DEREK Ramsay admitted that he was the one who broke up with ex-GF Andrea Torres and he did it only by phone. Of course, he was quickly bashed by netizens who said it’s so ungentlemanly of him to end a relationship only by cellphone and he doesn’t even have the decency to tell it to Andrea in person for a good closure.

He said quite a mouthful in an interview with him: “Yung sa amin ni Andrea, it was actually ako ‘yung… may problema na nangyari na, I guess, nagbigay sa akin ng sign na, I think, this relationship will not work because we have different values. Hindi mali ‘yung values niya, hindi mali ‘yung values ko. Pero ganito ako pinalaki, ganoon siya pinalaki. Hindi ko na aatakehin ‘yun, hindi ko siya babaguhin, hindi niya ako babaguhin.

“So I told her, ‘I think that this is the end of this relationship because we cannot see eye to eye on this matter. So I think it’s just best na kumalas na tayo ngayon rather than lalaki pa, and then two, three years down the road, maghihiwalay tayo, babalikan natin ‘to, kasi nga iba ang views natin sa problemang ‘yan.’

“She agreed naman. ’Yun nga lang, siguro kung may regret ako, is that it came up over the phone. Actually, dapat magkikita kami noon. Ang nangyari, it came up over the phone, pero with no disrespect. Hindi namin dinisrespect ang isa’t isa. She agreed to it also.”

When asked about his relationship with fiancee Ellen Adarna, he says he’s very happy and satisfied with her, adding: “Hindi ko yata kayang ma-express into words, pero kita n’yo naman sa mga actions ko, sa mata ko, I’ve never been this happy in my life.”

In her own social media account, Andrea wrote this statement and it could very well apply to Derek: “Keep calm and let karma finish it.”

A netizen answered more concretely for Andrea: “Magkaiba sila ng values kasi si Andrea, hindi nakipag-live in sa iba’t ibang lalaki na naging boyfriend niya. Hindi rin dalagang ina. So now, we know kung anong values ang gusto ng Derek na ‘yan. Ayaw niya ng values ng babaeng malinis ang rePUTAsyon.”

Some netizens it’s not nice of Derek to blame Andrea’s family for her kind of upbringing. In defense, Derek said he just opened up about it to end all the speculations about their breakup. He says, in his own defense, when asked in an interview:

“I did not really speak about it. Hindi naman ako nagbanggit ng mga detalye. Bale respeto ko ‘yun kay Andrea and sa parents niya. I was just asked kung may kinalaman ba ang parents ni Andrea and I just answered honestly. Yes, I’ve always been honest. I didn’t give the details. It’s more of ‘yung values namin were very different. I’m not saying my values are better than hers or hers is better than mine, mine is right and hers is wrong. Siguro nabanggit ko na, kasi gusto kong matahimik na lang, e, Kasi, I’m in a relationship now, I’m getting married, so I just want it all to be over and done with. I guess I just I want to put it to rest para matapos na.”

He says he did it “para matahimik na lang”, but this is not what happened as it triggered more reactions from bashers. Someone said he was on with Andrea for more than a year and he was on with Ellen for only two months. The netizen adds: “Doon sa two months na ‘yun, we became quickly sure that Ellen is the one who you want to marry? Well… good luck na lang sa inyo.”

Even the latest photos of Derek and Ellen they posted on social media showing a half naked Derek on top of Ellen with her legs wide open were bashed by netizens who said: “Ang hahalay nyo!” “Malalaswa”. “You deserve each other!”

How we wish all the publicity they’re getting would help forward their careers. As we all know, Derek has not had a movie or TV show for more than a year now, while Ellen has a sitcom on TV5 that is not really rating as much as they’d want to.

Review of iconic romance-drama ‘A Place in the Sun’

A PLACE in the Sun’ is one of the most talked about films of the 50s, a commercial and critical success that won six Oscars, including best director for George Stevens, who’d later direct other classics like “Diary of Anne Frank”, “Giant” and one of the best westerns ever, “Shane”. It also won as best musical score for its haunting theme music that can give you LSS.

The film is based on the novel, “An American Tragedy”, by Theodor Dreiser, which is in turn based on a real life crime story that happened in 1906 about a man executed in the electric chair for killing his girlfriend. It was first filmed in 1931 and has been adapted in several other countries, on film, as a stage play. Or on TV, like Brazil, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Lithuania, Japan and even the Philippines where Lino Brocka made it into “Nakaw na Pag-ibig” for Viva starring Nora Aunor, Phillip Salvador and Hilda Koronel.

“A Place in the Sun” starred Montgomery Clift in the lead role of George Eastman, a poor young man from Chicago who hitchhikes his way to California to work in his rich uncle’s factory. His wealthy relatives regard him as a poor relation and he aims to work his way up through hard work.

But he falls in love with one of the factory girls, Alice (Shelley Winters), when the factory specifically forbids any relationship between its employees. They get intimate then George meets a wealthy and stunning socialite, Angela (Elizabeth Taylor), who also gets attracted to him and they quickly fall in love.

George enjoys his social climbing with his new high society friends, but Alice then informs him that she’s pregnant with his baby and insists that he should marry her. While on a boat trip on a mountain lake, an accident happens and Alice drowns.

George tries to hide what happened, but the police eventually apprehends him and he is sentenced to die on the electric chair. The story is actually grim and it does not have the usual happy ending, and yet people flocked to it in theaters that time.

It certainly helped that the deadly love triangle story has been updated to 1950 and starred very attractive stars. And also, there’s the shadow of a doubt about the crime. Although it’s obvious George intends to drown Alice, he cannot go through with it and it’s a misstep on the part of Alice that caused tne boat to turn over, followed by George’s subsequent arrest, trial and conviction.

Monty Clift is considered one of the most good looking actors of that era, also famous for his style of method acting. He started on Broadway but gained lots of fans after he played Olivia de Havilland’s opportunistic boyfriend in the classic 1949 film, “The Heiress”. Liz Taylor is definitely exceedingly beautiful on screen, looking so radiant and luminous in every scene.

Liz and Monty became good friends while making this film.

They would be paired again in “Raintree Country” in 1957, during the shoot of which Clift figured in a car crash that damaged his face. Their last film together was “Suddenly Last Summer” in 1959. Clift lived a very troubled life and died at the still young age of 45. It seems he’s really trying to find his own place in the sun in real life but didn’t find it. Liz would later reveal that Clift confided to her that he’s gay.

In hindsight, the film also shows the travesty of the judicial system. George has already been condemned in the eyes of the lynch mob and is convicted after the jury pleasing and theatrical grandstanding of the prosecutor, played by Raymond Burr (who later got his iconic role as “Perry Mason”).

It is not truth that really matters, but getting the emotional reaction of the jury members who are tasked with deciding the fate of the accused. And the biggest sin of George is that he tried to grasp something that is just beyond his reach.