'ABAKADA INA' : A Decade After

Industry leaders speak for mainstream cinema

Industry leaders speak for mainstream cinema

"True Blood" Season 4 Extended 8 Min Preview!

SSV New Fave! feat: Singaporean music artist CORRINNE MAY - "On the Side of Me"

"On the Side of Me" lyrics

I'm not the easiest person to love
I'm often the one who lets things go unresolved

Yet you choose to be
On the side of me
On the side of me
Yet you choose to be on the side of me
On the side of me

I'm not too proud of some things
I've done in my life
The skeletons in my closet
Are too big for me to hide

Yet you choose to be
On the side of me
On the side of me
Blessed Charity
You're on the side of me
On the side of me
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/c/corrinne_may/on_the_side_of_me.html ]
'Cause everyone needs a friend to hold
When it's cold outside
And there's no place to go
Everyone needs a friend to hold
All alone I cried
There was no place to go
I remember when nobody cared
But you

I'm not the easiest person to love
But you, you've opened your heart to show me what I'm worth

'Cause you choose to be
On the side of me
On the side of me
What a mystery
You're on the side of me
On the side of me

'Cause everyone needs a friend to hold
When it's cold outside
And there's no place to go
Everyone needs a friend to hold
All alone I cried
There was no place to go

I remember when nobody cared
I remember when nobody cared
Nobody cared
But you...

Yeah you choose to be
On the side of me
On the side of me

The World's 25 Highest-Paid Musicians - Zack O'Malley Greenburg - Forbes

The World's 25 Highest-Paid Musicians - Zack O'Malley Greenburg - Forbes

JOSE RIZAL @ 150: Celebrate the Rebirth of the Rizal Mind, Heart and Spirit in Every Filipino Worldwide! Feat. 'Noli Me Tangere' by Gerry de Leon and Other Works

Feature 1: Jose Rizal's 'God Save the Philippines. God Save the World.' Part 1



Feature 1: Jose Rizal's 'God Save the Philippines. God Save the World.' Part 2



Feature 2: 'Noli Me Tangere' by Gerry De Leon

(Artist of Value) "I have two sides-one that knows and loves life and another that fears it and wants to run away..."- Toots Magsino

     (L) RRB of SuperStarValue with Toots Magsino and 'Duality' (Painting/R) during the Artist's Talk @ the Ayala Museum 06/18/11

"DUALITY"

Collage, photo transfer, fluid acrylic on plexiglass; 

text on acetate mounted on gesso board

12 x 16 in. each panel (diptych)

2005

I have two sides—one that knows and loves life and another that fears it and wants to run away from it. A tolerance for this ambiguity and a true acceptance of it is my life’s challenge.- Toots Magsino

My Episodes with Toots Magsino

by

Ramon E. Bayron

The first time I met Toots was in 2003 while attending a crash course in Arts Management at the Asian Institute of Management. I’m spelling it all out because I knew I was there by sheer ‘leap of faith.’ It was an expensive two-week course as far as this middle class film/tv writer was concerned. Then there she was. So simple and unassuming, always low-key but had the widest, sweetest smile for everyone.

“I’m here on a vacation…I’m based in New York…I’ll be going back there after I finish this course…” were some of the information she nonchalantly told us in between our group discussions.

“Sosyal.” This pedestrian pop media professional writes in his thought balloon. “So what do you do in New York?” I remember one of us asking. “I paint. But it’s not the usual kind of painting. I do collages…”

She lost me in the ‘not the usual kind of painting’ part while she, I remember, went on to describe how many of her works are a mixture of elements, from paint to actual photos and objects. All of it apparently comes together in an artistic whole on each ‘Toots Magsino canvas’.

“Para siyang art film” was the best description I could come up with while listening to her speak about her works. On those moments, Toots would suddenly come out of her laid back self as her energy level would rise rather exponentially. You actually feel her excited vibe overflow.

“Years from now, I want to open my own art school here in Manila so I can teach my art to kids. But for now, I need to be in New York.”

Hmmm.  Really nice lady. Quite privileged yet thankfully remains grounded as implied by her rather noble future plans for the children in the Philippines. New York hasn’t jaded her, it seems. Deceptively modest too and obviously talented or as the United States Immigration Office would put it- “an individual with an extraordinary ability in the arts” (Toots is a holder of an O-1B Artist Visa).

