The Bucket List" Is A Must-See Movie

"There are two questions to be asked of you when you get to heaven's gates -- first, have you found your joy? And second, has your life brought joy to someone else's?"
-- Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman) to Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson)

I don't usually make movie endorsements but this one I could not pass up.

Lat night, H and I caught the first-day screening of "The Bucket List" at the Powerplant Cinemas. Oh my gosh. It's such a beautiful, beautiful movie that I've been recommending it to friends since I got out of the movie thater last night. The dialogue is fast and witty, the acting is terrific (hey, it's Freeman and Nicholson), the story is one that will warm your heart and get you to think about your own life.

It's a movie that will probably appeal to the 40plus something age group or even to younger people who have gone through life-changing experiences. You have to be at a certain point in your life, to have gone through something life-altering, to fully appreciate the message of this warm-hearted film directed by Academy Award winning director Rob Reiner.

Edward Cole is a corporate billionaire and Carter Chambers is a middle class mechanic. They have nothing in common except for a shared experience with cancer that is terminal. While sharing a hospital room together, Carter decides to draw up a Bucket List -- things to do before you die or "kick the bucket". After learning that he only has 6 months to live, he decides to abandon the idea. His romm mate, the ever cynical Cole, convinces him that they should go ahead and set out to do the things they have always wanted to do. In the process, both of them heal each other, become unlikely friends, and ultimately find the joy in life.

Try to catch this movie, and pardon the pun, but make sure to bring a bucket for your tears. You have to be made of stone not to weep, even a bit.

PISAY Bags Cinemalaya Awards

Congratulations Aureaus! See, I told you so.

"PISAY", a coming-of age story about eight students at the premiere science high school - Philippine Science H.S. (PSHS) bagged the Audience Choice award, the best production design award and Best Director award at the Cinemalaya awarding ceremonies last Sunday, July 29 as reported in the PDI online edition this evening.


The night before, H and I were at an appreciation dinner given by the PSHS Foundation for Aureaus and some select donors who had thrown their full support to the foundation. The movie is one that opens your eyes to what life is like at PISAY. I had always been curious about how it was to be a student at the top high school in Manila. Hindi dahil sa inambisyon ko ever na makapasok dito sa high school na ito but more because my life has been touched very deeply by two very special people who went to this high school. One of whom I am married to and the other... Well, you will have to know my romantic history to understand what I am talking about:) At the end of the party that evening, I took Aureaus aside and requested a trustee from the foundation to take a picture of us. A huge fan of the movie, I had told him, "Kailangan may picture tayo para pag nanalo ka sa Sunday, maibo-blog ko na kaagad." So Direk A, this one is for you!

The film had me in tears - thrice. It made me understand better the pressures that very bright students go through. It's very hard to be bright and to compete against the very best. Ibang klase ang pressure. The movie is a true to life account of eight high school students coming from various backgrounds. Solito, whose story is one of the eight, culled the material from the lives of seven other classmates who graduated from PISAY in 1986. In fact, the ill-fated young lovers in the story were at the movie premiere. I wonder how that feels like - to watch your teen-age life unfold on the big screen? I could fully relate to the period of the movie that covers the years 1982 - 1986. Those were the exact years that I was in college at the Ateneo - an exciting period in Philippine history that began with the death of Ninoy Aquino and culiminated with the EDSA revolution.

PISAY is an excellent example of ensemble acting where the actors completely inhibited their characters. Solito has a gift for drawing out the best from his performers who are mostly newcomers. I loved the character of Mateo. His story really stood out. The production design was excellent! I couldn't help but reminisce when there were scenes showing the students dancing at a party, garbed in, of course, very 80s clothes. In fact, I had an outfit that was very similar to what one of the leads was wearing! P, who was with H and I at the premiere was cringing at the clothes. Sabi ko, "Hoy, yan ang uso noon!" Admittedly though, PISAY-ers apparently have their own "language" - most of which I could not relate to. The dialogue though was exacellent and there are many touching scenes that will tug at your heart. Kuwento ng mga matatalino pero punong-puno ng puso.

PISAY is an example of a youth oriented film with heart and substance. Hindi yung puro lang kalokohan or kababawan ang mapapanood mo. It's a film that should be viewed by both parents, teachers and students - irregardless of whether you have a PISAY connection in your life or not.
Try to catch this wonderful, well-crafted, heartwarming film (see, and I'm not even from PISAY!) when it shows again at The Block on August 24 and 25. Call the Philippine Science High School Foundation for more information.

Faith and Dreams Come True at the Oscars

Marty finally got it!

After being nominated countless times throughout his illustrious career, brilliant film director Martin Scorsese finally bagged the elusive Oscar for Best Director ath the 79th Oscar Awards ceremony this evening in Los Angeles. To make the win even more complete and precious, the movie for which he won the Best Director award - "The Departed" bagged the Best Picure award as well. Sweet victory has finally come for one of Hollywood's most illustrious filmmakers.

It was a night of dreams fulfilled and a ceremony that reminded the viewers of the power of hope and faith. Actress Jennifer Hudson gave credit to God when she said, "Look at what God can do!" and spoke of her grandmother who was her inspiration and the one who pushed her to pursue her childhood dreams. Best Actor winner Forest Whitaker also thanked God profusely and spoke of the times when as a young man he had dreamt of this moment. Alan Arkin, my bet for Best Supporting Actor for "Little Miss Sunshine" was gracious in saying that "acting is always a team effort" and how through the public's acceptance of their small independent film, speaks so openly of " the possibility of innocence, growth and connection," said Arkin, who plays a foul-mouthed grandpa with ataste for heroin in the road comedy. And truly, the best films are those that come out of real life as evidenced by screenwriter Arndt's win for "Little Miss Sunshine" he said in his acceptance speech - "When I was a kid, my family drove 600 miles in a VW bus with a broken clutch," Arndt said, describing a road trip that mirrored the one in the film. "It ended up being one of the funnest things we did together." Truly, the themes of love, faith and family resonated throughout the winner's speeches at the Oscars this evening.

Watching the annual awards presentation is a main event for me each year. For the last several years my friend R and I have a running bet on the top six categories - picture, director and all four acting awards. It was both an interesting and tough selection this year. Though he went with all the front runners, I opted (as usual) to vote differently and ended up with 3 wins (director, supporting actor and acress) versus his 5. To be honest, I really wanted Peter O'Toole to finally get an Oscar in the same manner that Scorses did. With probably only a few more years left, O'Toole, a really great Bristish actor deserves to get an Oscar. Maybe one British win this year was enough. Helen Mirren was really remarkable as Queen Elizabeth - she completely inhabited her role. My bet for Best Picture was a toss between "The Departed" which is really such a GREAT film and "Letters from Iwo-Jima" I decided to go with the war movie but I guess in it's present state, America just wanted to veer away from war movies or the thought of war. Film really mirrors life and the choices this year were an excellent representation of that. And talk about being global! Tonight's Oscar awards was simply that - a coming together of the world's greatest filmmakers, actors, actresses and technicians for the mother of all award ceremonies. Lots of really great films to look out for on DVD and movie theatres in the coming months. Oh if our own Philippine movie industry could only be a part of that growing global industry...