Group hug

We hear that Tony Gloria is coming up with a musical film featuring the songs of the Apo Hiking Society. What a great idea!

Miss World First Princess Gwendoline Ruais is an exceptional find, a rare combination of beauty and no-nonsense practicality. People are urging her to become a TV-film star, like so many other beauty titlists—but, aside from Dingdong Dantes and a few other stratospheric hunks, who can “rise up” to the challenge of serving as her screen consort? Problem!

Incidentally, Gwendoline’s triumph also reflects well on Cory Quirino, who handled the Philippines’ search for our representative to the Miss World pageant for the very first time this year. Talk about beginner’s luck!

The truth of the matter, however, is that much more than luck is involved in an endeavor like this. Most definitely, Cory’s time-tested eye for “winner” looks and what clicks on the international beauty pageant scene were key factors in Gwendoline’s standout showing.

Christmas is in the air—and on our movie screens. The pre-Yuletide treat is “Happy Feet 2” which is appropriately icy and wintry, for that “White Christmas” vibe.

Aside from the year-end Metro Film Festival’s entries, other movies set to jingle viewers’ bells include “Arthur Christmas,” about Santa Claus’ son and heir, and the new “Mission Impossible” film caper—which has nothing to do with the season, but does topbill Katie Homes’ hubby wishing everyone—a Merry Cruise-mas? —Ouch.

All-star cast

What about after Christmas? The perfect way to usher in New Year is by watching “New Year’s Eve.” With its all-star cast, it’s a cinematic celebration!

Also something to celebrate is the return, after a long illness, of veteran news anchor, Angelo Castro Jr., to “The World Tonight.” He looks leaner, but is clearly back where he belongs.

We pray that the same happy denouement will be granted by God to the other stricken people we hold close to our hearts.

Performance of the week: Gerald Anderson’s key scene in “Budoy” last week required his retardate character to somehow understand and cope with two immense revelations: That Janice de Belen wasn’t his real mother, and that Tirso Cruz III and ZsaZsa Padilla were in fact his birth parents.

Revelations

Those mind-spinning revelations would have been difficult for anybody to process, but Budoy had an even tougher time coping—so, the scene could have gone awry at any time. But, the dramatic but sensitive way it was handled made it come off beautifully, rather than melodramatically and thus embarrassingly.

Congratulations to everyone involved in pulling that tough dramatic feat off. The effectivity of its sparing and focused treatment proves once more that less is indeed more.

How about hugging your family or best-loved group today?