A number of years later, I’d learn from Toots during a chat interview online that one of her artistic creations was featured as cover of Carnegie Hall’s Playbill. She was still in New York and yet again was planning to visit Manila.

I guess some folks were meant to live a ‘dream life’, I told myself with admittedly a little more than a tinge of envy.

That she also had to work as a teacher’s assistant, take clerical jobs in her school’s administration office and even ‘do waitressing’ while finishing two 4-year programs at The Art Students League of New York: Fine Arts Painting and Fine Arts Printmaking on a scholarship didn’t really register as a ‘challenging scenario’ for someone also attempting to professionally survive ‘showbiz’ in Manila like me.

After all, Manila is Manila and New York is well…the world for most of us 90M+ third world residents of the Philippines.

Then late last year, Toots and I met again. In one of the coffee shops @ upscale Shangri-la mall. What I thought to be just another breezy tete-a-tete with a colleague turned unexpectedly serious, dangerously personal and completely redefined everything I thought I knew about her.

“I left New York…I’m no longer renewing my visa…I’m back in Manila for good.”

While staring at Toots, thoughts of legendary Superstar Nora Aunor, inarguably the Philippines’ most accomplished multi-media pop artist bar none, zapped in my mind. That the great Ms. Aunor is NOT even residing in the country today, that she has been striving by her lonesome in the United States of America for several years now… isn’t that artist’s condition an indictment enough of how the Philippine government , the Philippine entertainment industry and the Filipino public in general value/forsake its most gifted artists? Then there’s Charice, Arnel Pineda, even Lea Salonga. For these artists, the Philippines could never afford to give them their due stage.

All of course I kept to myself.

What will you be doing here?
“Paint. Open a school. Teach my art.”
Sayang ang Artist Visa!

Toots flashed her most disarming smile again. Then she shared these words…

“I didn’t exactly come back all on my own. I had to. Come home. You see, I have this thing called…’bipolar disorder’. I had another episode and it was pretty bad. It made me realize that in our society, so little is known about the condition. But I know how it is. It’s unpredictable. It’s almost permanent. It could even be fatal…”

My mind went blank. Toots went on.

“But it can be conquered. It can be managed. People with this condition can still live happy, productive lives.  I want my art to show the world that. I know you’re in pop media. Won’t you help me spread the word around?”
Toots smile never left her face.


The Ayala Museum ArtistSpace presents “Between Episodes” by Toots Magsino, June 15-28, 2011.

AD/PROM: Nestle Philippines' Short Film Anthology, A Critical and 'Box-Office' Success

In order of SuperStarValue Rating:
(rating in progress)


#1 Tingala sa Baba
("Look Up Below")

Directed by HENRY FREJAS

Genre A Coming-of-Age Satire

IN A TYPICAL PLAYGROUND, life plays a game of irony when two 8-year old kids are on a seesaw. One is a rather hefty child from a well-to-do family who is stuck at the bottom, whereas a lanky child brought up in poverty is on top. Rich kid is looking up to the poor boy, who in turn, is looking down on him. How will the rich kid reverse his position The answer to that question will make one realize that friendship is more valuable than money, while the other one would discover his true worth as a friend.

#2 The Howl and the Fussyket

Directed by: CHRIS MARTINEZ

Genre: A Family Comedy of Manners

8-YEAR OLD AARON (Gerald Pesigan) is dead set on winning the Grand Prize in his 2nd Grade declamation contest. He is determined to win despite his obvious “f” and “p” speech defect, a proclivity common amongst some Filipinos to interchange the pronunciation of English words with the letters “f” and “p”. His mother (Eugene Domingo) takes an active albeit humorous role in preparing him for the competition. This is a story of perseverance, family unity and the real meaning of triumph and possibly the “Rocky” of all declamation contests!

#3 Sign Seeker

Directed by Carlo Directo

Genre A Romantic Comedy

A SUPERSTITIOUS GUY, Bien (John Lloyd Cruz), seeks all sorts of “divine” signs that will determine his decision of asking the girl of his dreams (Solenn Heussaff) out on a date. The fear of rejection swallows him whole, making him justify his cause to willfully seek for more unfathomable signs. But when each sign he seeks for materializes, he soon learns that he has to be careful with what he wishes for.

