E! Channel ‘gags’ Annabelle

If Gutierrez matriarch Annabelle Rama (photo) has been unusually quiet these days, it’s because she has been “gagged” by E! Channel with which the Gutierrezes signed a contract for another season with the stern reminder that (especially the talkative Annabelle), family members should refrain from telling the media (or anybody for that matter) what they are going through.

“Kaya watch na lang kayo to find out what we are up to,” said Annabelle who has learned how to speak tolerably fluent English since she was required to do so by E! Channel which airs the second season of the show, It Takes Gutz To Be A Gutierrez, Sunday nights starting at 9 o’clock, available on Skycable/Destiny Digital Channel 57, Cignal Cable Channel 25 and Cablelink Channel 33.

The family is more than happy with the high rating and the positive feedback from its first airing last Sunday.

“Sana mas tumaas pa ang rating,” said Annabelle who is not used to keeping her mouth shut.

Spain Filmfest honors Brillante Mendoza with a retrospective

Brillante Ma. Mendoza (photo) will be honored with a retrospective of his internationally acclaimed films at the 52nd Festival Internacional de Cine de Gijón in Asturias, Gijón, Spain, Nov. 21 to 29. The festival hails Mendoza as the “flagship of the new generation of Asian filmmakers.”

To be screened are six of his most outstanding films, namely Foster Child (2007), Serbis (2008), Lola (2009), Kinatay (2009), Thy Womb (2012) and Captive (2012).   

Meanwhile, Thy Womb is to be exhibited in Le Forum de Images in France on Oct. 18 along with classics like Akira Kurosawa’s Rash?mon, Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter and 13 other treasures of world cinema. This is in tribute to French philosopher and sociologist Edgar Morin.

— CELSO DE GUZMAN CAPARAS