MARIAN Rivera just renewed her contract as endorser of Reverie by Beautederm for its line of home products. When they got Marian last year, they offered soy candle scents. Now, they also offer a Beauterderm Air Diffuser with several aromatic oils to choose from.
“The diffuser and the oils will increase moisture in your room for easier breathing and a good night’s sleep,” said Marian. “I’m happy to be the face of Beautederm Home kasi its president and CEO, Rhea Anicoche Tan, is now family to me.”
“It’s not surprising naman that we want her to remain as our endorser,” said Rhea. “Kasi last year, one month after she became our endorser, the sales of Beautiderm tripled agad. This coming Christmas season, Beautederm beautifully packaged home products are ideal as gifts for your friends and family. Since we started in 2009, Beautederm now has 100 outlets all over the country, also in Singapore and soon, in New Zealand and Europe.”
Marian is a hands-on mom and she really uses Beautiderm products for her and hubby Dingdong Dantes’ own home. But her fans are missing her and curious as to when they’ll see her again in a TV soap or a movie. “May pinaplanong soap but for next year na, Mauuna muna yung kay Dong na ‘Descendants of the Sun’. May usapan kasi kami na alternate kami in doing soaps para may maiiwang isa sa aming bahay to personally take care of our kids. Ako, hatid-sundo ko sa school si Zia at breastfed sa akin si Ziggy, so mas ako ngayon ang laging nasa bahay. Marami ring movie offers, pero next year na lahat ‘yan.”
Zia is now herself an endorser. What about Baby Ziggy? “Napag-usapan namin ni Dong na, as much as possible, we want them to have a normal childhood. Si Zia kasi, mas pinagkakaguluhan pa ngayon kaysa sa’min ni Dong. We decided na when she reaches four years old, tigil na muna lahat ng exposure niya, pati sa social media. Para maging normal ang pagiging bata niya. Right now, lahat ng kinikita niya sa endorsements goes to her own bank account at makukuha niya ‘yun when she’s of the right age.”
Marian has discarded her imported and branded bags and garments in favor of local products. “Parang natapos na ‘yung time na nahilig ako sa expensive branded na gamit so I sold them and bought locally made things, pati mga sinusuot ng mga anak ko. Nakita ko kasing maganda ang mga gawa rito sa atin so I want to support them. Parang mas makabuluhan kapag gawang Pinoy ang gamit ko.”
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Janine Gutierrez won the best actress award in the recent QCinema International Film Festival for her crackerjack portrayal of a timid, oppressed young woman who becomes more assertive after she accidentally finds a gun left by a thug in their street. And she truly deserves her trophy. Her character is purposely made nameless to stand for all those women who are often treated marginally in our sexist and patriarchal society.
Janine is deglamorized in her role as a lowly saleslady in a department store who has to deal with their manager who constantly insults her, the drunken kanto boys in their place who make fun of her every time she passes by, her landlord who berates her for not being able to pay her rent on time, the abusive boyfriend of her roommate, the sari-sari store vendor who often ignores her when she’s buying something and her co-worker (Felix Roco) who rapes her.
The movie is actually divided into two parts. The first half is about the “Babae” in the title, who is Janine. At the climax of Janine’s story when she confronts her oppressor with a gun, her narrative is abruptly stopped and the second half of the movie unfolds. This is about the “Baril,” how it was made by a cop (Archie Adamos), used in the daring assassination of an activist by another cop (Allan Paule), inherited by that cop’s son who also grows up to be a cop (JC Santos), who then uses it on a balut vendor who turns out to be a drug pusher (an excellent Elijah Canlas), then another young thug (Sky Teotico) gets hold of it and uses it in a robbery and the killing of an old woman, before it finally falls into the hands of Janine who then uses it to take revenge on her rapist.
The film is the directorial debut of Rae Red (cousin of Mikhail and niece of Raymond), who also wrote the script and is most certainly a welcome addition to our roster of women filmmakers. She captures perfectly and unflinchingly all the grime and stressful elements of the underbelly of an overcrowded city that can be exhausting for anyone, man or woman.
She makes imaginative use of the musical score that relies heavily on percussion and the songs she chose that actually make relevant comments about us as Filipinos, like “Magnanakaw” by Asin that will surely make you say “Ouch!”
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Nathalie Hart is back after giving birth to her daughter, Penelope, in Sydney, Australia. She looks so sexy at the press con of her iWant movie, “Barbara Reimagined,” a remake of “Patayin Mo sa Sindak si Barbara” which has movie versions in 1974 starring Susan Roces as directed by the late Celso Ad. Castillo, in 1995 with Lorna Tolentino as directed by Chito Roño, and as a TV mini-series in 2008 with Kris Aquino directed by Jerry Sineneng. When asked how she would compare her performance as Barbara to that of Susan, LT and Kris, she quickly demurred.
“Please, there should be no comparison,” she says. “They’re all established stars na and also, iba-iba kami ng interpretation. Magugulat kayo kasi ibang-iba ang version namin with Direk Benedict Mique. There are more jump scares para gulatin kayo and there is a twist in the ending that is so radically different from any of the past versions. It will really surprise and even shock you. This is a very modern retelling of a ghost story that you think you are already familiar with.”
So how did she quickly get back her sexy figure?
“My baby is now 10 months old and I breastfed her up to her seventh month so nakakapayat ‘yun. Also, I watch what I eat and I exercise kaya hindi ako talaga tumaba nang husto.”
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Two negative incidents that happened in showbiz recently didn’t help the box office performance of the local films that they’re involved in: the horror flick “Santigwar” and the romantic movie, “Cara X Jagger.” In the cast of “Santigwar,” Alexa Ilacad, who plays her first starring role in the movie, spewed venom against Nash Aguas and it didn’t sit well with audiences who avoided her movie. It was first day, last day in most movie houses.
“Cara X Jagger” got a lot of publicity when Bianca Umali attended the premiere night of the movie which stars her yet-to-be admitted boyfriend, Ruru Madrid. She got so jealous because Ruru’s leading lady, Jasmine Curtis Smith, is his original crush. There’s also a story that Jasmine gave Ruru an expensive pair of sunglasses while they were shooting the film and Bianca later smashed it out of jealousy. Ruru tried to explain things to Bianca but she sped away and nearly hit him with her car at the parking lot. As a result, “Cara X Jagger” also laid a big fat egg at the box office.
To begin with, judging from the titles of these movies alone, you already know they have very little chance of making it at the tills. Why come up with titles that you still need to explain to moviegoers? Who the hell knows what “Santigwar” means except the Bicolanos since it’s a Bicolano word?
And some folks didn’t even know how to pronounce the title “Cara X Jagger.” Not a few people asked us: “Ano ba po ‘yun, Cara Times Jagger? And what does it exactly mean?”
Another movie title that is quickly a losing proposition is “Nuuk.” Who the hell would bother to google what or where Nuuk is? As a result, the Aga Muhlach-Alice Dixson also did poorly at the tills.
So time and again, we remind our producers and filmmakers to make their titles simple, catchy and easy to remember for them to have better chances at the box office.
Another movie that didn’t do as well as expected at the tills was Sarah Geronimo’s “Unforgettable.” After it was pulled out from theaters, Sarah and beau Matteo Guidicelli announced that they’re now officially engaged. It generated a lot of goodwill and congratulatory greetings from their friends and fans alike, prompting someone to quip that they should have made the announcement before Sarah’s movie was shown as it would have no doubt somehow helped “Unforgettable” at the box office.
