Halika 3.0

Brent Javier
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Alvin Alfonso
Cosmopolitan Philippines Hunk January 2005

Luis Alandy
Cosmopolitan Philippines Hunk September 2005

Victor Basa
http://www.mabuhaybeauties.com/g4/displayimage.php?album=topn&cat=0&pos=5

Alec Van Donriendonck
http://www.mabuhaybeauties.com/g4/displayimage.php?album=topn&cat=0&pos=4

Fushigi Yuugi episodes
http://pinoyexchange.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10499503&postcount=1152

Nagkaloob na naman ng awards sa bansa ang pelikulang Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Olivares Oliveros.

Nagkamit ang pelikula ng Golden Zenith Award First Film World Competition sa Montreal World Filmfest. Ang pelikulang ito ay digital movie na ipinalabas recently sa CCP.
[source: Taliba article by Noel Asinas]

Update:

Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros
Director: Aureaus Solito
Producer: Raymond Lee
Script: Michiko Yamamoto

The purity of first love is pitted against the squalor and corruption found in the slums of Manila, the setting for Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros (The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros). Gay, pre-teen Maxi is slavishly and uncomplainingly devoted to his family of small-time criminals. He cleans house for them, cooks for them, washes their underwear, mends their tattered jeans, and, if push comes to shove, covers their tracks for them so they wouldn’t get caught. His world revolves around them. That is, until he meets Victor, a principled, idealistic and handsome policeman. Maxi befriends Victor, who, in inspiring the boy to hope for a better life, earns the ire of Maxi’s family.

Sources:
Graham Thompson
CCP

Lovestruck by GMA Films

Cast:
Jennylyn Mercado, Mark Herras, Jolina Magdangal, Mike Tan, Yasmien Kurdi, Rainier Castillo, Ryza Cenon, LJ Reyes, Allan K, Keempee De Leon

Direction: Louie Igancio
Script: Suzette Doctolero

This September 2005.

See also: LoveStruck Tidbits

The company’s subsidiary, Citynet, Inc., has signed a co-production and blocktime agreement with Zoe Channel 11. The agreement provides GMA Network with another platform to showcase its innovative programming and talents as well. [source]

The company’s subsidiary, Citynet, Inc., is currently preparing for the programming line-up for Channel 11, which would provide an additional platform for GMA Network to showcase its programs and talents. [source]

Aiming to be number three on its first year!

Creating additional content for GMA Pinoy TV. The initial shows indicate that aside from targetting the existing audience of the two channels (born again Christians), they will focus on kids, teens and moms.

Cheaper and cheaper by the dozen

IS there a place for Pinoy Big Brother in Philippine culture? It’s still too early to find out since the show is just on its second week. Whether it could be ABS-CBN 2’s new milking cow remains to be seen. While network officials insist they’re happy with the ratings it’s been pegging, the show hasn’t exactly topped its rival, Sugo, which airs on GMA 7.

So far, however, certain institutions and individuals have expressed disgust over the show’s format. The premise of 12 attractive strangers living together, making friends, making love, talking dirty and parading in skimpy outfits has left more conservative viewers shocked.

During its first week of airing, producers received a “stern warning” from the MTRCB when the first few episodes featured frank discussions on contraceptives and sex. Other conservative groups like Code M and Pro-Life Philippines objected to scenes of women bathing and to the body painting session involving two female contestants and one male. Since then, producers have assured the MTRCB that the show would be less offensive to viewers.

Life & Times viewed an episode aired Tuesday evening and the show had little to do with sex. The ladies did wear outfits that revealed their trim bodies while the men at most times wore bathrobes that looked more like micro miniskirts. Instead of sex, viewers were treated to a gross outdoor scene of dog droppings piled up in the backyard.

As if to offset the shocking discussion on sex, the residents were ordered to talk about entertainment, politics and family. The conversation was cut short, as it seemed that our 12 inhabitants lack the ability to have any kind of intelligent conversation on any topic.

