Puerto Rican Disney World zombies

This is my second blog entry about it. But there's a reason for it.It just happened that the other day before a work presentation, the 12 people there, all of them educated professionals started talking about vacation trips. And somebody mentioned she was going to Disney World. And then everyone started talking about the place, about the rides, about the fact that they go there every year. "Don't miss the blabla mountain", "no, now the blabla ride is even better".After 15 minutes of this I had to leave the room. It was like the "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", only people were turning into Disney zombies.

Why are people here so obsessed with Disney World? Fuck. There's a whole world out there of amazing, beautiful, life changing places and they are stuck in EPCOT?

As for taking the kids, ok. Take them there once. But let the see the world too.Let them see New York City,let them watch the sea lions in San Francisco bay, take them to the Grand Canyon. There are REAL places out there, goddammit.

I am stuck in the 70's....

I read somewhere that we always love more movies one sees when one is a kid. One feels a particular fondness for them. And I'm finding this to be true these days. I am constantly watching movies from the 1970's.Maybe because it was the most fascinating period in American cinema. And it was the most experimental, interesting decadein cinema (until George Lucas dumbed everything down.) And maybe it's because those movies remind me of a time when my life was simpler and angst-free.

I saw "Blue Water, White Death" at the old Metropolitan theater in Santurce. I remember being blown away by it for several reasons. Well, two of them, really. A scene in which divers leave their shark cage and swim among sharks. I couldn't believe how crazy that was. And the scene when they finally find the Great White Shark and the shark basically tries to tear apart the shark cages. And almost succeeds. Watching the movie again, 35 years later, I am still amazed at it.

So I had my nostalgic moment. And further proof of how great movies were way back then.

Sweet Land- a great movie

Last night I saw one of the most wonderful movies I have seen in years. Maybe the most wonderful. It's a small movie called "Sweet Land". It tells the story of Inge, a mail order bride from Germany who arrives in Minnesota in 1920 and faces discrimination because of her nationality. She meets the man who sent for her, a shy, hard working farmer but can't consummate the marriage because authorities don't want to give her a marriage certificate. I know this makes the movie seem heavy handed, but it isn't. This is a sweet, simple, touching story about love. The acting is great, the photography, breathtaking. This is such a special movie. It's on DVD now. Dont miss it for the world.

about forced vacations

I am obssesive with my vacation days. I want every one of them to be special. Which means that I want to spend every one of them traveling. Just being away from home. And I had already made my vacation plans so I wouldn't have to spend a single day at home. But this week, the company that I work at forced me to take two days off. Something that made me really upset. I tried fighting it. I said I would work both days and that this way I could keep my plans unaltered. Slowly I realized you can't fight City Hall. The administration's silence on the matter of my complaint meant one thing. Hey buddy, you take the two days off was the message. And I acted accordingly.

Strangely enough I have enjoyed the time away from work. I have been going to the beach. I have been doing some reading and here I am doing a little bit of writing. Every day has been a lazy one. It's been nice to see the hours go by. In peace and quiet. It's also been great that San Juan is basically empty these days, everyone is on vacation elsewhere. So taking the days off was good, after all. Maybe it's better not to plan things so much and just go with the flow and enjoy.
Still, taking a plane somewhere would have been nice.

about movie crushes

I must have seen Kay Lenz in "Breezy"on tv when I was 11 or 12. I remember not noticing at all the middle age crisis theme of the movie and being simply fixated on actress Kay Lenz. I thought she was everything I would want in a girlfriend when I was old enough to have one. So to me, it was more much of a "pre teen" crisis movie.

I had totally forgotten about this movie, until I saw it pop up in an Encore premium channel the other day. So many years later, the whole feeling of the movie changed so much. Now being in the early stages of middle age, the movie becomes much more relevant. And Kay Lenz becomes the girlfriend I cannot have because, well, I would be old enough to be her father.

Still, this is a very cool movie. It was directed by Clint Eastwood, not especially know for romantic flicks. And he shows here the low key approach and beautiful subtleness he would show decades later in movies like "Letters from Iwo Jima". William Holden and Kay Lenz are very good in it. And the whole hippie era environment gives it a sort of naive, romantic feeling. This is a really special little movie.
And it has Kay Lenz in it (did I mention that?)

