Movies and Bus Rides

There are several things I love about long bus rides—which, if you live in Manila, you happen to get on a daily basis, even if you're just going to a place 15 or so kilometers away. First, I love eating--it can be boiled sweet corn, a packet of peanuts, or a hurriedly bought burger from a fast food joint. Second, I love sleeping, so long as I sit by the window and not next to a creepy-looking co-passenger. Third, I love good conversations, especially if the person you're on the bus with is getting off on the same stop. Lastly, I love watching films. All those combined would just about capture a well-loved grade school activity: field trips. And, happily, would take my mind of the monster that is traffic in the clogged arteries of this slowly dying city.

Of course, as is in life, you don't get everything in one go. And these days, it's all about bus movies for me.

A couple of months ago, I caught the first half of the no-brainer, bloody action film The Tournament (2009). Every seven years, in a small town, a game involving the world's top assassins is held. The assassins track down and kill each other and the last man (or woman) standing gets to bring home $1,000,000. There's heavy betting involved, and, of course, a lot of manipulation for added entertainment value for the rich and powerful bettors.

The film begins with Joshua Harlow (Ving Rhames) winning the tournament, then shifts to seven years later, with another tournament beginning and Harlow coming back to seek revenge. Apparently, an assassin had recently murdered Harlow's pregnant wife and he was out to kill the unknown killer. Several assassins are introduced, chief of them a Chinese lady named Lai Lai Zhen (Kelly Hu), who soon meets the unfortunate alcoholic Father MacAvoy (Robert Carlyle), who, upon ingesting someone's leftover drink also ingests the game's tracking device and becomes an accidental player in the game.

The killings start—and suddenly I have to get off the bus. Talk about cliffhangers.

The thing was, at that time, I wasn't able to take note of the movie's title. I tried to look for a DVD of the film by randomly scanning DVD covers in the stores and hoping to find it, but to no avail. I didn't take note of the names of the characters either, and when I googled it, I only remembered “game + assassins” and, well, let's just say the plot wasn't too original.

And so the film stayed on my “must remember/must hunt down” list. I must have watched dozens of half-films already, and many of them, I only remember when I see them again on TV, which doesn't happen often. They usually end up in the pile of unfinished stories that I try to shape into a life.

But wonders of wonders, just last week, I got on another bus... and picked up where exactly where the movie and I left off! Let me just say that I felt like a really, really lucky commuter at that time.

This time, I was able to finish the movie, too.

Bless long bus rides.

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