SINCE WE?RE SUPPOSED TO ?know? about these things, people keep asking us for ?hot tips? on the movies to watch this season. Right off the bat, we can say that Martin Scorsese?s latest film, ?Shutter Island,? topbilling his current ?signature? actor, Leonardo DiCaprio, is a should-see.

Also worth our time of day is ?It?s Complicated? with Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, with its delightful and instructive take on love the second and even third time around.

Opening day

What about new productions on the local film scene? We?re eagerly waiting for the opening day (March 10) of the new Unitel movie, ?The Red Shoes??and therein lies an instructive tale.

Some three years ago, when we were judging story entries to the Cinemalaya indie tilt, our eye was particularly struck by a story about a pair of Imelda Marcos? shoes that somehow got into the hands of a perfect stranger.

We thought that the story was full of possibilities, because it combined humor, fantasy, topical issues, colorful characters and whimsy in quite a unique mix. Therefore, we chose it as one of our bets to make it to the full scripting level of the competition.

The first draft of the screenplay was similarly deft, daft and engaging, so we were sure that the finished film would be a hit at the Cinemalaya competition later that year.

?But, it was not to be. Before the full-length entries to the tilt could be finalized, we got word that the ?Imelda shoes? entry had been removed from participation, because it had been sold to a producer, Unitel.

Worthy entries

Well, we thought, that was a pity, because Cinemalaya would have to do without a movie that was likely to be a standout and one of the tilt?s most talked-about movies. Still, there were other worthy entries to fill in the blank, so we soon forgot all about the Imelda story.

?Until last week, when we learned that the unique movie project, now titled ?The Red Shoes,? will be screened soon, with Tessie Tomas, Tirso Cruz III, Marvin Agustin and Nikki Gil among its lead players.

Even after the passage of two years, I?m still looking forward to watching the film, and hope that it does, indeed, fulfill its potential.

I hope that this blurb will interest you in catching the movie, as well. Of course, a lot can happen during the process between script to finished film, but I still have a good feeling about this project?knock on wood!