They did display a talent for backbiting, when three members of the group opted to hang out by the pool and bitch about the most alluring femme in residence. They described her as cheap and domineering and we admit it was fascinating to watch two adult men dish the dirt with another lady.

The banter was actually superior to any local TV script we’ve heard and a marked improvement over any scene we’ve witnessed in shows like Ok, Fine, Whatever.

Yet there was something unsettling about seeing these two men backstab a woman, especially someone as sexy as Cass. It’s as if they’ve been cued to bitch about Cass, which they actually did well.

Nevertheless, they don’t have the fiery personalities that could make them look more interesting or compelling. There is a certain lack of spontaneity in their behavior and they’re all appearing to be too shallow for anyone of us to spend an hour with. Americans and Europeans are more frank and more expressive of their emotions—Filipinos tend to hide it all in a vault. We’re too polite and we tend to be more tolerant and less gregarious. Once the bubble bursts, however, we raise hell. And when that happens, the scene would better fit the crime beat of TV Patrol than Pinoy Big Brother.

Perhaps a show like Big Brother is just too westernized for a country like the Philippines, which still hasn’t discarded its Maria Clara hang-ups. In this age of revealing skimpy swimsuits, barely there underwear and bikini competitions, we still see women displaying their modesty when they wear shirts and shorts for swimming. Even a producer of Pinoy Big Brother admitted they don’t expect any of the contestants to engage in any sex. “That simply isn’t in our culture,” he said.

Just after the first week, a colleague expressed disgust over the fact that his young nephews and nieces have adopted the racy terms the contestants like to use on the air. He said Pinoy Big Brother is better suited for late night TV, cable TV or the Internet.

Rest assured, Pinoy Big Brother isn’t the first TV show to attract local controversy. The actress Juliana Palermo’s racy talk show, Secrets, on ABC 5 had a difficult time with the MTRCB because of its sexual content. It was even worse in the previous century, specifically the puritan 1990s, when an animated series like The Simpsons earned the wrath of conservative groups. There was even talk of the members of the Philippine Association of National Advertisers boycotting the show and RPN 9, the network that was airing it.

ABS-CBN could possibly be trapped into a corner—they could make the already pallid show less provocative, which could affect the ratings. The network has invested a fortune on Pinoy Big Brother and its failure could severely affect its already shaky standing. Yet all the negative publicity could actually boost its ratings.

From what we have seen, however, we could find little sympathy in any of the contestants and their elimination would hardly make any headlines, especially in these days of political instability. These poor dozen of aspiring actors have been tasked to do battle with Sugo, which has a cast of luminaries led by Richard Gutierrez, Lorna Tolentino and many more. If they really do intend to steal Sugo’s viewers away, they may have to resort to anything more drastic.

Perhaps asking host Willy Revillame to play house with the 12 residents for 100 days should spice things up. Such a premise would put the MTRCB on its toes. That’s Big Brother for you.

[source: Manila Times article by Dennis Ladaw]

Reality TV round the clock

Forget that your mother told you that Peeping Toms will burn in hell.

With the increasing interest and hype over reality TV shows nowadays, one can never deny the fact that we have become modern-day voyeurs, silent peepers camped in front of our TV sets, sitting in the comforts of our homes. Simply put, we are just waiting for the ground to open up and swallow us whole.

In truth, reality TV shows—wholesome or otherwise—satiate our voyeuristic yearnings, nagging, perverted urge to see other people in their most unguarded moments, unscripted and unadulterated.

Among those reality TV shows is Pinoy Big Brother, ABS-CBN’s franchise of the popular Big Brother in the US. Every day, we get to see 12 housemates breathe and live under one roof through countless cameras monitoring their every move, every word they speak, everything they do, practically. Shower scenes are, unfortunately, not broadcast.

Because of the increasing interest over the show, SkyCable thought of cashing in on the popularity of Pinoy Big Brother by coming up with the only cable channel TV dedicated to Pinoy Big Brother, 24 hours a day!

