In fairness to, in defense of Derek & Jennylyn

It happens all the time. The annual Metro Filmfest will never be the same without the attendant controversy on which of the eight official entries is making more money and which actors are deserving of the awards.

Happily, unlike in past filmfests, this year’s (the official 14-day event is good until tomorrow, Jan. 7, although those making money will enjoy an extended run) wasn’t marred by a major controversy, only a minor one specifically Derek Ramsay’s Best Actor win for English Only, Please but not so much against his leading lady Jennylyn Mercado.

The anti-Derek bashing was, I think, unfair (below the belt) particularly from a media guy who blatantly accused Derek of stealing (nagnakaw ng karangalan, or something to that effect) the honor from another actor who, very obviously, was the media guy’s choice.

As always with us Filipinos, we don’t respect the verdict of the judges and impose our own, even if the decision of the judges, whether you agree with it or not, is final. Those who can’t afford or accept to lose have no business joining any competition.

English Only, Please, co-produced by my good friend, lawyer-producer Joji Alonso, was one of the only two entries that I chose to watch and the other is the Robin Padilla starrer Bonifacio: Unang Pangulo, which is reviewed by critic Pablo A. Tariman (see Page C-3).

My friends, Balikbayan Edmund Silvestre (Funfare’s Big Apple correspondent) and Raoul Tidalgo (retired from the US-Coast-based The Filipino Reporter where Edmund is the News/Entertainment Editor), and I watched English Only, Please last Sunday at the Shangri-La Mall. Thanks to Derek and Jennylyn’s win and the movie’s being adjudged Second Best Picture (Bonifacio was First Best Picture and Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles Third Best Picture), the movie house was packed full, with the audience no doubt drawn to it not just by the awards but by the rave reviews. As of this writing, English Only, Please has jumped to No. 4 in the unofficial gross-ranking of the eight entries, after (The Amazing Praybeyt Benjamin, Feng Shui 2 and My Big Bossing).

Directed by first-timer Dan Villegas (Best Director awardee) who was also the co-writer (with Antoinette Jadaone) and the cinematographer (the critically-acclaimed Quick Change, etc.), English Only, Please very clearly defines what a feel-good movie is — you know, you feel so good watching it, engrossed on what’s happening on the screen almost two hours without even a quick trip to the restroom, and you leave the movie house, yes, feeling good and feeling light.

We saw neither Derek nor Jennylyn in the movie but the characters they were playing, doing it so naturally and with such ease (piece of pie!) that they didn’t seem to be acting at all. Ask any filmmaker what good acting is and he will tell you that “no acting” is the best form of acting.

As the Fil-Am who comes home with a mission to make a closure with his girlfriend via a short English speech he wants translated into Filipino for better impact, Derek hires a translator (Jennylyn) and ends up falling in love with her after dispatching his girlfriend (Isabel Oli). Derek does a smooth performance, making you, even for a while, his action-star image and proving himself just as good in a rom-com as he is in tough flicks (The Janitor, etc.). Jennylyn is in  her element as the translator who is easily duped by guys after her money, a sucker for sweet nothings.

Villegas treats the subject with wit and humor without sacrificing the film’s serious message (watch the movie and find out for yourselves), coming up with an ensemble acting at its best, with cameo actors making their own markado moments (no matter how brief) — Kean Cipriano as Jennylyn’s gold-digging lover, Alex Vincent Medina as a homely woman’s lover, Patani (of Survivor Philippines) as the Pinay obsessed with bagging a foreigner-lover, Lyn Ynchausti (Mrs. Tirso Cruz III) and Ian de Leon as Jennylyn’s barrio-bound mother and brother, even the Korean guest performers and the little girl as the talkative daughter of Cai Cortez (Rex and Candy’s real-life daughter) who is a big (literally!) delight as Jennylyn’s hopelessly-romantic-but-luckless-in-love friend.

How the characters resort to “traffic sa EDSA” as alibi for arriving late at an appointment draws laughter from the full house?

Now, the question: Do Derek and Jennylyn deserve their Best Actor and Best Actress awards? DON’T ASK.

The answer is yes, hands down!!!

Kuya Germs slowly but surely recovering

First, the good news: German “Kuya Germs” Moreno is slowly but surely recovering from a stroke he suffered early morning of last Friday, Jan. 2, that rendered his right arm 100 percent numb and his right leg 50 percent, and him with a slight slur and facial distortion.

“He has been undergoing physical therapy from Day One,” Kuya Germs’ son Federico (father of archery champion Luis Gabriel Moreno) who rushed the Kapuso host to the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City. “His speech is a bit slurry but he can talk and can eat well, too, solid regular food ha. Poging-pogi pa rin ang Daddy ko. The therapists are training him how to stand and how to walk.”

Federico clarified that his father suffered a stroke and not a heart attack.

“His blood pressure was normal when I found him in his bedroom,” clarified Federico. “The stroke hit one side of his brain.”

Now, the sad news: The doctors informed Federico that it would take two months for Kuya Germs to fully recover full use of his right arm and six months for his right leg. That means Kuya Germs will go on an extended leave from his late-Saturday-night show Walang Tulugan with Master Showman for which he taped all episodes for December including the one aired last Saturday.

“As soon as he is well enough,” added Federico, “we will bring Papa to the States so he can rest and fully recover.”

Again, Kuya Germs’ family and friends are asking people to pray for his speedy recovery.

What’s Up?

The San Francisco Bay Area-based family of the late Atty. Crispin Sincaban Fernandez of  Sacramento, California will celebrate what could have been his 79th birthday tomorrow, Jan. 7.  The Gapan, Nueva Ecija-born lawyer, whose last words were “(I’m) rising to a new world of life,” passed away last Oct. 4 in Sacramento, California. He was laid to rest at Mount Olivet Cemetery in San Rafael, Marin County. He is survived by his wife, Angelita, and his children: Atty. Dennis Fernandez and wife Nancy, Dr. Oliver Fernandez, ABS-CBN Global head of Corporate Affairs & PR Nerissa Fernandez, SFO Forecast, Inc. owner Rhoda Berbey, husband David and their children Gaby and Alex, US Navy PR2 (AW/SW) Crispin Fernandez III and wife Donna, and nurse practitioner Gabriel Angelo Fernandez and fiancee Ritchelle Ricafort. 

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