GCQ was so rough for all of us but there seems to be an emergence of Filipino BL series and this one made the pandemic time a little bearable as IdeaFirst Company released a show called GAMEBOYS on YouTube. They are the same people behind Die Beautiful, Ang Dalawang Mrs Reyes, Ang Babaeng Allergic Sa WiFi and might I say, they’ve been successful in terms of almost 2 Million views in YouTube, almost the same on Tiktok and the other fan accounts who just couldn’t handle the the romantic quirks this show presents.
In a way, this is the first BL series and we’re beginning to see the Filipino mindset change before our eyes, especially when specific characters of it start to mimic real life personalities. Kokoy Santos and Elijah Canlas stars in this series and yes, they’ve got nods from previous films they did in the international arena, in some way, it wasn’t surprising to see them do good in this project. Recently, their best friend Pearl played by Adrianna So also got a piece of the spotlight as her character will begin having her own series, but I’m telling you the kilig is in all their recent episodes, go watch it just for that.
Ivan Payawal the director made sure you feel how to be in their shoes, to make you see how two guys could fall in love, treat each other as angels, and see things from their perspective. GAMEBOYS is being released in YouTube every Friday at 8PM. Make sure you subscribe to the IdeaFirst YouTube channel to get notified of its release.
iWant just came out with a very compelling trailer for the new iWant Original story called I AM U. It stars Julia Barretto, who consequently finds her doppleganger and makes her a part of her life. Unfortunately, her character got a little jealous and made the mistake of actually killing her in a truth or dare supposed game. The good thing is, will come out this February 26 on the iWant app which is free to download on Google Play and the App Store.
Julia says "I had to switch characters, it was damaged hair when I got home. I practice lines and do Elise shots and dual shots. It was efficient. In some series I watch I learned much of the doppelgangers and I enjoyed it as much. Elise is well off, she wears the best things, bags, outfits while Rose is simple, very dressed down and she just enjoyed the way they look. The way they talk, the way they talk to other people are different. It is interesting."
Tony adds "I watched Split and I'm a fan of science fiction and thrillers, this was a joy to do with Julia. Kyle is straightforward, he just does so many things because he was intimate with the characters. They ask us if we are comfortable with the scene, even require things but I didn't want to break boundaries."
There's a lot more where that's coming from, go watch it on iWant starting Wednesday.
Fresh from their win at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival for Best Director, the film Kalel, 15 will be shown on theaters today on theaters nationwide. Elijah Canlas is the young lead actor for this project and yes, he has gotten the admiration of several members of the jury and the audience during their premiere night at the same festival. The story revolves around a 15 year old student who is a Son of a priest and is HIV positive.
“Working with a large cast of mostly very young actors he has made a film which feels deeply -rooted in the everyday lives of its characters. His film pulls away from the sticking-plaster from the wound of the AIDS epidemic among young people of the Philippines and exposes the terror and violence that this crisis imposes on them. It’s a passionate and concerned film about lives we never see in the West.” – Jury comment, Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival
They let us in on some things that happened during the shoot, Elijah shared “The production made an alter account for me and it had tons of followers the next day. It had my body shots but it had stickers so it didn’t show me. I had to lose weight, no abs, just an ordinary boy. I had to eat two apples for two or three weeks. If the scrip calls for it and I trust the director, I will do anything. If Direk Jun is shooting it, I am good. I just finished “He who is without sin” with Enzo Pineda and that will show soon. I am thankful Ms Jaclyn has been so good to me, also Tito Eddie Garcia. They are on a different league and caliber, it was just an honor to have been able to work with him. He advised me to always be early, learn the script and always be kind to everyone on set. It’s what I do now as an actor, I will forever be grateful for that advise.”
Director Jun Robles Lana also shared some of his future plans and adds “We are talking about a movie, perhaps a modern version of macho dancers. For now there are no plans yet, maybe with the same cast and a different script. We’ll have to see how it materializes soon. I am so honored to have been able to win the Best Director award in Estonia. I hope this resonates with people, but it was an entirely different audience and I was so surprised about their reaction. You would need to understand the reaction of his parents, his community and how society accepts him. He will tell his story, his secrets, if it comes out or not. I am grateful to have the honor of working with Eddie Garcia, I have had many opportunities to work with him and I haven’t seen anyone of his caliber.”
