NOW that their Valentine concert is over, Ogie Alcasid is busy with the two new films he’s currently doing, “Du Bi Doo,” a musical using 14 hit songs of the APO Hiking Society for Unitel, and “Boy Pickup,” based on his hit character in ‘Bubble Gang’ for GMA Films-Regal.

“I’m paired with Eugene Domingo in ‘Du Bi Doo’ at anak namin si Sam Concepcion,” he says. “Sabi ko nga kay Uge, bakit mestizo ang naging anak natin? Sa ‘Boy Pickup,’  I’m paired with Solenn Heussaff.”

“Hooooo!” says wife Regine Velasquez who’s seated beside him. “Excited! Crush niya kasi 'yun.”

“Selos ka?” Ogie says.

“‘Di naman. Slight lang,” Regine jokes.

“Sister ko naman 'yun, pareho kaming manager, si Leo Dominguez,” he says.

“May isa pa 'yang crush.”

“Sino?”

“Foreigner siya.”

When Ogie can’t say who, Regine says: “Si Daiana Menezes.”

“Crush lang naman 'yun,” says Ogie.

What about the two of them, what will they do after their concert? “Sana, sitcom,” Ogie says. “‘Di pa puwedeng parang reality show, like 'yung sa Kardashians. Kinukunan lang kami rito sa bahay with Baby Nate.”

“Naku, ‘wag muna,” Regine wails. “Magpapapayat pa ako dahil ang laki ko pa ring tingnan sa screen.”

DAIANA TRAUMATIZED BY LAST BF

GOING back to Daiana Menezes, there’s an interview with her on “Showbiz   Central.”  She’s happy that she finally got to settle her bills with the BIR, but she warns her former manager, who tipped the BIR about her unsettled bills after she decided to drop her as manager, to also settle her own accounts. “She gets commission from me so she should also pay,” she adds.

Does she have a new BF after Direk GB Sampedro? “None. Na-trauma ako du‘n. Ayoko muna. I have an offer for a showbiz career in Brazil but I prefer my work here kasi I love the Philippines. Dito na lang ako.”

ISABEL NOT HIDING RELATIONSHIP WITH JAMES

ISABEL Oli was also interviewed in “Showbiz Central” while attending the birthday party of Kris Aquino’s ex-husband, James Yap. She’s been linked to James before and the rumor between them is now being revived. What can she say about this? “Naku, paulit-ulit na lang ako, we’re really just friends,” she says. “Hanggang friendship lang talaga kami.”

It’s said they’re just hiding the real score about their relationship. “Hiding? Kung itinatago namin, di sana, hindi na lang ako nagpunta rito. Ayoko muna talaga mag-boyfriend. Ako na lang muna at ang sarili ko. Single na lang muna ako.”

MARA DENIES ROMANCE WITH ARNOLD

MARA Yokohama, who’s one of the final three castaways in “Survivor Philippines” finale night, took the lie detector test on “Showbiz Central’s” Don’t Lie to Me segment. The first question came from her own mom, Maria Isabel Lopez: “Away-bati kayo ni Stef Prescott. Nagpaplastikan lang ba kayo?”

She said no and it’s true. Second question: “Nakipagbati ka na ba kay Ellen Adarna na tinawag kang klepto at may bad breath?”

She said yes, but it’s a lie. “Nagbati na talaga kami after noong finals night,” she insists. “You can ask Ellen mismo.”

The third question came from her rumored boyfriend, athlete Arnold Aninion. “Na-develop ba ang romantic feelings mo for me while we were in the island?” She said no and again, it’s a lie. She said they really became close to each other but they’re not officially on.

'SINO BA'NG LALABAS?'

THE 10th PBB Unlimited eviction night was held on Saturday and the one sent home was Ukulele Man Eting, who was welcomed outside Kuya’s house by his wife and their kids. Eting didn’t get it right away that he’s the one evicted and even asked co-nominee Seichi: “Sino bang lalabas?” He became very emotional when he finally realized it’s him and sobbed unabashedly, especially when Seichi hugged him.

