Juday, Ryan finally take their real-life romance to the movies

Direk Joey Reyes says he has a strong feeling that Judy Ann Santos and Gina Pareño will put up a good fight at the Metro Manila Film Festival awards night. "They are very, very good in the movie and I believe puwede silang manalo," says direk Joey of her two stars in the Star Cinema entry "Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo."

Doing light dramas is the forte of direk Joey. His past filmfest entry, "May Minamahal," won for Aga Muhlach a best actor trophy, and won for Ronaldo Valdez the best supporting actor award. It also did very well at the box-office. He has high hopes for "Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo" which also stars Ryan Agoncillo in his first movie outing with real-life girlfriend Juday.

"Wala kaming special effects, wala kaming multo, wala kaming magic. Ang magic lang ng movie namin ay ang magandang kuwento at ang magandang performance ng aming mga artista," says direk Joey who is not attending the awards night of the Metro Manila Film Festival because he will be out of town. He's not skirting the awards night because he wants to avoid controversy, similar to what happened last year when he won the Best Director trophy over good friend Joel Lamangan.

"For the past four years, I've been spending the holidays in Boracay with my friends. I am doing the same thing this year. If I win an award, thank you very much but sorry I won't be around to accept it since I will be in Boracay for a vacation," says direk Joey.

Between winning an award and scoring a hit, he prefers that his movie makes good at the box-office. "The award is just icing on the cake. What is important is that the movie makes money so our producer would do another project. The only way for us to survive in the movie industry is if we continue making movies and we hope the audience would watch."

Ai Ai's repeat birthday concert

Ai Ai de las Alas is having a repeat of birthday concert titled "Alas" on Thursday, November 30 at Klownz Araneta. The two-night concert filled up the venue to the hilt. The second night was actually overflowing with people that they had to turn away several people (with a heavy heart, of course) because it was an SRO affair, with people standing up near the entrance, hoping to catch a glimpse of the show.

"I was overwhelmed by the response of the people," said Ai Ai in an interview last week. "I was touched by their gesture I wanted to cry. I felt the people really missed me since I haven't done a solo concert since last year. I was really shocked because they were buying tickets in bulk like 20, 30, 40 pieces. Feeling ko ginagawa nilang excursion ang concert ko."

But she's not complaining. In fact, she was really overwhelmed that's why she planned this repeat where she will have as her guests Piolo Pascual, Jaya and her partner Allan K. "Love pa rin nila kaya naman I am doing a repeat," said Ai Ai. She even promises a much bigger show next year, possibly at the Araneta Coliseum and this early, Ai Ai is already thinking what she will do.

"That is going to be a big one. I am really going to prepare for it, with new gimmicks, new stuff. Pero magmamakaawa pa rin ako sa mga tao na manood ng concert ko para may makain ang mga anak ko," she says with a laugh. "I will shock everyone. Basta abangan ninyo iyan. Promise maganda iyan. Alam ninyo naman ako manggulat pagdating sa concert."

The intricate stories behind 'Pitong Dalagita'

This more or less is what Pitong Dalagita is all about. Produced by Canary Films and megged by acclaimed director Cris Pablo, it aims not just to make viewers laugh but also to realize that teenagers are leading intricate lives that are full of questions. Although the theme is dark with the protagonists attempting to end their lives, the movie employs many funny moments and situations. Interestingly, at the back of these light scenes are the sad realities confronting the leads.

Under the hands of Pablo (who has an impressive credential: a former voice talent, a graduate of Broadcast Communications at UP, had a stint with GMA-7 as head writer and producer, directed Duda and Metlogs, two films that has already made the rounds in various international film festivals), Pitong Dalagita promises to set a new trend in youth films.

"The film is unique in the sense that the seven major characters are all interesting character studies. We have Angelica Panganiban essaying the role of a girl trying to please everyone. That's her problem. Her issue is fitting in. There's Yasmien Kurdi, who has an identity crisis. Valerie Concepcion is the muse who is in love with Jay-R Trinidad, a closet queen.

"Nadine Samonte naman is the girl whose family used to be rich and goes to the extent of shoplifting in order to maintain her wealthy image. Iwa Moto and Cristine Reyes play two colorful roles as a dumb bombshell and a struggling film extra. They provide the film's comic touch. But I'm not saying that the rest are less effective in their roles. Actually, I was surprised with all of them 'cause despite their being young, they turned in sterling performances. I'm hats-off to my seven lead stars. They all did well!" proudly says Cris.

Pitong Dalagita will hit the theaters on November 29, 2006 . Don't miss it!