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ANNETTE GOZONABROGAR of GMA Films and Lily Monteverde
of Regal Entertainment did not give a hoot at all about the recent
Star Awards for Movies held at the UP Theater. They really
shouldn’t. The awards night almost became an exclusive, lackluster
tribute to Star Cinema.
Eyebrows were raised when the
Philippine Movie Press Club released its Star Awards nominations a
few weeks ago because almost all categories included are works and
performances from movies under Star Cinema. Four of the six best
picture nominees came from Star Cinema. And true enough, when the
final ballots among its members were tallied, the results were far
from surprising.
Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo was favored
by the voting movie reporters as their Movie of the Year. Jose
Javier Reyes took home the best director and screenwriter trophies.
Its lead actress, Judy Ann Santos
was declared Actress of the Year, although she was a no-show for the
affair. She beat power actresses Gina Pareño, Cherry Pie Picache
and Maricel Soriano for the top female acting plum. Pareño, who
portrayed Santos’s loquacious mom in Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo, went
home with the Supporting Actress trophy, which we reckon is more of
a pampalubag-loob award.
Most of the other acting and
technical awardees are also from the Star Cinema and ABS-CBN stable
of talents. Piolo Pascual (Dont Give Up On Us) and Jericho Rosales (Pacquiao)
tied for the Best Actor plum. Maja Salvador (Sukob) was voted New
Movie Actress. And can you believe that Filipino-American Sam Milby
was voted as New Movie Actor for his mediocre acting debut in You
Are the One?
Other winners were
cinematographer Charlie Peralta (Dont Give Up On Us), film editor
Manet Dayrit (Sukob), sound engineer Albert Michael Idioma (Sukob),
composers Louie Ocampo and Ogie Alcasid for the theme song “Sana
Ay Malaman Mo” (Dont Give Up On Us).
The sexy actor Allen Dizon won
supporting actor honors for his role of an aging go-go boy in
Twilight Dancers and Tala Santos won Child Performer of the Year for
her heartfelt performance in Inang Yaya, which was also accorded the
Digital Film of the Year and Digital Director of the Year for
first-time collaborators Pablo Biglang-Awa Jr. and Veronica Velasco.
Many of the winners were no
shows. Piolo Pascual was reported to be out of town shooting a film
with Regine Velasquez. His award was accepted by an unknown lady
from Star Cinema who did not even bother to introduce herself. This
lady accepted all the trophies for all the Star Cinema winners who
were also absent.
I do not know why society
columnist Tim Yap was invited as a presenter. I thought his presence
was mind-boggling. The tandems of Heart Evangelista and Jericho
Rosales, Iza Calzado and Dingdong Dantes hosted the proceedings.
There were only two production numbers, and both bored me to death.
The opening medley was performed
by Jed Madela, Frenchie Dy, Aicel
Santos and Gerard Santos. The
number of Ogie Alcasid and Jaya is also ho-hum. The latter is only
engrossing when she starts to musically stylize her notes into soul
and the audience tries to predict the number of times she will hit
the sharps and the flats. I suggest that Jaya should perhaps switch
to comic singing like what her mom Elizabeth Ramsey does superbly.
A seemingly unperturbed Kuh
Ledesma was featured in the musical finale. Her estranged husband,
Louie Gonzales, is the prime suspect in the murder of his
stepbrother Federico Delgado, a scion of the prominent Delgado
family. Well, Ledesma was given the Ice Queen title when she was
starting, remember?
The loyal fans of superstar Nora
Aunor also made their presence felt by shrieking when her name was
called as a nominee for best actress for the digital film Care Home,
which had a very short and unsuccessful run in Manila.
It’s just puzzling why some
award-giving bodies continue to mushroom when they couldn’t even
claim credibility in the first place.
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