Coleen Garcia goes daring in launching film

Thanks to the invitation from Ms. Susan Roces, we had the chance to watch the special screening of the TV series "Ang Probinsiyano," which is based on a hit film of the late King of Philippine movies, Fernando Poe, Jr. The TV adaptation stars Coco Martin in the title role.

The tribute screening, held last week at the Trinoma Mall, was attended by the stars of "Ang Probinsiyano" and top executives of the Kapamilya network, who, like the invited audience, were all excited to watch the TV version.

It was Coco who pitched the idea to ABS-CBN and Dreamscape Entertainment to do a TV remake of the classic FPJ film. The network saw the potential, so bosses green-lit the project.

Ms. Susan, cast as the grandmother of Coco, was very pleased with how Dreamscape and ABS-CBN handled the production.

We watched "Ang Probinsiyano" when it was shown in theaters in 1997, so we're curious how Dreamscape Entertainment translated the film into the small screen.

Shown in the special preview was the pilot week which was edited to fit a two-hour presentation. We'd like to congratulate the directors for doing a good job. The pacing is fast-paced and makes for an engaging watch.

The series opens with Coco's character entering the police academy. It showed the rigorous training aspiring cops go through, and only those who are made of sterner stuff get to graduate. At the onset, it was already established that Coco's character will lock horns with the character played by Arjo Atayde, their batch's salutatorian (Coco's the valedictorian).

When something happened to Coco's character, it will be revealed that he has a twin brother who is a member of SAF and is assigned in the province.

It is truly a delight watching Coco act. Since he is playing twins, he made it a point to attack each character differently. The audience will easily distinguish between the city-bred cop and the probinsyano. The mannerisms between the two are clearly defined.

Coco as the city-bred cop has many dramatic scenes with his grandma (Susan) and his wife (Bela Padilla). He is ably supported by topnotch actors like Jaime Fabregas, Albert Martinez, Agot Isidro, among others. We believe Coco and Dreamscape Entertainment has another winner in their hands with "Ang Probinsiyano."

***

Sheena Halili and director Soxie Topacio are the featured guests in "Bubble Gang" tonight.

Among the segments to watch out for are water delivery gags, Bear Brand commercial spoof, Tatalino, Ikaw at ang Ina, Bota Botante (a talk show that features aspiring candidates next year's elections), Istambay, Nanay Power (a mini-sketch on the reality of motherhood), Maganda o Panget (a talk show host has nothing but praises for her good-looking guests but badmouths the ugly ones) and singing doctors and nurses (a surgeon allows his nurses to sing and play musical instruments inside the operating room).

***

"Ex With Benefits," the newest co-production venture of Star Cinema and Viva Films, got embroiled in controversy because of the role portrayed by Coleen Garcia. In the film directed by Gino M. Santos, Coleen plays a medical representative who goes to bed with Derek Ramsay's doctor character. The movie's trailer caught the ire of med reps who felt offended with the plot of a med rep sleeping with a doctor to get ahead in their competitive industry.

But Derek says they don't have intentions of offending anyone. "We do respect the job of med reps. We know their job is a tough one and it is not easy to gain the trust of a doctor. But we hope that before they react, they watch the movie first before they assume that we are trying to picture them in a negative light," said the actor.

Coleen, who went daring by agreeing to do love scenes with Derek, says that her boyfriend Billy Crawford had no violent reactions with her intimate scenes. She says Billy understands that she wants to go grow as an artist.

"He's giving me that space so I can grow in this industry. For that, I'm very thankful. Before the shoot, I told him the scenes that I needed to do and he's supportive because this is my launching film," she said.

It also helped that Billy and Derek are good friends. Billy knows that Derek won't take advantage of the "It's Showtime" host. She also shared that Billy trusts her and knows she won't make a bad move or decision with regards to her career.

***

One-woman band Zsaris Mendioro emerged as the first winner of the Mossimo Music Summit 2015 at the grand finals held August 21 at the Trinoma Activity Center.

The 27-year-old musician from Laguna received P200,000, plus P300,000 worth of Mossimo gift certificates after garnering a score of 93.75 percent for both her performances that evening.

Loop artist Zsaris had the crowd clapping and singing along with her as she performed her first song,"Happy" by singer-producer Pharrell. She later on gave a goosebumps-inducing cover of legendary Pinoy band Rivermaya's "Himala," prompting one of the judges, Curve Entertainment's Vic Valenciano, to call her rendition "perfect."

She showcased her superb vocal chops, musicianship, and raw talent that had the audience's jaws dropping the whole time. Armed with her guitar, Zsaris proved in both performances that she needs absolutely no help in showing the world her credibility and brilliance as an artist.

The other finalists were Kristel Herrera, Mark Francis Reyes, and the acoustic trio OTM (Jenz on vocals and percussion, Matthew on vocals and violin, and Kaye on vocals and guitar).

The distinguished and well-rounded panel of judges included Curve Entertainment record executive Vic Valenciano, MYX channel head Andre Alvarez, composer and hit songwriter Jungee Marcelo, and Callalily frontman Kean Cipriano.