Movies- "The Hospital"

I made my mind to write again. First up,movies. I recently saw two interesting movies from the early 1970's who dealt with a theme seldom touched by today's high adrenaline cinema": the plight of the middle aged man. First, "The Hospital" a movie starring George C. Scott that talks about the plight of our health care system decades before "Sicko" did. In a NYC hospital, chaos reigns, patients are mistreated and there may even be a serial killer loose. The movie also deals with the middle age crisis of a man who relializes that his life has gonewrong in so many ways. Alcohol seems to be the way out. He even considers suicide...until he meets a woman who makes him realize life is worth living. Kind of a corny way out. But still the movie is brave enough to deal with depression, impotence (pre-Viagra days) and divorce.

1970's movies

I have been watching a lot of movies from the 1970's again. Thanks to the Onelink DVR I am able to record these movies when they are shown at odd hours in the morning or really late at night. I have watched a couple of George C. Scott movies (nobody under 40 will know who he is) and I saw an amazing romantic film directed by Clint Eastwood in 1973.

I will write in detail about them later tonight. I have to be going to work now.

Dunbar's closes doors July 31

An Ocean Park institution is gone by the end of the month. Good ol' Dunbars closes down. Someone told me the owners of the site (Dunbars rents from them) want to build a huge building that will take most of the block. So the owner of Dunbars had to close it. A real shame. So go there this month and enjoy their amazing wings for the last time.

A Mighty Heart -the other movie playing in San Juan

Contrary to popular belief, there was another movie playing in town besides "Transformers".It was "A Mighty Heart", the kind of intelligent, wellmade movie that in the 1970's would have played in first run, mainstream theaters but now only plays at Fine Arts. So thousands miss out on seeing a thought provoking movie. Angelina Jolie plays Marianne Pearl, the wife of Daniel Pearl, a journalist kidnapped in Pakistan. The movie is shot documentary style and there are moments in which you forget you are watching a movie and beleive you are watching the actual thing. It reminds me of "United 93", although that film was superior. The movie has suspense (althogh we know the final outcome and it is entertaining.
Try to catch it. And yes, Angelina Jolie is excellent in it.

Black Snake Moan. Not your average movie.

Like everyone else, I was hoping to go the beach on the 4th of July. But I have a bad cold and am spending the day in bed, watching movies on DVD. First one watched was this
offbeat movie. A black man. A sexually obsessed white woman. chains. The Deep South. The Blues. Justin Timberlake. Add them all and you have a pretty entertaining movie about the reddeming power of love. Samuel Jackson, Christina Ricci and Justin are all excellent. And the movie keeps you guessing as towhere it is heading. Of course, the movie was a flop at theaters (it was never released in Puerto Rico). Audiences accostumed to cookie cutter movies would not know what to make of a strange movie like this.

Ratattouille and Army of Shadows

After the nightmarish workdays I've had, I was finally able to sit down and watch a couple of movies. First I saw "Army of Shadows", an excellent 1969 movie abour the French Resistance during the Second World War. Being true to life, this movie is not a series of action scenes, but a study about living under occupation. The paranoia. The suspicion. The fear. This movie was directed by Jean Pierre Melville, one of the best European directors of all time. A thoughtful, suspenseful and well made movie.

Then I saw "Ratatouille", quite possibly the best Pixar movie ever. This is such a sweet, funny, exciting movie. It puts to shame all the Shrek movies. This is not about cheap, obvious jokes but about wonderful storytelling. The animation is also outstanding, one is in awe of such magnificent work. Go see it.

Bye, Bye DMAX/ I am so happy

Last Friday I changed from DMAX to Onelink Internet. And I am enjoying the Internet with the wonder that I felt the first day I went online. Onelink is so amazingly fast.
I realized how I was wasting my money with a DSL connection that sometimes never reached beyond 180 kbps. And I was tired of calling DMAX and have them tell me that there was nothing wrong with their system, that it was my computer's fault, when I knew friends that were going through similar slow conections. So fuck DMAX and Telefonica or however it is called these days.

writing

It's been quite a couple of weeks. Working until late(had a record saetting 26 hour workday) and basically had no desire to get home and write. I didn't see any moves during this time because I was too tired to be able to enjoy one. But today I feel like writing.