He adds "From the time I presented this project at the 2014 Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum, the story has evolved into a more complex narrative. After years of research and interviews, what started out as a mere tale of secrets and scandal became an examination of youth culture, particularly young people in peril, and a society that cares so little about them… On the surface, the movie is about a young boy’s struggle to belong and embrace life’s complications. But on a deeper level, it is about all of us, our search for meaning in a world where the very institutions we’re supposed to look up to are weighed down with hypocrisy, dishonesty and deception.”
Here’s a short interview we did a few days ago.
Kalel, 15 will interest you about the plight of teens with HIV, their lives and the stigma attached to the condition. It is something that teens should watch, to educate, hopefully even the generations who still think and take things lightly. Go watch it on theaters today December 18. This is under Cignal Entertainment, Octobertrain Films and The IdeaFirst Company. Cast also includes Elora Españo, Cedrick Juan, Sue Prado and Gabby Padilla. Go see it for its merits!
In this day and age, the internet is a necessity. I get panic and manic depressed whenever I’m not connected so I’m very thankful to Smart for always getting me there, connected with friends, family and loved ones. This particular thing though has it’s drawbacks.
This is where this movie starts off, in a remote island where you totally get disconnected from the comforts of communication, of technology and just about everything that has got to be connected with it. I’ve seen milennials go ballistic at the mere thought of that, no sms, no Twitter, no Messenger, no Facebook, no Youtube, just life, would you survive and do romance without it all? This is what Sue Ramirez, Markus Peterson, Jameson Blake intends to tell you a story of in “Ang Babaeng Allergic sa WIFI”. This is directed by Jun Lana, who as of recent has gotten their first trailer to get 1 Million views, trend number 1 with the second trailer on Twitter, a feat that they’d be so happy about converting to movie tickets one that the Pista Ng Pelikulang Pilipino 2018 commences on August, eagerly waited by fans and netizens alike.
This is in partnership with CIGNAL Entertainment, The Ideafirst Company and Octobertrain Films. Would she be able to last long in this predicament? Would you do the same when it would cost you the man of your dreams? Or would it be horror for you to disconnect from all the norms now?
This story deals with Trina, played by Yassi Pressman who wanted the guy of her dreams and finally found all the characteristics with Neo played by Sam Milby. It's called "Ang Pambansang Third Wheel" and is produced by Viva Films under the direction of Idea First Company's (owned by Jun Lana and Perci Intalan) Direk Andrew Payawan.
The theme song "Ikaw Pa Rin Ang Pipiliin Ko" (you'll be the one I'll choose) was written and performed by Marion Aunor who did a splendid job by the way!
Alonzo Mulach plays the adorable kid who Yassi found as baggage with Sam’s character. They also find themselves dealing with Alonzo’s mom in the project as taking care of him needed a whole village. Sam says “I’m very blessed to be her leading man, I don’t think she needs help because the popularity and skill is already there. I am just glad I’m a part of this because this is the first time I got to bond with her, since in Camp Sawi we didn’t have a shoot together even though we were in the same scenes. Yassi is so much of an extrovert, she gives energy in the set. She’s the complete opposite of me, during mmff I saw her in the awards night and from there I really liked her, she is my crush. On a personal level, she’s my type but I’m also going through a breakup so I need to grow personally before I go to a relationship, I am happy right now but that is the truth.”
Yassi says “A third wheel is someone who always is with couples or friends, ends up alone, takes pictures, orders food, it’s different from a third party. Trina was cheated on, maligned, didn’t get to find her own love and ends up only being the friend who goes with her friends dates. This is one that some people will be able to relate to, even in the things we did after the shoot, it was eye opening. Sam is sincere, very nice guy and he’s very quiet.”
Direk Andrew adds “I hope people get to watch this even if I got intimidated making this with Yassi and Sam. They never treated me like a newbie, even if we’re tired we still got to think about the story. I had to do a few shows so it took a long time to finish this, but we didn’t think it would affect the film because we knew the material was good.”
