AN EVENING IN THE MOVIES

There were exactly 11 of us in a theater that could probably sit 200. It wasn’t exactly a “drove” but considering that the AMC theaters at the Hoffman Center in Alexandria, Va. wasn’t in the press release or included in the advertisements, I thought “A Moment in Time” drew a decent-sized crowd.

My daughter discovered the movie – featuring perhaps the Philippine’s hottest “love team” of Coco Martin and Julia Montes – by sheer accident. She was actually looking for the nearest IMax that was showing “Oz” and found one at the Hoffman Center, about a block or two from where we worked.

It was a bit surprising to see a Filipino movie (with English sub-titles) running in that part of Northern Virginia. They were usually shown at the Lohman theater along Arlington Blvd., which wasn’t really any better proximity-wise for Filipino movie-goers scattered all over this region (in the press releases for the movie, it only listed another AMC theater in Gaithersburg, Md.)

It did however offer some modicum of habit as people got used to going there to watch Filipino movies.

We’ve heard occasional griping here about Filipino entertainers neglecting this region. The big-name stars from home usually trek to New Jersey in the north or Virginia Beach to south, where the Filipino market is more compact.

Metro DC may not yet attained the “critical mass” to convince promoters to make the region a standard stop for Filipino entertainers, but it can be a key demographic for those peddling Filipino wares in search of bucks as well prestige.

Last year, the Philippine Embassy brought the world-renown Bayanihan dance troupe to the Kennedy Center, that magnificent edifice by the Potomac River that’s become a center of the arts and culture (they also performed in New York).

They also helped promote in Silver Spring, Md. celebrated Fil-Am filmmaker Ramon Diaz’s latest work about the rise of Journey front man Arnel  Pineda from obscurity to YouTube sensation to being part of one of America’s most successful rock bands. The documentary began its regular theatrical run on March 8.

In the Fall, a group led by businesswoman Loida Nicolas Lewis will be bringing “Noli Me Tangere: The Opera” based on Jose Rizal’s satirical novel that helped spark a revolution and pave the way for Asia’s first republic.

There is a sense among Filipinos here to show off who we are. When Menchu Sanchez, the nurse from New York, was invited to attend President Obama’s State of the Union address on Capitol Hill, she wanted to wear her terno until White House handlers asked her to opt for something simpler.

My wife gave “A Moment in Time” two thumbs-up and the others also seemed animated as the credits started rolling. The backdrop was spectacular, I thought Gabby Concepcion looked comfortable playing “daddy roles”, Cherie Gil still looks hot and the movie reaffirms my belief (built over weeks of following the tele-nobela “Walang Hanggan”) that no one weeps (or smiles) as profusely or as adroitly as Coco and Julia.

Still, I wished they had shown some other Filipino movie. Or some more of them.