Girly

There's a site called 'Eccentric Cinema" that I visit regularly. Because it keeps me informed of the DVD release of really strange movies. Like this one called "Girly", also known as "Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly" . It was directed by Freddie Francis, the director of photography of classics such as "The Elephant Man". And it is quite a treat. Imagine the Addams Family with homicidal tendencies and you get a sense of this perverse, little movie. It is funny, it keeps you guessing. It is a movie that surprises you with it's weird atmosphere, but it never descends into gore or anything like that. And Vanessa Howard turns in a really amazing performance as the sexy member of the clan. But then again, the movie avoids nudity or anything explicit. Further proof that sometimes less is more.
All in all, a fine way to spend a rainy afternoon.

Color me Kubrick

There are very few movies that intensely hate. And last night I saw one of them. It is called " Color me Kubrick", a movie about a man who fooled many people pretending to be Stanley Kubrick and taking money away from them. The premise is interesting, but the execution is awful. John Malkovich is one of the most insufferable performances ever plays the main character. The movie is constantly winking at you, letting you know that this all a joke. But the problem is that the joke is not funny. I saw 45 minutes of this awful movie and decided to turn it off. 45 minutes that I completely wasted.

Crazy Heart

I'm a sucker for small movies. Perhaps because my formative cinema years were the early 1970's when small, personal films were the norm. So it's wonderful when a new movie reminds me a bit of that era. This movie about an alcoholic country singer who suddenly finds love and realizes that he must change his life is a low key affair centered by a good performance by Jeff Bridges. I must admit it's one of those performances tailored made to win awards. And I'm never too fond of those. but in this case it's fine. Colin Farrell's uncredited performance here is perhaps better.

But the movie is a fine one and has an ending that for once does not seem to be pandering to focus groups. It is real, bitterweet, more on the bitter side. "Crazy Heart" is not a masterpiece. It is not a great movie. But it is a wonderful, unpretentious one. And in these days of 3-D bombast, it's such a damn change of pace.

wine

One of the pleasures of European travel is the enjoyment of the wine culture. I never drink wine with a meal over here, but over there one almost feels a duty to have two glasses with dinner. And I had forgotten how wonderful that is. One enjoys the meal in another way. I ate it slower since I was pausing to really savor the wine. And maybe I'm exaggerating here, but once I had finished it, I felt so good. And falling asleep a few hours later was no problem. The relaxation after a busy day was complete. Everything was right.

There are no fat people in Paris

Last week while walking the streets of Paris, a friend commented "Have you noticed that there is not a single obese person in this city?". And it was true. There was not a single overweight individual in the damn city. And it was not because of exercise since one had to look hard to find a jogger around in the morning. We started talking about theories and the one that seemed to make the most sense involved the fact that there were few fast food joints in Paris. So maybe that is the secret. Stop eating that stupid junk food. Forget about KFC, Burger King and others and you will become a healthier person. You can eat your croissants and your butter. But forget about the Whoppers.

A theory that made sense when we went to Barcelona, a city brimming with fast food places. And there they were. The obese people. The overweight kids.

The Pacific

I almost never get caught up in television series, but the HBO series "The Pacific" has me completely hooked. It is one the best works of art about the brutality of war ever made. There are scenes that seem not to happen in the Pacific islands, but in some kind of hell. These scenes are also even harder to watch because this series gets you to know these characters and you have seen them travel from the naivete of their upbringing to this place where death, blood and hopelessness is everywhere.
It is specially harrowing because the characters are not fictional, but real.

This amazing series is also about what war does to the mind. How it simply cause so much damage that nobody can return to normality again. Some of them simply break down in the middle of battle.

But is is also about the high cost of war in human terms. And when one sees that the Japanese were unwilling to surrender, it shows why the United States had to resort to the atomic bomb. If taking small islands meant thousands of deaths, takeing Japna would have meant close to 500,000 casualties.

This is a series worth watching.

