Television: A lotto winner loses his winnings in three months

In tonight’s Magpakailanman, host Mel Tiangco shares with us the story of Dionie Reyes–a man who won fourteen million pesos from the lottery, and who lost it all in three months.

Dionie starts out a simple man who just wants to give his family a comfortable life. But because he lacks credentials in education, he finds it hard to look for a better-paying work. So he started to rely on winning the lottery.

His wife Minda doesn’t think anyone wins the lotto. And she says so to her husband. A non-believer, Minda carried this belief until the unbelievable happened–Dionie won the jackpot through a Lucky Pick ticket!

But what was supposed to be their happily ever after turns into a nightmare. A man like Dionie who never experienced holding a large amount of money found it hard to control his spending. To show people that he was no longer the poor guy they had to pity, Dionie gave away money, and then he spent left and right.

When Minda started trying to talk some practicality in him, he started to feel under attack. And then he started to turn to someone else for comfort. For love.

Three months after winning the lottery though, Dionie discovers that he has nothing left. His so-called friends abandoned him. The mistress who promised him love and happiness disappeared.

He is left with no one.

But there is still that one person who has always been there for him.

The question is–can Dionie swallow his pride and go back to Minda? And will Minda want him back after everything that has happened?

Find out tonight on Magpakailanman, after Vampire ang Daddy Ko. The episode features Luis Alandy and Ms Jaclyn Jose, alongside Gerard Pizzaras, Karen delos Reyes, Dexter Doria, and Milkcah Nacion, from a script written by yours truly, researched by Karen Lustica, and directed by Ricky Davao.

Television: Doctor Who and the Journey to the Center of the TARDIS

“A spaceship salvage team drags the TARDIS on board, sending its systems into meltdown. As the Doctor marshals the motley salvage crew outside, he realises Clara is still trapped within his malfunctioning ship, pursued by a dangerous group of ossified monsters. He has just 30 minutes to find Clara and save his TARDIS before it self-destructs.“

I didn’t like how the episode was resolved, but I understood that there was no way else for the episode to end.

What I did like though was how we got a nod to the cracks in time of Series 5, how we got to explore the TARDIS, and the Doctor dealing with the fact that the TARDIS just doesn’t seem to like Clara.

The episode had such potential to be awesome, the premise was brilliant! But I don’t think it was written or directed well. On the former, I felt like the episode writer tried to be too smart that he wrote himself into a corner he could slide away from. We learned more about the TARDIS in Neil Gaiman’s The Doctor’s Wife, than we did in this episode. Both episodes had the companions trapped and running around inside a malevolent TARDIS. The previous episode had an Ood, this one had zombies. And although most of the TARDIS interior in The Doctor’s Wife were hallways, I have to say I still prefer that to the magnificent rooms we saw in this episode.

You see, we’ve been teased about the hidden rooms of the TARDIS since forever. We viewers have been wanting to see these rooms since forever. But having Clara chased down by a monster so we could see the rooms was just… I don’t know. It gave a weird vibe to it all.

Personally, and this is where we get a little bit spoiler-y, so turn away Whovians who have yet to see the episode– I would have had Clara trapped in the deeper parts of the TARDIS, trying to find a way out, and seeing all these grand hidden rooms. If we don’t want her to dawdle, have that initial burst of fire be the incentive for her to find a way out quickly. That way, her gasps of awe wouldn’t have felt weird, seeing as she wasn’t being chased by a zombie as what the episode had actually done.

Every time Clara would pause to marvel at the rooms, especially when she lingered at the library, I was screaming at the screen shouting, “run, Clara! Don’t forget that there’s a zombie chasing after you!” We could’ve had her stumble upon the zombie inside the library instead, and everything would fit again.

And then there’s the scene at the heart of the TARDIS. This one was reminiscent of Series 5′s The Big Bang episode; which, again, I felt had done it better. It had heart, it had stakes. It was nothing like the Journey to the Center of the TARDIS.

After last week’s marvelous Hide, I’m a little disappointed that this follow-up is a little lackluster. Especially since it’s an episode that a lot of Whovians have been looking forward to.

And I’ll leave with that. I’ll see you all again next week when Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax meet the current iteration of Clara.

Television: A father sells body and soul on ‘Magpakailanman’

How far would one person go to save his own child’s life?

In tonight’s Magpakailanman, Aljur Abrenica takes on his biggest acting challenge as he portrays the life of independent actor Kristoffer King, a one-time macho dancer who thought his life was going to turn around when he got a break in the showbiz industry.