This film will show on March 7, follow Viva Films on FB, Twitter, IG and Youtube for more updates because they will be in mall shows to promote the movie.
I've seen the film industry improve over the years and one glorious evidence of that is the film Ang Dalawang Mrs. Reyes (The Two Mrs. Reyes) which is produced by Star Cinema, Quantum Films and made by the Idea First Company under Perci Intalan and Directed by Jun Lana. I've honestly been bored of Filipino films lately that I haven't seen some of them in the recent MMFF, but this piece wasn't going to pass me since Judy Ann is doing it. Yes she's got hits and misses but I guess this material was just promising. It's got all the angles in it, romance, love, infidelity, s3x, foreplay, even food and the whole enchilada of LGBTQWTFOMGBBQ causes you can think of.
Judy Ann being the Queen has never lost her touch. She cries like a river, and can definitely touch you in so many ways that you'll find yourself crying in the dark corners of the cinema. Yes I admit that might have been me, not once, but twice because her monologues was just the highlight of the film, one that you should pay attention to when her character starts posting a Facebook status towards the end of the film. You would fall for her, feel her pain, her agony, her angst and you would feel good while she's letting it all out on social media, just like what your friends do on their timeline too.
Angelica Panganiban on the other hand had her own battles. Like a woman scorned, she wanted revenge, but later finds herself learning, enjoying, moving on from the whole ordeal. She also presents the punchlines so well you'll hear the gallery laugh quite hard during the whole movie. She's going to get mad and bonded with cats, travel the world to seek revenge, then perhaps fall in love with a stranger found in the most unconventional places. She's also going to cancel all holidays for you, that particular line will stick to you like glue so pay attention when she does her outbursts... oh she's got a ton of that.
I haven't had so much fun in movies lately, this particular one made me cry twice, had me laugh and made me feel good about Filipino movies again. This film also stars JC De Vera and Joross Gamboa, you'll love how their pair would intertwine their story in different situations. As Direk Perci said "This is our opening day and I hope you see this film, if you like it please spread the word. I really hope you like the movie because as of now we are hearing it’s doing good in the box office. If you are posting anything on social media please use #AngDalawangMrsReyes so we can see it!”
Screenings started yesterday and if you haven't watched this movie yet, you better spend for it today because it's really good.
It’s so nice to hear that the one who wrote and did Kita Kita is actually on a roll as she takes another project called Mr. and Mrs. Cruz. This movie is produced by Idea First Company and Viva Films and will show on January 24, 2018. You can’t teach chemistry and when they did this, they had to undergo workshops first because the material was difficult to execute and they wanted the characters to become real, they didn’t require them to workout for the role.
Ryza says “Direk Sigrid was so open to suggestions, very detailed and we felt like being trained because we had to do workshops just for the character. JC gave me advise on our lines, they prolly did this in theater so it was easy for him. I might have struggled a little because I was shooting two projects in the past so it was a little hard adjusting to this.
JC reveals "I watched Direk on theater, in UP and she was good. I was so lucky to work with them because it was a theater process because we rehearsed it before the actual thing happened. We even shot it on her phone so the process was easy. I didn’t act too big because she toned me down when we filmed this. Ryza knows the screen and how it works being in the industry for quite a while. She’s very good."
“I didn’t really expect Kita Kita would be that big but I’m not pressuring myself that the same will happen, but I do hope it does because we have worked hard for it. This is about love, marriage, finding yourself and moving on. It will also tackle and define happiness. I made this before Kita Kita (the script) they are an interesting pair and I have seen them in past projects. I was really interested working with them. I am so excited how this would turn out. Yes, theg did deliver with the material even if it was a bit difficult to do this, but they agreed to do workshops with me because of the process. This was shot in Puerto Princessa and El Nido, I fell in love with the place. They need to see how beautiful the place is! The underground river, the secret beach, island hopping, it’s all gorgeous!” says Sigrid Andrea Bernardo, the writer and Director.
Make sure you head on to theaters on this date because according to Direk Perci and Jun Lana (who already saw it) says it’s a material that differs so much from Kita Kita but says it’s a welcome change. Direk Sigrid is gunning for personal happiness while doing it, so if you connect with the emotions of the characters, that’s exactly why they did it. I’m watching!