#4 Cooking Mo Cooking Ko

Directed by CHRIS MARTINEZ

Genre A Shakespearean Food Film

THIS COMEDIC VERSION OF THE CLASSIC “ROMEO AND JULIET” narrates two star-crossed lovers born into warring families who each happen to be proud owners of their own carinderias (local eateries) battling for their town’s cuisine supremacy. Old wounds are reopened among the Montano and the Capule families when the former’s loyal customers start patronizing the latter. Young lovers Romina Montano and Julius Capule are caught in this web of intrigue, espionage and extra rice.

#5 Unplugged

Directed by: RAUL JOROLAN

Genre: A Feel-Good Adventure of Discovery

A Football coach (Marvin Agustin) takes his team of teenage boys out on a fieldtrip to the provincial home of his grandfather (Eddie Garcia). But instead of bonding as a team, the boys are more caught up with their gadgets. The coach’s grandfather is determined to change all that as he challenges the boys to detach from their virtual distractions and explore the great outdoors instead. The boys then unlock a new world of natural wonder and discovery, realizing that going offline is the only way to reconnect back to life. A life that is… unplugged.

#6 Sali-Salita

Directed by: JUN REYES

Genre: A Gritty Urban Drama

SILUP IS “PULIS” (Police) SPELLED BACKWARDS. We peek into the life of a Manila cop (Sid Lucero) whose day is made up of dealing with denizens and the crimes they commit. At work, he may be all tough and stern, but at home, we see his more sensitive side. He has this mysterious routine of taking out a can of sterilized milk from a cupboard and depositing his revolver in its place. Later on, it is revealed why he makes the switch and symbolizes how it is like to live by his duty as a policeman to serve and protect.

#7 Downtown

Directed by: STEPHEN NGO

Genre: A Quiet Story of Love

IN A CHINESE COMMUNITY IN DOWNTOWN MANILA, we meet a man who has floated through life with his ladylove by his side. But now, times have changed as he begins each day waking up alone on his bed made for two. He realizes that his coffee has it better because, at least, it has a creamer to be its mate. In these moments, he misses his beloved the most and decides to get his act together for a second shot at the greatest thing in life— love.

#8 Oh! Pa Ra Sa Ta U Wa Yeah

Directed by JEORGE AGCAOILI

Genre An Original Pinoy Musical Comedy

THE CLEMENTE FAMILY IS OFF TO AN OUTING but teenage son, Nicos (Neil Coleta), seems out of it. Nicos is besotted with his ladylove, Mattina (Colleen Garcia), whom he can’t quite figure out. The inside info that Nicos gets from Mattina’s younger sister, Bettina (Jillian Ward), doesn’t seem to help. Seeing his son’s despair, Nicos’ father finally shares to his son an ancient family heirloom. It is a 100-year old manual containing the secrets, alphabetically arranged, of how men in their clan courted women. Through this, Nicos finally learns what every man should know by heart — the ABC’s of what women truly want.

#9 Silup

Directed by: JUN REYES

Genre: A Gritty Urban Drama

SILUP IS “PULIS” (Police) SPELLED BACKWARDS. We peek into the life of a Manila cop (Sid Lucero) whose day is made up of dealing with denizens and the crimes they commit. At work, he may be all tough and stern, but at home, we see his more sensitive side. He has this mysterious routine of taking out a can of sterilized milk from a cupboard and depositing his revolver in its place. Later on, it is revealed why he makes the switch and symbolizes how it is like to live by his duty as a policeman to serve and protect.

 

#10 Isang Tasang Pangarap

(“HOPE IN A MUG”)
Directed by: SID MADERAZO

Genre: A Comedy of Epic Proportions

IN A SMALL TOWN DEVASTATED by calamity and chaos, Elias (Ramon Bautista), still holds on to the one thing he considers sacred—a shiny red coffee mug. For him, this mug not only symbolizes his love for coffee but his hope for a better life. After an enlightening encounter with a strange sari-sari store owner, he is suddenly gifted with the ability to tell the future. Soon enough, he is proclaimed as “TheCoffee Psychic” and personifies hope for the townsfolk. But can hope truly spring eternal in this comedic homage to the award-winning epic Filipino film, “Himala” (Miracle)?

