FPJ series not among reasons behind Lovi’s transfer to ABS-CBN

By marinel Cruz Inquirer.net

“I WANT to have my own take on it,” said “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo” lead actress Lovi Poe of a character once played by Maricel Soriano in the movie version that also featured her late father, Fernando Poe Jr. (FPJ).

“I’ve already watched the movie before, but as part of my preparation for the series, I made sure to see it again. However, I don’t want to find myself copying Ms. Maricel. Also, my character here is totally different from hers in terms of their respective life journeys,” she told reporters recently.

“When it comes to training, I’m currently into one, but I’m not allowed to elaborate on it yet. I’ve been doing this unique preparation even before we started taping for the show,” she added.

‘Bargas’

Asked to describe her character Mocha “Mokang” Dimaculangan, Lovi said: “The term we always use when talking about her is ‘bargas,’ especially in the way she speaks and moves. This comes naturally to me, too. Not many people know this, but I act according to how I’m dressed. When I’m wearing a gown or a dress, it’s like I’m playing a character.

Continued on Page 10

UPAAGLA announces its entertainment lineup for its gala, awards night

THE UPAAGLA Gala and Awards Night returns this year to the Omni Hotel on March 18, 2023. Sure to be an evening of entertainment, this year’s Gala will be headlined by the multi-talented television actors and models Alexis and Jojo Riguerra. Alexis will also be joined by Christian Ylagan as the hosts for the evening. Attendees will enjoy dancing to live music from the Midnight Motion Band and performances by Amber and other surprise guests.

Consul General Edgar Badajos and Jessica Caloza, Deputy Chief of Staff for Attorney General Rob Bonta, are the keynote speakers for the year’s celebration.

The 2023 Gala will raise money for the benefit of the UPAAGLA Endowment Fund that supports the projects and financial needs of the university, its students and the University of the Philippines community. In 2022, UPAAGLA donated $2,000 to the College of Engineering and raised almost $6,000 for Kaagapay to assist financially-challenged UP students.

The UPAAGLA wishes to thank this year’s major sponsors – The Dichoso Group of Companies, Garcia & Sahni, Asenso, Megaworld and Dinsmore. The organization would also like to thank the Asian Journal, Philippine Post and media partner The Filipino Channel (TFC) for supporting and promoting the event.

Tickets can be purchased through Eventbrite by going to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ upaagla-awards-fundraising-gala-2023tickets-422965861277.

HOLLYWOOD – Surreal sci-fi film

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” dominated the Oscars on Sunday, March 12, winning seven golden statuettes including best picture, Hollywood’s most coveted prize.

The unorthodox but beloved movie – which features multiple universes, sex toys and hot dog fingers – also won best director, best actress, best original screenplay, best editing and both the best supporting actor and actress prizes.

Michelle Yeoh, who is Malaysian, becomes the first-ever Asian woman to win best actress, for her portrayal of an exhausted Chinese laundromat owner embroiled in battle with an inter-dimensional supervillain who happens to be her daughter.

“Thank you to the Academy, this is history in the making!” she said.

“Ladies, don’t let anybody tell you you are ever past your prime,” added the 60-year-old, whose career began decades ago with martial arts films in Hong Kong.

Brendan Fraser won best actor for playing a morbidly obese teacher in “The Whale,” capping a remarkable career comeback. Fraser was a major action star in the late 1990s with films like “The Mummy,” before largely disappearing from public view.

“I started in this business 30 years ago, and things – they didn’t come easily to me,” he said. He thanked director Darren Aronofsky for “throwing me a creative lifeline and hauling me aboard the good ship ‘The Whale.’”

‘American Dream’

“Everything Everywhere,” comfortably the night’s biggest winner, is a word-of-mouth smash hit that has grossed $100 million at the global box office.

In a plot that is not easily described, Yeoh’s heroine Evelyn must harness the power of her alter egos living in parallel universes, which feature hot dogs as human fingers, talking rocks and giant dildos used as weapons.

The film, which features a predominantly Asian cast, was directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert – two young filmmakers who were previously best known for an oddball comedy about a talking corpse.

Kwan thanked his “immigrant parents,” while his counterpart thanked his mother for never “squashing my creativity,” including when he

at Oscars

had dressed in drag as a child.

Vietnam-born Ke Huy Quan, 51, who was a major child star in the 1980s with “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and “The Goonies,” completed a stunning comeback from decades in the Hollywood wilderness by winning best supporting actor.

“My journey started on a boat. I spent a year in a refugee camp. And somehow, I ended up here on Hollywood’s biggest stage... this is the American Dream,” said Quan.

After the show, he came bounding into the backstage press room, shouting “Wow, wow, wow... Can you believe I’m holding one of these?”

He shared that “Indiana Jones” director Steven Spielberg had grabbed him and said: “You are now an Oscar winner!”

Best supporting actress Jamie Lee Curtis paid tribute to her parents Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, both Oscar-nominated actors who never won. ‘All Quiet’ makes noise

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Netflix’s German-language World War I film, finished the night in second place with four awards. It won best international feature and best cinematography early in Sunday’s ceremony.

As the night progressed, it also gathered Oscars for best original score and best production design.

But it ultimately could not stop the “Everything Everywhere” juggernaut, and lost adapted screenplay to “Women Talking,” and best sound to “Top Gun: Maverick.”

Tom Cruise’s “Top Gun” sequel had been seen as another potential best picture contender, having helped bring audiences back to movie theaters after the pandemic.

While Cruise did not attend Sunday’s ceremony, the night began with a thunderous flyover by two US Navy jets, soaring at 345 mph over the Dolby Theater in Hollywood.

Host Jimmy Kimmel was then lowered onto the stage, and he quickly launched into a monologue which laid into Will Smith’s infamous attack on Chris Rock at last year’s Oscars.

The specter of “The Slap” has hung over the Oscars since Smith assaulted Rock on stage for cracking a joke about his wife. Smith was allowed to stay at the gala, and accept

Continued on Page 9