Cavite

severed fingers in cigarette packs.

that was the promotional item that they were handing out for this film. I, unfortunately, did not get one of these promos.

so this is a filipino thriller about a guy who is called back to the philippines to save his mother and sister from terrorists. so the basic hollywood suspencer crap.

but just wait, there is a twist. this was filmed on location in cavite, one of the dirties, nastiest, slums in the philippines, the philippines. upto this point the only good thing I could say about the philippines is that macarthur isn’t still there. I don’t really like thrillers, but as I think about this one, almost a week after seeing it, I can say I really like it. I like the way it was shot, I thought the script was real and the locations were amazing. they moved through the airport, the highways, the inner city, the parks, the trash slums, a cock fight(a real cock fight, ASPCA can go fuck itself), a giant basilica, and a convenient store. nothing was left out, blind alleys and congested roads.

so back to the promos, the main character’s sister’s finger get chopped off and left in a cigarette pack to fuck with the lead. and the mother’s tongue gets cut out.

so… I’m sitting in the second most uncomfortable seat in all of Austin, watching this amazing thriller fly past my eyes.

upside: good movie, the director is a great guy, the writer and lead in the movie is also a great guy.

down side: only ten minutes to ask our lame-ass questions and they never, never turned the lights on in that damn place. so all my pictures are over dark and I have retina burn from my own camera. these really cool guys are rubbing their own eyes from the twenty people behind me; every one is behind me I’m front row far left right in front of the director, pitcher of dr. pepper three-quarters empty one-quarter full, flash every other second. so there’s a bunch of people out there with the back of my head and my drink in their photos.

also I have posted a picture, whoot

Ian Gamazon is on the left, Neill Dela Llana is on the right