GOV. Vilma Santos is now such a great impromptu speaker. “Nahasa na ako sa dami ng aking speaking engagements,” she says.

She had a funny story when asked to speak at the blessing last Monday of Mother Lily Monteverde’s Taal Imperial Hotel and Resort in Batangas. “I called her up to say may meeting ako with 70 AFP soldiers about insurgency on Feb. 6. Sabi ko, baka puwede kong gawin sa resort kasi I also have a speaking engagement sa isang elementary school in Taal about dental health. She said yes then she called me again saying isasabay nang blessing ng resort, kasi gusto niya talaga, ako mag-cut ng ribbon. So I had the meeting na lang with the AFP postponed. Malaking utang na loob ko kay Mother kasi I just told her, baka gusto mo mag-invest sa Batangas as it’s booming, kaya lang kulang kami sa hotel accommodations, so heto, pinatayo niya ito. Ang request ko ngayon, another hotel pa sana, sa Batangas City. Sa event na ito, naranasan ko maging split personality. Just before this, I did my duties as a governor. Ngayon, mga kasama ko, taga-showbiz, so feeling ko, artista ako rito na hindi ko talaga malilimutan dahil malaki ang utang ko sa industriyang ito.”

She’s now shooting a new movie, “The Healing,” for Star Cinema, directed by Chito Roño who megged her before in award-winning films like “Bata, Bata, Paano Ka Ginawa” and “Dekada 70”. “I play the stepmom of Kim Chiu. Dinala ko siya sa isang faith healer. The movie is a thriller and it’s about doppelgangers (duplicates). They want to show this in July then I’ll start another movie for Direk Wenn Deramas with Angel Locsin to be entered sa next Metro filmfest. Bukod doon, since it’s my 50th anniversary in showbiz, they’re doing a TV special for me and there’s also a book to be released in November about yung mga pinagdaanan ko sa buhay na magiging inspirational daw. So I’m really going to be busy kung matutuloy lahat 'yan.”

It’ll be Valentine soon. Does she still celebrate it with Sen. Ralph Recto? “Oo naman. But now, he’s busy with the impeachment hearings and Valentine falls on a weekday, so I don’t think we can go anywhere dahil, usually, we travel somewhere where we do anything and everything.”

As in everything? “Yes, everything!” she laughs.

Will her son Luis soon wed Jennylyn Mercado in Batangas? “I don’t meddle with my son’s lovelife. Basta nakikita ko, happy sila and masaya ako for them. About kung pakakasal na sila at dito gagawin sa Batangas, I don’t know, decision naman nila 'yan.”

SUCCESSFUL OPENING

MOTHER Lily is very happy with the well-attended inauguration of her Taal Imperial Hotel and Resort. Among the guests were Taal Mayor Michael Montenegro and Vice Mayor Pong Mercado who’re also pushing tourism in Taal with a special festival to be held in April. They say Mother Lily’s resort will be a big come on for more domestic tourists to visit their town with its beautiful old houses and it’s centuries old church.

“So far, kahit soft opening pa lang kami, lagi nang puno pag weekends,” says Madera.

We ourselves are impressed with the beautifully designed resort and its family villas, three swimming pools, videoke-music, billiards and massage rooms, plus a kiddie playground and a big function hall for weddings, debuts, seminars and conferences. This is just phase 1 of her project. She has also bought the adjacent lot and will put up phase 2 soon. If you want to book a weekend there, call Mother Lily’s trusted assistant, Lalaine Villavicencio, 0922-777-2710.

NO MORE SHOWBIZ GF FOR JC

IF he'd have his way, the hunky JC Tiuseco says he no longer wants to have someone from showbiz as a girlfriend after Maxene Magalona. Looks like he didn’t have a good experience then? “Hindi naman,” he says. “Pag pareho kayong showbiz, mas lagi kayong nasusulat kaya nakaka-conscious tuloy. Noong non-showbiz ang girlfriend ko, hindi naman ganun, mas tahimik. Kaya lang, di ako makapagsalita ng patapos. Malay natin, baka may ma-meet tayo uli na taga-showbiz, we never can tell.”

So he’ll be loveless on Valentine’s Day? “Yes, pero hindi ko naman 'yun pinoproblema. Mas problema ko kung ano ang magiging next show dahil magla-last taping day na kami sa ‘Kokak’ on February 8. Sana may kasunod agad.”

