A dream casting in Dingdong & Anne

In movies, as well as in television, a good measure of the success or failure of a project depends a lot on good casting. Many indie films have good casting but sad to say, this is also not a guarantee of box-office success. Not all indie films with good casting earned money. In the same manner that not all projects of mainstream studios earn big bucks; it is also a hit-and-miss thing. One moment you can have a big hit, the next film can flop miserably.

A film has to have a good story and good casting. While some members of the audience put premium on a good story and excellent casting, a film also needs a little bit of luck so that viewers will spend their hard-earned peso to be enticed to watch.

The audience’s preference is hard to fathom. It is sad that majority of our audience is more inclined to spend a fortune watching big-budget Hollywood movies but hardly watch a good local film. While movies are meant to entertain, filmmaking is also a business. Producers have to earn money to continue making movies or else we won’t have films to show in our cinemas.

A feedback on some of our indie movies is that only the director can understand his film. But we also have indie films that have earned money and gained recognition in festivals abroad.

A movie coming out on May 30 is “Sid & Aya” (Not a Love Story) which pairs Anne Curtis and Dingdong Dantes. This can be called a dream casting. Aside from being both good-looking, we can rely upon Anne and Dingdong to come up with noteworthy portrayals.

“I have learned many things as an actor in the past two decades that I have been in the business. I have worked with the most competent directors who bothered to correct some nuances in my acting. I would like to think that I am now more serious, professional and focused on my craft. I consider ‘Sid & Aya’ as one of the best projects I have ever done,” said Dingdong who has several acting awards, the most recent of which is the Actor of the Year from the Guillermo Mendoza Memorial Scholarship Foundation. He is also nominated at the Famas Awards to be held on June 10.

If “Sid & Aya” is not a love story, then what could it be? Is it a horror movie? Is Anne playing a vampire? Well, she is not but she is a lady of the night who was hired by Dingdong (portraying an insomniac) to keep him company. Could it be a mystery thriller since Anne’s character is kind of mysterious that, at the movie’s press conference, the actress couldn’t say much about her character as it may cause her to reveal the movie’s secret. They had to shoot some important scenes in Japan that are vital to the story.

At the helm of the movie is Irene Villamor who directed “Meet Me in St. Gallen” which was a hit. Direk Irene hopes “Sid & Aya” will also do well at the tills. The movie opens in theaters nationwide on May 30.

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As part of the celebration of Araw ng Maynila, the Miss Manila 2018 pageant will be held anew with the coronation set on June 26 at the Philippine International Convention Center.

Entry forms are available at the Tourism office of the City of Manila or you can visit their website at www.missmanila.com. Deadline of submission of application forms is on May 29. For inquiries, call 09178441145 or Viva office at  687-5853 local 657).

The winner of Miss Manila 2018 will win P1 million worth of management contract and P500,000 cash prize.

Proceeds of the contest will benefit the medical mission and livelihood projects of the MARE Foundation, a non-profit institution headed by Chairwoman and Pageant Director Jackie Ejercito.

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Carla Abellana, Mike “Pekto” Nacua, Solenn Heussaff, Ariane Bautista and Kelvin Miranda are the guests in “Bubble Gang” tonight.

Among the featured segments are fiesta street dancing gags, Uncle Jak, Bea Bangenge, Balitang Ina, Ang Aircon, Magtanim ay Di Biro, Tekkie Quotes, Evacuation Center, Fake Toy and Manok Ka Na.

Long-time cast member Michael V is the show’s creative director.