Remembering Mr. Softee

It was 4pm, I was watching Pacheco on tv and looking forward to the Three Stooges. When it all was interrupted by the sounds of the Mister Softee truck. And suddenly time would stand still. I had to stop the truck and get an ice cream cone. I felt such an amazing mix of happiness and anticipation. Get the fifty cents!!!! Call out the truck so it would not go away. Then my mother would give the money and I would run down the stairs as if the fate of the whole world depended on it. I don't think I ever feel that exhilaration again. Yes, I was going to get my Mr. Softee cone. Life was good. Everything was right. True happiness achieved.

My day at the Parada

One week before leaving for a few days vacation in New York I learned that my visit would coincide with the annual Puerto Rican Day Parade. So I found myself last Sunday in the midst of it. My observations

1. I had no idea so many people attended it. Midtown Manhattan was swarmed with paradegoers.Forget about going to the MOMA.

2. I saw way too many alcaldes and batuteras from Puerto Rico there. In the tough times we are in, why on earth are they there?

3. I heard very little Spanish.

4. Which brings me to Latino women and a sexist statement. The idea that Puerto Rican women are sexy does not apply to the ones attending the parade. I don't think I saw one good looking woman there. And there must have been half a million attending. Then again, maybe they were not around 44th street.

5. Finally, I got the sense that Puerto Ricans living in New York are the biggest outcasts in the city. From the weird glances they received from whites, asians, hindus, arabs and even some Afro-Americans, I got the sense that they are considered as "odd people out". There was a sense that they don't belong there. The glances they were getting would scream "Oh, God. Here they come."

Anyway, there is only so much parade one can take. So when my Peruvian friend called me, we decided to escape the parade and go to the Village.Where we saw some great shops, listened to people playing jazz and doo-wop in the park and ate tapas. I hate saying this, but I felt much more at home there.

Sinfonica plays The Beatles

Last night I went to the Sinfonica de Puerto Rico's Beatles concert. And it was a wonderful night. There were people there from all ages. All sharing the magic of the greatest pop music of the 2oth century. As the orchestra played everything from "Michelle" to "Here, There and Everywhere", one realizes the amazing melodic genius that the group possesed. There was a moment when they played "Penny Lane" where I got goosebumps and my eyes got watery. There is such power in that music. And the fact that a symphonic orchestra can play it shows that at their prime Paul, John and George were up there with the great musical geniuses of all time.

vacation

I am a few days away from taking a week off. And I need it so badly. It seems everything is telling me I need a break. I am tired, unfocused and I need to see something different for a few days.

In praise of John Wayne

As I watched the movies being shown on TCM and Westerns Channel celebrating his 100the Birthday, I realize people from my generation and people from places like Latin America tend to hate John Wayne. To them he represented the Ugly American and American arrogance and imperialism. Well, they are wrong. He was simply one of the greatest movie icons of all time.

His reputation as a war mongering conservative was probably based on his pro-Vietnam war movie "The Green Berets". But forget about that one. Watch the beauty of "Red River", enjoy his great acting in "The Searchers" one of the great movies of all time. See his sense of humor in movies like "Hatari!", "True Grit" and even "Rio Bravo".

And say what you will, he was an actor who truly dominated the screen. He had charisma and such presence that any movie he was in inmediately became "a John Wayne movie". Ask that of Orlando Bloom.

movies I saw this weekend

This weekend I saw two very different but very interesting movies.
First, there was "Play Dirty" stariing Michael Caine, one of the most cynical war movies ever made. The kind of movie that a Hollywood focus group would hate. In it, a group of criminals are sent on a mission to destroy some oil deposits in North Africa during WWII. This sounds a lot like "The Dirty Dozen", but it isn't. There is not a sympathetic character here. These are real criminals doing the work. And the officers and generals don't fare any better. Everyone is "playing dirty". And the ending, I won't even begin to write about it.

I am a big fan of Somerset Maughm. "Of Human Bondage" is one of my favorite books. One of those books that you read at the right moment in your life and can change you. SO I was looking forward to this movie based on his lesser known "The Painted Veil". And I was not disappointed. This is one great movie with excellent acting. It's about love, marriage and simply being human. I wonder why this movie did not pick any Academy Awards (maybe because it is actually a good movie?). Anyone catch this one on DVD or Video On Demand.

yeahhhhh (she lost)

We don't have to deal with stupid parades this year.

