RHIAN RAMOS, JC SANTOS Take On Complex Characters in PM Productions "MEG & RYAN"

A word was uttered around the venue when we were interviewing the cast of "Meg & Ryan", it was UNDERRATED, which we felt was certainly an apt one after meeting the stars of the movie under Pocket Media Films. 

Lead stars Rhian Ramos and JC Santos will be doing this romantic comedy film together with the cast award winning actor Cedrick Juan, Ces Quesada, Cris Villanueva, Jef Gaitan, JMee Katanyag, and social media stars Steven Bansil and Poca Osinaga, plus beauty queen Alison Black.   

While isn't first film to be directed by Direk Catherine O. Camarillo, this is somehow her first foray in the love story-romcom genre. "This is another masterpiece that I want to share with you, which I hope you would be able to give awareness to the audience, give them a fair chance to watch this in cinemas this coming August 5, 2025. (watched trailer, she became very emotional and said)  I am just overwhelmed seeing them on screen because they really look good together. Doing this was quite easy because I had some of the best actors to work with. It was quite to put them in what I envisioned in the film. I've done so many projects in the past that made me do compromises, I didn't have to do that here. I gave it my all, and got the ones I wanted to have in this project. I'm so happy I was able to do that in Meg & Ryan. I also felt the support of my cast, they respected the material, they loved this film as much as I did."

Rhian says "I haven't had drunk episodes where I wasn't aware of what I was doing. Either that, or may I just couldn't remember it. I really enjoyed the whole experience because JC is such a generous actor. If there's something he could do to help in the execution of a scene, he will. He will go farther than what is expected of him. It's not just the acting part that he's going to do, he contributes in the lines, change it to what feels more natural in the scenes. He really envibes what would Ryan do or say. It really helped me and made my job super easy! I really love complex characters, those with flaws, to make sense of people. Meg is an @lcoh0lic, opposites attract, I've seen Direk Catherine's previous films and wanted to work with JC which is why I wanted to do this. This is how I view love also, we have our own journey, when you find someone who understand that about you, it needs to be watched and told." 

JC Santos added "Actually everybody here was easy to work with. This is what's great about a collaboration because you can feel if you match. We enjoyed the process even the challenges, Rhian Ramos is a part of my bucket list and I'm seeing it now. I see how she gives the truth in her scenes. Even Tita Ces, Direk Catherine gives us freedom so we get our personalities in the mix. I also really wanted to work with Direk Catherine, and seeing the script, it's a different kind of love. It's something new, puberty at 35, he is complex, a bit difficult to do but I think we succeeded in creating this character."

Here's the press conference in full:

Aside from being shown in the Philippines, this will also have a theater run in Australia and New Zealand on August 14th. Please support Filipino films as these don't come cheap in production. They're taking a huge risk because they want to help the industry. The love story between Meg & Ryan was created by prolific writer Gina Marissa Tagasa. The soundtrack is also a fun version of Torete, which will make you feel a bit of nostalgia. This took a while before it was released, but from the looks of it, it has all the ingredients to make you connect with the story of Meg and Ryan. Go watch it on theaters, and see the trailers on their social channels because they already have 2 out!

JM DE GUZMAN and SUE RAMIREZ Define Love Differently in LASTING MOMENTS

Took a break from events and watched a movie premiere last night as one of my favorite actors JM De Guzman and talented actress Sue Ramirez star in a Director Fifth Solomon project called Lasting Moments. This is under PASSION5 Studios.

Before we went to the red carpet, we took the chance to interview them and Director Fifth bared how it was a little problematic to release a film like this because of the recent line of foreign films that are showing also in the same dates they planned. They had to adjust and had to compromise doing it in July 30th to make sure enough theaters could carry them, not the fault of theater owners as he said. 

Direk Fifth told us "The struggle of Filipino films is obvious, to see change, we need to talk about it so we could see what we need to help the industry, and its workers. I want to throw the question on how we can compete with foreign films. I understand the business, the malls on how they choose things where they could earn. We need the government help to not only survive, but have ample screens to show our work. We hope they could trust us, July 30 is going to be the date we are showing our work, this is a call for help. Lasting Moments needs to be seen."

Here's a glimpse of the red carpet where several friends of the lead stars and director also supported. We saw several Drag Race Philippines alumni and rumored Slaysian Royale cast. There were also several influencers and artists at the venue, and watched with us later in the evening.

