Friday

Movies and Music

Jupit, the gay digital movie

I watched Jupit today at SM Megamall (it’s showing only in SM digital cinemas). I was so looking forward to it, after that last digital movie I watched, the disastrous Hada. Here’s what I can share about the movie.

Jupit is a notable and very entertaining Filipino digital movie. Its entertainment value rivals, and even surpasses, many mainstream commercial Filipino comedy movies.

The story revolves around the life of good-natured Tetay, a gay parlorista (translation: works in a beauty parlor). Tetay’s beauty parlor is completed with 2 other characters, Rica and Jopay, Tetay’s sidekick parloristas. Mona (or Ramon) is the owner of a small eatery on the same street as Tetay’s beauty parlor. Despite his sexual preference, Mona has a wife and young daughter. Tetay, Rica, Jopay, and Mona are the main, all-gay protagonists of Jupit.

The main plot is Tetay’s love story with good looking Glenn. Glenn is the typical Am-boy (half-Filipino, half-American) and a newcomer in Tetay’s neighborhood. Many subplots are tackled in the movie, mostly revolving around the challenges and idiosyncrasies of gay life — more specific to the parlorista-type. Most scenes are funny, thank you to the actors’ perfect comedic timing (perhaps honed by the actors’ stage experience, i.e. in comedy bars), however the subplots do lend some dramatic moments. In one scene, a parlor customer asks Tetay, “Bakit ba ang mga bakla laging masaya, laging nagjo-joke,… umiiyak din ba kayo?” (”Why are gays always happy, and cracking jokes all the time… do you gays cry?”) Scene then cuts to Tetay wiping a tear from his/her right cheek. Owh.

While the movie suffers the limitations of digital technology (colors are not as vibrant, sometimes washed out), the actors’ fabulous acting, witty lines, good music, and the story’s innate entertainment value make Jupit a gay movie worth watching.

Bonus:

Ryan Forbes - Tetay's ex-boyfriend

Ryan Forbes plays Junix, Tetay’s tricycle driver ex-boyfriend. He was 2nd Runner Up in Kouros 2005 Male Model Search. (Photo courtesy of www.mabuhaybeauties.com)