A Pinay in a Hollywood movie

Curtain-raisers:

• First, a correction: Kris Aquino, Alice Dixson, Judy Ann Santos, Jessa Zaragoza, Michelle Bayle, Dingdong Avanzado and John Lapus go to the Mendez Weigh Less Clinic not for Botox treatment (to remove wrinkles, laugh lines and crow’s feet) but only for some weight-loss guidance. A wrong impression must have been created by yesteday’s story about Dr. Joel Mendez’s clinic. I inadvertently mentioned Kris and company in the same breath as Hollywood star Carrie Fisher, 45, who’s been Botoxing for five years now. "I only had Dr. Mendez’s diet pills," said Kris. "I don’t need Botox. I’ve inherited my Mom’s wrinkle-free skin." O, di ba?

• The Joey-Alma real-life teleserye is branching out to all sorts of "subplots," with Sharmaine Arnaiz having her own eksena by also crying on national television while denying the worn-out rumor that she has a love child by Joey Marquez. Many people, showbiz-watchers especially, are wondering why Sharmaine is speaking out only now when she remained intriguingly quiet last year at the height of the rumor. "Oh, well," said one showbiz-observer, "gusto lang siguro ni Sharmaine makisawsaw sa publicity. Free-loader kumbaga." ’Yon na!

• Aiko Melendez and estranged husband Jomari Yllana are guesting on tonight’s edition of Kool Ka Lang (GMA, starting at 9 o’clock). Yes, the un-couple were civil and cordial to each other on the set, although at one point, said a Funfare DPA, "Muntik na silang magkapikunan". Aiko prefers it that way – "Friends na lang – muna – sila ni Jomari." The two appear on the show’s "Say Mo, Say Ko" segment. Guess who Aiko is making parinig to in her unscripted dialogue? Clue: She’s one of the women rumors are linking to Jomari. Watch Kool Ka Lang tonight and find out for yourselves. Sino siya?

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Funfare’s "international correspondent" Ferdinand Lapuz has more juicy items e-mailed straight from Toronto where he is based, specifically about Filipino actress Joanna Bacalso who’s co-starring with Cuba Gooding Jr. in the new Disney movie Snow Dogs.

Here’s Ferdinand’s full report:

It is impressive that our Billy Crawford got that plum role in the prequel to The Exorcist. If you doubt that he has any publicist, I can guarantee you that he should have more than one. In order to get a coveted role in Hollywood, aside from your talent, you need powerful agents and publicists. I remember reading somewhere that although Giselle Toengi’s career went nowhere in the US (as of yet), she had her own publicist in NY.

With Billy on board in a major Hollywood film, Pinoys are surely present in Hollywood. We have pure and half Pinoys Lea Salonga, Paolo Montalban, Tia Carrere, Jocelyn Enriquez, Lou Diamond Phillips and Rob Schneider. Wait, there’s more. Dion Basco is a regular on City Guys, an NBC teen morning show on Saturdays. Dion is one of the four Basco brothers who were in the film The Debut (original title was The Mercado Family Reunion). The Debut also featured local stars like Eddie Garcia, Tirso Cruz III and Gina Alajar.

Remember that I broke the news to you about Rob Schneider being a half Pinoy? Well, this time a Pinay is gracing Hollywood screens via Snow Dogs starring Cuba Gooding Jr. which has been No. 2 at the box office for the past two weeks. Filipino-Canadian Joanna Bacalso plays a major role in the film as Cuba’s love interest. According to an interview on her published in the Toronto Sun last Feb. 1, she was born in the Philippines and her aunt sponsored her family to migrate in Toronto. Her mom is a doctor and still practises in Toronto.

Her showbiz career started when she played a small role in the film Car 54 shot in Toronto. In 1998, she and now husband, model Matthew Garel moved to L.A. Joanna and Matthew are expecting their first child this March. Joanna has a 13-year-old son from a previous relationship.

Some of her TV guest credits were Kung Fu, La Femme Nikita, Veronica’s Closet, Wish You Were Here and recurring roles in The District and Ally McBeal. Her filmography includes Snowbound, Car 54, Where Are You (1994), Woo (1998), Bedazzled (2000), Dude, Where’s My Car? (2000) and Snow Dogs.

She is quite happy that a lot of doors are opening for ethnic actors. "When they were casting for Snow Dogs, Disney actually stated they were looking for an unknown ethnic actress," Joanna explains how she got the role. With Joanna on Snow Dogs, Laurice Guillen’s American Adobo playing on packed screens in spite of mixed reviews ($104,000+ in two weeks still counting), Gene Cajayon’s The Debut (grossing more than $1 million and still counting) and Rod Pulido’s Flip Side (shown at Sundance 2001 Native Forum Section, first Filipino film at Sundance), the presence of Filipinos in Hollywood is slowly being felt.

I went to see Snow Dogs out of curiosity. Well, it is a Disney film, fun-filled, no profanity and a happy ending. Well, Joanna’s role as Barb is the biggest yet for a Filipina in Hollywood. The role does not demand much from her. She’s the film’s leading lady and I think she was in 80 percent of the film. She’s acting side by side with Academy Award winners Cuba Gooding Jr. and James Coburn not to mention kissing Cuba. She exudes so much Pinay charisma on screen which reminds me of Tetchie Agbayani and Tia Carrere. This is a hint for Pinay wannabes to be in Hollywood.

Thanks to Sen-Villar

Senate President Pro-tempore Manny Villar is proposing the abolition of the 30 percent amusement tax imposed on the local entertainment industry as well as giving more incentives in order to cut production costs of film and record makers.

"Our local entertainment industry must be given more icentives that will bring down the cost of making films and records," said Villar. This he points out, will in effect enable them to likewise bring down prices of VCD films and albums, as well as lower admission fares in cinemas.

Villar says such measures will help put a stop to the problem of piracy which the entertainment industry says, has posed a serious problem to the viability of their operations.

"The bottomline is to make such products more affordable to the people. If this happens, there will be no need to resort to pirated VCDs," said Villar. "Moves must be taken to give Filipinos access to quality entertainment," he added.

Among the steps that must be taken said Villar, are giving tax breaks or lowering taxes on the importation of equipment used by the entertainment industry.

"Unless we can bring down the cost of entertainment industry players, the problem of piracy will persist," stressed Villar.

Reducing the cost of film and record producers, says Villar, will also help them come out with quality products as one of the major problems of the film industry since the numerous taxes and charges imposed by government.