SINAG MAYNILA Features TALAHIB with Kristof Garcia and Gillian Vicencio

Watched one of the featured films in Sinag Maynila called TALAHIB, a film directed by critically acclaimed director Alvin Yapan and produced by FEAST foundation. It's English title Legend of the Tall Grass tells a lot about where most of the incidents happen since this is a slasher film. 

The elements are there, but since this is an Alvin Yapan film, the story telling felt a lot different from usual. If it were heavily commercial, it could have taken a route of violence all throughout but since it delves more into lore, detective work and their past wrongdoings, you would need to understand more of the conversations in order to decipher it. It did not depend on violence alone, it had elements of mental anguish, ghosts and indestructible beings as villains in the story. 

Alvin Yapan says "I am so nervous about what we will see this afternoon, and at the same time excited that after a long while, we will be finally seeing this with the producers and the audience, and I hope they get to like what they could see in our film. We are planning to have this be shown in other platforms, that's also our goal." 

He adds "This is the first time that the actors will be seeing the film (except playbacks). This is now complete with editing and sound, I hope those who would see this film appreciate the work we put in to hopefully spread the word about TALAHIB. We plan to put this in cinemas too on October for Halloween. This is R13, which we were gunning for. Hopefully we could get everyone to watch it, we didn't want it to be plainly a gorefest. I'd want Gillian to get a Best Actress nomination for her work here. I also gave Kristoff his time to shine in this project, and I've seen how he excellently is making drama executed too. (Spoiler) You'll see a long scene with Gillian showcasing her command on screen. This is an ensemble piece, but they have their own moments, their own spotlights that movie goers should watch out for."  

Kristoff says "Gillian and I are really okay even after the shoot. It's been a year but we still stay in touch. We go out in groups sometimes, to bond over karaoke at times. Even before this project, I've already been able to watch Gillian in films. I know how great she is as an actress. I was really excited to work with her. When I saw her, I didn't know she was going to be that warm in person. She's also very kind, very pretty."

Gillian tells us "Of course I'm so happy to hear that from our director. The chance to work with him was already an honor, getting complements is just extra. I'm excited because this is also my first time to watch it on screen. We can't expect to win awards, so we don't get hurt in the end. I got recommended by Ms. Irma Adlawan and I'd like to thank her for that. We made this last year and we can't wait to see how it pans out on screen. I'm excited about TALAHIB even more because I'm not the one who's scaring people. I'm the one who's getting scared. It was also hard to shoot on location because you'll get to experience the sharp tall grass, it's real and you will experience getting nicked by its sharp blades every now and then."

Here's our video coverage of the premiere:

Congratulations to the Filipino Excellence in the Arts, Sciences and Technologies Foundation and other producers. This film certainly has that Alvin Yapan print on it. This will be shown in Gateway Mall, Robinsons Malls, SM Cinemas, and Market Market. Just check cinema schedules if you're raring to watch it on SINAG MAYNILA.

Banking on Talented Cast, Controversial but Realistic Story: "TAHAN"

It was a fun afternoon meeting the cast of upcoming sultry, suspense-thriller movie called TAHAN, which will be directed by Bobby Bonifacio Jr. under 3:16 Media Network. Tough Executive Producers John Bryan Diamante and Ms. Janilyn Carrillo deem unnecessary to think that this would be a challenge to do while we're all going through the pandemic because the material and story written by talented Quinn Carrillo (who's also part of the cast) was already enough reason to do this film. Bryan Diamante stresses that even though this is his first venture into the production side of the industry, he's got total trust with 3:16 Media Network. His goal is not just to create a quality movies like these... but learn the ropes while he's wearing the production hat in hopes to make even bigger stories come to life.  

He says "I'm glad that right now, things are easing up a bit. People are looking for interesting stories, Quinn really made a really good script and I'm very excited about it. I know this will certainly be something that people would love to see."

I've noticed that they've gotten no shortage of passion. Seeing how eager they are to tell the story (even if there are some really disturbing subjects in the story line) you wouldn't be able to just concentrate on it because of the realistic parts that would make anyone certainly connect with the characters in the movie. Lead star Cloe Barreto says "It's not that difficult and I think I'm equipped to do this. It's actually really exciting to see that I'm going to work with JC Santos and my idol Ms. Jaclyn Jose. People are going to learn a lot from the story, this is coming from the point of view of the daughter. She's gone through a lot and it will teach people that these things happen in real life."

