All Quiet in the Western Front

La novela "All Quiet in the Western Front" es posiblemente la mejor novela anti-guerra de todos los tiempos. Un libro que al leerlo hoy es tan relevante como hace 80 años cuando se publicó.

Hacer una buena película de la novela no es fácil. Los pasajes más conmovedores del libro son los pensamientos del protagonista sobre la estupidez y la futilidad de la guerra. Al hacer una película, estos pensamientos tienen que ser traducidos a acción.

En 1930 se hizo una primera versión cinematográfica de la novela. Es interesante, pero sufre de cierto "clumsiness" típico de esas primeras películas que se hacían con sonido.

En 1979 se hizo una segunda versión para cine. Desafortunadamente, después del fracaso taquillero del film "A Bridge Too Far", ninugún estudio quiso distribuirla. Así que pasó a ser una película hecha para la tv.

Esta versión está muy bien hecha. Richard Thomas, protagonista de "The Waltons" en esa época, es excelente como el muchacho que, como muchos, se creyó la vieja historia de defender la patria, sólo para darse cuenta de la mentira detrás de todo. La Primera Guerra Mundial fue un evento de crueldad extrema, donde paises se fueron a la guerra sin ninguna razón particular. Millones murieron en batallas donde apenas se ganaban varias yardas de terreno.

Este film logra su propósito de llevar de una manera inteligente el libro a la pantalla. La experiencia no es tan devastadora como lo es en libro, pero en cierta manera sigue siendo fuerte en su mensaje de las consecuencias de la guerra.

No te la pierdas en Showtime este mes.

Let Me in

I wish I would go to movies regularly. I don't anymore basically for two reasons. First because of the Caribbean Cinemas policy of showing 40 minutes of commercials before the movie. And second because there are very few movies that inspire me to go to a movie theater and subject myself to teenagers with cellphones.

"Let Me In" was a movie I had to see at a theater. I loved the original Swedish version and was looking forward to seeing this remake. Of course, the fact that the movie marked the return of legendary Hammer Films studios to movies made it a must see. I got goose bumps when, at the start of the film, the "Hammer Films Presents" title appeared. We haven't seen that since 1978.

The movie itself is excellent. The performances by the children are truly outstanding. They may even top those of the original movie. The mood is chilling, desolate and sad just like in the Swedish version. It is interesting that the best horror movie of the past few years is a remake. But it is. "Let Me In" is a movie that shows that when it comes to horror, less is more. It's a movie someone like Val Lewton would have loved.
Check it out when it appears on DVD in January. Better yet, get the Blu-Ray and experience a really special movie.

My Brett Favre syndrome

The other night I was thinking about work and I realized my heart is not in it anymore. I still do my work and occasionally I feel proud of something I've done. But there is a sense of to quote the Eagle's song "singing for the sake of the song."

I feel like an athlete on his last seasons. In this new job I feel like a sort of Brett Favre, playing well but realizing that this may be the last season. This place where I work is my Vikings team, a chance to do something, to play, to feel the team spirit. But in the back of my mind, realizing that maybe I won't want to do this next season.

The other day I decided to look back at what I had written here a few years ago. And I am pretty happy with the blog. And a bit sad I don't write that often.I have been concentrating in other things such as photography and reading.But I want to make the effort to write here more often.Even if it's just to put a quote or a photo. I don;t have to get that deep. Just write a bit.

Gloria Stuart

These days I have been watching movies from the 1930's. Especially Mr. Moto movies and Astaire-Rogers musicals. While I enjoying them, A thought sometimes crosses my mind. Everyone in this movie is dead. Nobody I'm seeing onscreen could possibly be alive. Well, maybe the small kid here and there may be alive. All except Gloria Stuart. Here is a starlet from 1930's movies that was still alive in the 2000's. She, of course, became even more famous because of her role in the mega-hit 'Titanic".

But today, she too is gone. The last of the 1930's stars is has passed away.

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I saw the movie based on the first book of the Stieg Larsson trilogy. Here's what I think. It's ok. Just like the books are ok. A slick piece of pop culture that sets out to entertain and not much else. The movie is pretty cool and the performance by Noomi Rapace as Lisbth Salander is outstanding. But this is the kind of movie that I imagine will not stand the test of time. A 2010 version of John Grisham's bestsellers. Books that nobody reads anymore. A product of marketing and a moment in time.

routines

I guess when one reaches a certain age, routines become important. I guess because life becomes more uncertain, mortality seems more real. So to make up for these facts, one creates little routines that make life look normal.