A night to remember with McCartney

Talk to anyone who went to the Paul McCartney concert in the Coliseo and they will tell you it was the best concert they have ever seen. And I completely agree. It was truly a magical night. Puerto Rico is going through so many problems. Everyone seems to be fighting and arguing about things. And on this amazing night 13,000 of us, people from all ages, sang with Paul. There was such a great vibe when everyone sang "Hey Jude", "Obladi-Oblada" and "Give Peace a Chance". And when he sang "Yesterday" everyone sang along quietly, with a profound sense of knowing what those lyrics meant. For a moment, everyone was longing for yesterday.

Personally I was amazed that I was watching Paul in my hometown. I never thought it would really happen. There were times in which I had to take the whole experience in and simply enjoy the moment. The Beatles have been a part of my life since my teenage years. Back then their music helped me make it through that era. And in most instances in my life, the music has been there for me. How fitting that the exact night when I was turning 49, Paul was there singing live. Here I am, entering another stage of middle age and The Beatles were there for me. There were moments in songs like "Let it Be" and "Yesterday" in which I got a bit teary-eyed. But interestingly enough, that night the song that meant the most to me was that silly "Obladi-Oblada"...I am 49 and "life goes on, la la how the life goes on"

I'm back

I seem to have abandoned this site. But here I am again. My workload has increased a bit and I feel less and less like sitting at home and writing.

I have seen quite a few movies. I went to the McCartney concert. And I will be writing this weekend.

Good Friday at the movies

Tomorrow is Good Friday. And I decided to take a look back at a time when this date was celebrated in Puerto Rico in a very peculiar way. That is movie theaters would stop showing regular movies and they all would show a religious movie that day. Even the porno houses would do that!

I recall vividly seeing "The Ten Commandments" at the Radio City and the Regency. The movie houses were always full and everyone was at their best behavior. Seeing those movies was part a moviegoing experience and part a religious ritual, so everyone acted as if they were at church. As a boy, I found this movie to be kind of long, but I recall being amazed by the parting of the Red Sea scene.

I also saw "The Robe" in one of those Good Fridays. The first Cinemascope production, this movie tended to be less grueling to watch. It has some action scenes and all in all, it was ok.

"Ben Hur" was my favorite as a kid. I guess because it is more of an epic action movie than a religious movie. The chariot race was and still is a joy to watch. It was a long movie, but the payoff was great. I recall seeing this movie in a packed house at the Music Hall in Santurce.

The last movie I remember seeing was "The Greatest Story Ever Told" a star studded movie who was kind of boring, except for doing the "spot that star" quality of it. As a kid, I kind of liked it, but I really don't recall why. Or maybe I do. I think it was the fact that it was a Good Friday kind of movie and even though I was young, I realized there was something that people found special about that day,. Or maybe the fact that it was cool to watch old movies in a movie theater. Or perhaps, that the movies were so different.

I've seen some of these movies on DVD. I can still watch "The Robe" because of the colors and the scenery. I can watch "Ben Hur" and realize it is a fun movie. "The Greatest Story Ever Told", I can see as a product of its era, a time when Hollywood was heading into the wold late 1960's and this movie is still refusing to accept that fact. And Spotting the star is still cool. I mean the blond guy from "Man from UNCLE" is in it!

"The Ten Commandments" is kind of problematic. It is the cheesier one. The sets look kind of tacky. The acting and dialogue is really bad. And it has very little historical value. Still, it takes me back to a Friday afternoon with may mother and my late grandmother. And to a period of my life that I recall with much nostalgia.

Make Way for Tomorrow

I saw one of the saddest movies ever last night. It's a forgotten classic from 1937 called "Make Way for Tomorrow." It's about a husband and wife who lose their house to the bank when they are in their 70's. Their children cannot take them both into their homes and they must separate. It sounds like melodrama but it isn't. It's a thoughtful, wonderful movie. And for a movie made 70 years ago, it feels so modern.

I especially enjoyed the last 30 minutes when the couple decide to spend a last day together. I don;t want to spoil it, but I can say that there are so many touching moments in that half hour. And the ending, the ending of this movie must rival "City Lights" and "The Third Man" as one of the most heartbreaking in movie history. The DVD from Criterion has some great extras , especially an interview with Peter Bogdanovich.