But life had other plans for Kristoffer. After discovering that his son had a condition known as Hunter’s Syndrome, Kristoffer faced the facts that life was just about to get even harder for him. And as the showbiz break he was banking on continued to be elusive, and with a non-existent diploma to help him find work, Kristoffer had to be more creative in procuring money for his family.

Kristoffer didn’t want to hurt other people, but he didn’t mind hurting his pride. And so began his decent into the world of discreet male prostitution–all for the chance to save his son.

“Bayarang Adonis: the Kristoffer King Story” also features top-caliber acting from Max Collins, Rina Reyes, Philip Lazaro, Joel Camacho, and Marc Justine Alvarez; under the direction of the esteemed Maryo J. delos Reyes, with a script by Paul Sta. Ana, and the research of Vienuel Ello.

Magpakailanman airs tonight, after Vampire ang Daddy Ko.

Television: Doctor Who and Hide

“Clara and the Doctor arrive at Caliburn House, a haunted mansion sat alone on a desolate moor. Within its walls, a ghost hunting Professor and a gifted psychic are searching for the Witch of the Well. Her apparition appears throughout the history of the building, but is she really a ghost? And what is chasing her?“

Now that’s more like it.

In this episode of Doctor Who, we go ghost-hunting with the Doctor and Clara–and we sort of make a move towards solving what Clara is. Or isn’t. Not that we get an answer. Of course not. It’s not the finale yet. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Instead, let’s go back to the beginnings of the episode.

So, we have a Professor and his assistant trying to find out the identity of an apparition inside a scary old manor. It’s properly creepy, so hat’s off to everyone in the production, and it sets the mood of the rest of the episode. Did I already mention that it’s properly creepy? Well, let’s take it up a notch and put it in the scary category.

It’s scary.

And then, of course, the Doctor arrives.

Neil Cross, the writer of the episode, has chosen an exceptional mode of storytelling for this episode–which frustrated me at the beginning as I’ve gotten used to the Doctor explaining something, appearing somewhere, before the story actually begins. In this episode, the story is already underway, and the starting point was the Christmas episode.

That might have been a spoiler, but I’m not telling what it spoils. Anyway, by episode’s end, you’ll have a clear understanding of why the Doctor chose to go to this place at this point in time. ‘Chose’ being the operative word.

What I particularly like in this episode is that we get a well-plotted and well-paced story, and still manage to get the (half-)season story arc moving forward. I’m hoping next week’s episode will propel it further on, but I’m good with what we got this week. Even if it’s just to say that the writers have not forgotten what’s going on, and the circumstances of where the Doctor is currently.

Also, the acting was exceptional in this episode. Matt Smith continues to amaze as he jumps to and fro a multitude of emotions in a matter of seconds. I especially like how he played the scene, where he’s alone in the misty forest–yes, the one in the trailer–and says that he is the Doctor, and he is afraid. There are layers in his delivery there, horror on top of sadness on top of frustration and anger, and at the bottom of it all, there’s still the frenzy of him trying to figure a way out of his current predicament.

Now, that’s layered acting.

Jenna-Louise Coleman was also great this time ’round; there’s much more for her to do, and more for her character to explore. This story fit her better than last week’s Cold War does. Definitely.

As for the episode’s end–

Well, let’s just say I’m willing to embrace it. This is Doctor Who after all. And the episode delivered the chills it promised anyway, so I don’t mind how it ended. In a way, it’s a bit fitting too. One happy ending before we delve into the center of the TARDIS next week.

Television: ‘Magpakailanman’ features the life story of a Transman

A transman is a person born with female parts and yet identifies as male. And this Saturday on Magpakailanman, Mel Tiangco features the life story of Nil Nodalo, born Marie, who struggled with who he was, who he was seen as, and who he wants to be.

How does a man, born a woman, find acceptance in a religious society who sees deviance as a sin? And how can he make the people he loves accept who he is?

Stories about men becoming women are rampant. And although it still gets frown from the more conservative types, it’s become a norm. People are no longer surprised by this. Men can become women. But what happens when it’s the other way around?

Find out tonight in “Transman: The Nil Nodalo Story,” featuring Andrea Torres, Mike Tan and Sabrina Mann in the role that will define their careers, as Nil Nodalo. The episode also features Dion Ignacio, Ryza Cenon, Rhen Escano, and Ms. Sharmaine Arnaiz, with a script by Obet Villela, through the research of Gel Launo, and under the direction of Dominic Zapata.

Magpakailanman airs this Saturday, after Vampire ang Daddy Ko.