On MMFF's biggest upsets

People are still talking about the results of the Metro Manila Film Festival awards night. Many people are still not convinced with the victory of Ms. Ai Ai de las Alas as best actress for the movie “Ang Tanging Ina Mo (Last Na ‘To)” and the non-inclusion of Jennylyn Mercado as best actress contender for her work in “Rosario.”

There is, of course, the snub of the MMFF jury of the work of Albert Martinez as director of “Rosario.” We have yet to see “Rosario” as of this writing so we cannot pass judgment on the decision made by the MMFF jurors. Did they err by not giving Albert a best director nomination, ditto with a best actress citation for Jennylyn? That, we have yet to find out. Nevertheless, we did get to read a number of negative reviews about the movie which made us curious, is “Rosario” really that bad a film? But we will only say our piece once we’ve watched it.

We have seen “Ang Tanging Ina Mo (Last Na ‘To)”, “RPG: Metanoia” and “Dalaw.” And in all fairness, we liked the performance of Ai Ai. It’s not easy to make people laugh and cry at the same time and Ai Ai was able to pull it off with aplomb. It’s very unlikely that everybody would agree that Ai Ai’s performance was the best among the lot, but as in any contest, there’s a winner and a loser. We should respect the choices of the jurors who were tasked to rate the performances in the film entries.

Still, we understand the sentiments of those who were “ignored” by the jurors, especially if they felt they were able to deliver a good performance and felt that their film was excellent. But the jurors may have probably seen the lapses of these film entries, hence the failure to score even a nomination.

As the song goes, “I did my best but I guess my best wasn’t good enough.” To those who have been ranting and complaining (out of disappointment), they should probably watch again the respective film entries in question with utmost scrutiny, and try to analyze where these entries have failed and where the others have succeeded.

The awards had already been given and no amount of protest would make the jurors recall the trophies and hand them over to those whom you feel should be the rightful winners. As far as the jurors are concerned, the ones they picked were the best and the most deserving of the awards.

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A good crowd trooped to the Suzuki Grand Invasion held at the SM Mall of Asia Entertainment Hall last December 19, the highlight of which was the announcement of Angel Locsin as the new endorser of the Skydrive 125 Scooter.

“I want to do something different in a field that is dominated by men,” said Angel in the vernacular in a presscon that followed her announcement as endorser. “I am proud to be the endorser of Skydrive 125 Scooter because it’s beautiful and of good quality. It’s also world-class because the Suzuki company is known all over the world.”

Angel said she won’t allow her name to be attached to a product if she doesn’t believe in the product. “I won’t stake my name for a product that I don’t believe in,” said the star of “Imortal.”

Angel said it’s a big honor for her to be chosen as endorser of the motorcycle brand. She may not be adept in using a motorcycle, but Angel expressed interest to learn how to use the Skydrive 125 Scooter and hopefully, take on a film role that would require her to use one in most of the scenes.

According to the people of Suzuki, Angel is the perfect choice to be the face of the Skydrive 125 Scooter because she is the epitome of tough feminine allure. She’s not the kind who’d back out of a challenge but would meet such head-on, without hesitation.

We can see that the beautiful Angel is also “astig” or tough, a quality that is akin to the Suzuki Skydrive 125. But what does the word “astig” mean for the actress?

“I guess we can say that a person is astig if she’s the type who’d take on a tough job, especially if that job would challenge her capability as a person, or in my case, as a woman,”Angel said. ”When you say that a person is astig, she’s someone different and is one who would be willing to fight for what is right.”

The actress said that when it comes to future TV or film roles, she would be willing to take the risk and explore roles she has never done before.

When it comes to using or riding motorcycles, Angel said she supports the campaign that anyone who uses a motorcycle should be a disciplined rider—one who must always make the conscious effort to abide by road safety measures. 

 “They should exercise safety on the road so they need to follow traffic rules and regulations like using a helmet for their safety,” she said.

She said that motorists should also know how to take responsibility for their actions in case an accident happens.

Angel is currently being kept busy taping for the drama series “Imortal” on ABS-CBN. On the movie front, she’s doing a film with Aga Muhlach for Star Cinema which is tentatively titled “Huling Sayaw.”