Executive Producers John Bryan Diamante and Janilyn Carrillo

Here's our video coverage of the story conference which includes a few questions answered by the cast. Please, enjoy!

Again, the cast includes Cannes Best Actress Ms. Jaclyn Jose, the very talented actor JC Santos, writer and actress Quinn Carrillo, Karl Medina, AJ Oteyza, former pro basketball player Mac Cardona (who was very good looking), indie queen Mercedes Cabral, the funny EJ Salamante, Joseph San Jose (who told us a very inspiring story on how he was able to land this role), Stiff  Banzon and a whole lot more.

This surely looks so PROMISING, judging from the ensemble cast, a different kind of flavor from the usual romcoms you've been seeing released in PH theaters. One can just imagine how feisty Cloe and the cast is who promised they'll be bringing their A game once the camera starts rolling for this film called TAHAN. I can't wait to see it in theaters and digital platforms; they plan to have this out soon.

We wouldn't want to miss how this unfolds!

DINGDONG DANTES and BEAUTY GONZALEZ for I Can See You AlterNATE

Exciting is pretty much a word that defines what we felt during the blog conference for the I Can See You AlterNATE series on GMA. This is the first time that Dingdong Dantes is going to be paired with Beauty Gonzales. They've had this taping done late last year and they worked pretty fast because everyone was very professional. This also includes the on screen comeback of Jackie Lou Blanco and Direk Ricky Davao, which for one or more reasons would have been not done on Philippine TV.

Beauty says "I was so lucky to get  to work with this cast because it was such a blast, I hope we get the chance to work again because this was a little bitin. It was such a beautiful experience! It's nice to end the year with me working with a group like this. Dingdong is so professional, very intuitive, I know why he's very respected in GMA because he's very caring and very nice to everyone. To tell you honestly I was nervous at first because I just wanted to work with him, and now it's happening."

Dingdong adds "This show is very unique, quite different from the shows I've done previously because I play two people, with different personalities. It's more of the difficult ones I've done in my career. It's a beautiful experience working with her. In the beginning we had to test the waters because it's the first time to meet on set, and first time to work with each other. The difficult roles made us more open with each other because the requirement was really high. As actors we had to know each other because we're giving part of ourselves in the roles we played. You need to have complete trust and I think we have done that in the beginning of the work day, we've established that."

 

I Can See You AlterNATE will be seen week nights on GMA Telebabad so make sure you catch the episodes starting day 1!

Mr. Robot's First Season On iFlix

Had the chance to visit A Space Gallery in Makati City for the iFlix premier of the series Mr. Robot. The show stars Rami Malek who also appeared in the last Twilight installment as part of the Egyptian coven, and also his biggest break with funny man Robin Willams for the Night at the Museum movie. Now he plays the role of Elliot Alderson for Mr. Robot which is a drama-tech-psycho thriller originally shown on USA Network.

iFLIX is available in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines but is eagerly expanding throughout the Southeast Asian Region! This exclusive iFLIX premier will probably be a regular thing so if you want the best shows and series, go get an iFLIX subscription for 99 pesos a month if you're on PLDT, Smart, SUN and TalkNText. I'm telling you, I sleep around 3AM sometimes because it's very addicting.Now it's you're turn!

Mr. Robot is now on iFLIX, I can't wait to see what will happen next after we've seen the first one yesterday! Download the iFLIX app on the App Store and Google Play today!

For more information about their service:

IFLIXPH

Like them on Facebook


Visit their official website

http://iflix.com/

Richard Gutierrez and Lauren Young for Overtime: The Premier

Stars of Overtime Richard Gutierrez and Lauren Young

I haven't been to a Filipino movie since a few months ago when I was actually forced to watch that corny comedy film (that will remain unnamed), I felt it was a product of run of the mill hype and I didn't like it. I felt like I lost hope in the film industry. A few days ago, we were invited to attend the premier of Overtime, a film directed by Wincy Ong and Earl Ignacio under GMA Films. I didn't expect much because of the previous one I watched, I just don't like films that are not well thought out. This however surprised me (genre wise) and the rest of the people who watched it that evening, I'll tell you why.

