plot device: meat bun

In the end, I succumbed to its very funny radio ad, and watched Pinoy/Blonde.

It really is not your typical local film, primarily because the plot is not a ponderous melodramatic fiesta lacrima, nor is it a soul-crushing autopsy of human suffering, nor is it a shoot-out-in-the-ubiquitous-abandoned-construction-site action film. Actually, the whole film takes place in one evening then finishes the following morning. In short, the plot is, by Filipino standards, microscopically short.

It can also get confusing and amusing because of the off-tangents and the inside jokes, respectively, like the UP student explaining what facism is, or the politician named Salonpas, and of course, all the medical references (ex. the most abused part of the body).

***

But the most important part of the movie for me was of course, none other than Mr. Ron Capinding getting screen time and his picture to go along with his name in the credits.

Ser, artista na pala kayo ah!

Since he could be heard before he could be seen, the pilosebaceous units on my dorsal forearm were acted upon by the associated arrector pili (read: I got goosebumps) the moment I heard his unique rasping voice. It was like junior year in high school all over again, and he was teaching us about Filipino literature and the principles of stage acting. And we thought the "Jollibee Hongkong" commercial was a fluke, hehehe.

***

Oh yeah, movie review, right. I'd recommend watching it. Unitel has been making worth-it local films for some time now, it's very disconcerting. When there comes a time that I'd have rather seen a Unitel film than the latest Hollywood viand (say, Herbie Reloaded), it must mean that indeed, the sky is falling, the world is ending, and Metro Manila will slide down Manila Bay and sink into the South China Sea.

Because, dare I hope to say it, a revival of local culture impinges on the integrity of a nigh-impregnable theory - that the Philippines is hopeless.