When they started taping “Kokak,” wasn’t he being linked to title-roler Sarah Lahbati? “Yes, we go out as a group after taping. Pero hanggang friends lang talaga kami. Naging busy rin ako sa rehab ko’t therapy after I had a knee operation due to torn ligament na nagko-connect sa ating binti at hita. Bale eight months ang therapy ko. Matatapos na in March at puwede na raw uli ako maglaro ng basketball at tumalon-talon.”

So he can join the next season of “Survivor” where past winners like him and top castaways in the previous seasons will be invited? “Puwede, gusto ko nga talaga sumali uli. I miss playing the game.”

Who does he think will win in the current season that ends on Friday? “Maraming nagkakagusto kina Betong at KC kasi wala silang mga nakaaway. Let’s watch on Friday to find out.”

As Rocco in “Kokak,” he remains supportive of Sarah even if she’s more in love with TJ Trinidad who has spurned her after learning that it’s her parents (Jessa Zaragoza and Gary Estrada) who caused the death of his older sister years ago. The story gets more exciting as Sarah finally faces the witch who cursed her to turn into a frog, Deborah Sun, who happens to be TJ’s mom.

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO: MORE RIVETING REMAKE

RAPE, murder, perversion, incest, corruption. At the heart of “The Girl with Dragon Tattoo” is a very dark and grim view of human nature, with characters deeply rooted in evil. A world-wide hit novel by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson (who died in 2004, a year before his novel was published) first filmed in 2009 by Swedish director Niels Arden Oplev, it started Noomi Rapace in the title role. She has since been recruited by Hollywood and co-starred with Robert Downey Jr. in the Sherlock Holmes sequel. We saw the Swedish version with English subtitles and, though we liked it, there were many boring stretches.

It’s now remade in Hollywood by David Fincher, and the very dark material is right up his alley as he has done similarly edgy films like “Se7en” and “Zodiac”. The script is written by Steven Zaillian (“Schindler’s List”, “Gangs of New York”) who made sure it’s not just a clone of the first version. Both versions basically tell the same story, but the new one is definitely much more riveting to watch, with better defined characters. We thought they’re going to set the remake in America, like what they did to the remake of “Straw Dogs,” but Fincher didn’t uproot the material and it’s still set in Sweden.

The central character is investigative journalist Mikael Blomqvist (played by Michael Nykvist in the original, now played by current James Bond, Daniel Craig), who’s been disgraced after a big tycoon he accused of corruption proved that the source of his article is a fraud. A millionaire businessman, Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer), in an island in the north of Sweden then hires him to re-investigate a 40-year old murder case since he continues to receive  framed dried flowers that involves it. He suspects the one who sends the dried flowers is the killer of his 16-year-old grand niece, Harriet, who disappeared in 1966 and was presumed to have been killed.

But although Mikael is the lead character, the one who plays the title role is Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara, the girlfriend who dumps Jesse Eisenberg in the opening scene of “Social Network,” also helmed by Fincher), an ex-convict who’s a brilliant hacker. Her previous parole office died and she’s assigned a new one, a sadistic rapist who forces her to do sexual favors in return for the money she gets from the government. How she gets back at this tormentor and gives him the punishment he deserves is one of the nerve-wracking highlights of the movie.

The film's first part is spent in developing the separate storylines of Mikael and Lisbeth. They finally meet when Mikael requests for an assistant and Lisbeth is assigned to him. The film then kicks into high gear and together, they succeed in solving the puzzle about Harriet’s vanishing.

Daniel Craig manages to hold his own against Rooney Mara, who has the more intriguing, challenging role and makes the most of it. Mara obviously lost weight for her role as she’s so thin. She projects an icy impenetrable front, always on guard to protect her tortured past camouflaged by extensive body and facial piercings, bleached eyebrows and huge tattoos. Don’t make her mad as she can be ruthless and cold-blooded. Both interpretations of Mara and Rapace are exceptional, but Mara’s Lisbeth is written to be more sympathetic. In a scene with her estranged father, she confesses she has met a friend (Mikael) and is now happy. But in the final scene, this is reversed once again, making it a real feel bad movie for those who want a more conventional romance.

All in all, it’s a good mystery-thriller, with the two leads well supported by Stellan Skarsgard as Harriet’s elder brother, Joely Richardson as the mysterious other sister based in London, Robin Wright as Mikael’s editor and lover, and Yorick Van Wageningen as the disgusting parole officer.

We commend the MTRCB for allowing the film to be shown uncut inspite of graphic scenes of sadism and intercourse. It’s rated R-18 so it’s not being  shown in SM Cinemas that only show R-13. You can watch it in Ayala and Robinson Cinemas.