We've got big stories for you this week involving no less than three generations of movie queens.
The queen of Filipino movies, during the golden age of Philippine cinema, Susan Roces, finally broke her silence about how she feels towards star for all seasons Vilma Santos and megastar Sharon Cuneta.
Susan reportedly said, with consternation, that neither of these two are her friends. That statement dropped like a bombshell, especially for Sharon who has been vocal about her alleged closeness with Susan, especially after the incident during the birthday of actor Rudy Fernandez when Susan was said to have walked out of the party when news of Sharon's arrival came.
The "issue" between the two is actually more political intrigue than showbiz-related. Sharon's husband, Senator Francis Pangilinan, is the real object of Susan's disdain because of how he was very dismissive of the electoral complaint filed by Susan's husband, the late Fernando Poe, Jr. when he ran for (and lost) the presidency a few years back.
Susan has shown the same coldness towards Vilma, who has also gone the media rounds lately saying her relationship with Susan is as sweet as a peach. Again, Susan's beef with Vilma is more with the latter's husband, another senator, who is known as an administration stalwart.
Susan has earned plaudits for her statement for being true to herself and to others, a characteristic quite uncommon among today's stars.
Meanwhile, Sharon has come out in the media saying she respects whatever Susan had to say and she genuinely believes that whatever relationship they had went beyond simply making movies.
Video scandal
Quite a number of stars were scandalised last year after videos of them performing very private sexual acts leaked to the public. The controversies were some of the industry's biggest headlines last year, and cut short many a promising career. Most of the "video scandal victims" claimed that it was clearly a case of mistaken identity. Some chose to keep mum about the issue. One of them openly admitted that she was really the subject on the video.
This year, another potentially damaging and scandalous video has leaked and it's showing a Dennis Trillo lookalike. Dennis' manager, Popoy Caritativo, quickly dismissed the video saying the boy in it looks much younger than Dennis, although Popoy admitted he at first suspected it was Dennis because the resemblance was uncanny.
Good thing it wasn't Dennis, who is one of the most wholesome and well-loved young actors in the business.
Rounin flops
And Rounin rolls ... to ignominy, following its lacklustre performance in the ratings. The show had a good start, but has tumbled since, especially against the high-flying Super Twins and the adventure series Asian Treasures. The dismal showing is unfortunate for Rounin and the cast, because expectations were high after the show was heavily hyped as the programme that will finally end the Kapuso's dominance of prime-time TV. Guess it's back to the drawing board for the Kapamilya network.
Super Twins is headlined by Jennylyn Mercado and Nadine Samonte. Although a poor copycat of mixed Japanese superhero cartoons, it has been a big favourite, especially among children.
Perhaps it's about time GMA develops original stories. They're too way ahead of the ratings to be even thinking about competition. They should focus instead on improving the standards of TV production in the country, as they are currently the acknowledged leaders in the industry.
Congratulations
Brillante Mendoza's Foster Child has been invited to this month's Cannes Film Festival, to be shown in the Director's Fortnight.
Foster Child, produced by Robbie Tan of Seiko, stars Cherry Pie Picache, Eugene Domingo, Jiro Manio and Dan Alvaro.
After Masahista. which won awards at Locarno and Brisbane, Kaleldo, which was shown in Rome and Hawaii last year, and Manoro, which was winner of best film at CinemAvvenire in Torino last year, Foster Child is Dante's fourth movie to make it to the film festivals of the world.
