Man on the Moon

So it has been 40 years. My God. I was a little kid, but I remember that Sunday so well. Our family was on a Sunday pool party in Rio Grande and everyone was talking about what was going to happen that night. Man was going to walk on the moon. The excitement was so huge. I couldn't wait for the party to end so we could go home and watch the event on tv. And it was Via satellite which was a big deal those days. Only BIG events were shown via satellite in Puerto Rico. And this one was the biggest of them all. One of the biggest of all time. And I had a chance to see it!

Well, there was something of a letdown. The tv image was extremely poor. One couldn't see much. It was blurry and dark. We were not sure what we were seeing...was that Neil Armstrong? Is he walking on the moon? I expected the transmission to be all clear and crisp. Here was the biggest event in my lifetime and I could only see ghostly images!

But I didn't care. I was watching it. And days later, I rushed to the newsstands to get the Life magazine full of great photos. Photos that showed clearly what we didn't see on television. My lifelong love affair with all things NASA had just begun.

100 minutes

Someone once told me that when he felt life was becoming a burden, he would put a Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers movie on his DVD player and every pain in the world would go away. He said it would work like magic.

Well, the other night I finally saw my first Astaire-Rogers movie. Hard to believe, but I had never seen one in its entirety. And I can see what my friend means. There is a joy, an innocence and a beauty in those old black and white movies that is truly magical. In the world shown in these movies, love conquers all and everything can be solved by a little bit of singing and dancing.
Life is not like that, but for 100 minutes it is. And what more can you ask of a work of art? 100 minutes of joy is a real gift.

snapshot

Listening to some guitar music.
Just being here.
And breathing.
Realizing where I am now.
Capturing the moment like I do when I take a photo.
A snapshot of me now.
How did it turn out?
It's a good one.
Yes.
See?

Goodbye Mr. Chips

I saw this movie when I was a kid. I remember seeing it at the Metro theater in San Juan. And I recall being bored to tears. 40 years later I absolutely loved this movie. It made me realize what a great actor Peter O'Toole is. He was a young man when he made this and he aged 40 years in the movie and he manages not only to look older, but to act so incredibly well. You believe he is an old man. The story about a strict school professor who becomes a better person through the love of a woman is kind of predictable, but it is truly irresistible.

The little kid may have hated this movie. But the middle age man loves it. Get it on DVD!

Free Summer afternoons, "yeah, right"

The agency that I worked at has a policy of working on Summer Fridays until 1pm. I wish they didn't. Because it's a joke. Our clients are a disorganized, chaotic, inept bunch. So it's impossible to go home early. In fact, this policy ruins my Fridays because I am constantly thinking that "maybe this Friday" I will be able to go home and spend an afternoon at the beach. And just when it seems it will happen, some jerk forgot about an ad and it's a rush job, and there goes my Friday afternoon.
So I beg the people at the agency to stop this nonsense. Creating false expectations is cruel. It's awful.

less time online

I am realizing I am spending way too much time online. And what bothers me is that I am spending too much time online, wasting time. I barely write on this blog which is a kind of creative use of the net. No, I am watching stupid videos and visiting stupid sites. So I am making a bow to cutting my online time at home to less than 30 minutes a day. I want to go back to reading books, watching movies, going out for walks, seeing friends. So I make a bow of less than 30 minutes online a day. I will probably not keep it, but I am giving it a shot.

Almost disaster

Today while leaving for lunch I almost had a terrible traffic accident. A truck that was sitting by highway decided to get into the highway just as I was passing by. It was so close to being a disaster. I got incredibly mad at the driver and proceeded to go to lunch. Then as I was sitting there eating my sandwich, it struck me just how close I came to injury. For close to 30 seconds, I lost it. I closed my eyes with a mixture of anger and terror but with a realization of just how plain lucky I was. I could have been in a hospital. I could have been dead. But there I was, having my lunch. I am not a religious man, but just in case, I thanked God for being there.

Valerie

I find it interesting that the article that consistently gets hits on my blog is the one I wrote about obscure French actress Valerie Quennessen. It seems there are a lot of people who were struck by her beauty and charm in the very few movies she made before her death in 1989. My favorite has always been "French Postcards", a movie about American students spending a year of college in Paris. This is the movie that shows her at her best. You have to fall in love with her in this one. As she seduces the American student. she is seducing every viewer. She also made an awful, although some consider it a guilty pleasure, called "Summer Lovers" She spends most of the movie nude, so I can't say I hate it. Then she retired and died in a traffic accident 7 years later.
Gone, but not forgotten. At least by the people who visit my blog.

The Girlfriend Experience on Onelink cable tv

Onelink's HD Net Movies is showing excellent independent movies BEFORE they are shown on theaters. And last night I saw Steven Sodenberg;s new movie "The Girlfriend Experience". This movie is a kind of back to his roots as director of "Sex, Lies and Videotape", the movie that made him famous. It's basically a character study. This time of a high priced call girl and the people around her. It's a fascinating look into that world. One thing also makes it interesting. The call girl is played by a hard core porno actress named Sasha Grey. And she is very good playing a woman who decides she wants this kind of life. And the movie makes the point (but not in an too obvious way) that any type of work is a kind of prostitution.

