The McVie Show Season 4

To celebrate my turning 40, I went to Bed Saturday evening, the eve of my birthday. There I bumped into Badinggerzie and Pulsar. We ended up dancing in the middle of the go-go boys. I left earlier than usual (around 3am) because I had to wake up early Sunday morning.

Sunday morning after mass I brought my mom, aunt, sister and brother to A Taste of L.A., a restaurant along Roces Avenue (near Decades and the original Max’s Fried Chicken restaurant). They’ve never been there, and I wanted them to taste their ultra thin crust pizza. It’s so thin you cannot eat them with your fingers. I ordered the hot, hot, hot sausage pizza and the three cheeses and anchovies pizza for all of us. My brother also ordered the grilled boneless chicken (another all-time favorite of mine there), my sister the prawns thermidor, my mom the smoked Bonoan bangus, and my aunt the chicharon bisaya.

Everyone loved the food. What’s more, we were the only ones in the restaurant the whole time (we got there around noon and left at half past one). My mom was wondering if the place was in danger of closing soon. I told them that business was brisker at night.

After lunch we went home to chill out and watch a new DVD I acquired. I watched Infernal Affairs before in my friend’s house; I liked it so much I asked him to buy me a copy the next time he went abroad.

Infernal Affairs is essentially about two men—a guy (Andy Lau, House of Flying Daggers) planted by the triad in the police force, and a cop (Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Hero) assigned to infiltrate the mob. The police and the triad eventually find out that the other has infiltrated them. What’s more, the mole inside the police force was promoted to internal affairs, and tasked to sniff out the infiltrator. Meanwhile his gangster boss also ordered him to sniff out the undercover cop. The thrill is in seeing the two try to get out of the situation alive. What makes this movie doubly interesting is the character study of two people leading false lives who find themselves conflicted between obeying their bosses and their growing camaraderie and importance in the organization they’re working in. The only false step in this ultra tight, finely tuned script is the “romance” between Tony Leung’s character and a police psychiatrist. This action thriller is scheduled to be remade by Martin Scorcese, so you have an idea what kind of a movie this is.

I liked the fact that my mom actually sat through the whole thing and followed all the twists and turns of the movie. In fact the only time she was puzzled was in one twist at the end. “Why did he do that?” she exclaimed out loud. I had to hit “pause” and explain, but otherwise she appeared to have enjoyed watching this subtitled movie.

What is a puzzler is the cover for the international version of the DVD. It features a sexy woman holding a gun, when there was no such character in the movie. In fact, the only women in the movie are Andy’s wife (a writer, so she shoots words not bullets) and Tony’s psychiatrist (while she’s a cop, she is never seen with a gun). What, they think sex and violence will sell this movie?