Wet Market and Weekend Movies

Today was my first real trip w/ the 'Rents to the Sta. Mesa Market. Real in that after driving them there, instead of just staying in the car to read the Sunday papers (or listen to my Muvo) I actually joined them to enter the smelly depths of the market. Speaking of smelly, I regret bringing only 1 piece of candy to help deal w/ the stench of "fresh" fish. If sushi smelled like this it'd never caught on as a delicacy.

As a birhen de palengke I still have a lot to learn w/ it comes to checking out produce/fishstock, negotiating prices, avoiding butchers who de-scale fish like they were having a seizure, and handling money and fish at the same time w/o wiping my hands first. (Hint: plastic bags as faux gloves.) Ugh... fish mucus.

Now for bullet reviews of all the movies I've seen since the last bullet reviews:

10 Items or Less: Cute indie film starring Morgan Freeman (as Himself) and Paz Vega (as that chick from Spanglish speaking way better English). The simplicity of the story (they hang out together for a day) was made entertaining by Freeman's performance, since you're unsure if he's really playing himself or satiric version, ala The Simpsons. But he does make you want to become his best friend.

Amores Peros ("Love's A Bitch"): In the storytelling tradition of Pulp Fiction we have 3 interlocking tales of a love and its follies. The characters are complex --or damaged-- enough to have to you wondering exactly who to sympathize or who to despise. Don't watch this if you like dogs. Seriously. Even pit bulls.

Confetti: Another charmer in loose mockumentary style and an improvised script. Confetti magazine holds a contest for the Most Original Wedding of the Year. Three couples are chosen w/ 3 themes: Musical, Tennis and Naturist (or nude). If you can get past looking at uncircumcised British wangs or generally unattractive naked people, you'll love this film.

Feast: Made by the winners of season 3 of Project Greenlight, it's a tongue-in-cheek take of horror/monster flicks, like Tremors or From Dusk 'til Dawn. Even if the film doesn't take itself too seriously (the characters' names describe their role in the movie, like Beer Guy, Hero or Grandma) it's still unpredictable, w/c I liked.

Kinky Boots: Boy, those Brits are cornering the market w/ "charming" films. This is based on a true story of a generations-old shoe factory that went from exclusively making men's shoes to boots for men in drag. And if you're into music sung by guys named Lola (played by the almost unrecognizable Chiwetel Ejiofor of Serenity and Love Actually fame), you'll want to get the official soundtrack.

The Oh in Ohio: Got a bit boring in the end, despite the presence of simulated orgasms and the theme of vibrator addiction. (Wasn't this a plotline in Sex & the City?) It's also my first time time seeing Mischa (The OC) Barton act. What a skinny chick, and w/ such low tone of voice that doesn't exactly go w/ her pretty face, kinda like Demi Moore or Justin Timerlake. Oh, and seeing Parker Posey getting it on w/ Danny Devito is neither sexy nor funny.

Payback Straight Up: The Director's Cut: Gone are Mel Gibson's voiceovers, Kris Kristofferson (as well as his entire storyline) and the blue tint the covered the original flim. Gibson's character Parker is even more brutal in this version and less sympathetic; but his antagonists are even scummier, so he's still the "hero."

The Prisoner: Or How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair: documentary about an Iraqi journalist that gets mistaken for terrorist (gee, how often does that happen), is arrested, tortured, and finally released after sheepish apologies from the US Government. Surprisingly he doesn't turn to terrorism for revenge. Ugh, I'll be glad when Bush is no longer president.

Resident Evil: Apocalypse: Piece. Of. Crap. If you're after Milla Jovovich and/or scenes of her naked, stick to The 5th Element. You'll be glad you did.

The Ringer: Regular guy pretends he's mentally retarded to cheat in the Special Olympics. Once again the Farelly Brothers champion the whatever-challenged folk. Lessons to be learned by all, even the mentally retarded.

Who's Got the Tape: Korean comedy flick. I really wish Pinoy filmmakers would look upon films like these to learn the nuances of comic timing and subtle humor.

Paprika: No, it's not another film about spices starring Penelope Cruz. It's a feature length anime that's a mix of The Matrix and The Sandman comics by Neil Gaiman, w/ a haunting soundtrack that's a mix of techno and Enya. (Yeah, I'm probably doing an injustice by selling it like that, so just buy it and prove me wrong.)

"Oh, What A Relief It Is..."

Not really sure what caused it, but I can honestly say one of worst stomach ailments to have is both indigestion and constipation at the same time. I was out of commission the whole day yesterday. A combination of agony and fatigue also had me going to bed at 9PM. Woke up at 2AM but went back to sleep half an hour later.

Right now stomach only feels 1/4 the pain from before. Need more fiber.

