By some circumstance, all the three Filipino full-length films in Cannes 2009 are directed by men (Raya Martin, Adolf Alix Jr., Brillante Mendoza) and had men as lead actors (Piolo Pascual, Sid Lucero, Coco Martin). Here’s a director and muse update, if you may.

Howard Feinstein of ScreenDaily.com noted that Martin, “only 24 (years old)… is heavily, and admirably, committed to… the appropriation of indigenous Filipino history after… colonization; and the laying bare of cinematic illusion.”

Alissa Simon of Variety posted a review of “Manila,” a twin-bill tribute to Lino Brocka’s “Jaguar” and Ishmael Bernal’s “Manila By Night” co-produced and top-billed by actor Piolo Pascual, who attended the Cannes film fest.

Simon called it an “experimental two-parter from leading indie helmers that makes one yearn to see the originals.”

She commented that the “evocatively shot” film has “youthful energy aplenty and a great jazz-pop soundtrack.”

Brillante Mendoza was just awarded Best Director whose Kinatay competed in the Un Certain Regard category against the films of Quentin Tarantino, Lars von Trier, and Pedro Almodovar.

Influential film critic Roger Ebert was recently quoted saying,

It is Mendoza’s conceit that his idea will make a statement, or evoke a sensation, or demonstrate something—only if he makes the rest of the film (apparently, Ebert found the first half passable) as unpleasant to the eyes, ears, the mind and the story itself as possible. This he succeeds in doing beyond his wildest dreams.

The jury disagreed.

Reviews via inquirer.net; Photos via zimbio.com, celebrities.premiere.com, and festival-cannes.canalplus.fr

We’ve had this millionaire fever before, and it has given birth to Bb. joyce Bernal’s Mahal Kita, Final Answer a few years ago. But back then, it was typecastedly hosted by Best “Poker Face” Actor Christopher De Leon. Far from the tradition of Banker in Deal or No Deal and Edu Manzano in The Weakest Link, TV-5 casted Bossing Vic Sotto as the new Pinoy host of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? It’s apparently feeding from the recent Slumdog Millionaire craze, but could it be a hit again? The host in the movie, after all, was one of the bad guys. He gave Jamal a wrong answer and sent the slumdog boy to the police for violent interrogation. So yeah, the new host has to be somebody people trust. Well, good luck to Bossing Vic. If anyone, despite your age, you’re kinda channeling Dev Patel while wearing that suit. Plus it’s now 2 million for the jackpot, and guess who’s one of the guest celebrities in the first episodes–Manilyn Reynes of course!

Some time ago, a couple of REALLY enthusiastic Manilyn Reynes fans got adrenaline hyped after a mention of the “Sayang na Sayang” singer and Shake, Rattle, and Roll actress. vince de la fuente went:

sorry guys!!! bastat 80’s and 90’s ang pinaguusapan c MS.MANILYN REYNES ang QUEEN dyan!!! during that time she’s LARGER than LIFE to name some of her achievements araneta closiseum to the bigdome, ultra napuno nya yan!!! tru her concerts!!! sino ang nakagawa nyan??? wala even sheryl cruz or vina morales!!! and film who’s the ultimate “HORROR QUEEN”??? or course ate MANE ulit!!!MANILYN REYNES rules until now!!! grabe maski CHEESY ROLES ang nagagawa nya ngaun!!! eto pansin na pansin pa din sya ng gma critics MANE bounced back to her THRONE kaya tumabi na eto na ang tunay na reyna “THE STAR OF ALL YHE DECADE ms. MANILYN REYNES hey watch moms over qtv 11 she’s also good in HOSTING galing tlaga!!!

And a little later, duanne added:

Amen to that vince!!!ATE mane will definitely a SUPERSTAR jn her generation walang inaway na tao yan sa showbiz!!! bagkus sya pa ang inaapakan!!! i know noon daw sabi ng mga aunt ko marami daw inggit dyan!!! the likes of ruffa g.,vina,lotlot,sheryl,tina and may of her contemporary!!!mane chose to shut up!!! alam mo na palakasan ng managers and bilihan ng awards!!!until now ATE MANE will definitely love by the people!!! ung iba daw kasing fans silent axpectators na lang!!! kaya dun sa nag promise sa site na ito, please lang paki feature c ate mane!!! for my aunts,and other MANILYNIANS!!! thanks!!!