"Black Book" -movie of the year- and it's only May

The director of "Showgirls" has made the most exciting, dramatic movie of the year. Yes, Paul Verhoeven has gone back to Europe and respectability with "Black Book", a terrific WWII movie about a Jewish woman who becomes a spy for the Dutch underground and faces all kinds of hardship and adventure. This is the kind of movie that keeps you guessing what is going to happen next. It is a thriller for adults. The movie is three hours long, but one doesn't feel it. This is great filmmaking and storytelling.
Don't miss it.

The Mystery of Picasso

One of the great mysteries in life is the process of creation. How a blank page or an empty canvas is transformed into something special by an artist. Many movies have dealt with that theme. But most of them, have failed to show that process in a realistic way.

Well, back in the 1950's French director Henri Georges Clouzot (Wages of Fear, Diabolique) decided to make a film on how Picasso would create a work of art. And suprisinghly Picasso agreed. So this movie consists on a series of empty canvas (the screen) in wich we see stroke by stroke how one of the 20th centuries most influential artists creates a painting or a sketch. No gimmicks. Just the real thing.

Sounds boring? Well, it isn't. It is fascinating. And as an extra touch, all the works that were created for this movie were destroyed, so that they would only exist in this movie.

This is just an amazing, unique movie. It played on Turner Classic Movies

Revisiting "Julia"

Every guy has a sex movie they remember from his youth. That first sexy movie he saw when at 13 or 14, when the hormones were going crazy. I know many people who mention movies like "Porky's" as one of these movies, but I was too old when that one came out. Mine was an obscure movie I saw at the old Excelsior theater in Santurce.Yes, they used to show these movies at theaters, no late night Cinemax then. It was called "Julia" and I saw it again last night after so many years (thank you, Netflix!)

It starred Sylvia Kristel, the star of the "Emmanuelle" movies. And I thought it was the greatest movie.Seeing it again last night, well, I guess I have to moderate my position on it a bit. It's actually a pretty crummy 1970's soft core movie. Probably an R rated movie by today's standards.

But there were a couple of things that still make it worthwhile. First, the whole casual, European ttitude towards sex that makes it ten times better than a Hollywood repressed sex movie like "Porky"s".

And most important, it features one of the sexiest women ever to grace the screen, amazingly beautiful Sylvia Kristel at her prime. She was quite a sight.

As you can imagine "Julia" is not for everyone. But if you have Netflix and you were 14 in the mid 1970's...well....

Deliver Us from Evil

This is one haunting documentary about a Catholic priest (father O'Grady,photo above) who sexually abused hundreds of children, some as young as 3 months old and how the Catholic Church knowing what was going on, simply transferred him from parish to parish, allowing him to come in contact with new children he could rape.

The interviews with the still unrepentant priest are revealing and unforgettable. He seems flippant about the whole thing, almost treating it as no big deal. He walks free the streets of Ireland after having served only 7 years in a California prison.

The interviews with the victims ad their family are really sad. These are people who because of their faith, trusted a man in cloth, only to be betrayed by him and the Church.

As for the Church, well, it shows you how it simply ignored the whole problem. How the hierarchy was more interested in playing politics and remaining in power than in solving the problem. The Church acted in a heartless and awful way. By the way, the current Pope's old job was dealing with the sexual abuse problem in the Church.

This is an amazing documentary.

The Bon Jovi ticket rip off

A ticket for the Bon Jovi concert costs $350-$500 at the Hiram Bithorn. In Milwaukee, a seat similar to the $500 ticket costs $80.(www.ticketmaster.com)
The local promoters with their "patriotismo" claim were able to prevent the Choliseo administration from producing concerts at good prices. So instead we have local promoters ripping people off.Amazing.

The Aura

Fabian Bielinksy's death a few months ago must be Latin American cinema's biggest loss ever. He could have been more famous than Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuaron. Because the two movies he made were simply brillian: "Nine Queens" and his last, "The Aura".

This is a movie Alfred Hitchcock would have loved. A shy taxidermsit who suffers from epilepsy and dreams of pulling off the perfect robbery finds himself in the position of being able todo that in real life. I can't say more about it. Just that everything is completely unpredictable and that there is plenty of suspense. None of the cheap "Boo" variety, but of the real kind. Of the one that makes you look away. The one the Master used to pull off.

life

When we were kids, we all had a day like this.