My routines tend to center around Saturdays. I wake up around 8am, I prepare myself some coffee and some oatmeal. This is the day in which I don't have to hurry. So I go to the balcony, watch the ocean. I love how I can, in a way, make the morning go slow.

Then, I take a leisurely walk and take photos. Mostly of the ocean. Then I go into Starbucks and have a second coffee. I read the news on my Iphone, sometimes I call my friend Erika. We usually talk Saturday mornings because we used to meet at Starbucks every other Saturday to talk about life. She no longer lives here. But I love to still have these long distance talks.

Then in the afternoon I love to watch movies in bed. I tend to go for old movies. Sometimes movies that take me back to my childhood or my teenage years. To the era when things were less complicated, mortality millions of years away.

Hannie Caulder starring Raquel Welch & Stephen Boyd - Trailer

Raquel Welch in Hannie Caulder

One of the frustrating things about being a movie fan at a young age was that there were certain movies one wanted to see but couldn't because of an R rating. And I remember seeing the ads and photos of the movie "Hannie Caulder" and wanting to see it. And well, I can see why. It's very simple, the photos Raquel Welch wearing a poncho and with presumably nothing underneath. For a horny eleven year old, that was heaven.

Well, I finally got to see this movie. And yes, Raquel Welch is sexy. Incredibly sexy. So very sexy. As for the movie, it's a pretty good revenge film with good acting all around. Robert Culp is excellent and so is Christopher Lee in one of his few non-horror roles. The idea of Welch being a sexy gunslinger is pretty weird. This couldn't possibly
have occurred in the Old West. But then again, 99% of Westerns are pure fiction, pure fantasy and have nothing to do with the real West.

So I enjoyed this movie. It ran only 85 minutes, which to me is the perfect running time for a movie. And well, there's Raquel Welch at her most alluring. Can't ask for much more.

Inception letdown

I went into the movie theater expecting a Twilight Zone-Memento like experience and I ended up watching an action movie for the ADD set. This movie was not all What I expected. The first hour was fine with its mind blowing visuals and mind fuck ideas. This had the makings of a truly cool movie. But suddenly this movie shifts gears and becomes the worst kind of CGI action movie. And it goes on and on until you want to scream at the screen.

Before watching the movie I was happy that Inception had made so much money. An intelligent, weird movie making all that cash? But I was wrong. The movie made money because in the end, it was just an action movie. A typical dumb summer movie. It was Angelina Jolie's "Salt" with metaphysical pretentions.

Goodbye to The Mandarin

Last week a friend of mine told me he was going to San Francisco with his wife. He asked me about restaurants and I was about to tell him that he had to go to the famous The Mandarin on Ghirardelli Square. It was a place I had gone to many times with my father back in the 1970's and 1980's. And a place I visited three years ago when I went back after so many years. But I decided to look for it in the Internet and learned that it had closed down in November.

The Mandarin was founded in 1968. It was the first restaurant to introduce real Mandarin cooking in the United States. Before that, Chinese places tended to cater to an Americanized version of Chinese cuisine. The Mandarin changed all that. The place was beautiful too with a truly breathtaking view of San Francisco bay.

When I used to go with my parents, we were lucky to get a table. The last time I was there, it was nearly empty. I talked to one of the waiters and told him about the many times that I had gone there with my parents and asked him if he could take a photo of me at the restaurant. He smiled and took the photo. It remains a fond memory of my trip.

If I ever go back to San Francisco, it will be strange not to visit The Mandarin. It was such a part of visiting the city. It was a part of my happiest memories of traveling with my mother and father. And like so many things when one reaches a certain age, it is gone.

Julie Christie Interview (1967)

Julie Christie and the 1960's

Movies are not surprising anymore. In the first few minutes, one more or less can predict everything that will happen. But there was a time in the late 1960's, perhaps due to the success of "Blow Up" that movies would deliberately set out to surprise and/or baffle us. TCM recently showed one of these films. It is called "In Search of Gregory", a forgotten, obscure movie that was shown as part of the Julie Christie film festival.

I recorded most movies from that festival simply because I love Julie Christie. I love her beauty, the intelligence she projects, her legs, he lips, her eyes, her accent, her smile. So I jumped at the chance to see one of her few forgotten movies.

And the premise of this movie is interesting. Two people who have only heard about each other through third persons fantasize about each other throughout the movie but never actually meet. I don't think I've seen a movie quite like this one. It doesn't mean that it is great, it isn't. But one must give its makers credit for having the guts to create something so offbeat. One of the most amazing things about this movie though is its opening. It opens with the Universal Pictures logo. A major studio distributing a movie like this. Seven years later, Universal would become the studio of "Airport 1975" and "Earthquake" in Sensurround. Interesting the way Hollywood changed in such a short time.

