Tag Archives: temptation island

The Eyes and Tongue of Aljur Abrenica

Posted on by
Reply

New King of Pinoy Camp Movies

As promised, here is my personal analysis why Aljur Abrenica was the saving grace in the remake of the Pinoy cult classic movie Temptation Island.  (Press this LINK to read on my previous post about the movie.)

Aljur Abrenica was a big revelation in the movie Temptation Island 2011.  Abrenica who played the role of Alfredo originally played by the late Alfie Anido was in his comfort zone.  Not because of great acting ability and not because he was able to duplicate Anido’s coniotic stature and presence but because he fits well on being so campy for such a campy movie.

Aljur is a walking camp.  I would like to believe that he is the male version of Alma Moreno, the Queen of Pinoy Camp Movies.  He perfected the “twinkling-of-the-eyes” movement.  In the movie, no matter what emotion he wants to convey, he only has one obscure style of stare. This guy is so funny for he never wink nor blink in the film because his eyes is constantly twinkling.

In the original version, Anido – a natural conio, who perfected the art of mixing and interchanging English and Tagalong in a chic and sophisticated manner – never got the chance to make me laugh.  But in the remake, Aljur never failed to give me a chuckle.  This is especially true when he utter his lines in the English language.  Every time he speaks in English, me and my friends who were watching the film would whisper and ask each other “Ano daw?” (What did he say?), then laugh so hard other viewers thought Abrenica just delivered a hilarious line.

The portrayal of Abrenica in the film was so mediocre but it resulted to being so appealing in an ironic sense.  With his enigmatic twinkling eyes and ambiguous delivery of lines that emerged into an unintentional comedic performance, Abrenica was able to achieve his goal of making Temptation Island 2011 (The Remake) a passable campy film.

Si Aljur malamang ang tatanghaling Hari ng Pinoy Kamp Mubis…

Temptation Island 2011

Posted on by
3

When I learned that the same film producer is planning to do a remake of the ostentatious Temptation Island, I was initially upset, disheartened and bothered.  I wondered why this perversely sophisticated movie has to be redone.  I deemed that it would be a desecration and chastisement of the genius work of Joey Gosiengfiao.  It’s simply blasphemous!

But when all forms of media were showered and spewed with advertisements about the 2011 version, I turned erratic, provoked and eager.  All publicity write-ups and interviews conveyed that the new version will “remain faithful to the campy spirit of the original film”.  This gave me a benefit of the doubt for the new version and made me persuaded to look forward in seeing the film.  I was actually looking forward on how the stars of the new film deliver those precious lines…

Last night was the moment when I along with seven other souls (my equally twisted cosmopolitan office mates) saw the new version.  I knew all the while that the celebrities who starred and played the roles of this year’s version could not equal the fuzzy sophistication as delivered by the original cast.

Surprisingly, Lovie Poe came close to that of the character originally played by Jennifer Cortez in the original version.  Though she came short on the classy, flashy and foxy high-chinned moves and patrician bratty demeanor of Jennifer, she delivered her lines well.  Lovie was unexpectedly funny. She came close to the original in delivering the lines (now considered classic in Pinoy pop culture) since both ladies possess the sexy low-toned breathy voice.

John Lapuz who played Juswa (Joshua when articulated in proper English) was a bit of a disappointment.  Lapuz evidently tried very hard to deliver his lines similar to the fluency and eloquence of the original Joshua played by Jonas Sebastian.  Lapuz, who do not possess the natural required accent along with an innate coarse and croaky tone, will obviously never equal the feat Jonas Sebastian has done in the original version.  Moreover, it was a letdown when Lapuz sported the Queen-Melo-look.  Because of such costume-y and cartoon-y look, Lapuz’ characterization of Joshua created a notion that it was too-over-taught to the point that he desperately wants the viewers to laugh.  It was so unlike Sebastian’s characterization – effortless yet grand and hilarious!

The other actors and actresses who starred in the new version seemed too novice for the demands of their respective roles.  In my own personal view the cast and re-creators of this year’s version tried too hard which resulted to categorizing the film according to Susan Sontag (a literary theorist) as “deliberate camp”.  This is so unlike the original movie which was crisp, candid and unpretentiously presented in which as per Sontag is categorized as “naive camp”.  Nevertheless, I still enjoyed the movie simply because Temptation Island is such a rich, colorful, hilarious and ostentatious film material.

But, the film’s saving glory is actually in the quintessential personification of the ham, the hunk, the beefcake, Aljur Abrenica!  (to be continued…)

Bakit si Aljur?  Pwes, abangan ang susunod na powst. Ang haba na kasi.