Brando

The day Marlon Brando died someone at work sent an interoffice e-mail to everyone informing about his passing. A couple of young account executives, after reading it were asking out loud: "Who is Marlon Brando?" Amazing.

Well, TCM (channel 77-Onelink) is showing a documentary that more than answers that question. It features clips from all his movies and instead of narration, it features comentary by actors who knew him, from Martin Landau to Jane Fonda to Johnny Depp. This documentary shows you that screen acting can be measured in terms of before and after Brando. One also learns about his deeply selfish and eratic behavior. How he made Hollywood hate him and how how Hollywood had to welcome him back after his suceess in "The Godfather".

So to the culturally challenged account executives who didn't know who Brando was. Well, he was the most influential actor of the 20th century.

Sir Elton

It was a really good concert last night at the Coliseo. A trip through four decades of music. And he told a stunned crowd that he won't make another album and that he will retire form performing this year. So everyone felt lucky to see one of rock's all time greats live singing all his amazing songs from the 1970's and 1980's (well, he sang "Candle in the Wind" too, but it's ok). It was also good to see a packed Coliseo with people paying to see something other than regueton stars.

All in all it was quite a night with Sir Elton. Now how about bringing Sir Paul?

Carla Bruni- No Promises

I found this CD while browsing Amazon one day. It's an album of songs by Italian supermodel-heiress Carla Bruni. With that kind of pedigree one would expect a shallow,, electronic music CD of pure dance music. But instead this is a jazzy, cool album featuring simple guitar playing and songs based on lyrics by famous poets like Yeats and Rossetti. And it damn works. Bruni has a pretty cool, soothing style of singing. Play this CD and you are transported to a jazzy club. It's 3am and there's this gorgeous Italian woman singing....

Lost "Beatle" movie on Flix

Last night cable channel Flix showed a true rarity. Its "Wonderwall", a movie whose soundtrack was composed by George Harrison when he was still a Beatle. And as a work of that era(1968) it is as weird and strange a movie as you can imagine. In a way, it reminds me of "Magical Mystery Tour" in its absolute trippiness and quirky sense of humor. It tells the story of a middle age scientist who finds a hole in his apartment wall that allows him to see the "swinging London life" of his next door neighbor (1960's icon Jane Birkin). But this is no typical sad voyeur movie, but is instead a surreal one in which you never know which acid induced imagery he will see next. Are the images real? Is he imagining the whole thing?

As for the music, it is George at his most Indian influenced moment. This is not Beatle George.

Anyway, this is a movie worth seeing for the adventurous and for Beatle fans.

Sophie's Choice

The other night while changing channels I came across this 1980's classic stariing Meryl Streep. And I spent the next two and a half hours just mesmerized by it. It tells the story of a Nazi concentration camp survivor living in Brooklyn.Little by little we learn of her past, until we get the point when we realize a dark secret she carries. A choice she had to make long ago.

Even though the movie can be melodramatic at times, it features what many consider the best acting ever done in a movie. And they may be right. Seeing Streep acting here is one of the most amazing things you'll see in a movie all your life.

Do try to catch it. It's playing on Showtime.

Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton: headline grabbing assholes

I absolutely despise these two idiots. They're all about showing how much power they have. So they turn Don Imu's regrettable words into a way to self aggrandize themselves. Don Imus said 3 stupid words (out of the millions of words he must say every year). He said he was sorry. Do the Reverends follow Jesus advice of forgiving? No. They want him fired.Nothing short of firing will do. So there. He was fired. Hope they are happy showing how powerful they are.

Then I don't see them applogizing to the Duke white lacrosse players. Both Sharpton and Jackson basically accused them of having a KKK mentality and being racist pigs, following the alleged rape of an Afro American stripper. Both once again used their power to grab headlines and turn a rape case into a race infested controversy. In the end, the players were innocent. Even the rogue D.A. had to admit his mistakes. But did these two ass holes apologize?
No. Of course , they didn't. They must be busy trying to get somebody new fired.

We will miss you Kurt.....

One of the great ones died yesterday. One of the giants. The great Kurt Vonnegut. I remember when I first read "Slaughterhouse Five". I was amazed at how simple words could be humorous and heartbreaking at the same time. How he saw the humor in tragedy, the tragedy in humor. And how everything in life, good or bad can be summed up with three simple words: "so it goes".

