Zathura kid star has a Pinay in his life

Thought for the day:

I got this text message from my friend Gian who said he’s "confused" and needs somebody to help him answer these questions:

1. Does Jennifer Love Hewitt?

2. Where did Vincent van Gogh?

3. Is Marvin Gaye?

4. Why is Norman Black?

5. Where did Sandara Park?

6. Is Chow Yun Fat?

7. What did Henry Sy?

8. Why is Alonzo Mourning?

9. Is Lucio Tan?

10. When will Orlando Bloom?

I can’t help Gian. Can you?

* * *

I must admit that I’m not a fan of kid stuff such as local TV’s fantaserye or the big screen’s fantasy-adventures. But – surprise, surprise! – I confess with a big blush that I enjoyed Columbia Pictures’ Zathura: A Space Adventure (showing in Metro Manila starting on Wednesday, Jan. 25) during its advance screening mid-November last year at a theater in Burbank, California, exclusively for more than 50 entertainment journalists from around the world participating in the press junket for the movie.

If you’re a kid or a kid-at-heart who enjoyed the Robin Williams starrer Jumanji (also by, like The Polar Express, prolific children’s book writer Chris Van Allsburg), I’m sure you’ll love Zathura which is non-stop breath-taking and sometimes mind-boggling action from beginning to end, making you hold on to your seat and hope and pray that the boys will come back to earth from outer space safe and sound, whole and well.

But first, the story: Zathura is a board game discovered by a six-year-old Danny in a dumbwaiter where he hides after his usual fight with his older, 10-year-old brother Walter while their divorced dad (Tim Robbins... more on him in tomorrow’s issue) is away. What follows is an incredible adventure that brings the two brothers into the deepest and darkest outer space. Don’t worry, in the end they are hurtled back home but not before the whole house is sucked out of earth and into space amidst meteor showers and eye-popping, heart-stopping creatures from outer space.

What a mess of an adventure flick!

Playing Walter is Josh Hutcherson whom you will recognize as Hero Boy in the Tom Hanks starrer The Polar Express, Will Ferrell and Robert Duvall’s co-star in Kicking and Screaming, and the lead star of Little Manhattan, now showing in Metro Manila theaters (and soon, as Robin Williams’ son in the comedy RV).

At the start of our interview when the fast-talking Josh (who turned 13 on Oct. 12 last year) learned that I came from the Philippines, he broke into a wide smile and said, "Oh, my girlfriend is a Filipina" whom he refused to identify. "I heard so much about the Philippines from her and I’d love to visit your country someday."

Before that Filipina girl, Josh said that he had another girlfriend whom he met when he was barely nine years old.

And what do he and his girlfriend usually do when they’re together?

"We watch movies and we go to dinner," he said. "That’s about all."

Good for them.

Before Josh makes good his plan to visit the Philippines, he so preoccupies himself with work that he can’t even attend regular classes. Instead, he’s into what he called "home schooling," with his mom acting as his tutor.

"It’s hard but I try to make good in both my work and in my studies," he said.

How was it working in a huffing-and-puffing movie like Zathura?

"Oh, it’s fun! It was challenging to me as an actor because I had to act scared while being chased by robots even if all I saw when I looked back while running was the blue screen. Exciting! Jonah (Bobo, who plays his younger brother) and I get ejected through a roof, sucked into a black hole, dodged meteors and got chased by robots. It was all just a blast."

His favorite board game is Monopoly. He also likes to play football and soccer, and enjoys watching suspense-thrillers and movies like the Johnny Depp starrer Pirates of the Caribbean.

"What do I want to be when I grow up? Oh, a director, like Ron Howard who started as a child actor and became a director."

Among his favorite actors are those he has worked with (Duvall, Williams and Robbins).

"I learned a lot just by watching them before the camera and behind it, and just by the way they carry themselves. They’re professional actors."

In Zathura, Josh and Jonah made a wish and got it in a manner they never expected nor imagined.

In real life, has he ever had a wish that came true?

"Yes," Josh smiled widely, "I wished that I’d get the part in Zathura and I got it."

Cynthia and Oscar mark ruby year

Remember Cynthia Ugalde, the 1962 Miss Philippines who represented the country in that year’s Miss International contest? She and her husband, Dr. Oscar Tan, recently marked their ruby (40th) wedding anniversary.

Here’s a report from Funfare’s "beauty expert" Felix Manuel (in collaboration with Joey Cezeare, Gery Yumping and Francis Calubaquib):

Love, trust and respect are the key factors that make a marriage last according to Cynthia. The former beauty queen/ actress and her husband, Dr. Oscar Pelaez Tan, renewed their wedding vows at the Manila Cathedral on Dec. 23 last year several days after they celebrated their ruby wedding anniversary.

In an intimate ceremony, the couple shared this blissful moment with close friends and relatives. Wearing a beautiful red wedding gown, Cynthia still exuded the charm that catapulted her into the limelight.

During a photo session outside the church, we overheard several spectators silently arguing that the bride was either a former beauty queen or an actress. A baby boomer among the spectators recognized Cynthia and told her fellow spectators that she is a fan of the former beauty queen/ actress during the ’60s.

Cynthia was among the first beauty queens who ventured into showbiz. After winning a string of beauty titles (Miss Philippine Air Force 1957, Miss Education 1960 in UST, and the 1961 Miss Press Photography of the Philippines ) she was chosen as the Philippine representative to the 1962 Miss International pageant in Long Beach, California, and went on to become the first Filipina to win a photogenic citation (she was fourth runner-up in the Miss Photogenic round) in any international beauty pageant. Australia’s Tania Verstak won as Most Photogenic and eventually bagged the Miss International crown.

Showbiz beckoned and Cynthia was introduced in the film Reynang Nakabakya opposite the late Nestor de Villa. After several movies (Matang Lawin opposite the late Cesar Ramirez, Bathing Beauties, Birds of Paradise, Tansan vs Tarsan, etc.) she married Dr. Tan on Dec. 17, 1965 and moved to the US after two years. Their eldest child, Camille, was born in 1970 and the youngest, Omar, was born in 1978. Cynthia studied at the New York School of Interior Design and John Robert Powers in Manhattan. The couple returned to Manila for good in mid-2004.

What’s up?

Condolence to Tony de la Rea on the death of his father, Cipriano de la Rea, whose remains lie at the ancestral compound in 279 Villanueva St., Silang, Cavite. Cremation is on Saturday, Jan. 21 after the 3 p.m. necrological services at the Silang Catholic Church.

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