Rising sons - DIRECT LINE By Boy Abunda

Rap Tolentino-Fernandez is a young poet. He is a third-year high-school student at the Ateneo. He is the son of Rudy Fernandez and Lorna Tolentino.

A couple of weeks ago I had dinner with Rap, LT (as we fondly call Lorna) and Rap’s younger brother Renz, at Uva Restaurant at the ground floor of Mother Lily’s Century Imperial Palace in Quezon City, a stone’s throw from ABS-CBN and a few meters away from the haunted Ozone Disco.

It was a jovial dinner with LT who was every inch a proud and doting mama to Renz, who has the smile and mannerisms of Rudy, and Rap who has the eyes and intensity of LT. Unlike Renz who talks like his father, and who never fails to affix "po" to his lines; Rap raps his words like sonorous, melodic pitter-patter of raindrops gently falling on the rooftop.

In front of these two boys, you are amazed at how different they are from each other – in rhythm, in stance, in manners. It won’t be surprising if Renz one day becomes his father’s successor, or his uncle Robin Padilla’s. Rap stares at you as if to say that one day he will do poetry and politics like the venerable Vaclav Havel. Now I understand why Lorna is happy and content. Her best friends Rap and Renz make her ageless. Up close, LT has flawless skin and a glow no skin lotion or aromatherapy can give. It is a kind of luminescence that only Rap and Renz and, of course, Rudy can create.

The other week, I got a poem hand-written in yellow pad paper from Rap because we did talk about poetry during that dinner at Uva. "Can I have one of your poems?," I asked. "I have to write one for you. I don’t keep any poem. I give them away," Rap enthused.

Here’s that poem, entitled Daydreams in Darkness:

Shadows of you/
Dance across/
My heart/
As your voice,
Ever-possessing,/
Holds my mind/
Chained to the echoes/
In this Dreaming/
Dark, distant memories/
Are cast upon/
Dark, distant walls/
Which (strangely) begin/
To seem too near/
And I feel/
A certain longing/
For a light/
That burns/
My eyes/
But then
Your shadows/
Are all/
I have/
Left.

SGD. RAP

Rap Tolentino-Fernandez is no Neruda. Neither does he have the body of Angelou. Not yet, anyway. But then Rap Tolentino-Fernandez has the rage of a young, promising poet – who longs for a light that burns his eyes, then nothing else remains but – shadows.

Rudy Fernandez and Lorna Tolentino must be very proud parents.

Last Sunday, Rap’s kuya Mark Anthony was supposed to guest onThe Buzz with leading lady Joyce Jimenez. But he didn}t make it because he was rushed to the hospital due to bum stomach.

Anyway their much awaited Biyaheng Langit, Viva Film’s latest sex-action flick, finally hit Metro theaters today oct. 25 after Malacañang’s Appeals Committee gave it an R-18.

After creating waves with her fabulous nude magazine Private Joyce, Joyce will now be seen on the big screen playing the role of Bea, a balikbayan who got entangled with a gambling syndicate in her desire to go back to the States. In the process, she crosses path with comebacking actor Mark Anthony who plays Danny, a kanto boy who dreams of setting foot in a casino. Consumed by their desires, they team up to achieve their goals, playing with fire along the way.

Directed by tikoy Aguiluz, Biyaheng Langit is hot. Consider the following scenes in the movie; Mark and Joyce do a passionate love scene during their first encounter where they indulge in a much talked about French kiss, a bathroom scene done against a moving LRT train. But trust Tikoy to make these scenes truly artistic.

After the success of the Robin-Regine movie, people in the industry are hoping that Bihayeng Langit does just as well, if not better. Because if it does, it would mean people are starting to go back to the moviehouses. The past few months, the local cinematic landscape have been dark and sullen. But after hitting rock bottom, where else can we go. Biyaheng Langit may just be the trip we’ve been waiting for.