This week in cinema: CHOICE is not an OPTION.

This guy hath not a lot of thinking to do when deciding upon which celluloid feature to partake in.

Now before you bag on me as a human with a wiener that will never get the subtleties of the Twilight-saga. I agree. It was not made for me and nor do I care. I will take offense to the idea that I have not seen any of the Twilight movies, I have. I am a yellow-belt cinephile. I purposefully, and without Girlfriend subjected myself to this trilogy and a half more than once and will probably again especially when the DVD's come out. I will limit my review of these movies to this statement: "Edward Cullen is not a Vampire, he is a METRO-pire." Anyone with rifftrax will know what that is. 

I will not bag on this series, it has become the whipping-boy among nerds and scoffed-at at conventions, even the author of the books dislikes the term "Twi-hards" because there is already an inordinate amount of vitriol heaped upon this property. And this little blog post is in no way critiquing the merits of this the literary and cinematic undertaking that is Twilight.

What I am at odds with is the amount of space this takes in the public domain. The cinemas have given away 60 percent of the theaters to this movie. Now, granted this cinema is in Tacloban City and in my movie-going history in Tacloban City the word "variety" has never been even uttered. And the MetroManilaFilmFestival  is right around the corner, a time when the might of the studios is fully shoved down peoples collective gullets. I's sure that my one local is not the only one besieged by the legion of Twilight. What a surprise it was to learn that the latest instalment has an IMAX print. Do we really need to see all those placid looks in that massive a presentation?  All over this group of islands called The Philippines cinemas are giving as much attention to the wants of public (mostly women and a few begrudging men). But why? Why take up this much realestate? When we know the number of patrons to the cinema and the number of those clamoring to watch this movie are even fewer. Granted, some would pay for repeated viewings but that does not merit this much set aside for these movies. I would be agreeable to this strategy if the reasoning went like this: The viewers for Twilight Breaking dawn are counted for so in the first week of release we give away all the theaters so we can take in the rush of crowds falling over one another to watch and take their money. After that week we limit it to just one theater and give some play time to movies for maybe the other gender.

Thats the cynic in me writing. The reality is this practice is well beyond experimentation now and is SOP among cinemaplex the world over. It's a reality I have to bear with where ever I go to watch a movie. (Oh God, I hope the French dont.) 

Update:

Update from the website of Ayala Cinemas in Cebu.

Now, in lieu of the current spat of theatrical blood suckers you may want to sink your teeth in to cinematic heritage.

The granddaddy of vampires in movies.
Nosferatu (1992)
dir. F.W. Murnau

Hollywood takes a crack at Dracula:

Dracula (1931) dir. Tod Browning

Dracula (1931) from Javier V. Sánchez on Vimeo.

Then Hammer Films presents now in Colour (because they're British)

Starring Chistopher Lee(Dracula) and Peter Cushing(Dr.Van Helsing)

David Bowie as a Vampire(Nuff-said).
The Hunger (1983) dir Tony Scott (debut feature)


Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) dir. Francis Ford Coppola
With probably the most youthful and beautiful cast assembled.


Let the Right One In(2008)
dir. Tomas Alfredson

Let Me In(2010) 

dir Matt Reeves