From Guns to Roses

From the awesome special effects of Resiklo, director Mark Reyes slows down and takes time to appreciate the roses, just in time for our viewing pleasure in the Valentine offering of GMA Films, My Best Friend’s Girlfriend. Text by KC. M. Abalos. Photos by Mitch S. Mauricio. He is known for his grand epic masterpieces from the small screen to the big screen. From Encantadia to Resiklo, director Mark Reyes’ vision of a world different from our mundane one never fails to enthrall the young and the old alike. Equally impressive is the fact that, aside from the audience, the critics also appreciate his eye for detail, as evidenced by the Best Picture award he recently received at the Metro Manila Film Festival. Fans of his work would then be surprised to learn that his latest project is a mushy, lovey-dovey, romantic comedy. “It’s a breather to do something like this!” He says with a smile then explains, “coming from Tiyanaks, Resiklo, and now Kamandag. At least this one gives you a breather to be a filmmaker, to do something light.” My Best Friend’s Girlfriend is the Valentine offering of GMA Films for 2008. A must see “kilig” flick starring Richard Gutierrez and Marian Rivera. They may be the hottest male and female young actors around but Direk Mark was faced with the task of making sure that this new tandem works. “The story itself is pretty solid, and I know for a fact that it’s for Valentines, so the order of business at hand is to make it dramatic, colorful.” He proceeds to explain what it is like to work with his talents. “With Richard, it’s like a continuation of Kamandag. So dito, we’re more confident with each other. We know each other’s quirks.” But he also reveals that since they both come from rigorous taping, both he and Richard are super tired. This does not stop both of them though from giving their all once the cameras start rolling. What about Marian, whom he and Richard have never worked with before? “I was pleasantly surprised that she is one of the easiest persons to work with. I now see why there’s magic in Marimar. He describes and adds, “always lively, always bubbly. Fun to work with, sobrang lambing.” He then spills that this “sweetness” is why this loveteam will work. Given these many elements, what should the audience expect from this film by direk Mark? He shrugs and says, “I don’t have any special effects here. I don’t have any tricks up my sleeve. Dito pure storytelling, pure fun.” So do not miss the fun this Valentine’s day! Talk about the film in the iGMA forum! Text RICHARD or MARIAN to 4627 to Feel the Fun with Fanatxt! To receive pictures from their phones, text GOMMS RICHARD ON or GOMMS MARIAN ON to 4627. (Each SMS costs P2.50 for GLOBE, SMART, and TALK N TEXT, and P2.00 for SUN subscribers. Each MMS, on the other hand, costs P5.00 for all Networks.)