I am not a Sodenberg fan. I like some of his movies, despise some of them. But al least, he is a director that takes chances. And if you're in the mood and want some intelligent cinema for 75 minutes (it's pretty short for a regular movie), you can do worse than seek out "The Girlfriend Experience". It won't be shown on HD Net Movies anymore, but you can catch it on Onelink Video On Demand or 4 months from now at Fine Arts Cafe.

"Stranded"

Their story has been a kind of obsession of mine. "Alive" was the first adult book I remember reading. And I am very much fascinated by theri story. I am talking, of course, of the Uruguayan students whose plane crashed in the Andes in 1972 and had to resort to eating the flesh of the dead. And I'm not fascinated so much by the gruesomeness of it, but by the humanity they represented. The idea that surviving is the most important thing in the world and that our instinct for survival can be so amazing.

So this week I saw the documentary "Stranded" in which survivors tell their story. It is so interesting to see them talking to camera, explaining 30 years later, how they felt. Most of it I had read in various books, but listening to them made it more intimate and frankly, more human.

But one thing stuck with me this time around. Towards the end of the documentary a helicopter travesl the distance from where the plane crash to where the survivors finally found civilization. And someone says that someone would have needed super human strength, proper equipment and much training to have been able to climb those mountains. And yet these men did it half starved to death and without even a rope for equipment. Another aspect of this incredible story was revealed.

This is one excellent documentary.

Awful movies

When I was a kid I used to love Terence Hill movies. I thought the Trinity westerns were so cool. Well , the other day the cable channel Encore Westerns showed a Terence Hill movie that I adored way back. It's "Man of the East", an Italian western from 1974. I recall I dragged my mom and dad to see it and I came out of the theater thinking it was the coolest movie ever. So last night I decided to embark on a nostalgia trip. I was going to watch a movie I had not seen for 30 years. I didn't make it past the 15 minute mark. I hated every minute of it. The comedy was broad and stupid. Everything about it was just so amazingly awful. I usually find something to like in movies I saw as a kid, but I couldn't find anything here. I ended up watching some nature documentaries to compensate for the mind numbing 15 minutes of "Man of the East".

Which makes me want to thank my mom and dad. I can imagine how they felt watching this movie with me. Made me realize again how wonderful they are.

Roadsinger

There are ceratin routines that I still carry from my youth. And one of them is buying a CD from a favorite artist the very day it comes out. I know this is incredibly old fashioned, but I still like the idea of physically owning the CD. I read the small booklet and the lyrics and I like looking at the list of musicians involved. I also like seeing the artwork. Somehow a cd should be a complete work of artistic expression.

So yesterday I went through my routine and bought the new Cat Stevens cd. I am still looking at the artwork. Then I will listen to the music. A routine I love.

Iris

I had plans to see a few movies I had rented from Netflix, but eneded up doing other things and only saw one. It was a movie called "Iris" from a few years back. It stars Kate Winslet and Dame Judi Dench as young and old author Iris Murdoch. It is a movie about a carefree woman and her life with her supportive husband and it is intercut with her later life as she loses her mind to Alzheimer's. Winslet is wonderful as the young Iris in all her wildness. Dame Judi Dench is heartbreaking as a woman who suddenly is unable to do the most simple things. And Jim Broadbent is amazing as her husband , who despite Iris infidelities with men and women, stands by her side. It is a sad movie, but Iris's enjoyment of life in her youth makes you realize that despite the sad eneding, she did enjoy life.

8:30 am

My boss recommended me a new camera the other day. It's the CanonG10. And i decided to test it by taking some photos at the beach the other morning. And it does feel like a great camera. And I was able to capture the world of the Ocean Park beach at 8:30 am. The people practicing beach volleyball. The people walking or the ones just sitting there, looking at the ocean, maybe meditating. It's a wonderful, quiet little world. And one that I hope to capture again.

why I don't go to movies anymore

I used to love going to the movies on Saturday afternoons. Usually to the Metro in Santurce. I would go in, catch a flick at 2pn and leave around 4:30pm. But these days I can't. Just look at the garbage mainstream movies that are playing. "Wolverine", a movie concentrating on a character from the mediocre at best "X-Men' movies. A movie aimed at 14 year olds. Then there's the Beyonce vehicle "Obsessed", the one millionth variation on the "Fatal Attraction" plot, that was itself a replica of "Play Misty for Me". Haven't people seen this stupid plot too many times? Maybe not. Since it was the #1 movie of last week. Oh, right, it's aimed at 14 year olds and 14 years old were not born when the whole femme fatale, erotic thriller cycle happened, So I will watch a movie I rented from Netflix and enjoy it at home. My own Saturday matinee at home. But somehow it isn't the Metro theater. Still, a movie fan has to see a movie on Saturday afternoons.