He will be missed.

Princesas

I saw this movie recently. It's a pretty good Spanish movie about a budding friendship between two prostitutes in Madrid,one a Spaniard, the other Dominican. There is some great acting here especially by Candela Pena as the Spanish hooker. Puerto Rican actress Micaela Nevarez is also good, avoiding the "telenovela" acting that plagues so many local actors.

All in all, it's a low key movie that is more interested in characters than in plot. Not a great movie but a good, rainy afternoon one.

Borders at Plaza

Has anyone been at the expanded Borders store in Plaza? It is heaven. Words fail me. They really do.

"Grindhouse"- fucking go see it

I love exploitation movies of the 1970's . This was an era of rough, fucked up movies full of outrageous violence, unhibited sex and political incorrectness. This was before focus groups and the cookie cutter movies of the 1980's came around to ruin everything.

"Grindhouse" the new double feature in one movie by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino perfectly captures the raw energy, outrageousness and inventiveness of those movies. It is so much fun to watch. Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror is the superior film, a mishmash of zombies, political comment, lesbianism and handicaped people with machine guns. To recreate the grindhouse experience there are missing reels and the movie print looks worn out. And of course, the print gets burned. This is so much fun.

There are fake trailers, especially great is one for a movie called "She Wolf of the SS" complete with a cameo from a well known "A list" actor.

Quentin Tarantino's feature is kind of slow moving. But then it becomes a homage to 1970's car chase movies, complete with a "Vanishing Point" Dodge Charger. And the car chase is an old fashioned one, no CGI here.

It was interesting to note that at the end of the movie, people applauded. And I can understand why. This is a movie that shows how raw and energetic and FUN movies can be. I cannot recommend this movie enough.

at the grindhouse

This Thursday the new Quentin Trantino-Robert Rodriguez movie "Grindhouse" starts playing here. It's a homage to the exploitation movie double features of the 1970's. The Grindhouse where the movie theaters that espcialized in that genre. Something that takes me back to the Ambassador theater in Santurce, the place where those movies played locally. All the great women in prison films played there, the cheapest horror movies from around the world, the softcore sex and violence movies of the era. For a kid in his pre-teens and early teens this was a chance to see all the violence and of course, see all the naked women. Especially the naked women, sex was still something unknown to us and these movies for better or for worse showed us a glimpse of that attractive world.

So I guess I will be one of the lucky ones who will understand what Tarantino and Rodrigez are doing in "Grindhouse". They were probably kids who felt exactly the way I did while wayching these movies. I wonder whether young people "will get" this movie.Anyway, I don't care. I just want to see it and let the movie take me back to when I was 13 at the Amabassador.

Planet Earth

I was watching this documentary on Discovery last night. It was about deserts in our planet. And I can't begin to describe the amazing experience of watching this excellent television show. There are scenes so mindblowing you wonder how on earth they were able to capture them. These people must have spent years just to capture one small event such as a rare flash flood in the middle of the Sahara. This documentary leaves you in awe of our planet and of man's commitment to create a true
television work of art.

This is amazing television. Don't miss it. Playing on Discovery.

INTERNET CENSORSHIP ALERT IN PUERTO RICO

The local legislature is studying a project that will force every business offering WIFI access in Puerto Rico to install programs that will block "objectionable" material (whatever the hell that means).

Public hearings are being held on this subject and as one can imagine all the "let's suck up to the relgious right" politicians seem to favor it.

Luckily there's a federal ruling that prohibits this type of legislation. A state tried to do this on public school and the US Supreme COurt found it unconstitutional.

Still, this is another example of how our local goverment works. And how easily they are willing to play with out rights

when epics had no CGI

There are decisions one makes in life that change you forever. And it can be a decision made on a split second. This is the main theme of "Lord Jim". This is the story of a man who made one regrettable decision such as jumping ship in the middle of a storm and letting the passengers die (ironically they didn't). Ruined as a naval officer he leads a life looking for redemption, but in a way wanting to destroy himsrlf in the process.

