MOVIEGOER: Cesar Montano turns to painting
Why haven’t you been doing much lately? I asked Cesar Montano at the after-press conference for his new film, Selda Tres, held on Sept. 19.
The veteran actor merely smiled, adding that he wants to do movies only, not TV drama shows. Told that a number of his colleagues within the same age range as his have remained active on TV playing father roles, Cesar said he’d rather focus his energy on movie scripts that he likes. After Selda Tres, he’s considering three other new films that caught his interest.
“I’ve been doing a lot of painting,” he said. He has an ongoing exhibit at the UP, while another solo show is set for November. From the photo gallery on his mobile, he showed us a run-through of some of his recent works, a mixture of abstracts and cubism, many of which we found really interesting.
Cesar said many of his paintings have been sold, naming Yul Servo and the late Lily Monteverde among those who brought them home.
"Selda Tres," an action-drama, signals his return to the big screen after a brief absence. He was last seen in Blood Brothers.
What lured him to do the film, by director GB Sampedro. The theme, he said, is something about injustice. Filmed months before the Sept. 21 protest rally against corruption in government projects, Selda Tres thus becomes as relevant as a ticking time bomb.
The film, one of five official entries to the 2025 Sinag Maynila festival, tells the story of an innocent man, played by JM de Guzman, wrongly accused of a crime and then sent to jail. Cesar plays his defendant.
Sinag Maynila films screened in select cinemas from Sept 24-30. Cesar’s co-star, JM de Guzman, won Best Actor for his role in the film, that of a young man wrongly imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit.
PASSERBY:
Actors who make a stand on social issues that directly affect our people are admirable.
They set a good example to the citizenry in light of growing controversy over where our taxes go. The recently held Trillion Peso Rally on EDSA on Sept. 21 saw the likes of Vice Ganda, Anne Curtis, Darren Espanto, Donny Pangilinan, Ion Perez, Jackie Gonzaga, and Jasmine Curtis-Smith join the march. Other committed artists to the anti-corruption cause include Iza Calzado, Catriona Gray, Elijah Canlas, and Nadine Lustre.
The spotlight is now on Heart Evangelista, who in recent times flaunted incredibly expensive jewelry, fashionable clothes, and other items on social media as part of her work as an influencer. Heart has taken down on social media a post showing off a one-million-dollar ring given to her by her husband, Senator Chiz Escudero. People have been asking. If Heart is this rich, why isn’t she among our top taxpayers?