Vilmanians say their piece

Curtain-raisers:

• Marvin Agustin is now a dad. His (unnamed) non-showbiz girlfriend gave birth to twins in L.A. the other day. Both boys, they are named Santiago, 18 inches and five pounds; and Sebastian, 19 inches and 4.9 pounds. Marvin is in L.A. with his mag-iina.

• The Maid, the movie starring Alessandra de Rossi and shot in Singapore, grossed more than S$400,000 (roughly P13.2 million) during a sneak preview in 20 Singapore theaters on Aug. 15. Regular showing starts today in more Singapore theaters. Direk Tikoy Aguiluz is working out a September playdate in Manila.

• From Joji Dingcong: The concert of Ogie Alcasid and Vina Morales in London last week was a success. Other scheduled shows in Europe: Aug. 20 in Malaga, Spain; and Aug. 27 in Dublin, Ireland. On Sept. 3, Vina will do a concert with Janno Gibbs in Geneva.

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The reaction of Vilmanians to Funfare’s Memorable Nora films through the decades (Aug. 13) is swift. They want "equal space," arguing Vilma Santos has as much memorable movies as Nora Aunor, "Perhaps even more."

They point out that Vilma also has an international award, Best Actress from Belgium for Chito Roño’s Bata…Bata…Paano Ka Ginawa?, based on Lualhati Bautista’s popular novel. (Which was duly noted by Funfare last Aug. 13). The Vilmanians add that their idol starred in another Lualhati landmark novel, Dekada ’70, opposite Christopher de Leon and again directed by Roño.

As regards National Artists Ishmael Bernal and Lino Brocka, who directed Nora in films acclaimed abroad, the Vilmanians note that their idol had movie credits with the two great names.

The best-remembered Bernal-Vilma films are Relasyon, Broken Marriage, and Pahiram ng Isang Umaga, all of which gave Vilma Best Actress trophies. Relasyon won for Vilma a grandslam, meaning Best Actress awards from Urian, Film Academy of the Philippines, and FAMAS awards.

Brocka directed Vilma in Rubia Servios, Adultery, and Hahamakin Lahat.

More info from Vilmanians.

Mike de Leon (said to be a future National Artist) directed Vilma in the memorable and powerful Sister Stella L., which defied the Marcos dictatorship.

Two of Celso Ad. Castillo’s finest films starred Vilma, the controversial Burlesk Queen and the epic Pagputi ng Uwak, Pag-itim ng Tagak, which Vilma herself produced. It took more than two years to finish depleting the resources of VS Films.

Laurice Guillen directed Vilma in Kapag Langit ang Humatol, Ipagpatawad Mo and Dolzura Cortez, box-office hits and award winners all.

(Funfare recalled that Vision Films, headed by Charo Santos and Simon Ongpin, offered Vilma two projects. Either Kapag Langit ang Humatol, which was a top-rating radio serial, or a prestigious Brocka film about a crusading and gutsy lady doctor. Vilma couldn’t decide which movie to accept, so a colleague who was helping promote Vision Films "decided" for the Star for All Seasons. The colleague said, "Ate Vi, you don’t need another award. You have enough to last you a lifetime. Do a box-office hit, which Kapag Langit turned out to be, a blockbuster and even winning for Laurice the Urian Best Director award.)

Eddie Garcia directed Vilma in such box-office hits as Sinasamba Kita, Imortal and Saan Nagtatago ang Pag-ibig, the last title giving Tonton Gutierrez a Best Actor award from the Catholic Mass Media Awards.

Joel Lamangan, who is identified with Nora Aunor, was and still is all praises for Vilma, whom he directed in Mano Po 3. Joel was quoted as saying, "Vilma Santos is a pleasure to work with. I want to direct her again."

The Vilmanians also cited their idol’s movies with Elwood Perez, Maning Borlaza, and Danny Zialcita, all of them box-office hits. Not to forget Rory Quintos’ Anak, which remains to be one of local Cinema’s biggest moneymakers.

Well, the Nora-Vilma rivalry which started in the early ’70s continues up to this time, already the new millennium. They are the longest-reigning movie queens.

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