Where does it all go...

I was reading the interview of Eddie Romero on last Sunday's Starweek when it hit me: the Philippine filmmaker of the decade made a string of US B-movies.

Granted, he hated it, but it brought on an unexpected cult following. Something, I guess, that he never really expected.

So the guy is now somewhat of a legend here and abroad, which is a feat that a lot of local directors have always dreamed of but found it hard to achieve.

I had the privilage of meeting Eddie Romero when he was the assigned guru for the Directing Class at the Tagaytay Film and Television Workshops.

It was lunch time, me and some classmates from the screenwriting module were scrambling to gobble up a meal so we could get back to work when we saw him sitting at the table across from us. He and his wife were talking to some of the other gurus and looked to be having a great time.

Shocked to be in the same room of such greatness, we pushed ourselves to take in more bites even as we deliberated on how to approach him to say "hi".

None of us had ever seen any of his films in tis entirety, but can you blame us if there's no damn copy of any of his movies?

If there is one thing that I have come to hate is that there seems to be no way to purchase old Filipino movies. Sure, the latest ones are all in DVDs and VCDs, but what about the classics? The ones done by Sampaguita and LVN? Where are they now?

I'm sure film students get access to these in film school, but what about the rest of us?

Me and my cousin Lianne used to get our fill of BWs by watching it on the local channels as weekend afternoon specials. After all the variety shows were done, they would usually showcase a film--usually done by Sampaguita--before the gossip shows. (Some of them also came out during the middle of the week which I saw in lieu of my afternoon nap)

I'm not saying that all romcoms produced nowadays are crap, but there is a certain romanticism that was present in the old black and white films that's just missing in what i'm seeing today.

Maybe because all the women are so assertive that it borders on angry and aggressive, and that the men harbor so many issues that they all come off as angsty and mental--even the ones that ride the motorcycles and the thuggish leather jacket.

The dramas are still up to par, but the romcoms? There's a certain magic that seems to have gone.

Anyway, the problem of how to meet Eddie Romero was solved when the guru saw us choking while we gawked openly at them. He called us over and gave the necessary introductions.

Standing there and shaking his hand, all of us probably felt like spewing the banana that we just ate as a sign of our utmost awe, but our throats were frozen as he wished us goodluck in our writing careers.

Back then, I only knew that he directed "Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon". I probably would have spewed had I known that he directed a string of B-movie cult classics.

After all, we can make romcoms and Pinoy can most certainly make a good drama. But a B-movie with a cult following?

Even Hollywood has trouble producing that.