So what can I do, right? I guess these two deserve A Manilyn Reynes Post. Well, Moms is sadly over, and aside from being married to Aljon Jimenez (pictured above), I don’t really know what else can be said about Mane. If you’re reading this, vince and duanne, I recommend this short essay about her in a book called Si Richard Gomez at ang Mito ng Pagkalalake, Si Sharon Cuneta at ang Petpetwal na Birhen or something like that. Otherwise, I did a little research in her Friendster account and found out she’s currently obsessed with fishing.

And I mean really obsessed.

There. But if I may indulge you, how bout some fun time browsing her old pictures?

With Moms co-hosts Lani Mercado (with the biggest LV) and Sherilyn Reyes.

She tended to be in trios, no? And one of them has to be named something like Sheryl.

Wasn’t she the cutest?

And didn’t she make the awesomest casette tape album covers?

I think you contact her through this Shake, Rattle, and Roll card if you want to book her. vince and duanne, I see a cellphone number!

You probably thought, how could Manny Pacquiao lose when giants are backing him up?

But not everybody saw that coming.

Some Hollywood stars probably did though, like Denzel Washington,…

…and Mark Wahlberg.

Coz somebody obviously needed some energy drink, and somebody was roaring wild.

As Aling Dionisia did, we know where the fight usually ends [Image was removed due to request of photographer].

Sean Combs Puff Daddy Diddy P. Diddy was looking out…

(Now that’s a fuckin knockout!!!!! Damn!!!!)

…like Jay-Z…

…and Mariah Carey, who once called Regine Velasquez a monkey but married that guy beside her.

Unbelievable.

So we forget for a moment that the guy’s a terrible actor and singer, that once he was a gardener, a construction worker, that he sold donuts and iced (not Vit) water,

and that he’ll always be his Mama’s boy.

The thing is, he really can’t punch Hatton pango like some Pinoys…

…although yeah, he looks a bit like Redford White…

…and kneels the other way.

While some are asking for the next fight,…

…some are just busy rejoicing (spotted: Marvin Aguistin, Rene Requiestas/Sammy Lagmay, Manny, and Chavit Singson).

Well, Manny, he’s just doing his jab.

We’re not quite sure she is.

But we’re sure today was one box office hit.

And while we need some of this first to knock out our hunger,

some are just glad for a pic. Thanks, Manny. You made our day.

I actually kinda like both Raya Martin and Adolf Alix, Jr., but the ambition of this collaboration terrifies me. First, I doubt follow ups (like the Eraserheads reunion concerts), and it’s not just the title and imagery that scream Manila by Night but the outright indication in this poster–”Base sa mga Tauhang Likha nina ISHMAEL BERNAL, RICARDO LEE, JOSE LACABA” (at least they’re not hiding an obvious thing).

Second, the Piolo Pascual casting smells fishy to me. This means a huge nod from ABS-CBN, and I don’t think they give their most bankable actor for nothing. Nevermind that he was as awkward as a fresh Star Circle inductee in Milan, but his presence says the giant network has actually welcomed its bastard child named Indie back into the master’s house. If this happens more, it shouldn’t be too hard for Dos to actually encroach into indie productions and mess them up for commercial purposes before they are released under Star Cinema.

Three, all these are masked with a ginormous slew of award-winning but kind-of-alternative cast including Rosanna Roces (Aurora), Jay Manalo (Aishite Imasu), Alessandra de Rossi (Mga Munting Tinig), Baron Geisler (Jay), Anita Linda (Adela), Iza Calzado (The Echo), Jiro Manio (Magnifico), and Katherine Luna (Babae sa Breakwater). I can only hope for a good reception at Cannes and, cross our fingers, nothing that will kill indie filmmaking before it redeems Philippine cinema.

In the tradition of Where Are They Now?, I recently came across a Facebook Fan Page called NATIONAL MOVEMENT PARA MAGING MATINEE IDOL MULI SI ERIC FRUCTUOSO. And doesn’t that make sense? Jomari Yllana’s still around making news about his breakup with Pops Fernandez, Mark Anthony Fernandez is now a bankable telenovela leading man like out of nowhere, and Jao Mapa’s…well, he’s still Jao Mapa. How about Eric Fructuoso? You know, the guy who claimed to have slept with Ara Mina, Joyce Jimenez, Aubrey Miles, and Priscilla Almeda. Whoa. Eric Fructuoso’s actually in Chito Roño’s now showing movie T2 starring Maricel Soriano. Wish granted! Sort of. But matinee idol? Let’s see. How about a pic with him?

