While I was working in Makati, I was at the moviehouse almost every week, always watching the latest movies on their first week out. There even came a point when friends of mine said that it was so hard to invite me to a movie because by the time they invited me, I had already seen the movie they wanted to see.
It wasn’t my fault, you know. They needed to ask me in advance, because I had lots of friends that I went to the movies with. Sometimes, a movie would be reserved for seeing with a particular friend months ahead of time… like Zenie and I would be watching some movie and then we’d fall in love with the trailer of an upcoming movie and promise each other that we’d watch it together.
Then months after, when that movie finally came out and someone else invited me, I’d have to say “Sorry I can’t come with you, I already promised this movie to someone else.”
Sometimes, if I really wanted to watch the movie and nobody was available, I’d go watch it by myself. Yes, I am that independent. Besides, it’s not particularly scary in Greenbelt 3.
Still, it was more fun to watch when you’re sitting next to someone you know, especially when you’re watching a comedy. I had a funny experience watching Oceans Thirteen. I had gone to the moviehouse by myself and when I found something particularly hilarious, I could not help but react about it to my seatmate, who was a complete stranger. Not fun, I tell you.
So I could understand why my friend Drew sadly bemoaned the fact that he had lost his best movie buddy when I left. After I lost Zenie and Chu (don’t worry, they just moved abroad, they didn’t die or anything), he became my default cinema companion. Sometimes we would be with other officemates, but when everyone else couldn’t make it, we could always count on having the other, and thanks to him and Gelle (whom I had to share with her boyfriend Joey), I so rarely had to watch a movie by myself.
So I was always on top of the latest movies list… until I moved to Singapore. Hollywood movies are always shown late here. So it irks me when a movie I really want to watch is already showing in the Philippines and all of my friends back there are already making comments and reviews about it and I have to sit tight and wait for another month or two before I get my chance. Take the movie Taken, for example, which I am watching tonight. Talk about way delayed!
Some of my friends here have already watched it though – through the Internet. You’re probably wondering why I don’t do as they do if I want to be as updated as I used to be. Well it’s a lame workaround, that’s why. Watching a pixelised movie that takes forever to buffer just ruins the whole experience for me.
There’s something about seeing it on a big screen in the dark and hearing other people laugh and go “awww!” and gasp along with you that makes the movie more enjoyable. So no, I am not willing to scrimp and compromise on my viewing pleasure. I’ve ruined a lot of movies for me that way. My rule is, if it’s a movie worth watching but it’s not a clear copy, forget it. I would rather wait for it to come out in the cinemas or borrow an original DVD.