Other stars such as the gorgeous Thea Tolentino, good looking and tall Juancho Trivino, crooner Mikoy Morales and the stunning Ms. World and sister to the lead star of this film Megan Young was also there showing their support.

Without spilling any beans on the story, Overtime is about a hacker terrorizing a lady at work. He doesn't believe in their cause, nor does he think they are doing the right thing. The beginning of the story delves around establishing their relationship first. The exhilarating and suspense filled sequences followed (when he wanted to do something about where Jody works) then a dollop of comedy antics hit every turn (a must see is Bearwin Meaily and Mitch Valdez). We thought we were watching a different movie because it wasn't a full suspense film anymore but more of a dark comedy. I haven't seen anything made that way in Philippine cinemas so that alone is a good thing. Other than that, Richard would be totally different that even if you are a fan... you'll hate and curse at him a bit. That's how good he is. Lauren too did so good, she also registers so gorgeous on screen. It's like an indie film to tell you honestly because they did experiment quite a bit. The plot could have had minor adjustments to make it real but I think it worked out pretty well for their purpose. The story is fast paced and we did attentively listen to it. It's not boring. You'll be at the edge of your seats on some instances and turn blue on some very deadly but funny scenes. You have to find out what I'm talking about by watching it this July 2nd on cinemas nationwide!

How can you not fall in love with a face like this. Proud Mom to Zion, Ms. Sarah Lahbati was there to fully support her husband Richard Gutierrez.

Raymond Gutierrez

Ms. Annabelle Rama and Eddie Gutierrez

Richard plays Dom and Lauren is Jody. Lovers at first turned hostage, good samaritan turned kidnapper. 

Please don't hesitate to watch the movie "Overtime" this July 2 on cinemas nationwide! This is under GMA Films. A thing that might make you hate Richard Gutierrez... but it's gonna be all worth it!

For more information about their artists:

Official GMA Artist Center

Like them on Facebook


Visit their official website

http://gmanetwork.com/artistcenter

Jasmine The Series - TV5

We got to watch a special preview of JasMINE the Series a few days ago at the posh Ace Saatchi & Saatchi offices in Makati. I had a hunch the stars would be there but I was also a little afraid that some kind of stalker would be there too. It's a little known fact but I've heard stories that a man was following Jasmine Curtis Smith around the metro and posting weird stuff online. I was here to also see if the rumors are true that one or more crimes in the studios of TV5 are actually done by the same guy because investigators say there's real proof that the accidents were really not "just accidents". Let's see if we can pick up something from the special preview.

I had a hunch we were being watched. During the program, the executives from Ace Saatchi & Saatchi explained to us the role of Jasmine Curtis in this series. It's pretty close to life, but there are some little twists that would veer you away from reality and make you wonder if this really happened or not. Another thing is that if you download the TV5 app on Google Play, you'll get inside information on scenes shown on TV. It kinda follows you every time something comes out of the story. Before you watch the show, I highly suggest you download the TV5 beta release here first if your smart phone is running on Android.

Then, they introduced the cast and the people behind the show.

Marvelous Alejo aka Selina Pascual plays antagonist to Jasmine. She's a well decorated actress and her awards and trophies couldn't fit anymore in the room she built for it. She's always fond of getting what she wants no matter how or what ever it takes. For me, Marvelous just takes this role and owns it. Who would ever thought that girlie meek girl from Artista Academy would be so evil in this series? They practically are in the same network, but watch how she gets all the roles and moves in stealing opportunities from Jasmine when it shows June 1st!

Is she really a friend? Or a foe? Well, I dunno... you better find out when Jasmine the series starts this June. Don't miss the first episode because that's exactly how you'll get to know why. There's streaming on the app btw so if you do have something to do on that day, you don't have an excuse because you can always watch it on your smartphones. Talk about high tech!

The flamboyant and insane manager of Jasmine in the series Steven Yap played by veteran stage actor Carlo Orosa. Pegged from a real life person in the same station, he presents a very business minded individual who simply wants to earn from his talents. He corners Jasmine every so often to have her fulfill a more productive relationship with the TV station. He thinks Jasmine has been spending too much time on indie films that's getting her nowhere - and true enough, no awards either. Will he make Jasmine's life better? Or will he be making it more miserable? Still, we don't know.

