Marvin Agustin Laughs Off Rumors Linking Him To Markki Stroem, Enjoys Villain Role In 'Kambal, Karibal'

MARVIN AGUSTIN just laughs off the rumor linking him to singer-actor Markki Stroem who is reported to be his constant traveling companion to various places these days. "He's a good friend," he says at the presscon of "Kambal, Karibal". "Kung nilalagyan ng malisya ng ibang tao, wala akong magagawa. I'm no longer affected kasi 22 years na ako sa showbiz, wala na yatang tsismis na makakapagpikon sa akin."

He plays a villain role in "Kambal, Karibal" as the rich man's son (his dad is Christopher de Leon) who is so obsessed with Carmina Villaroel. He frames up the guy Carmina chooses to marry, Alfred Vargas, then makes it appear that Carmina's twin daughters have both died. The truth is they're alive and he gave them to his cohort, Jean Garcia, who then maltreats the girls until one died.



"Okay lang naman magkontrabida," says Marvin. "I've played villain before in TV5's 'Obsession' with Bianca King three years ako at enjoy ako kasi very challenging maging masama on screen. Dito sa 'Kambal, Karibal', ako ang magiging dahilan ng lahat ng troubles ng family ni Carmina sa story kaya tiyak maiinis sa akin ang viewers. Ibang satisfaction naman ang naibibigay sa'kin ng pagiging villain kaysa yung laging ikaw ang bida."
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DIRECTOR RAYA MARTIN is a young filmmaker (only 31) who gets to direct his first full length film for commercial release in “Smaller and Smaller Circles”. Prior to this, he has made a lot of short films, some docus and feature films that are experimental and cater to a very limited art market, like “Autohystoria” (2007), “Now Showing” and “Next Attraction (2008, both about filmmaking), “Independencia” (2009), “Manila” (co-directed with Adolf Alix), and “How to Disappear Completely” (2013). He’s a great favorite in Tikoy Aguiluz’ Cinemanila International Filmfest where he won so many awards. How is it directing his first “commercial” film? “It’s my first genre film but, as a crime thriller, it gets to ask a lot of questions about our society, our politics and corruption in high places, our relationship with authority. It also questions our faith. I hope it will make a connection with our viewers since I made it mainly with Filipino audiences in mind. The film’s highlight is connected with our traditional Simbang Gabi so Filipinos can relate with it.” How faithful is he to the book? “We tried to be as faithful as possible as the book has a big fan base and we don’t want to disappoint the people who loved the book. But we also made some changes, especially towards the ending.” It will be a great challenge to entice audiences to watch this dark material about a serious killer who murder innocent boys, when romcoms and comedies rule the local film industry. Their lead actors are not considered top box office draws, Nonie Buencamino and Sid Lucero as priests who become detectives, so they are taking an active campaign in selling it to various colleges and universities all over the country. “We are promoting it to educators, teachers and the regional press, so they can tell their students to watch it and, so far, it’s very well received,” says the film’s producer, Ria Limjap. “We’ve seen in ‘Heneral Luna’ that if you have a compelling story that’s marketed to a specific target market, then the thinking members of the audience will come out and support the film especially on the very important first week so that they can endorse it by word of mouth and it won’t be pulled out of the theaters right away. We’re optimistic that we have a good film that’s fresh and smart and very different from the usual romcoms. Since the priests in the story are Jesuits, we tried to get the cooperation of Ateneo and they allowed us to shoot some scenes there. We’re told we’re just the second movie given permission to shoot there.” It’s of interest to note that the first movie shot there was ‘Batch 81’ by Mike de Leon which starred the late Mark Gil, and now, ‘Smaller and Smaller Circles’, which stars his son, Sid Lucero as Fr. Jerome Lucero. Sid Lucero was the name of Mark’s character in ‘Batch 81’.ainstream Movie, The Crime Thriller 'Smaller And Smaller Circles'

DIRECTOR RAYA MARTIN is a young filmmaker (only 31) who gets to direct his first full length film for commercial release in "Smaller and Smaller Circles". Prior to this, he has made a lot of short films, some docus and feature films that are experimental and cater to a very limited art market, like "Autohystoria" (2007), "Now Showing" and "Next Attraction (2008, both about filmmaking), "Independencia" (2009), "Manila" (co-directed with Adolf Alix), and "How to Disappear Completely" (2013). He's a great favorite in Tikoy Aguiluz' Cinemanila International Filmfest where he won so many awards.