Now you can watch the real happenings inside the Big Brother house. No more deleted scenes, incongruous dialogue lines, long commercials, and surprising instances brought about by hours and hours of editing for fear of incurring the ire of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB).

For a minimum subscription fee of P1,500, fans can witness Uma mouthing another tactless one-liner, or Rico crying himself to sleep because of his ex, or Say and JP developing a bond deeper than friendship—all unedited and uninterrupted—until the end of the season.

Since people these days spend more time in front of the computer than in front of TV, Zpdee, SkyCable’s broadband cable Internet service, has also joined in the bandwagon, offering exclusive scenes to its subscribers, 24 hours a day, free of charge! Subscribers of the 256 kbps plan get a free one-week access, while those on the 512 kbps get one-month free access. All they have to do is log on to www.pinoybigbrother.com.

According to director Laurenti Dyogi, Pinoy Big Brother is slowly generating a following among the 20s and 30s. That’s why the tie-up was hatched in a very opportune time. In fact, this early, he is already getting calls from interested parties who are eyeing a spot for PBB’s second season. “There’s definitely going to be a second season.”

For inquiries, call 631-0000 or log on to www.zpdee.net.

[source: Manila Standard Today article by Gabby Libarios]

Telefantasya fatigue

I’ve stopped watching GMA’s telefantasya (the three drama serials that dominate the network’s primetime programming). I am no longer interested in what’s going to happen to Darna, or if Efren and Narda will still be together in the end. Neither am I excited to watch those heavily costumed fairies in Encantadia. Honestly, I don’t get the drift of Sugo, so I just switch the TV set off and listen to a CD, or watch an old movie on DVD.

The problem with GMA’s drama series is their convoluted plotlines that wears the audience down.

Darna, for example, doesn’t have an anchor plot for the week that will keep viewers glued to the set awaiting the next development in the adventures of Darna/Narda. For a serial, it lacks that cliffhanger quality that leaves audience clamoring for more. The serial has deteriorated into a mushy soap instead. The plot revolves mainly on Darna/Narda, Efren and Ava/Valentina and how Narda can make Efren believe that he married a cobra beneath a veneer of that beautiful Ava.

The serial’s pool of writers are simply in dire need of some imagination to make Darna flying high again in the ratings race and overtake Encantadia, which surprisingly has caught the fancy of kids, thanks to the elaborate production design although it is basically mystifying to me. I really freak out every time I try to decipher from which plane do these characters come from. Someone asked me, if these characters are fairies, then they are supposed to be immortal, how come some of them die?

“Search me,” I answered back. Maybe the writers were so immersed in J.R.R. Tolkien or J.K. Rowling they just couldn’t make up their minds about which of the two they want to copy, so they combined the two and came up with Encantadia.

But the edge of Encantadia over Darna, in the few times I caught the series, is the fast-cut technique used by the editors, which means that one scene doesn’t last more than a minute. To a younger audience used to the fust-cut-montage-like editing of music videos on the music channels, Encantadia comes close to this generation’s cutting edge taste in entertainment.

Which brings me to Sugo, which I think combines what is bad in Darna (slow pacing and over dramatization of situations) and good in Encatadia (fast-cut editing, good use of slowmo techniques in the action sequences). However, the serial has a foreign culture not familiar to Filipinos used to reading comic books (the older generation) or games played either on PS2 or online. This is one reason the serial trails behind Encantadia and Darna in the ratings race.

Despite the shortcomings of the three primetime drama serials on GMA, they are still far more interesting than what we see on ABS-CBN. Kampanerang Kuba is as confused as its lead character. Is it a dramatic serial, or a musical? Mga Anghel na Walang Langit is as outdated as its title, and Ikaw ang Lahat sa Akin seems like the series GMA produced before they discovered they could beat ABS-CBN with a trio of fantasy drama serials.

In any case, GMA shouldn’t be too confident about their telefantasyas. The Filipinos are very unpredictable, especially in the kind of shows that they want to watch. One day they’re happy with Darna, another day they’d go for something like Vietnam Rose. As for me, I am now suffering from telefantasya fatigue.

