benchspeak

"dreamboy" on a nightmarish night

i guess it all started with my sincere desire to treat someone with a free starbucks drink using my chinese new year "bounce-back" certificate (as the crew calls it) which i got with the coffee store's 2005 planner. the certificate entitles one to get an equally- or less-priced drink for free upon buying a drink on the date written on it, in this case feb. 9, which turns out to be also the opening day of piolo's movie, "dreamboy". so, i thought, why not drag a friend to watch the film with me and treat him (pwede ring her sana kaya lang wala akong fag hag ngayon e) with a free starbucks drink, sponsor his ticket even (well, honestly, i can't think of a co-piolo fan to invite that night, thus, the probable need to do this)?

i began scanning my phonebook since tuesday night to select possible people to invite but it was only on wednesday morning when i finally was able to find one who was agreeable with the idea -- a bed partner (read: a semi-constant companion in that queer club in malate) who was a fling of another co-blogger friend and who seems to be obsessed with alcohol.

since i was coming from my mandarin class at the dfa bldg. along roxas blvd near buendia wednesday night, i decided to see the film at the nearest mall, which happens to be glorietta. when i checked for the screening schedule at clickthecity.com though, that of greenbelt 3 was the most convenient, so it was where i reserved two tickets online, never mind the ticket cost (o, di ba sosi? hehe).

i was expecting that our instructor would dismiss us early that night, but she even went overtime so i had to take the taxi just so i could confirm my reservation, which had to be done around 30 mins. before the screening time. fortunately, the traffic wasn't that horrendous -- the film was to start at 8:55, i was at the ticket counter around 8:25. i texted my friend the screening time earlier in the afternoon, but while still in class at around 7, i already couldn't reach his number, so at around quarter to nine while ordering my drinks at starbucks greenbelt, i was already calling people who might be near makati at that time so the ticket and the drink wouldn't be wasted just in case my friend would not show up at all. they, unfortunately, were already home. i just asked the people at starbucks if i could just claim my other drink later and they said that was ok but they have to prepare it already and they'd just put it in their ref. no choice.

after fifteen minutes inside a half-filled theater (i just caught this morning how gma brags its box-office edge, per interviews with some theater managers, with its "let the love begin", and suddenly, i felt depressed and was motivated to promote "dreamboy" among my friends. lol), there still was no text from my supposed companion, the cellphone of an old woman seated to my left rings, and a jologs girl (mukhang saleslady) three seats to my right is starting to behave annoyingly with her loud, senseless remarks.

more than an hour later, the twist in the film's plot was already revealed, and i still had the unused ticket in my left breast pocket. i also was coughing (hard enough that i never claimed my 2nd frappe anymore) and badly needed to urinate (but didn't because the cr was far and i didn't want to miss the film's ending), both because of the iced mocha frappe, and the palengkerang "saleslady", sadly, was still alive. i might really have to watch the film again for me to appreciate piolo on a less-stressful night.

(obviously, this post isn't intended to be a review of "dreamboy", but for those whose curiousity has been stirred, you can access butch francisco's take on the film here. or clickthecity's review here. personally, it's recommendable. among the three characters piolo had to play in the movie, i like "jaime" the most.)

p.s. oh, back to my "nightmarish" night, while i was waiting for a bus ride home along edsa, it rained. heck, except for experiencing piolo on the big screen, i really wish it was all just a dream.

posted by bench @ 10:26 AM