How is it directing his first "commercial" film? "It's my first genre film but, as a crime thriller, it gets to ask a lot of questions about our society, our politics and corruption in high places, our relationship with authority. It also questions our faith. I hope it will make a connection with our viewers since I made it mainly with Filipino audiences in mind. The film's highlight is connected with our traditional Simbang Gabi so Filipinos can relate with it."

How faithful is he to the book? "We tried to be as faithful as possible as the book has a big fan base and we don't want to disappoint the people who loved the book. But we also made some changes, especially towards the ending."

It will be a great challenge to entice audiences to watch this dark material about a serious killer who murder innocent boys, when romcoms and comedies rule the local film industry. Their lead actors are not considered top box office draws, Nonie Buencamino and Sid Lucero as priests who become detectives, so they are taking an active campaign in selling it to various colleges and universities all over the country. "We are promoting it to educators, teachers and the regional press, so they can tell their students to watch it and, so far, it's very well received," says the film's producer, Ria Limjap.

"We've seen in 'Heneral Luna' that if you have a compelling story that's marketed to a specific target market, then the thinking members of the audience will come out and support the film especially on the very important first week so that they can endorse it by word of mouth and it won't be pulled out of the theaters right away. We're optimistic that we have a good film that's fresh and smart and very different from the usual romcoms. Since the priests in the story are Jesuits, we tried to get the cooperation of Ateneo and they allowed us to shoot some scenes there. We're told we're just the second movie given permission to shoot there."

It's of interest to note that the first movie shot there was 'Batch 81' by Mike de Leon which starred the late Mark Gil, and now, 'Smaller and Smaller Circles', which stars his son, Sid Lucero as Fr. Jerome Lucero. Sid Lucero was the name of Mark's character in 'Batch 81'.
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Justice League Movie Review: Entertaining Show Of Force Of DC Comics Heroes Capped By The Resurrection Of Superman

THERE seems to be a tendency to lambast "Justice League" because of all the production troubles it went through while it's being shot. Even the suicide of the 20-year old daughter of its director Zack Snyder is being dragged into the picture, after he was replaced by Josh Whedon of "The Avengers (2012)".

But honestly, we enjoyed the movie. To begin with, it's not like those other superhero flicks that is so padded that the running time gets unnecessarily long. This one is less than two hours, avoids the moping and brooding of its heroes and the mini-origin stories of three new ones are quickly told without much fuss on screen.

The narrative itself is also quite coherent, straightforward and unpretentious. It gets the right balance on the screen exposure of its various heroes: Batman, Wonder Woman, the resurrected Superman, The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg.

The villain this time is Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds), who has a scary battallion of insect-looking winged henchmen. He wants to retrieve three magic boxes that, when merged into one, will give him the ultimate power of all powers which we've seen in other fantasy movies, yadda-yadda-yadda!
It's not as successful in its attempt at comedy like "The Avengers" or the more recent "Thor Ragnarok", since Snyder is known for his serious superhero flicks like "Man of Steel", "Batman V. Superman" and even the sword and sandal epic, "300". But as an ensemble adventure, it does have its hilarious moments, often provided by the bumbling, crowd-pleasing The Flash (Ezra Miller is engaging, but we definitely prefer Grant Gustin of the TV version), just like "Spiderman" in "Civil War". When he asks Bruce what his super power is, the answer he gets is: "I'm rich."

Amy Adams as Lois Lane and Diane Lane as Martha provide some touching moments in their reunion with Clark Kent who they thought they've lost for good. These reunion moments are brief but quite sensitively handled.

Also touching is the new found sensitivity of Bruce Wayne who seems to have been seriously affected by the death of Superman. The anti-social Batman recruits the other superheroes and is now is more open about having his own circle of friends. Ben Affleck as the greying Bruce is quite poignant in admitting that he's not the Batman he used to be.

The movie makes it appear that when Superman dies in "Dawn of Justice", the world is plunged into dark despair and crime, with evil elements encouraged to do their worst acts, equating the rise of Steppenwolf into Satan overcoming the world. But although it's Superman who delivers the final punch to Steppenwolf, it's actually Wonder Woman who stands out for us in the movie, with Gal Gadot being in full command of her role. Her moral certitude is not put on. She really stands for goodness and compassion, and Gadot plays her with gravitas that she emerges as the most perfectly cast member in this league that demonstrates the truth in the adage that in unity, there's strength.
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