The Nepales Report

âIn every language on the planet, from prison yards in the Philippines to Thrilltheworld.com, that will be the beautiful, grand leg acy of Michael Jackson.â

That was how Quincy Jones, the legendary record prod ucer and artist who produced Michaelâs monster hit albums, ended his beautiful tribute to the late entertainer that came out Tuesday, June 30, in the Los Ange les Times. In using the word âthat,â Quincy was referring to Michaelâs music. Q uincy wrote, âItâs no accident that almost three decades later, no matter where I go in the world, in every club and karaoke bar, like clockwork, you hear âBi llie Jean,â âBeat It,â âWanna Be Starting Something,â âRock With Youâ and âThri ller.â â

So take a bow, all 1,400 inmates of the Cebu provinc ial jail whose version of Michaelâs âThrillerâ video is an Internet sensation. Obviously, the man who guided Michael in recording âThrillerâ and who wrote a p ersonal, heartfelt ode to him in the LA Times piece, has seen the jailbirdsâ vi deo too. The inmates recently recreated the dance as a tribute to Quincyâs tale nt and dear friend.

MARIFE Necesito, who landed an important role in âMammoth,â which stars Academy and Golden Globe Award nominee, Michelle Williams, and acclaimed actor Gael Ga rcia Bernal, shared with us the link to the trailer of her international film ( posted on the bottom of this blog). âMammothâ is the first English-language fil m of Swedish writer-director Lukas Moodysson. As we reported earlier, in âMammoth,â Marife plays Gloria, a mother of two sons who leaves the Philippines to work as the nanny of the daughter (Sophie Nyweid e) of a successful New York couple, played by Gael and Michelle. When Gaelâs bu sinessman character goes to Thailand, he realizes that he wants to change his l ife. This development sets off a dramatic chain of events that impact the chara cters of Marife, Michelle and Sophie. Marife informed us that she filmed her scenes in New York, Sweden and the Phili ppines, specifically in Subic and Bataan. The trailer of the film prominently f eatures Marife, including an emotional scene where she speaks in Tagalog to her two sons on the phone. The two sons are also shown on a beach in the Philippin es, as shot by Lukasâ cinematographer, Marcel Zyskind, whose credits include An gelina Jolieâs âA Mighty Heart.â Marife shared that she had to dub a few of her lines in a dubbing st udio in Makati. She also told us via e-mail that in anticipation of the filmâs release early next year, she is doing phone interviews with the Swedish press, as arranged by Memfis Film, one of the production companies involved in the mak ing of âMammoth.â The Filipina actress added that Lukas is still making final editing work on âMa mmoth.â Lukas is the highly praised filmmaker of films like âLilja 4-ever,â âSh ow Me Loveâ and âTogether.â Lukas, who made the final decision to pick Marife f or the part, was hailed by his esteemed compatriot, the late Ingmar Bergman, as a âyoung master.â Marife said she enjoyed working with Michelle, whose credits include Ang Leeâs âBrokeback Mountain,â and Gael, the Mexican thespian whoâs enjoying a sterling international career with such films as âBabel,â âThe Motorcycle Diariesâ and âAmores Perros.â Hereâs the link to the trailer.

WE'REÂ glad to hear from The Jazz Society of the Philippines, USA that a Filipi no-American, Jon Irabagon, has just won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition. Jon, said to be the first Filipino to win this competition that is ranked no. 1 in the world in terms of prestige, won a $20,000 scholarship and a record cont ract with Concord Music Group, one of the leading jazz labels in the US. Raised in Chicago, Jon has been playing the saxophone since he was eight years old. He cinched his historic victory at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. We can ât wait to watch the new FilAm pride -- he will perform at the 4th Annual Filip ino-American Jazz Festival at the Catalina Bar & Grill, also in Hollywood, on December 27.

By Ruben Nepales OUR interviews over the years with Fil-Am actor Alec Mapa, whether by e-mail or in person, have always been laugh riots. At the pre-show reception of the rece nt Filipino American Libraryâs âJazzmopolitan: A Celebration of Musicâ at the A ratani Theatre in LAâs Little Tokyo, we were just shooting the breeze with the star of âUgly Betty,â many TV shows, films and stage productions when our colle ague, Peter Gonzaga, turned on his video camera and mike. The resulting video c lip is just a sample of the sassy wit of Alec, whom my wife Janet and I admired since we first saw him in his acclaimed monologue, âI Remember Mapa.â Watch Alec Mapa with Ruben & Janet Nepales in Entertainmen t Videos |Â Â View More Free Videos Online a t Veoh.com Alec came on time to the event which raised funds for the laudable Filipino Ame rican Library (FAL), which is located in the historic Filipinotown of LA. The a ctor, who is committed to various charities and foundations, was going to be aw arded FALâs Role Model Award. Well, many hours and several glasses of wine later, and after terrific performa nces by Becca Godinez, Mon David, Charmaine Clamor, Three of a Kind, Tateng Kat indig, Michael and Rene Paulo, Alec finally got to go onstage and accept his aw ard. Alecâs hair has gone askew and despite having the tough task of delivering an acceptance speech after those excellent musical numbers, he still managed t o entertain the crowd and keep the momentum. Toward the end, he invoked his fav orite anecdote about how his mother, now deceased, motivated him when he was ju st starting in show business and was not making headway. âWhatâs stopping you? â Alecâs mother asked him. That made him pause. Nothing has stopped Alec since then.

By Ruben Nepales ON my drive away from the Greek Theatre where my wife and I just watched our ka babayan Arnel Pineda and his Journey bandmates stage the first of two very succ essful shows in LA, I stopped by a gas station. As I pumped gas into our car, a young white woman approached me and asked if I just came from the concert. When I said yes, the woman said she watched the sho w too. Then she peppered me with questions, the gist of which boiled to one thi ng: she wondered if the many Filipinos who trooped to the Greek Theatre that Su nday evening knew the songs of Journey. Although the lady said she knew that Neal Schon first saw Arnel when the former came across a video clip of Arnel singing a Journey hit on YouTube (back when he was doing Journey tribute songs in the Philippines), she appeared baffled th at people in the Philippines know Journey. I told her that I was familiar with those Journey anthems in the 1980s. She asked me if I was born in the US or in the Philippines. I said I was born and raised in the Philippines and I was back home when I first heard those Journey tunes. (Editor's note: Here's one of the video clips on YouTube that perhaps got Journ ey's attention.)