(ANALYSIS): Most Valuable Stars in the Philippines/Television (2010-2011)

1. MIKE ENRIQUEZ and MEL TIANGCO (24 Oras): The formidable duo is GMA 7’s frontliner in the now generally seen three-way cut-throat battle (along with ABS-CBN & TV5) for Philippine television’s primetime ratings supremacy. And as far as Megamanila (the biggest segment of the Philippine tv audience) is concerned, Mel and Mike are on top of their must-watch list. An enviable perception of Credibility, Fairness and Reachability from the public makes this tandem a consistently strong magnet that never fails to attract initial primetime tv viewers to the obvious benefit of the succeeding shows headlined by more ‘popular stars’ in the Kapuso network.

2. KATHRYN BERNARDO and JULIA MONTES (Mara Clara): Up until recently, Kathryn and Julia were just among ABS-CBN’s countless aspiring talents until the Kapamilya network gambled on the pair by casting them in the much coveted and now iconic characters of Mara (Kathryn) and Clara (Julia), the same roles that launched the careers of now top female star Judy Ann Santos and noted character actress Gladys Reyes about two decades ago. The task couldn’t have been more daunting for these two young rising stars and the fate of the remake really could have gone either way. But Kathryn and Julia met the challenge head-on like seasoned professionals and with the help of an updated, albeit more domestically violent material, that sadly and alarmingly seem to reflect a reality that a majority of Filipino viewers could relate to (as its incredible ratings suggest) and a nearly perfect powerhouse acting ensemble, history did repeat itself-if not surpassed its predecessor.

Kathryn and Julia. The new ‘Mara’ and ‘Clara.’ Fast rising stars. But why? Did they just provide young, fresh faces to the age-old, deplorable plight of abused women and neglected children in Philippine society?

3. NOLI DE CASTRO, KORINA SANCHEZ and TED FAILON (TV Patrol): The current TV Patrol triumvirate is hands down Philippine television’s most ‘star-studded’ line-up for any news program bar none. And on the nationwide front, Noli, Korina and Ted are the top, if not the only names of choice for Filipino viewers as far as delivering the news is concerned. However, if one is to be truly objective about this trio’s star value, it has to be noted that save for Mr. Failon, the two other anchors’ strengths could also be their weakness if only because of the innate ‘Caesar’s wife’ requirements of the news program as a genre.

In pedestrian terms, Kabayan Noli was just very recently the Philippines’ Vice President under the much maligned (rightly or wrongly) administration of Gloria Arroyo, while Ms. Sanchez is in fact now Mrs. Sanchez-Roxas to Mar Roxas, who even more recently was a Vice Presidential candidate and now Pres. Noynoy’s newly appointed Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Communications.

All these names and titles of politicians and agencies that easily come together once the names of Noli and Korina are mentioned could work both ways in the psyche of the Filipino viewers.

Many most likely find reassurance if not solace in knowing that these newscasters aren’t just ‘news readers’ but truly knowledgeable and informed professionals who could be relied upon to deliver them not only the ‘news’ as it happens but more importantly on how to view and assess each and every information that come their way. In short, Kabayan Noli and Korina truly know what they are talking about.

But then again, strictly speaking ‘news’ analyzed is no longer the ‘news’ but an editorial.

And for the other segment of Filipino news program viewers, they who are probably less ‘star struck’ by names and circumstance, they just might, at the very least, find the ‘casting coup’ itself as a source of potential hindrance in getting just the news, no more, no less.

(PHILS) Have wings, will take off

Have wings, will take off

(GPS) How it feels to be short and a ‘minority person’ in H’wood: Charice opens up

How it feels to be short and a ‘minority person’ in H’wood: Charice opens up

Leonardo DiCaprio and Idris Elba's 'Django Unchained' Talks Confirmed; Jamie Foxx and Chris Tucker In The Mix

Leonardo DiCaprio and Idris Elba's 'Django Unchained' Talks Confirmed

Fashion inspired by the great literary works of National Artist F. Sionil Jose

PEP.ph: Fashion promotes the literary works of National Artist F. Sionil Jose

Media Business Headlines: Philippines

MVP's MediaQuest on IBC-13
GMA Network Misses Net Earnings Target of Php 3B in 2010
GMA 7 Gross Sales Reach Php 14.299 Billion in 2010
Metro Manila Film Festival 2011 Launched 
San Miguel Corp. Plans to Bid for RPN 9 and-IBC-13
Court of Appeals Releases Resolution on ABS-CBN's Copyright case vs Willing-Willie