The past Valentine week was memorable for the housemates with an old couple joining them inside Kuya’s house and with Kevin and Pamu having a Valentine date. The whole week, they didn’t know there’ll be an eviction last Saturday. It was only the day before that Kuya told Divine to officially inform the four nominees: Slater (who cooked for his housemates), Seichi (who prepared souvenirs in case he’s the one to be ousted), Biggel (who had an ice cream date with Tin even if she already busted him) and Eting (who made a new ukulele from scratch.)

Slater and Biggel were the first to be saved, getting 42.28% and 30.19%  of the votes. It’s easy to guess that the text votes will save them as they both have very likable personalities and don’t seem to have any mean bone in their body. Seichi got 18.44% while Eting only got 9.09% of the votes.

REVIEW: THE DESCENDANTS

‘THE DESCENDANTS’ is a quiet drama that will not sit well with local audiences who go for more flashy scenes. This is just the fifth film of Alexander Payne. We haven’t seen his debut, “Citizen Ruth,”  but we enjoyed his satire, “Election,” and the drama-comedies “About Schmidt” and “Sideways.”

Set in Hawaii, the lead character-narrator is Matt King (George Clooney), a lawyer who is the direct descendant of Hawaiian royalty. As the film starts, his wife Elizabeth is already in coma after a boat accident. He now has to deal with his two daughters, the rebellious Alexandre (Shailene Woodley), 17, and the precocious Scottie (Amara Miller), 10, who are both not close to him as he’s too busy with work he hardly has time for his family. Now, as a single dad, he has no choice but to make a connection with them.

When the doctor tells him his wife’s  would never recover and it’s best to withdraw any life support, it becomes his responsibility to officially inform family members and friends about it. His world crumbles further when Alexandre tells him that she saw her mom with another man and was actually already planning to divorce him. Matt decides to look for the lover, Brian Speer (Matthew Lillard of “Scooby Doo”), to also inform him of what’s to happen to Elizabeth. He finds him in a beach resort, along with his wife and two sons.

The film works because it chooses to have none of the usual messy confrontations even in scenes that can easily turn melodramatic. It doesn’t force you to cry at all. When Matt learns about his wife infidelity, he runs to the house of their friends to ask if they knew about it. From there, he runs again, stops on the pavement, sobs, but the camera is so far away from him and we only see his back. Such is the kind of treatment given to potentially sentimental scenes.

But still, there are some scenes that are emotionally charged, foremost of which is when Scottie is officially informed on what will happen to her mom. This is a wordless scene. We only see the reaction of Scottie. And it’s very effective.

To counter some potentially sappy scenes, Payne injects humor through Sid (Alec Krause), the friend of Alexandre who has his own hang-ups and provides some comic relief.

The Hawaiian locations are very beautiful on screen and there’s a pivotal subplot concerning an inherited huge parcel of land that Matt’s relatives want to sell.

The role of Matt is truly an acting piece for Clooney. He’s no Hollywood star here like in “Up in the Air,”  but an aging father with greying hair, wrinkles and all. As the narrator, he gets to deliver such lines as “In Hawaii, some of the most powerful people look like bums and stuntmen.”  He also gets to explore his character’s sentiments fully, especially his feelings for his dying wife before and after he learns that she’s unfaithful to him. He interacts with her while she’s just lying in bed, never able to respond to his anger. But his best scene is when he finally bids her goodbye, kissing her while a single tear runs down from his eye to his nose.

We were so moved by that scene. The film starts with him distant from his daughters, but the final scene showing the three of them together on the couch watching TV while eating makes you feel that they’ll be okay as they’re now a family. A silent scene but so exquisitely heart warming!

Also giving great support are the young actresses who play Matt’s daughters, Robert Forster as Matt’s father in law who doesn’t like him and Judy Greer as Brian’s wife who’s the only character allowed to go unrestrained in the hospital scene where she says repeatedly “I forgive you” to the dying Elizabeth that it becomes comical after a while. Sensitively handled with uncommon sensibility, “The Descendants” offers great satisfaction to those who view cinema as not just fatuous entertainment. If you go for serious films, watch it quick as one as we don’t think it will last very long in our theatres.