Spanish Weekend

I was so enthralled by the films at the current Spanish Film Festival, which started Tuesday last week. I watched the opeing film "Princesas" with Teng and Sarah which totally blowed us away. Teng has reviewed the film on his blog so I'm going to shut up about it because he could come up with a better review than me.

On Thursday I watched "Machuca" alone. That one is an amazing coming of age story during Chile's tumultuous political transition of sorts. A lot of times the movie reminded me of the Marcos era.

Last Friday, I was with my friend Japheth to watch "Piedras", which is a comedy about interlocking lives in Madrid, much like "Magnolia" and even "Crash", albeit lighter. Japheth and I were so suprised and amused that the film had a gay slant to it.

Incidentally, we saw Bryanboy walking around Seattle's Best at Greenbelt 3 while Japheth and I were waiting for the screening. I was awed enormously even if I only saw him for a few seconds. I know it would be the same feeling I'd have if I see (or had seen) Princess Diana, Madonna, or Oprah. It was like a quick orgasm! Hay, I wish I had the courage to run after him and had a picture taken with that bitch.

Saturday and Sunday I was with Kim. Not since college did I have the chnace to see three films in row, which is what we exactly did last Saturday.

First it was "El Metodo", which is an astute take on an application process, much like "The Apprentice", "Survivor", and "Big Brother" rolled into one. Next was "Seres Queridos", a comedy about a girl who brings her Palestinian boyfriend to her Jewish family. I'm not really good with comedies, I always find them too contrived, so I did not enjoy this one.

I watched "Princesas" again and loved it more. Hay, I wish it wins the Audience Choice Award.

Sunday, I was back at Greenbelt for more movies, starting with "Tapas". I totally enjoyed this one, which is again about interrelated stories set in Barcelona this time. The film abounds with quirky characters such as the old woman who sells drugs and the bar owner who would rather keep his place open rather than look for his wife who lelft him. This has been my second favorite film so far.

"Segundo Asalto" came in next, which is about a boxer who was trying to make ends meet until he eventually ventured into bank robbery with the prodding of his long-lost father. While I think that the film has its merits (like the super gwapo main character), I did not totally like it as much as the other films.

I'm scheduled to watch "El Abuelo" and a slew of other films so I'm setting aside what is left of my money to watch more movies this week.

Next month would be Cinemanila. God, I have a lot of saving to do!