I'm lucky my job lets me see indie movies that I might have missed because it's too much of a hassle to go to UP or CCP.
But I did get to watch Marlon Rivera's award-winning "Ang Babae sa Septic Tank" starring Eugene Domingo at the mall. While I can't recommend it for everyone, (my dad was expecting more of a Kimmy Dora all-out comedy) it's definitely a must-see for people who have followed the indie scene. I read that this movie was a reaction of writer Chris Martinez to how his own film, "100" was received in festivals abroad. Apparently, when they watched a movie about the Philippines, they expected slums and crime, so they were quite amazed to see SUVs and beautiful actresses in chic clothes in a Pinoy movie!
So "Babae..." is a satire that makes fun of how indie filmmakers are churning out "poverty porn" movies for foreign festival consumption. It was funny to see how indie had turned into a style: shaky camera work, poorly-lit/ photographed scenes, long silent scenes where "nothing" is happening,etc. , Some of the best moments in the movie were when the our filmmaker trio meet a director who won at the Venice film festival who they think is beneath them as he can't even pronounce "espresso" correctly. And of course, Eugene Domingo's send-up of herself is a hoot! So much so that even if she's been onscreen most of the movie, we still felt "bitin" when the movie ended.
A TV show actually beat the film to it by a few months with shorter and sharper jabs at the indie trend
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