COLEEN Garcia is still in Lyon, France when she attended the Zoom press con of Viva’s horror flick, “Kaluskos,” which was nominated as best picture in the recent Cinemalaya and will now be released in theaters on November 30. Her husband Billy Crawford won the grand prize in the “Dancing with the Stars” in France. She says they’ve been in France for three months now.
“It’s no vacation at all,” she says. “We stay in an apartment and iba talaga ang buhay namin dito kaysa sa Pilipinas. Ibang experience kasi wala kaming katulong, so we do everything ourselves, but we’ve learned to adjust. We will be staying here up to December and be back in Manila for Christmas.”
“Kaluskos” is directed by Roman Perez Jr. and is Coleen’s first horror flick. So what is it all about and what’s her experience in shooting it?
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“It’s about a mother and her descent into madness. Napakarami niyang pinagdaraanan and it takes its toll on her. She is so career-oriented so she has no time for her daughter, played by child actress Queenzy Calma. She is separated from her husband, played by Karl Medina, and they are now in the midst of a custody battle. Tapos, she’s given time to spend with her daughter and strange things start to happen.”
She’s glad the film will now be released in theaters to a wider and not just a limited audience. Also in the cast of “Kaluskos” are Cara Gonzales as Karl Medina’s new girlfriend and Elora Espano as the lawyer of Coleen who is helping her in her battle for custody of her daughter.
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‘Sabi ko, wala naman akong sakit, but we have to follow the rules. — Mel Tiangco’
Mel Tiangco
“Magpakailanman” started its telecast on December 2, 2002 and has since harvested so many awards as best drama program from various award-giving bodies. The show’s host, Mel Tiangco, says she’s glad to see all the press people invited to the show’s 20th anniversary press con. “I’m happy to see you all again after the pandemic,” she says. “We’re all survivors, pati na ang ‘Magpakailanman.’ After the lockdown in 2020, three months akong jobless. Kasi bawal daw lumabas ang mga senior. I can’t do ‘24 Oras’ and we cannot tape new episodes for ‘Magpakailanman’ kasi bawal ang mag-taping. Puro replays muna ang ipinalabas. Sabi ko, wala naman akong sakit, but we have to follow the rules.”
When restrictions were relaxed in 2021, she was elated to go back to work. “But nagka-lockdown uli because of the new strain of virus at three months na naman akong walang trabaho so naglinis na lang ako nang naglinis ng aming bahay. And now, we’re glad we all survived it.”
“Magpakailanman” rested in 2007 but returned with a vengeance in November, 2012.
“And since then, tuloy-tuloy na kami. When we started, I was doing the intros in remote locations na ang background is a big body of water that symbolizes life and being limitless. Naku, hirap na hirap ako doon. Once, nabagsakan ako ng bubong ng isang bahay kubo kasi sobrang lakas ng hangin. Laging pagod na pagod ako after each taping.”
The 20th anniversary celebration of “Magpakailanman” started with the episode starring Gina Alajar as a mother whose three sons (Dave Bornea, Joaquin Domagoso and Kim de Leon) are all accused of being rapists. This will be followed by the Maegan Aguilar episode starring Sanya Lopez. The final episode will star Bea Alonzo in her first “MPK” appearance, a horror-suspense story she herself requested.
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“Secrets of a Nympho” is a Vivamax series with eight episodes. Four episodes have already been shown and the fifth episode was shown last Sunday. The series is produced by Lino Cayetano’s Rein Entertainment, written by Philip King and directed by Shugo Prayco.
Viva hosted a press con for its last four remaining episodes and the two lead stars both look radiantly beautiful: Rhen Escaño and Ayanna Misola. Rhen plays Gab, an outcast in their university since she is poor scholar whereas most of the students come from wealthy families.
Ayanna, in turn, is Hannah, the campus sweetheart who is in love with the campus hunk, Aaron Villaflor as Brian, whose rich family is part owner of the school. The show’s first episode starts with Brian falling to his death from the rooftop of their school while Hannah is found unconscious and goes into coma.
Rhen has become choosy when it comes to getting new assignments. But she quickly accepted “Secrets of a Nympho” because it tackles relevant social issues. “It shows corruption while also delving into the situations young people today get into,” she says. “Brian and his friends are into booze and drugs ipinapakita ng show ang mundong ginagalawan nila pati mga kalokohang ginagawa nila.”
Since this is a Vivamax presentation, viewers can expect a lot of steamy sex scenes. Director Lino Cayetano says young people today are no longer the inhibited youth of the past but are more liberated and this is shown in the series.
“We’re lucky to have such wonderful, talented people in the cast,” says Direk Shugo. “They’re all game. They give their own insights and inputs about their character and they’re all very cooperative during the shoot, which made our job easier. Malakas din ang energy nilang lahat and we draw from their energy to inspire us in making the series.”
