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!

An Actor's Actor: KHALIL RAMOS Wins Best Actor Award for Olsen's Day

Saying Khalil Ramos is on a roll is an understatement this first quarter of 2025. For starters, he was given the Puregold Cinepanalo Film festival's BEST ACTOR award for the film Olsen's Day, a film directed by JP Habac (who also won as the Best Director). I've had the the impression of him being an "actor's actor", someone who's been able to do it successfully.  

His stellar filmography, unquestionable knack for doing acting pieces, have taken the nod of film critics. The chance to talk to him today was certainly, an opportunity to pick his brain a little. He was capable, even impressed us by the way he answered questions. It felt he was on his toes the whole time, very eloquent, albeit being a semi-introvert.  

Winning this award doesn't mean he's going to be picky, he's always about the script, about the craft, and when asked, he didn't even expect this at all. He says "I don't think about it being a competition at all, even though it is a festival. This was something very personal for the Director JP Habac, and it's a big thing to be trusted with this kind of material. I felt my duties as an actor became bigger because of it. You want to tell this story the way he wanted it to. The process had to be more open when we made Olsen's Day. I was already happy that Direk JP was happy about my performance, but during the awards night, a few of us were only there. We were there to celebrate with everyone. Then I won, and even Direk JP Habac won too, so we were just ecstatic. This goes to show that when you pour your heart into the story, a lot of people would connect and relate to it." 

Rest certainly is a luxury for both Khalil and Gabbi. Khalil was working on three platforms at the same time. Aside from Olsen's Day, he was doing a Neflix series called "How to Cheat Death" with Gabbi, and "One Hit Wonder" with Sue Ramirez on the same platform. He's also in the 9 Works Theatrical production of "Liwanag Sa Dilim" as Elesi, a very interesting character trying to find his roots. He felt it was 2023 all over again because yes, he did a lot tooo during those times in different mediums.

He feels energized as an artist that he could do all these roles, working with different people, saying he loves what he's doing, tired but definitely fulfilled in artistry and passion. Here's our interview with him this afternoon:

If he feels he resonates with the character and the script, he would do it no matter how big or small the production is. If he likes the story, that gets precedence over other things. His schedule is super packed for sure that he had to decline a few opportunities, that's the only time he needs to decide.  He was doing three characters in one week (in January), which was crazy but did it by studying characters individually saying "At a certain point, you have to be as real as possible in your pursuit with the film. Sometimes your body doesn't know you're already doing it. You're commanding it, and your body just follows. If it's tired, then you've got to pull other tricks in the bag to finish it. I need to find another technique to be more effective. Your co actors especially in Liwanag Sa Dilim will influence your performance, and they've all been a breeze to work with."

 Khalil is still in "Liwanag Sa Dilim" at the RCBC theater til April 13th, and watch out for "How to Cheat Death" on Netfilx this April 2. "One Hit Wonder" will premiere around May. Khalil is just starting, I bet he's bound for more accolades with Olsen's Day as they plan to also put it in streaming platforms soon.

 

Fun Primetime Sundays with Jake and Sue in “Jack and Jill sa Diamond Hills”

New show, new ways to laugh and chill at a fun new sitcom produced by APT Entertainment will be seen on TV5 this coming May 14. It's called "Jack and Jill sa Diamond Hill" and stars sought after actor Jake Cuenca and the gorgeous Sue Ramirez. It's definitely high time that they do something new, and this come at an opportune time since we've suffered much during the pandemic, we really need reasons to laugh a bit at the comfort of our homes. Under the great Director John Lapus, this will surely be a riot and will put us all into a ride with comedy, action and suspense all in one!

Jake and Sue will play police officers who in order to solve a crime, will need to live together as husband and wife... thing is, they need to find the dangerous material "Happy P" and the perpetrator called S3xbomb, plus, they don't really like each other. That's where the problem ensues. The community in Diamond Hills is also full of interesting characters, and one of them could possibly be the one. They would need to choose between characters that Gardo Verzosa, Ms. Ara Mina, DJ Onse, new actress Nana Silayro, character actor Nico Antonio, DJ Jhai Ho (who did the voice overs too!), Hershey Neri, basketball star Willie Miller and a throng of other actors will make this mystery a lot more confusing for them.  

 

These two cops also need to do it in 3 months, a pretty short time when they've got a lot of investigating to do without blowing their cover. 

During the mediacon, Sue Ramirez told the press that she would want to return the favor because she has learned a lot these couple of years that she has worked with Jake. This time, she would want to take lead since she's got a lot of experience in doing comedy programs in the past. Jake has been so ecstatic since this is the first time that he's had his own sitcom to star in. Here's a few things we saw during the press conference:

Direk John Lapus didn't have a hard time directing Jake, Sue and the cast as they're very professional. They know they need to be ready once they are on set, and have to finish scenes efficiently while having fun with the others. They lamented how light the set was, and they hope you get to experience the fun they have in making this epic story for primetime.

Again, make sure you tune in to TV5 this coming May 14 during their prime time slot. It's going to be fun!