A true gem.

McCartney in Puerto Rico: can't wait!

Paul McCartney is finally doing a concert in Puerto Rico. I am so thrilled. I've seen him a couple of times love, and they were the best concerts I've attended in my life. And you can ask anyone who has seen him live and they will probably say the same. SOme people are complaining about the price, but one has to understand that seeing Paul live is a privilege. A true living legend. One of the greatest composers (if not the greatest) of the 20th century. Seeing it is something you can tell your grandchildren.

Blog

I seem to have been away form this blog for a while. The company that I work at has a new blog and they are "encouraging" me to write in it. Oh, well. I will do more writing here.

Bright Star

This fine movie based on the three-year romance between 19th century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne, which was cut short by Keats' untimely death at age 25. It has excellent photography, good acting and one does get involved in the love story. Unfortunately, this movie seemed to have been forgotten by the public. But it is a nice movie to watch on DVD. It's not a great movie, but an interesting little one.

Shutter Island: Go see it!

It's sometimes fun to see a world class director take material that is, in a way, beneath him and see him turn it into great fun. That's what Hitchcock did many times and this is what Martin Scorcese does with "Shutter Island"
From the very first shot you realize you are in the hands of a master: the music, the oppresive atmosphere. This a movie about insanity, doubt, violence, traumas. It is over the top but in good way. I remember a professor from my college days who used to say that the best pop culture was "intelligent fun". And this is exactly what the movie oozes.

Saying anything about the plot will basically spoil the fun. So I'll just talk about the acting. Leonardo Di Caprio is amazing in a role in which he is competing with such strange things happening around him. And there is a scene with Jackie Harley which is truly unforgettable.

Grab some popcorn, get a Coke, and sit down and let yourself be carried away by the best living director in the world.

privacy

A few weeks ago a married woman I work with got too drunk at a Christmas party bus and decided to start pole dancing like a stripper. Several people took photos of the whole event. This same woman also decided to sit on men's laps during group photos. Next day at work there was widespread panic that someone would put those photos on Facebook. I had actually taken video of her stripper-like antics ( I love my Canon G10!) and she was really freaked out. I, of course, told her that no one would see that video online.

So this gets me to the how technology has changed our lives. A few years back, nobody would carry cameras around. Now everyone does. And hell, everyone has a phone with a small camera. A couple of years back there was no Facebook. Nobody had a place to post these photos. Now everyone can.

I am all for technology. I love my digital camera and I love taking photos of random things with my IPhone. But I do realize how different things are these days. And I think twice before posting something that could wreck a marriage or someone's reputation. It's all about responsibility.

Tomorrow I have a bachelor party in which strippers will surely be invited. I was already warned: Please don't take photos. I won't. But I'm sure someone will.

Catcher in the Rye

A week ago I decided to read "Catcher in the Rye" once again. I had not done so in over 30 years. I really did not recall much about the book. But it was interesting to note what I did remembered. And that was the scene in which Holden hires a prostitute and decides he does not want to have sex with her. I guess when I read it I was still a virgin and any scene in which sex was involved was attractive due to the mystery that sex represented to me. I thought about what I would have done in that situation and figured I would have tried to have sex with the prostitute. Anyway, that was the part of the book that I recalled.

Reading it more than three decades later, that section of the book is the least interesting. Reading it now, the wonderful part of the book are those in which Holden spends time with his sister. In a book that basically consists of a teenager whining about everything in life, those scenes emphasize the best things in life. The small, wonderful moments that happen once in a while when we are with friends and family. Those are the sections of the book that I really enjoyed. In fact, there were passages that made me go back and read them again.

The fleeting moment. The idea that one has to enjoy the moment because everything is destined to change. In a way, I know understand the title. We are catchers in the rye, trying to hold on to moments, to people and situations. We may be foolish for doing so. But it's one of those things that make us human.