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I've watched Fifth Solomon's previous films and I must say, this has definitely outdone those. He also wrote this, and evidently, this has been researched a lot because of the several things you would see in the movie. He took time to establish characters, but they'd give reasons later on about sudden outbursts between JM and Sue's roles. It questions your tenacity, of what lengths you would do when it comes to love and emotional impediments. The film also takes a jab on how one would quantify happiness, contentment and one's ability to measure it. 

Sue says "The topic is very sensitive, it's about silent battles. I hope people would be able to relate and understand this is a crisis. I hope the weight comes across the screen and the character. I'm so nervous, but the deeper meaning will be shown when you see the film. This is really a good film and we enjoyed making it, I hope people would go to theaters because I'm nervous if it didn't have days on the theaters."

JM says "I didn't really have a hard time doing this because I did a lot of research and I'm working with Sue. It's going to be relatively easy to understand what they are going through, without spoiling.. it's about remaining with the person and love. Sue doesn't act, she lives the character."

Here's the press conference on video:

JM and Sue really took their characters to heart. You'll have a bout of trying not to cry when they show closeup shots of them on screen. If there's a flaw, probably audio because there were several instances when I heard lengthy supposed quiet times that had high pitched sounds interfering (either from the movie theater or the actual edit).

Again, LASTING MOMENTS will show in theaters this July 30th. JM and Sue are phenomenal actors and there's no question, films that include them must be seen. See why folks beside be cried on some scenes. Congratulations to the cast, Direk Fifth and PASSION5 Studios!

JENNYLYN MERCADO, DENNIS TRILLO, SAM MILBY for Romantic Comedy EVERYTHING ABOUT MY WIFE

Finally had the chance to talk to the cast of EVERYTHING ABOUT MY WIFE yesterday at their mediacon. For starters, Jennylyn Mercado has been heavily missed, and she's working with her hubby Dennis Trillo in this movie. They're also doing this with Sam Milby, a proper character for the man who looks like a true blue Cassanova, so when they showed this a couple months back, I was so excited for it.

The event was also graced by co-stars Ms. Carmi Martin, Alex Agustin, Polo Laurel, Joyang of TikTok fame, Chico Alicaya and Karlo Aranza. 

 The plot is simple, Jen and Dennis' characters are married, they get bored and irate over the continuous yapping, felt about to give up, then Sam's character comes along. With a sculptured physique, smooth talk, will they give up their marriage or stay? Imagine the situations left for imagination, the journey must have been filled with hurt, funny clap backs, thirst traps and romantic talk.

Director Real Florido says "There is a need for romcom films. I've been doing indie movies, started it about 10 years ago. I've done 2 Cinemalaya entries, but I feel it's not Indie vs Commercial films anymore. The lines are blurred. You make it now because you are a filmmaker. Romcoms have the same importance as with other genres. We tell stories that inspire and sometimes pull heartstrings. It's one of the reasons we do films like these, because they want to see it and the public demands it. Filipinos are suckers for love, we want that fleeting feeling, we want to laugh and cry with the characters we see on screen. We do that with friends, we talk about our relationships, open up about it, and we relate to them too. It's always a part of conversations, and makes us feel alive."

Dennis told us "It's fun to make films like these because it's relatable, to do characters that are universal. For artists like us, we do these like ourselves, we are husband and wife in real life. Some of the scenes here are things we also do."

Jen added "Like what Dennis said, it's familiar territory. We enjoyed it though, and working with my husband is such a joy. It's feels so good to do scenes, and I'm sure when people see it, they will relate to our characters."

Sam says "It's hard, a challenge for me to do this character. They say I shine when I'm evil, but Miguel is a Cassanova, a womanizer. Direk was there to help me out. I'm a shy introvert, so this one is overly confident, and I try to be out of my comfort zone to do this."

 Here's the whole mediacon on video, please sub, and enjoy!

The producer CreaZion Studios was represented by their CEO RJ Agustin. For those who want to see it, the film will be shown on February 26th. The premiere night will be on the 25th at SM Megamall if I'm not mistaken so if you want to see the stars, you should go there! This is produced by CreaZion Studios and GMA Pictures. Jen and Dennis was thought to have produced this too but no, because this came before Green Bones and their production outfit was launched last year.

Go watch it in cinemas! See you there!