2008 looks bright for Alfred Vargas 

The year 2008 is seemingly turning out to be a good one for Alfred Vargas. Aside from getting good reviews for his performance in the Metro Manila Film Festival entry “Banal,” he is also considered as one of the contenders for the best actor award come 2007 MMFF awards night.

He’s being pitted against Paolo Contis (his co-star in “Banal’), Sen. Jinggoy Estrada (who’s also good as the OCW in the film “Katas ng Saudi” under Maverick Films) and Ryan Agoncillo as the young father in “Sakal, Sakali, Saklolo”).

Alfred, of course, is flattered with the good reviews he has been getting for his performance in his first-ever “bida-kontrabida” role in the film directorial debut of GMA-7 news reporter Cesar Apolinario.

In fairness to him, he really prepared hard for his role as the rogue SWAT member named PO3 Jayson Ramos. He went on a diet to shed 12 lbs. so that his jawline would become prominent. “Masyado kasing maamo at mabait ang face ko so I really need to make myself look credible as a bad,” explains Alfred.

After “Banal,” the actor is set to do another project for the film outfit of Ina Alegre titled “Sais” to be handled by an American director. The former actress-turned producer is reportedly eyeing a foreigner to be the leading lady of Alfred in his new project for Comguild Productions, which also produced “Banal.”

* * *

We learned from Alfie Lorenzo, the manager of Judy Ann Santos, that the series of U.S. premieres of “Sakal, Sakali, Saklolo” starring Juday and real-life boyfriend Ryan Agoncillo, will begin on January 11.

The first scheduled premiere will be held at the Alex Theater in Los Angeles, to be followed by the premiere in Hawaii. This is the first time that a Juday movie is having a premiere in the United States and this is special for her because it’s a movie she did with Ryan. Upon her return, Juday will start shooting her new movie titled “Ploning.”

We dropped by Tito Alfie’s house on Panay Avenue last New Year’s eve and we marveled at the numerous decorations adorning his house. It was a two-door apartment that also serves as his office.

All corners of the house had a TV set tuned in to ABS-CBN and GMA 7, so he’s always abreast with the news, whether it be about showbiz or not.

* * *

Having watched all the filmfest entries, we’d like to give our own choices for the filmfest awards set on Saturday, January 5, at the SMX Convention Center located at the Mall of Asia. In contrast to the filmfest criteria that puts 50% of the points for the best picture plum on the basis of the box-office result, we are choosing our bets on the basis of artistic merit.

For best picture, our top bets are “Katas ng Saudi,” “Sakal, Sakali, Saklolo” and “Banal.”

For best director, our choice  is Jose Javier Reyes for “Katas ng Saudi.” This is also our choice for best screenplay.

For best actor, we pick two –Sen. Jinggoy Estrada for “Katas ng Saudi” and Alfred Vargas for “Banal.” Dark horses are Paolo Contis for “Banal” and Ryan Agoncillo for “Sakal, Sakali, Saklolo.”

For best actress, our choices are Lorna Tolentino for “Katas ng Saudi and Judy Ann Santos for “Sakal, Sakali, Saklolo.” 

For best supporting actor, we like Bayani Agbayani for “Katas ng Saudi” and Christopher de Leon for “Banal.” Dark horse is Pen Medina for “Banal.”

For best supporting actress, we like Gina Pareño for “Sakal, Sakali, Saklolo,” same with Gloria Diaz for the same film. We also like Eugene Domingo for “Bahay Kubo.”