A Nun's Story

I have no idea why I decided to see this movie. Maybe it was because it was directed by Fred Zinnemann, Maybe because I read somewhere that it was pretty good. And perhaps because I was trying to figure out what was so great about Audrey Hepburn. Well, I was really surprised by my reaction to it. I loved it. This movie tells the story about a young woman who becomes a nun, only to find out that she wasn't meant for that kind of life. I know it sounds awful. But the movie is so accurate in describing the whole insanity behind the convent walls. A life of chastity is crazy enough but, al least in those years (the 1930's), that was just the beginning. We are talking about things like avoiding things such as happiness, contentment, a sense of success is called "pride". Everything that makes one human is considered a sin.

I was surprised at how this movie is able to expose the hypocrisy of the Catholic Church, especially considering when this movie was made (1958). Today this movie would be condemned. So maybe we have become a more close minded society when it comes to discussing religion.

Then it struck me, that maybe it was really the presence of Audrey Hepburn that made this whole palatable for people. She is such a symbol of honesty and down to earthness that no one could criticize this rather rebellious movie. A movie to check out. It plays on Cinemax and on Turner Classic Movies rather frequently. It also on DVD. And by the way, the DVD looks great.

Good Netflix news!

Netflix is finally allowing its Puerto Rico subscribers to stream movies to their computers and TV's. That is great news. One more company that stops treating us a foreign country.

20 years later

The other day I was looking at some old photos in a friend's Facebook account. It seems that more and more people are posting old there. These photos were taken 20 years ago and consisted of snapshots taken at various places such as pubs, beaches. It was so strange looking at those photos. I looked at each, trying to figure out where they have been taken and trying to remember the names of people. Funny how time erases so many names from our memory. We recall the faces, but the names fade away.

Looking at them, I also tried to remember how I was and how I felt during those days two decades ago. And that is even harder. Have I changed? Does anybody really change? Tough questions and ones that are impossible to answer.

Of course, when one gets involved in this type of nostalgic trip, there is always one photo that makes one want to stop and look at it again and again. This time around for me, it was a photo of a woman that used to work with me all that time ago. I remembered her name. I forgot her last name. She was incredibly beautiful. Sexy. And she was funny and intelligent. Everyone at the office was in love with her. Of course, I was too. People would tell me to ask her out. That she would say yes. And yet I did not do it. And quite honestly I can't recall why I didn't. Maybe I thought she was too hot for me (my self esteem was in the dumps back then). Maybe that she would turn me down and I would be crushed. Yes, that was it. I was avoiding being crushed.

Funny thing how life is though. Because looking at her photo again, 20 years after my decision not to ask her out, I felt a bit nostalgic, a bit sad and a bit crushed.

Lady Chatterley's Lover

The other day, I woke up early and found the Just Jaeckin-Sylvia Kristel version of "Lady Chatterley's Lover" on a premium cable tv channel. And I decided to have breakfast while watching this rarity. This movie was made in 1981 by the notorious Cannon Group, a movie studio from way back headed by the hack team of Golan and Globus. They were heavily into exploitation movies such as the "Death Wish" sequels. And once in a while they would try to come up with a prestige movie that ended up being worse than their cheap, violence filled movies.

But maybe "Lady Chatterley's Lover" is not that bad, as compared to other versions of the novel. They all have that "this is serious literature" attitude. But the fact is that the novel, which is a serious study of human sexuality, involves a lot of the character's thoughts and feelings. And movies are not so great doing that, so invariably movies based on this novel end up being "Woman is married to impotent cripple. Woman fucks gardener." The wonderful DH Lawrence prose is gone.

Anyway, I enjoyed it, I must admit. Shane Bryant is pretty good as Clifford and Sylvia Kristel is actually not so bad as Lady Chatterley. Her nude scenes, especially remind one, that she was a true beauty. No implants or surgery.

So, if you wake up early one of these days, give it a shot. Or Take advantage of your DVR and record it.
By the way, a piece I wrote on Sylvia Kristel two years ago is the most visited page in my blog. So it will be interesting to see how this piece does.