My music when I want it

I wonder who listens to traditional radio anymore. There are so many alternatives now. Satellite radio (not available in Puerto Rico), the music channels on cable tv, the Internet radio stations. And now there are things like Slacker and Pandora that basically transmit music tailored to your particular tastes.

I still remember back in the 1970's when there were no rock stations in the island. There was only one far away FM signal that had a couple of hours of rock every night. I would try to catch that weak signal and enjoy a little bit of what was new in that genre.

Today I have so many options. I can listen to stations that feature classic rock, classical, jazz, Standards. Because of these stations my musical tastes have broadened in a truly remarkable way.

So today at work, I listened to Slacker. In the car on my way home I may hear Minnesota Public Radio through the IPhone and maybe tonight when I read before going to bed I may listen to the Standards station on cable.

I guess that to kids today, what I describe in the paragraph above won't mean anything special. But to me, a teenager of the late 1970's, it is almost a magical experience.

mon ami Hercule Poirot

Last night I sought refuge in an old friend, Hercule Poirot. I needed to read something light and enjoyable and it seems to me that his stories are always a welcome read. There are times when I feel like reading mysteries that lack depth, that are easy to read and yet keep you guessing. I used to read George Simenon's Maigret stories to achieve that feeling of relaxation, but it seems to be Agatha Christie's stories are better at making one forget life's troubles. So here's to my old friend Hercule Poirot!

Hurricane season thoughts

Here we are again in hurricane season. Looks like this year won't be as quiet as 2009. Already the tv news are warning us about clouds leaving the coast of Africa. And telling us that we have to tune in the news just in case a storm changes course. I long for the days when I was a kid when a rainy day would just be a rainy day and not " a day in which a strong tropical wave covers the island." Or the time when we would be warned about a hurricane when it it was sure to pass over the island and not 10 days before. Everyone was happier. Nobody was storming the supermarkets because of a storm that may or not be happen.

Interesting how technology can simply add stress instead of easing it.

Chloe

I recently saw (imagine this!) an American movie that deals with sex in an intelligent way and not as the subject of adolescent humor. The movie is "Chloe" a suspense thriller about a middle age woman (Julianne Moore) who hires a high class prostitute (Amanda Seyfried) to flirt with her husband (Liam Neesam) in order to see whether he is cheating on her with young women. A plan that,of course, goes all wrong. "Chloe" has couple of good surprises, some excellent acting, interesting sex scenes. It's not a great movie, but it is remarkable in the way it treats sexuality in an adult way. Sadly, the movie was a flop in theaters since Americans are unwilling to see sex scenes in movie theaters. Hopefully it will be successful in DVD and pay-cable.

In the meantime, the multplex is showing "Cats and Dogs 2" in 3-D to full auditoriums.

Houdini: The Hollywood version

I just watched "Houdini" a movie from 153 starring Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. One of those movie biographies that from the first minutes tells you it can't possibly be based on reality. Every event in Houdini's life is presented in the corniest sense possible. He falls in love cute, he gets his chance at stardom in a way that only people in movies do. And even his death is not portrayed as it happened in real life. The fictional part of all this is confirmed in a wonderful book called "Past Imperfect": History According to the Movies".

But the strange thing is that the movie is truly entertaining. It makes for a wonderful, relaxed time. One senses the fiction but doesn't mind. So I must admit I can recommend this movie, but go to Wikipedia and learn about Houdini's real life.

Hooked on Hisptamatic

I am hooked on Hipstamatic shots. This is one amazing IPhone apps that turns your phone into the coolest camera in the world. You buy some "lenses" "films" and flash for less than $6.00 and you can turn ordinary shots into something special. You can choose lenses that imitate Holga cameras, that play with light, colors, textures. There is one film that imitates a Polaroid look, other that give photos a black and white grainy feeling. You shoot the simplest thing and it looks amazing. Anyone can be a cool photographer!

Soft core with breakfast

One of the most interesting things about our cable system is that it shows West Coast feeds of US premium channels which makes for an interesting thing: we get to see sof core porn movies while having breakfast. And truth be told, there are morning when I don't feel like watching the news, so I tune to these odd movies. And the oddest of these are the Busty Cops movies featuring Nikki Nova, a pastiche of silicone enhanced females having mostly lesbian sex. The plots are non-existent. I read online that many of them are edits of many movies and videos that through the use of a narrator are clumsily put together into a semblance of a movie. These movies are incredibly stupid, sometimes they are sexy, but they are always interesting in a " I can't believe Showtime is showing this" kind of way.