A dream boy with a sculptured physique and a romantic flair to woo Jasmine is Miguel Asuncion. He is played by Gerard Sison who was already passing his Filipino language class with flying colors that afternoon. Other than that, he seems to have been swooning and winning the heart of Jasmine in the series. Being gorgeous has its perks because she has a lot of suitors - but this one looks like a keeper. Is he really what Jasmine thinks he is? or is he another guy who will hurt her when the time comes?

The discussions we had about the series was really interesting because it delved more on their characters. They probably are ending this as scheduled (9 weeks) because the story line is going to be limited. One thing that impressed me though is the technology that they invested for the show. The content coming from the app will be synchronized with the things happening in the series. This goes the same with their other social media channels too. I don't think any show did that on Philippine TV - so they are indeed making history. 

Aside from that, they did talk about how they portrayed the roles on Jasmine and how their characters will get acquainted with her. Watching the first episode made me realize that it is important to know how the characters met whether "online or offline" because you'll see the story roll off of that. The other characters not on this post but were mentioned on the Jasmine The Series article we wrote a few months back will also be something that they should watch out for; because the only way to find out who the real Maskara is, is by making sure the people around her won't be the actual suspect in the mishaps and murder happening in the filming of her teleserye URLoved opposite hunky guy and all around superman Alex Vergara who is played by washboard abs sexy leading man Vin Abrenica.

JasMINE the Series will start airing at exactly 9:15 PM on TV5. They will be airing the pilot episode on June 1, 2014 and the weekends thereafter. For more photos from the bloggers preview, check out my album here.Good luck on your show guys! :)

For more information about their show and dates:

TV5 Manila

Like them on Facebook


Visit their official website

http://www.tv5.com.ph

JasMINE the Series on TV5

Jasmine Curtis might have been startled because she's seeing a real life stalker in the crowd while we were interviewing her for her upcoming project JasMINE the series. She's an award winning actress and one of the most sought after commercial models in the country. Seeing her being hounded by admirers probably is quite normal, but what if it goes beyond being an admirer or a fan? What if she suddenly fears for her life? What about her privacy? What would she do in the event that her admirers publicly posts creepy stuff and make her each move monitored, knowing where she goes and taking locks of hair as if he's obsessed with her?

That's exactly what people from advertising firm Ace Saatchi & Saatchi told us during blog conference a few days ago. You enter something so close to real life and extend the boundaries of what reality and what fiction is. That particular moment when it's either "bended or blurred" is where this story will stand. With the addition of the characters that Alwin Uytingco and Mathew Padillla also plays, it'll surely be an interesting mix of trying friendships, boundaries of respect, work and different facets of life. Jasmine Curtis adds that "This interesting role is the best because I get to play myself!"

Watch out for Alwin's role who's a blogger in the series because he's one of the interesting personas in the series. Check out http://showbizscoopsbywendell.tumblr.com/ and his Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/showbizscoopsbywendell to know more about him. If you watch this series, you'll get to participate virtually in the program because they'll introduce updates on their Twitter, Facebook and Instagram account that would also add a different dimension to the story. 

This is a first in Philippine television and the only program where Ace Saatchi & Saatchi, UNITEL and TV5 is putting their bet on (while serving as producers). Something out of the ordinary, something unprecedented and well thought of, I'd like to see how this develops when it shows in March. There's no specific date yet on when this will be shown, but like the team behind it I want to see how the general public reacts to situations that are foreign to them. When I asked about why they want to do this most viewers are probably in the "Moms" age, they answered that the Filipino audience is smart... they also add that the social media channel part won't be too foreign for them because they probably all have Facebook, much like a staple nowadays. Plus the fans of the stars which they think will be the "most number" of audience they'll have would have the capabilities to follow all the social media channels and interact with them. Again, this is a feat that has not been done in any program in Philippine TV.That alone amazes me. Don't worry though because they'll still have some light moments in between.

I hope none of the STALKING things they do on the episodes would rub off on watchers because the last thing they probably would want is to see more stalkers in the streets LOL nah just joking! Thanks to Goldilocks, TV5, UNITEL and Ace Saatchi & Saatchi for having us! Can't wait to see it!

For more information about their show and dates:

TV5 Manila

Like them on Facebook


Visit their official website

http://www.tv5.com.ph