Why Vic Sotto rarely bonded with the cast of ‘The Kingdom’

A pedestrian take on MMFF 2024 entry 'The Kingdom'

Patriotic. That was my gut reaction in the opening scene. This is a reimagined Philippines that refused to bow, a nation that never saw the shadow of colonization. It’s bold, it’s aspirational, and it sets the tone for a film that dreams big. Now, let’s talk Vic Sotto. I grew up watching him on Eat Bulaga. My childhood favorite of the trio, the guy who laughed so hard at Allan K’s tumbling pustiso, he had me laugh-crying too. But here? As Lakan …

Why Vic Sotto rarely bonded with the cast of ‘The Kingdom’

One of the preparations that Vic Sotto made to bring justice to Lakan Makisig in the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) 2024 entry “The Kingdom” was to keep his distance from his co-stars, since his role was a brooding king who bore the crown’s weight. The premise of “The Kingdom” answers the question: what if the Philippines wasn’t colonized, particularly by the Spaniards, Americans, and Japanese? This bore the Kingdom of Malaya led by Lakan Mak…

MMFF 2024: Uncolonized Philippines reimagined in ‘The Kingdom’

VIC SOTTO’S Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) comeback is anything but typical.  Known to moviegoers as one-third of the comedic trio TVJ (Tito, Vic and Joey) and the popular comic hero Enteng Kabisote, whose franchise once claimed an MMFF Best Picture award, to the “embarrassment” of its own producers, Sotto makes an uncharacteristic shift in “The Kingdom.”  After a five-year hiatus from the annual film festival, he trades the comedy-fantasy ge…