Went to see Cris Pablo's new flick Quicktrip last night at Robinson Galleria.

Grabe, I feel like meat. Everytime I go to the loo, I'm being checked at by dirty old men. I just bow my head down and make sure I don't make any eye contact.

Where are the young good looking blokes of Manila?

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Anyways, the movie had so much going for it...well... until the end.

I get it. A movie needs some twists and turns etc to make it a tad more exciting. But...

Let's review the film from the start.

Bank scene. Different sya. Camera shifts on chinito-yuppie-ish boyfriend.

What a fag. (and I mean that on childish way of cursing the character) How annoying was he. He spoke too much, tried too much and just had too much outrage about the world. Having his cel snatched didn't help his cause. I almost felt for him. But I guess this was a blessing in disguise because we move our attention to Topher "Chris" Barreto. Phwoar! What a find. I love simple guys like these. His character assumed that he was pogi, angelic, totally mabait, quite naive (which separates him away from all the evil of this world), masculine, very focused on what he wants for himself and his family and to me, totally sexy. I fell in love with him the moment I saw him. (and I'm not even into moreno types) For him, I watched the movie.

I saw in Chris the typical young Filipino of today. Attached to the cel, continously texting their lives away. I felt his need to be part of the world, whatever medium it may be. He seeked comfort in simplicity, because it was all he had, like the messages (or lack of) he recieved in his phone. And like me, we were born multi-taskers. Focusing one side to the family and their needs, and on our most closeted moments, finding ways to witness our secret 'gay' lives.

I felt bad for him. Seeking the attention of an asshole whom he's clearly mistaken for as 'love'.

I was familiar with his escape. Sex. When stressed or upset, I too look for sex as a form of escape. No drinking, no drugs...I go straight to the source. I admire his courage to enter the perverted movie house. I would've done the same. Except the fear of running into DOMs would've overtaken my desires. Obviously in this movie, he lived in a better fantasy world, where youth prolifirated such dirty places. Could there be a hint of reality in this? (I would like to think so.) And like Chris, would I be so quick to respond to anyone's interest in me even if they're butt ugly. No way! Give me Topher anytime and maybe I would think about it.

This is what I liked most about Chris. Behind his angelic nature lies horns driven by sexual desires. And add to that, his homosexual desires. Yum.

Enter super horny buffed Ando. Who is a living proof that all men think about is sex. Poor naive Topher was on the same state mind. Blame chinito asshole. (or thank him?) Half the movie is spent trying to find their magical place for sex. Where to go, where to go? Motels, parks (with desperate baklitas roaming it's grounds), dodgy friends pads. It was a nice glimpse to the grity world of motels in the Philippines. (which I'm nowhere close to knowing) Who would've thought that in these trying times, some motels dare to deny pink money by pushing away homosexual clientele? Hmmm.

And finally to the sex. Good for them. About time they find a secluded place for raunch.

Except...

I wanted just a tad more. A tad more pubic hair, a hint of cock... anything! Lately, I've been led to believe that there is a current trend going around the Filipino gay Indie scene that promotes the act of going full monty, kahit na hindi sila yung main characters. (Ang Lihim ni Antonio had it; Maraming Salamat Po Hanggang Dito Na Lang had it; Ang Lalake Sa Parola showed cock at some point)

And yet none here. Nada, zilch. I was hoping for it during the masturbation scene. Pero ala. But that's ok. At least we got to see a bit of Topher's and Ando's butt. Plus the gay sex scene here is a little closer to reality. They seemed keen. Troopers at heart. Tongues did wag and at some point the word 'torrid' came into my head. Believeable. Naive at some point, "Mahal na kita!" Hot.

Until the ugly twist. Like really? Was it neccessary?

It didn't work for me. Not that I am always in favour of happy endings. (I love horror flicks that kill all their characters. Well most. hahaha) Blame it on me being a hopeless romantic. A true seeker of love in all it's facets. Romeo in my own way. But mostly because I really thought Chris totally deserved to be loved and be happy. (he's that cute) Niloko mo kami. Akala namin eto na para kay Chris. He was in. His goaly kick was going to be the scream of the crowd. Pasok na sya!

But dude...

Sinira mo yung ending. Yak! I went home wanting my P40 back. You can have the P100 when everything was fine and dandy. But the rest. That's 15-20 mins of my life I can never get back.

All in all: it wasn't really that bad, well the first half. In fact it bordered in "OK!" Pero sayang. I'll give it to you though C. Pablo, the budgeting of funds at the beginning of the film was creative. I felt Chris' sense of poverty. We could all relate. The poor family cliche will probably be far removed from Filipino films. Heck, it's all over television, so why not film. When done properly, it does tug on peoples hearts. Chris was a good son all over. Admirable traits. My Kuya would dare not ask me for a kiss in exchange for money, but heck, to all his own. Loveable sexy and cute main character: check. Winner ka na sana dun. Yun nga lang, plain cliche na yung storyline. For all we know, he could've turned into a macho dancer. Then I would've just walked out of the moviehouse. But there was a point it became, could this movie be about a guy looking for love at all the wrong places? Then I was intrigued. So I soldiered on...

The rest of the film moved at a steady rate. The ex-boyfriend remained annoying. His friends made me promise that I shall never acquire such shallow people in my life. Ever! Ando's beefy body made me curious. It made me want to meet my own damaged Ando. But where? The movie made me question if real Ando's exist in the dark corners of dirty movie houses in the Philippines? Enough to tempt me to come back every year? And for the real Ando. Will he be making more gay films? Pero baka nga may topak ang ibang mga Ando. Yung mas malala pa ang aabutin mo in real life kuno.

So I gave the film a 6. For Topher.

I concluded that I could've been doing better things in life. Like maybe catching up on sleep or food tripping. Or hanging out with my family. Or maybe watching a better film at the other cinema?

I guess for me, when I go on secret rendevous like this, in a country I try to visit only on occassions, you want it to be well worth it. One wants to come out satisfied feeling the whole experience was well worth it and I'd like to tell all my friends about it. Like in Lihim or in Pagdadalaga ni Maximo. They had some depth in them that touched my heart. Truly profound gay films that I am proud to tell people. I felt something after the 2 hours of watching those.

With Quicktrip, that's what I felt like. Like a Quicktrip lang to Robinsons Galleria, just to kill time. Kasi may kulang yung film. Like depth, like a better ending, like better sex scenes, like less corny lines. If had I stayed home, logged unto the internet a searched for good porn, probably that would've been more satisfying.

In fairness...thank you for discovering Topher Barreto. I look forward to more of his projects in the future. He has lots of potential and may make it big on Indie films. Here's hoping that he would be willing to once again offer his services on satisfying the needs of the gay community in the film industry. Good luck to you bro!

To Chris Pablo: Andyan ka na. Alam mo na ang kailangan mong gawin. Hindi naman kailangang madalian. Pagisipan lang. Konti pa. Malapit ka na. Yung pang Academy ang dating. Depth lang Kuya, depth lang. Marunong ka nang humanap ng pogi, so no worries there. Malay mo, masali sa Film Fests all over the world yung susunod at susunod pa duon di ba. Bigyan ng panahon at isip. Di pa huli ang lahat! Yun lang po. Pero salamat na rin kahit papaano. :)

Watch the trailer for yerselves: