movies from my adolescent youth

I was doing my usual rounds at the pirated DVD stalls at Quiapo [for those of you unfamiliar with the place, here’s Tami Ballesteros' take on the place, and here’s a post I did on it just last Valentine's -just click on them] last Wednesday after I came to hear the late afternoon mass. Having been a patron of the underground economy for many years, I have noticed how trends changed when it came to the titles released by the bootleg lords responsible for the enjoyment of cheap DVD copies.

In 2004, when I first ventured into that neighborhood that sold the bootleg DVDs across the Basilica of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, there was such a variety in the titles that were available other than the usual Hollywood and commercial releases. There was a stall that had old movies and foreign language films, while another had Operas and Musicals, and another had concerts and rare performances on sale. For Quiapo adventurers like me, the rare titles have become less and less through the years and have given way to the more commercial ones. I would be lucky enough to get a few really good ones if I actually spent an afternoon looking at the other less ventured stalls. Just to point it out, there’s been a surge of gay movie titles released lately, and some of them are ones that went out of circulation a few years back. Hooray for the gays…

In the past months, I have noticed how the titles they were coming out with were movies from the late 70s, the 80s, and the early 90s. There’s the old “Dune” movie with Kyle McLachlan, The Last American Virgin, Porky’s, The Last Starfighter, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, The Neverending Story Trilogy, Labyrinth, Mannequin, Revenge of the Nerds, I could go on forever…



As I was going through the titles of the DVDs stacked on the floor, I saw two movies that held a place in my heart when I was an adolescent: Disney’s “Iron Will” and that Brad Renfro movie called “The Cure”. I have been looking for a copy of these films for the longest time; the last copy of The Cure I beheld was on VHS. I loved “The Cure” because it was the first movie about friendship I saw that really hit home. And the day after that, I learned that Brad Renfro passed away just days after Heath Ledger but has obviously been overshadowed by the latter’s death. I reckon Brad Renfro deserves another tribute blog soon. Oh well…



I saw “Iron Will” with my childhood best friend, Schneider, it was the first movie we watched on our own -a bit of a growing up moment there. I even remember buying two large packs of that Mr. Chips snacks with our sarsaparilla drink. The movie even had a tagline “It isn’t a question of age or skill, but of iron will.” Funny thing though, when I was about to watch it, my DVD player won’t read the disc!!! Insert image of the Barefoot Baklesa screaming his lungs out going, “Whaaaaaargggghhhhh!!!”

Well, this is not the first time that happened -it goes with the territory. And it’s Friday again, Quapo calls. After the mass, all I have to do is cross the street.