a year ago

A year ago today I was fired. Then came the months of an almost sabbatical period in which I was able to detox from the world of advertising. I had freelance jobs here and there, but most of the time was spent traveling, writing and taking photos. Not bad.
Here I am, a year later, working in an advertising agency again. Happy to have a full time job in these days of crisis, but still battling a bit with my love-hate relationship with advertising. Loving the camaraderie and the fun times, hating the sense of servility that permeates this industry in Puerto Rico. Loving creating the ads, but pissed that they have to be filmed on a Saturday.
Although here I find these problems in a lesser degree, they are still there. Lurking. Waiting to get out.
Still, it's great to have a job. On the other hand...

Secret Diary of a Call Girl

Late night premium cable. The land of the same 4 or five soft core actors appearing in rather boring movies. But there is something really different and cool these days on cable land. It's called "Secret Diary of a Call Girl", a fun, sexy Showtime series starring Billie Piper. It concerns the adventures and misadventures of a London high priced call girl. It is an intelligent, although I imagine unrealistic look at the world of prostitutes and their clients.

What makes it interesting, apart from the wonderful performance by Piper, is the adult way it approaches sexuality: as something normal and human. It basically tells you we all have our quirkiness in that area of our life and that we should not feel guilty about it. And we do see all the range of human weirdness when dealing with sex. And yet, it feels ok. This is a series rated TVMA that somehow doesn't feel sleazy. It feels fun and normal. Like sex, I guess.

Stardust Memories

Yesterday I was kind of tired from the previous night's partying and i decide to spend the morning in bed, relaxing and watching movies. And I ran across a great movie on the Retroplex cable channel. It's a Woody Allen movie I had never seen before, called "Stardust Memories". I remember that when this movie was released the critics didn't like it too much. This what at the time when Allen was rejecting all his slapstick movies and was trying to make serious movies. As every artist who initially wants to make a change in his or her career, Allen became kind of pedantic and pretentious. And this movie has some of that pretentiousness, still it is an interesting one. And there are actually funny moments in it.

And there are moments that are downright brilliant. There is an amazing scene in which he talks about a "perfect moment" he once had. It involved sharing a quiet Sunday morning with his then girlfriend. The camera shows this scene in all its simplicity and wonder as we see Charlotte Rampling simply turning the pages of the Sunday paper and smiling. It is such a beautiful scene and Rampling shows what an excellent actress she is.

Here is what he says on that scene:
"It was Sunday, and you-you knew summer would be coming soon. I remember, that morning Dorrie and I had gone for a walk in the park. We came back to the apartment. We were just sort of sitting around. And…I put on a record of Louis Armstrong, which is music that I grew up loving. It was very, very pretty, and…I happened to glance over, and I-I saw Dorrie sitting there. And I remember thinking to myself…how terrific she was, and how much I loved her. And, I don’t know…I guess it was the combination of everything…the sound of that music, and the-the breeze, and, and how beautiful Dorrie looked to me. And for one brief moment, everything just seemed to come together perfectly, and I-I felt happy. Al-al-almost indestructible, in a way. It’s funny that that simple little moment of contact moved me in a very, very profound way."

A wonderful moment in a wonderful movie that I saw in a marvellous, quiet Sunday

favorite actors

The old line about they don't make them like that anymore certainly applies to the late George C. Scott. I was a kid when he reached his peak in terms of popularity and I recall always wanting to see his movies. He projected such intensity. His characters were decent people who seem to stand their ground in a world gone wrong. And maybe that was what drew me to his movies, the idea of a morally upright man, albeit an angry one, who was willing to face the world alone and with dignity.

It amazes me to think that in the early 1970's, he was a movie superstar. Here's a 50 something guy, not exactly good looking who drew millions of people to his movies. It says a lot about the open mindness of the movioegoer at that time, who were willing to see a movie based on an actor's talent, not on his look.

Scott was certainly lucky to have developed in the 60's and 70's, today he would have been relegated to playing the villain in comic book movies aimed at 14.

Must see: "Petulia", "The Hospital", "Patton"

The Reader

I read "The Reader" when it first came out and I recall liking it, but strangely enough I had forgotten basically what it was about. Last week I finally saw the movie version and I liked it. It really reminded me why I had enjoyed the book in the first place. It's a story of love, lust, forgiveness and cruelty. It shows how duty, politics and ignorance can cloud our vision of the world. And it shows how even the most terrible monster deserves a certain level of forgiveness. Kate Winslet is amazing in this movie. She portrays a cold character, yet we want to know more about her and we are even able to consider forgiving her.

It is also a movie that asks the question, in a time of war, are we responsible for the crimes we commit in service of our country? If a country can kill thousands with a bomb and get away with it, why can't an individual do the same?

A really excellent movie.