This is no typical Hollywood epic movie. It is based on Joseph Conrad's novel, the same writer of "Heart of Darkness", the book that served as a the basis for "Apocalypse Now". So there is this element of psychological darkness throught the movie. Watching this I was reminded how different movies are now. Now adventure epics are not based on literature, but on comic books and video games. And character psychology as been replaced by fast editing and loud Dolby Surroundsound.

Peter O'Toole is excellent as Jim. He is surrounded by a wonderful cast headed by James Mason and Jack Hawkins. There is also love interest Dalilah Levi, one of those
amazing beauties that seemed to populate 1960's cinema.

This movie is playing on Showtime. Highly recommended.

one last novel

One of the sad things that happens when a writer or musician one loves dies is the realization that there will be no more new work from that person. If one is lucky, one gets a new song or a short story appears. But that's it. Suddenly there is no more.

I have been a Graham Greene fan for years. He is my favorite writer.I love his books such as "The Heart of the Matter" and "The End of the Affair". I basically have read all his novels. So I figure I would never read anything new by him.

Then out of the blue, I learn from Amazon.com about this forgotten novel by him. Conceived as a a film treatment, it is still technically a novel. So last night I began to read "No Man's Land". And when I read the first page I felt something I never though I would experience again. The excitement of reading a new Graham Greene novel.

The magic of radio

I made a wonderful discovery lately. It's a radio show called "A Prairie Home Companion". I listened to it on WNYC National Public Radio on ITunes. This show has been going on for more than 20 years, but I only began to enjoy it a couple of weeks ago.

It's a live show hosted by Garrison Keillor and it features such a diverse and wonderful array of entertainment. Last night there was music by Ray Cooder, poetry, witty humor. This show exudes such great vibe, charm and ,yes, magic. For a couple of hours you are transported to a place where music, humor and the best of human nature meet. For a moment all that is negative and evil and controversial about the world is forgotten and replaced with all that is good about life.

Give it a shot one day. It plays on Saturdays at 6pm with an encore Sundays at noon.

My soundtrack these days

This is what I listen to these days when I'm reading. Or sometimes I just close my eyes and listen to it. Ever since I was young I have understood that music is the great healer. It is the one thing that can make one realize that no matter what happens there is Bach, there is Lennon, there is McCartney.

Bedside reading

Reading Jules Verne is always interesting. It takes me back to when I was young boy and would read his books and watch all movies based on his tales.

As for Kafka, well, sometimes one has to go there. To that particular way of looking a the world. Dark. Brooding.

Good Poems is a wonderful book compiled by Garrison Keillor.These are not the usual poems one finsd in anthologies. They are quirky and full of insight.

Esquire, because it is the only magazine for men worth reading. I guess I've outgrown Maxim and all its imitators.

Zodiac: not your average mystery.

A young woman at the office told me she had seen the movie "Zodiac" and that it was terrible, boring, unbearable.And that all the young people had left the theater hating such a slow movie. Which meant I wanted to see this movie. Nothing says "movie masterpiece" like a thumbs down from someone from the video game generation.

And I was right again. This is a terrific movie about the unsolved serial killer murders in 1970's San Francisco. We see as detectives try to solve this case. And since this is real life, and not Hollywood life, it takes a lot of hard work, following false leads to make some sense of the killings. Or maybe to find out that they don't make any sense or follow any pattern.

Yes, it is a slow movie. Besides being set in the 1970's, the movie has a 1970's pace to it. Curiously so coming from director David Fincher (Seven, Fight Club)who specializes in wam-bang movies.

This is a movie for people who like their mysteries real. Who enjoy the slow pace of detective work. A movie for people who enjoy a film that provides no easy answers.

It's playing at the Metro in Santurce.

The greatest detective ever

For some reason, I love Sherlock Holmes. It started around 15 years ago when I bought a paperback book with the original Conan Doyle stories. And I was inmediately hooked. There is something comforting about reading those stories. Contrary to popular belief, almost none of them deal with murder. Most are just little petty crimes, which Sherlock manages to solve. Another surprise is the character of Watson. In movies, he is mostly portrayed as a bumblig idiot. In the stories, he is a cultured, intelligent man. By the way, nowhere in the books does Sherlock say "Elementary, my dear Watson"

Recently TCM showed many of the 1940's Basil Rathbone movies and they were ok. Although they are hard to enjoy when Watson is portrayed as an idiot. For my money, the best portryal of Sherlock was by Jeremy Brett in the UK Granada Series which are still shown on the Biography channel on cable tv. That series carries the essence of the Conan Doyle books. Watch it one of these days and begin to enjoy the wonderful world of the greatest detective of all time.

