The Secret

I am fond of watching Tagalog independent films. When I have time, that is.

Earlier today at around 3:30 AM, I woke up realizing that I haven’t left my shih-tzu with her midnight snack. And she usually throws up in the morning if I don’t leave her anything to eat between dinner and breakfast.

After putting some pellets in her bowl, I found myself unable to go back to sleep. What to do? Turn on the laptop and look for something to read, or watch, as was the case in the early morning of All Souls’ Day.

An e-mail led me to YouTube. Then a video I watched led me to some independent movies and then on the side bar, I noticed that a full-length video of Ang Lihim Ni Antonio was available. I didn’t know before that that videos of more than an hour could be uploaded. (I guess I’ve been living under a rock, or to be more specific, been so busy with work.)

I’ve been hearing and reading about the said movie since time immemorial, so I decided to click on the video link and watch. After all, mom and I were to go to the memorial park to visit my departed dad and brother by 6 AM. I could finish the movie in time to prepare for the cemetery.

What’s good about watching a movie you don’t know the plot is, is that the element of surprise was still there. And surprised I was to see Josh Ivan Morales go all out (read: nekkid) as the lead character’s Tito Jo.

I’m sure most of you have seen the indie and may already consider it as something from the vault, but forgive me because I’m still gonna blog about it. :)

I knew Josh Ivan from his sexy photos on the internet but I didn’t know he did frontal. Pausing the video, I Googled up his name and voila! One or two photos showed him in full glory.

His acting, however, was to be commended. He should have been given a meatier character story in the phenomenal TV series Walang Hanggan because he has to capabilities as an actor (and as an exhibitionist at that).

Title role belonged to the then newbie Kenjie Garcia. He was good, and didn’t exhibit the robotic line delivery and gestures very often found in newbie indie actors. He didn’t go full frontal but the movie showed a little peek or two of his privates in some scenes.

Kenjie might not have the matinee idol looks that fans could go gaga over, and perhaps that’s the reason why he hasn’t been given mainstream projects yet aside from some bit roles in MMK. He doesn’t look bad, though. Perhaps a good stylist is just what he needs. After all, he does look promising in some of his recent photos like this one I found on Facebook:

But he can look so gay in some shots, like this one:

Kenjie did win an acting award from Spain’s Festival del Sol Gran Canaria for his portrayal of the character Antonio. Not bad at all for someone in his first movie role.

Ang Lihim Ni Antonio was followed by more indie films including Kambyo, Binyag, Lilay: Darling Of The Crowd, and Brod.

I was so lucky I watched Ang Lihim Ni Antonio first. I plan to follow it up with Kambyo and the rest of Kenjie’s movies in order of its release. That way, I get to witness how he has evolved as an actor.