My God she's so big!

I muttered under my breath. About 15 minutes later, while still watching the same movie, I said the same thing, "gads she's so big." I repeated this about two more times, unintentionally, like a broken record. I would assume the person beside me in the cinema wanted to slap me already. OK, you all know who I'm talking about right?

In my old newspaper, the lifestyle section published an interviewed w/ Sharon Cuneta, about 60 lbs lighter, I would guess. The gang told me later that Sharon had chainsmoked all throughout their interview but insisted that they not photograph her w/ cigarette in hand. I suppose it had to do w/ keeping her sweet image. (And btw, she really is sweet. Not the saccharine fake type but genuinely nice and sincerely sweet daw. And despite not having finished college, Sharon is amazingly well-read, w/c delighted Ms. G., a big reader herself. She impressed me some more after I watched her on CNBC's Bernie Lo's show and they talked about her investment skills. Wow, megastar na, financial whiz pa!)



So while I was watching her new comedy flick "BFF" this afternoon, co-starring the amazing Ai-Ai delas Alas, I thought, "Did Ate Shawie quit smoking?" I could not believe how large she's ballooned into. I thought smokers always had the tiniest waistlines! This is unfortunate really, because Ate Shawie is one of those artistas w/ actually pleasant faces you don't get tired of looking at. Or probably she really isn't that big but you know how being oncam adds about 10 lbs. to any person.

Anyhoo, the reason I watched BFF was bec. ABS-CBN News said it would be the first onscreen teamup of Ate Shawie w/ someone in her past. O sige na, obvious ba it's Gabby Concepcion. Sympre na-excited ako. Ms. G. also told me that the film was actually funny. Of course, I said, it also stars Ai-Ai, whose Ina Mo films I always watched and enjoyed bec. they're stupid hilarious.

The plot of BFF is a twist on the Playboy Husband w/ Wife and 3 kids has a Querida plot. I will spare you the details in case you still want to watch the film. Having watched Ai-Ai's films, however, w/c were usually a laugh-a-minute, I found BFF rather slow in its comedy riffs. Too many long boring periods where I just shifted in my seat waiting for the next gag. And the ending is kinda a letdown. Ate Shawie and you-know-who weren't even in the same scene/screen together! Kainez. My kilig moment was short-lived.

BFF is not a total waste of time, although personally, now that I've seen it, I should've waited for the pirated DVD nalang. But it does have a few really good punchlines. Ai-Ai, of course, is really the star here bec. her comedic timing can't be matched. And Ate Shawie, despite her hugeness, is such a great sport to use her weight as a constant gag. So, Megastar pa rin! Oh yeah, Gabby still looks gwapo! Sigh.

Btw, I found the fan page of Ate Shawie where I think her fez was super photoshopped. Click here. Fabulous jawline, noh?

OMG! Gabby's back!

Remember this? Sharon and Gabby in Dear Heart



JOSH! Can you believe it? The 80's are back!

With all the popular musical acts flying into town (e.g. Toto and Duran Duran this week and next) to remind us ever so fondly of those big-hair days, who should swoop into Manila but Gabby Concepcion himself, THE matinee idol of those years, ex-husband of Megastar Sharon Cuneta (ahhhh!), and KC Concepcion's Dad no less?!

It was in the 1980s that Sharon-Gabby was the most popular loveteam in the country, and their films (starting with Dear Heart, followed up by P.S. I Love You, etc.) kicked off the Taglish/Colegiala trend in local cinema (you know, "How baboy the pig!" or "I wanna tusok-tusok you with a barbecue stick!").

Shawie was the golden child of then Pasay City Mayor Pablo Cuneta and his second lady Elaine Cuneta, sister (or cousin?) to Helen Gamboa. So the Megastar was actually of political and showbiz royalty. Gabby, on the other hand, was introduced to the public eye via Close-up commercial. Truly, Gabo was such a cutie then, although a bit on the stocky side, then as now. (Btw, if anyone has a clip of that Close-up commercial, we'd love to post it here.)

Those films of Sharon and Gabby were coming-of-age films for many of us in my generation. So no matter if we were students from exclusive Catholic girls' schools, these baduy films "spoke" to us in a way no other Tagalog movies did. We celebrated our generation of teen-agers falling in love, defying our parents in the name of our sweethearts, running away or eventually breaking up and finding new love. No matter how repetitive the plots were in those films, and no matter how ridiculous the dialogue was, we still watched those Sharon-Gabby starrers. Kalokah! Ang baduy namin! (Truth to tell, the Sharon-Gabby films were the very first Tagalog movies I actually paid for and watched in the cinema. So major achievement 'yan for me. Before them, I only watched Ate Guy's films and those B/W oldies shown sporadically on TV. And even then, their themes didn't resonate in me as much as Shawie and Gabby's films did.) Shawie was always sugary sweet in all her films, who knew that she was actually a chain smoker?!? Aha!

P.S. I Love You short



Flashforward to 2008, Gabby was on The Buzz last Sunday being interviewed by bleah Boy Abunda, and he hasn't changed a bit. Okay, maybe he's a a little on the heavy side now (who isn't?!) and with a thinning hairline (thus, the bangs). But I imagine Gabo still has, ahem, a good package as before. (Boy you were lucky Shawie!) Josh! I want to go Boracay next week just to get a glimpse of Gabby and KC vacationing. Hahaha!

I watched a snippet of the interview on Youtube, and wow, super kilig! I mean, I'm not really a fan of Gabby but, I'm such a fan of the ka-cornihan of the '80s so I really want to see a Sharon-Gabby team-up in the cinemas soon. And of course with their lovely daughter KC starring with them. No matter how stupid the plot would be in that dream film, you can be sure it will still be a hit. We're all suckers for romance and the possibilities of second chances. Gee, I wonder how Kiko Pangilinan is feeling right now...

Anyway, I found a treasure trove of kabaduyan on Youtube starring Sharon and Gabby, and also little KC. Enjoy!

Sharon's b-day celeb w/ Gabby and little KC



Ang cute nila di ba? And KC was such a sweetheart even then, ayun nadapa pa! Someone commented in the Youtube posting though that shortly after the above b-day celeb of Shawie, she and Gabby separated because of the latter's philandering. How could you Gabby?! (Btw, according to several Gabby fan sites, he is now on his third wife, an Assumptionista named Genevieve Gonzales, after divorcing Jenny Syquia, who came after Grace Ibuna, the woman Gabby was dating daw while he was still married to Shawie. Iba na talaga ang gwapo, di makuntento, right Pangs?)

And lastly, here's the interview of Gabo on The Buzz:



WELCOME HOME GABBY!