The truth sets Alex free

Alessandra de Rossi entered the showbiz scene like a shadow to eldest sister Assunta. But like her big sis, she soon became the toast of the critics and came to her own and was recognized as one of the finest actresses of her generation in films like Azucena (where she plays a feisty dog lover) and Hubog (as a retardate) and, later, in Mga Munting Tinig (as a schoolteacher) and Homecoming (as a SARS victim).

Aside from her acting talent, however, she also became hot copy because of her straightforward statements and at one time even became the biggest defender of her big sister. Yes, she would take on fights, not necessarily hers – for as long as she was fighting for what she felt was right.

Lately, she has been in the news again – for an incident that happened way back seven years ago and it is odd that the details are being raked up after so many things had already happened. (It was about an early romance when Alessandra was so unfairly left out in the cold.)

But I just want to say that Alessandra came out the winner here. At least she is the one who looks victorious.

It was an easy win for her because to begin with, she doesn’t have a record of lying and the public always believes her because she only speaks the truth – all the time. Neither does she have a reputation for snatching somebody else’s property.

With Alessandra, you can always expect her to be frank and honest with her statements. But she is never rude. And this is what endears her to everyone in this profession.

* * *

I’ve been watching nothing but local films the past several months and I thought it was about time I saw a foreign movie. I chose something to relax me by and I ended up sitting through the comedy My First Wedding.

The movie stars Kenny Doughty as a carpenter working on a downtown church ends up disguising himself as a priest in order to get to bed a young woman (Rachel Leigh Cook) about to get married, but with a lot of sexual problems to resolve.

To my surprise, the comedy in this film works. Some scenes and dialogues may be way too sacrilegious at times, but these bring out the laughs from the viewers. The only time the movie bogs down is when Doughty pretends that he is being possessed by the evil one and his Linda Blair act just goes on and on and on until it becomes boring routine.

Rachel Leigh Cook and Kenny Doughty have a good screen chemistry and together, they can really be funny. The energy Doughty displays in My First Wedding is also amazing and it is what helps put the film together.

* * *

I have to apologize to friends who have been trying to call or text me through my cell phone. For some strange reason, since I changed phones (my previous one got stolen), I’ve been having problems getting in touch with the rest of the world.

The model I’m using right now was supposed to have been chosen "phone of the year," but heck, it cannot receive and neither can it send business cards. Can you imagine what a chore it is for me everytime a friend asks for the number of another person? I have to memorize the number (or list it down) and text each numeral.

Asking for the number of another person has also become a big favor to ask for friends because they have to do the same: Memorize the number (or list it down) before they could text it to me.

So be careful when you are buying a new phone. You have to ask first if it is capable of sending and receiving business cards. In my case, that’s very important because I don’t care about the video (I hardly use it anyway) and the camera. All I want is for me to be able to receive and send business cards because I’ve lost half of my friends since I get annoyed when they ask me to send the number of another person and they too get irritated with me when it’s my turn to ask for the same favor – and I can’t blame them because that can be such a task.

My cell phone needs are actually very simple. Aside from the business card thing, I just want signal in my phone. Is that asking for too much? I live in the Greenhills area – the center of commerce – and not in some far-flung area not covered by transmission towers.

At the moment I only get half of the supposed messages sent to me by text. How do I know? My friends have become confrontational when I see them because I have been "ignoring" their text messages.

From my end, it has also become so frustrating because I am unable to send my text messages most of the time. Sometimes the phone doesn’t even tell you that it is "unable to send."

The other odd thing that has been happening to my cell phone is that I have been getting text messages intended for somebody from ABS-CBN – from the drama department. At first, I was getting annoyed (it’s no joke texting each one of them that they’ve sent their messages by mistake) but then, I’ve realized: Hey, I’m becoming privy to what’s going on in the other network.

But don’t worry. This much I can assure the people from the rival station: The messages stay with me and are never forwarded to the production staff of Magpakailanman.