The Cascades of my youth

If there’s one good thing that has come out of shows like American Idol—besides the birth of new talent—it’s the revival of the interest in songs of the ’50s and ’60s. The sight of rocker Bo Bice singing “Spinning Wheel,” or red-haired crooner John Stevens doing a Sinatra has successfully introduced the current generation of TV watchers and music fans to songs that were hits way before they were born.

This phenomenon could also account for the public’s interest in the Manila concert of The Cascades, which goes onstage for two consecutive nights—Sept. 9 (Friday) at the Araneta Coliseum and Sept. 10 (Saturday) at the Manila Hotel. Billed The Cascades—Encore, the show is part of the group’s Asian tour.

Surprisingly, it isn’t only the 50 and 60-somethings who have been buying up the tickets to the show. Even teenagers and yuppies have been lining up for tickets, eager to listen once more to the songs their parents loved.

The Cascades will treat music-lovers to a sampling of their classic tunes, like “The Last Leaf,” “Punch and Judy,” “Shy Girl” and, of course, their chart-topping hit “Rhythm of the Rain” (“Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain/telling me just what a fool I’ve been…”) which holds the distinction of being the third largest-selling record in the whole world.

As proof of how much the group loves the Philippines and Filipinos, The Cascades will even be performing two songs specially written just for this tour: “Warm Manila Nights,” written and composed by Gab Lapano, and “My Manila,” by Chuck Crews.

This will be the first time ever that the group will perform the two songs live, making tonight’s The Cascades—Encore a must-see concert for Pinoy music lovers of all ages. Joining The Cascades in tonight’s show are the group Area One (whose members include TV director Bert de Leon and instrumentalist John Lesaca) and famous vocal group The Company.

Digital partners

Samsung Electronics launched its largest-ever audio-visual roadshow in the country at the Crowne Plaza Galleria recently. Leveraging on its new brand campaign “Imagine,” Samsung called on its consumers to live the company’s latest range of audio-visual products around the way they work and play.

Incorporating the ‘Imagine’ theme this year, the Digital Partners Roadshow not only demonstrated Samsung’s continuing leadership in technology and stylish designs, but also served to elevate its brand leadership in the local market.

Over 350 Samsung Dealers attended the event, which was hosted by TJ Manotoc and also featured a show-stopping performance by world-class artist Lea Salonga and the UP Pep Squad.

Seen at the event were Samsung president and CEO for Asia Sang-Jin Park with Spenser Shim, president and CEO for Samsung Electronics Philippines accompanied by the entire Samsung team led by Samsung Corporate Marketing head Angie Limbaco, Tessa Prieto-Valdes, Robinsons Frederic Go, MTV VJs Nicole and Don, Rich Alvarez and singing sensation Kyla.

Among the leading-edge picture technologies that were on display at the Samsung Imagine AV Roadshow were a range of flat-panel televisions: plasma displays, LCD-TVs, Projection TVs, and DLP TVs. The range boasted the industry highest 10,000:1 contrast ratio, and a jaw-dropping 549 billion colors, more than seven times the current industry standard.

Under the spotlight was Samsung’s SlimFit TVs, the company’s new category of Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) TVs. SlimFit TVs reduces the depth of standard CRT TV by up to 33 percent. They also incorporate Nano Pigment technology, which brings better contrast and greater range of colors compared to industry standards. Samsung’s winning image-enhancement technology DNle produces superior image quality that customers of its plasma displays, LCDs, Projection TVs, and DLP TVs already enjoy.

Apart from its flat-panel televisions, Samsung also showcases two new features of its new Hypervision DVD players. High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) ensures digital pictures and sounds are not lost during digital transfers, while HD Jpeg supports 1920×1080i resolution HD Jpeg playback. Normal DVD players allow only downsized 640×480 resolution Jpeg playback.

Samsung’s latest home theater systems are fitted with the Super Digital Sound Master—EX for life-like surround-sound impact with the touch of a button.

[source: Manila Standard Today article by Isah V. Red]