BUSY Busy Days (UPDATED)

THURSDAY (June 7): Went with Die! to Fernand's apartment in Makati for dinner, but not before getting caught by (and "settling" out of court" with) cops who pulled me over for driving the wrong way on a One Way street. My naiveté on Makati cops being the least corruptible in the NCR (though as Die! pointed out the opposite was true) was quickly slapped upside the head w/ a 'C' note to the pigs. ANYhoo, the 3 of us had pasta, salad and cake. Since her dad couldn't pick her up I had to drive Die! back to her place, w/c was slightly daunting for me as it was past midnight and we were going though EDSA. Thank God I didn't get lost.
Finally, as you can see from the pic it was a matter of having 4 unrelated items coming together telling one weird story. 1: Napkins. 2: Stuffed animal. 3: Female figurine w/big-boobed salt & pepper shakers. 4: Hand lotion.

(I didn't say it was a nice story...)

FRIDAY: Today taught me that if you're having a good day, don't jinx it by telling someone the rest of your plan for the day, or else the universe balances it out w/ a bad evening. Good: getting new comix and meeting up w/ Wella (since she got back from New York) for a last full screening at RGalleria. Bad: Pirates 3 sucked and I inadvertently busted my digicam by bumping into the chairs at the cinema.

SATURDAY: Boit and Dionne's wedding day. Preparations were done at 5-Kim's, and while waiting it out I scarfed on the pricey Royce chocolates (later paid for in acne). After lunch (can't even remember what I had) we headed for Mary the Queen church, w/c was strangely empty. Less than half an hour before the wedding was scheduled to begin but nary a flower was put up by the aisle.

Long story short we started late. It also didn't help that none of us rehearsed beforehand. For one thing I was under the impression that the Best Man waits by the altar for everybody else to walk down the aisle, but instead I had to strut down there solo. (Should've put one hand in my pocket for the complete ramp model effect. Bad: sound system in the church. Good: BoiT taking his own pix w Dionne in front of the altar.

We killed the next few hours back at Marianas w/ more photoshoots, and I was in dire need of a nap. At the dinner reception in Gloria Maris I was surprised to see Aimee Uy (Chong), who attending her brother-in-law's wedding reception downstairs (we were on the 2nd floor). I stayed downstairs for crowd control (and was mistaken for the groom 4 times).
Food was mundane. Wilson's song number was fine. Video presentation was good. My speech/toast went off great. No lace and bouquet toss (the latter already done at the church) and luckily I was able to stave off cognac serving duties for the evening. Immediate family members of the newlyweds were one of the first to arrive and one of the last to leave. We were also given the "honor" of giving away to guests (who haven't left) unopened bottle of cognac (easy), bags of noodles (hard) and chunks of wedding cake (really hard). You'd think w/ about 85% of that cake being made of styrofoam what little edible sections left would be easy to give away. Not the case, probably because that 15% tasted like the 85%.

(Always end w/ a wedding cake joke, that's what I always say.)

SUNDAY: Pooped from last night's events. Completely missed Joanne's wedding today. (Granted, the thing's gonna happen today in Legazpi, but that's neither here nor there.) The 'Rents went out to lunch w/ uncle and aunt who came in from HK last week, while I left later in the afternoon to catch Ocean's 13 w/ Rons. Luckily I found a detour in Commonwealth that headed for Araneta Center, so we caught the 2:30 screening at Gateway Mall on time.

Afterwards we had to leave early because I still had a family dinner in Makati to attend. Asked directions from a cop and thankfully we were going back on the same route we came in. (Ah, a rare moment where my encounter w/ law enforcers while behind the wheel of a car didn't cost me a thing.) All immediate relatives met up at the People's Palace in Greenbelt. Wilson ordered 3 rounds of the 10-course Thai meal, w/c had definite hits (chicken pandan) and misses (spicy shrimp soup) for me. And how's this for another surprise from HK: Cathy Sy was in town, and thankfully she's sticking around longer than Aimee, so hopefully we could meet up at Chili's again for Sunday lunch.

I Want to Punch This Trailer in the Face

Click on the title below to see the trailer. If. YOU. DARE.

OMG! What a piece of crap!

Voices and Latte

Spent the afternoon w/ Rachelle, first doing "voice-filing" recordings at Creativoices Productions, then after hoarsing our throats out went to Greenbelt for some Moroccan mint latte at CoffeeBean &TeaLeaf. (I think this was the first time I've ever driven her around anywhere. Usually when we get together we either traveled separately or commuted in the same jeep.) As voice talents our first project together is probably our most famous work. Like Wella I dig hanging w/ Rache 'coz I never run out of stuff to chat about w/ her (mostly media stuff), but like Wella hectic work skeds prevent us from hanging out more often.

After a cheque collecting snafu I headed home. After arriving home I left a half-hour later to pick up Tintin (Ng) for dinner. We ate at Teriyaki Boy's Banawe branch then had an early nightcap at Starbucks Araneta. Probably finished browsing through the crappy magazine and newspaper selection, and yet both of us still managed to get home by 10PM. Granted it was a long day for both us so we were pooped. Either that or we had too much carbs.