[Photo by cholo79]

As in recent days, I was just browsing through trailers when this Gael Garcia Bernal-Michelle Williams movie caught my eye because of a short and familiar-sounding dialogue:

Manuel: Uwi na kayo, Nay!

Gloria: Mahal na mahal kita. Mahal na mahal ka ng Nanay.

Turns out to be a Swedish director’s (Lukas Moodysson ) attempt at another Babel and The Edge of Heaven-like global drama which premiered in Berlinale 2009 the other month. They actually shot some parts here in the Philippines, and they have a handful of Pinoy actors in the cast–Marife Necesito (Gloria), Martin Delos Santos (Manuel), Jan David Nicdao (Salvador), Perry Dizon (Uncle Fernando), and Chiqui del Carmen (Lola). While I doubt if this Pinoy-featuring movie’s making it in local cinemas, here’s an assessment by a festival critic from Variety:

Garcia Bernal and Williams look great but can’t overcome their superficial characterizations and bland lines. The foreign supporting cast (whose scenes are shot mostly in Tagalog and Thai) also look good and rate higher on the likability and credibility scales. [emphasis mine]

If Chip Tsao offended you, then this probably will too. But if this is the kind of offense I have to endure laughing, then bring it. That’s Bruno who was previously Borat. Who knew the guy was this, uhm, pretty? I’ll say no more about the name of the adopted African child above, how he disrupted with a Velcro suit number the Agatha Ruiz de la Prada show in Milan Fashion Week, or how to defend yourself against two dildos. Just watch this: *in Borat accent* beri nice.

Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock

Because when we were in high school, my brother bought these Woodstock cassette tapes, and he would listen to them all day long. I hated it coz it was also the time he listened to Chocolate Starfish and Hotdog-flavoured Water, but I was interested in the album jacket. When you’re that age, topless and bearded hippies are interesting. It’s only later that I would understand better what they’re about–peace, free love, weed, and stuff–yet to me, they retain the same enigma. Enter Ang Lee with this one, post-Crouching Tiger and Brokeback Mountain. This is bound to be talked about.

Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are

While I’m a fan of the occasional SNL clips that I chance upon through my Tumblr friends, I’m not really familiar with Maya Rudolph except in her impersonation of Michelle Obama. Same experience with John Krasinski from The Office which I also don’t follow (what a lozarr). Sam Mendes hits it while it’s hot after Revolutionary Road (here I go again). I love on the road movies–be it wild lies to woo chick ala Y Tu Mama Tambien or last freedom before marriage ala Sideways. With some humour from Mendes now and Maggie Gyllenhaal thrown in, it’s sold to me.

Call me a TV5 slut, but I seriously was excited when I heard they were relaunching last year. Even then, I watched my evening news from singko, I was a fan of Dokyu which eventually turned into Shorts which eventually expanded to Cinemalaya on ABC, and I watched Philippine Idol betting for Gian Magdangal. Oh, and there was Mommy Elvie too! Seeing them relaunch was, for me, another chance for Pinoy TV to progress a little. I honestly don’t want the crap the biggest networks are feeding people anymore; that’s coming from a laking-dos kid. That was the only clear channel at the province back then. Now, there’s GMA and Studio 23 and cable too. A reinvigorated channel, I thought, would provide alternatives and would take more risks in terms of originality if they want to gain people’s attention.

Interestingly, they’re seeking word from the online community nowadays. They’ve gathered a pool of local bloggers to whom they introduce their shows. And they ask for feedback from these people who obviously are the ones getting read when Googlers (an emerging demog) wonder about the new programs. Which brings me to the point: if you watch Midnight DJ (which strangely gives me that defunct Streetboys horror show vibe), if you like Lipgloss better than Gossip Girl, and if you watch the teen mag show called Flo, they could give you a DSLR. Whut? Seriously. They haven’t announced what specific unit, but to give you an idea, they easily gave away stuff like iPod Shuffles, external hard drive, and TV at the blogger meet-ups! Just click HERE for the rules of the game, and you may even end up claiming you 15 minutes of fame stub soon!

Last thing, if you’re a little broke but you wanna have a break and watch a movie, you just go HERE and say what are you gonna do if you win a million. Big problem, no? I know, I know, I’ve said it before that Slumdog Millionaire isn’t the best movie, but if you can watch it for free with a VIP pass on a special screening this April 6, I say why the hell not? If there’s one thing that I admired most about Slumdog, that’s the cinematography. Sure will be amazing to watch it on the big screen with great speakers. And watch out for the epic Amitabh scene, then give me a shoutout later. Ciao!