The Rock supports Schwarzenegger

Curtain-raisers:

• Kris Aquino did give a gift to her beloved Joey Marquez but it’s not a Porsche (pronounced Portia). Guess what it is. Clue: It’s a three-letter word that starts with a "B".

• Have you ever wondered why Alma Moreno is intriguingly quiet these days, not saying a word about – or against – her estranged husband Joey Marquez and Kris Aquino? "Well," said a Funfare DPA, "masaya siya because she has found a new boyfriend. The guy is Chinese, well-off and in his late 40s."

• It’s 99.99 percent sure that Alma is running for Mayor of Parañaque City (with her wealthy new boyfriend supporting her all the way?) and Joey for Congressman also of Parañaque (with the full backing of Kris, of course).

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Speaking of star-studded elections, this phenomenon is true not only in showbiz-crazy Philippines but in other parts of the world, America included.

Among those running in the California recall election for governor, which may not be held as originally scheduled on Oct. 9 due to a Court of Appeals injunction, are showbiz guys Arnold Schwarzenegger and that diminutive TV star (you know him, don’t you?).

Will Arnold make it to the same post once held by Ronald Reagan before he eventually became President of the USA?

It remains to be seen.

But as far as The Rock is concerned, Arnold is "it". He didn’t categorically say that he’s voting for Arnold but he made it clear that he’s supporting his fellow muscled giant whose "throne" in Hollywood The Rock is said to have "inherited."

"I’m behind Arnold all the way," The Rock told Funfare during a one-on-one last week in Los Angeles for his latest starrer, Columbia Pictures’ action-comedy Rundown: Welcome to the Jungle, where he co-stars with Seann William Scott who has built a reputation all his own from his appearances in the American Pie trilogy (followed by American Pie 2 and, showing in Metro Manila anytime soon, American Pie: The Wedding, still with Jason Biggs among the lead stars).

"I believe in his capacity to lead," added The Rock who is "on leave" from wrestling as he concentrates on his showbiz career kicked off by a brief but marked appearance in Mummy Returns (with Brendan Fraser) and followed up with The Scorpion King, his first-starring picture. "I endorse his candidacy all the way."

In the next breath, The Rock said that he’s "flattered" all right being touted as Schwarzenegger’s "heir apparent" but he’d rather be known for his own merits, with a name of his own.

Incidentally, Schwarzenegger does a walk-on role in Rundown: Welcome to the Jungle (which also features in a supporting role Filipino martial-artist Ernie Reyes who starred in Ninja Turtles). Schwarzenegger’s appearance is so brief that when Rundown gets to be shown in Manila third week of October, keep your eyes wide open, don’t go to the restroom, or you might miss him. It’s at the start of the movie, so watch out!

Giliw Ko Is Rp Entry In London Filmfest

Here’s an interesting report from Ferdinand Lapuz, Funfare’s Toronto-based "international correspondent":

Don’t look now but the 1939 film Giliw Ko, written and directed by Carlos Vander Tolosa (starring Ely Ramos, Fernando Poe, Sr. and Mila del Sol) is the lone Filipino entry in the 47th London International Film Festival from Oct. 22 to Nov. 6. I consider London one festival which is very selective. I can recall only Mel Chionglo’s Sibak (Midnight Dancers) in 1994 and Mike de Leon’s Bayaning Third World in 2002 as so far the only Filipino films shown in that filmfest.

I don’t know if there had ever been any Filipino entry before 1994 when I started monitoring the London Filmfest.

Anyway, here’s a note on Giliw Ko (My Love) from the London Filmfest website:

An enchanting reminder that the Pacific Rim has a film, history, little known though it may be in the West, and a struggling but dedicated network of archives to rescue, preserve and restore it.

Giliw Ko is a charming Filipino musical romance with a fashionable radio theme from 1939, important as the first production of the indigenous LVN Pictures. Barely surviving as a singular, wrecked and virtually written-off 16mm print, its restoration was offered as a centenary gift to the Philippines by the Australian Government when the Philippines celebrated its l00th year of independence in 1998.

The Philippine Information Agency (PIA) and the National Film and Sound Archive of Canberra (co-members of SEAPAVAA, or the South East Asia-Pacific Audio Visual Archive Association) collaborated to bring Giliw Ko back to life, blowing the image up to its original 35mm format and reviving the soundtrack by digital means.

The result still shows inevitable scars, but insufficient to spoil the film’s engagingly tuneful tale of a country girl, Guia, who is infatuated by images of Hollywood and the big city and is lured by a band leader, Antonio, to sing brash American songs on the radio. Disillusioned both romantically and artistically, she returns to singing her beloved native Filipino melodies and to the arms of her boyfriend back home.

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