My mornings- Robin and Nordictrack

I am now exercising every morning.I'm up to 20 minutes in my stationary bike.(goal 30 minutes a day). Naturally I need to watch some tv as I do the mostly boring exercise. So I turn to CNN Headline News and wonderful Robin Meade. She anchors the friendliest, coolest morning show. With none of the self importance of the Today Show or others. Plus she's cute as hell.

A discovery

One of the great things about movie watching is that once in a blue moon one discovers a great movie. And the other night, while watching Turner Classic Movies, I did just that. I had never heard of this movie although I had seen movies by the directing team of Pressburger and Powell such as "The Red Shoes" and "Peeping Tom".

It is a simple tale, as most wonderful movies are. A young woman who has her whole life figured out decides to marry a rich man twice her age. On the way to her wedding, she gets stranded ina Scottish fishing vilage where she meets a Naval officer and suddenly her foolproof plan goes astray. I know this sound like a Cameron Diaz chick flick, but it isn't. This is a movie about the most basic things in life. About love. About happiness. And about realizing that life has a way of changing your plans, sometimes into something more suitable for you.

The Scottish village is truly beautiful and is part of the movie's charm. And there most be something about them that attracts me to them since my favorite movie "Local Hero" is also set in one.

The extras include a wonderful documentary about a woman who was so moved by this movie that she decided to visit the small village. The documentary also includes an interview with Marin Scorcese who considers "I Know Where I'm Going" one of his favorite movies.

Lives of Others

It's amazing to think that a society like the one in East Germany really existed. A country where everyone was spied on. A place where the State decided what everyone should think about every topic. And where if you were an artist, you had to sell your soul to the State.

The latter is at the core of this excellent movie. In a totalitarian state , you can't really be true artist. If you are, you can't live there since you are not free to create. If you stay there and prosper, you have by definition to have sold your soul to the government. You are a government hack.

This is a thoughtful, intelligent and at times, incredibly supenseful movie about how a surveillance man for the government and a writer both realize that one has to make a stand in life. That,in the end, we have to take a side. And that one can't sit idle and watch an injustice being committed.

did you see it?

Did anyone else watched this last night? It was quite a sight. I live in an apartent bulding surrounded by other buildings and I noticed I was the only person looking at the moon. It was their loss.

Anyway, I'm glad I did. I'm happy to have stopped whatever I was doing and have enjoyed one of the most wonderful sights in nature.

Where do I begin?..lalarararara....

Oliver Barrett IV: "What can you say about a twenty-five-year-old girl who died? That she was beautiful and brilliant? That she loved Mozart and Bach, the Beatles, and me?"
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When I was a kid, I remember walking with my parents by Ponce De Leon Avenue and seeing the longest line I had ever seen outside a movie theater. It was the old Radio City theater in Santurce and the movie playing there was a romantic flick called "Love Story". This movie was one of the biggest movie phenomenoms of the early 1970's. The music became a huge hit. There were a million versions of that song. Over here, every tv singer sang "Love Story".

I had never seen the movie and to be honest I was never too interested in watching it. But last week it was playing in one of the HBO channels and I thought "what the hell. watch and try to understand what all the fuzz back in 1970 was all about."

And I watched it. And, it was pretty interesting. It is a tearjerker for sure. Every cliche in the book is in it. Well, not every cliche, when the woman gets terminally ill, she doesn't show it by suddenly coughing. And what about this "Love means never having to say you're sorry" line? What on earth does that mean?

But you know what? I liked it. Because it was unashamed to be a simple, by the numbers, love story. Imagine this , mega rich Harvard guy meets poor, but proud Radcliffe girl. They fall in love. He rebels against his snobbish parents and marries her. They live a modest but happy life. And then she gets terminally ill.

But the movie is more than that. It as an artifact of its time. This was 1970, the Beatles had split, the 1960's had gone all wrong, the dream of Woodstock was destroyed by the reality of Altamont, Kent State and the Vietnam War. It must have been a pretty depressing time. And here was this, boy meets girl story with a sappy ending. A reassuring movie for a restless, insecure time.