the extraordinary in the ordinary

A few months back I was browsing books at Borders when I came across a collection of short stories by Raymond Carver. I had heard of him, but had not read anything by him. So right there I read one of his short stories. And I fell in love with his writing. I took the book home and actually read the book slowly, savoring each word and loving every story. His world was one of normal, everyday people. No one was extraordinary or did anything extraordinary. The beauty of his tales was that in his tale of simple, ordinary people he created magic. I am in awe of how he did it.

So this week I bought at Borders a DVD of "Short Cuts', a Robert Altman film that takes Carver's world to the screen. And it is such a wonderful movie. It is a tale of various people in LA and how they deal with, well, the everyday. It is such an intelligently done movie with none of the corny things that were present in something like "Crash". This movie is 3 hours long and yet, it leaves you wanting more. I am in awe of how Altman did it.

Unfortunately, both Carver and Altman have passed away. It would have been amazing to have seen another Carver set of stories brought to the movies by Altman. But, still, we have this masterpiece of a movie. We should be thankful for that.

college fund raising

When will my old alma mater realize that I am never going to be sending them money?
I have been ignoring their mailings for 25 years. It’s not like I am suddenly going to change my mind and become a part of the alumni drive. I have my reasons for not sending them money. Some having to do with the lousy way students were treated there. Some having to do with the extremist political ideology that permeates the place. Some having to do with the fact that I rather give my money to more worthwhile causes.

But still, every 3 months the envelope is there in my mailbox. And five minutes later it’s in my trash can.

thoughts

The days seem to be going by faster than ever. It’s already mid-November. I have been working freelance for half a year ever since I was laid off in May. I seem to be very happy about this way of working. I am meeting new people, working on different accounts. When I have days off, I have my own routine. I write, take some photos, have a cup of coffee at Starbucks while browsing the Net. Spend a morning at Borders before the crowds go in. Watch movies. Study movies. Read. I call friends for lunch. I am never bored. There was a world out there that I was not enjoying because of the ridiculous hours in the advertising industry.

When work comes along, I am happy about it. I go to the agency or company and work.
If I like the place, great. If I don’t, it’s alright…I work there for a few days, get my money and leave. No commitment. It’s a nice deal.

I have been traveling a lot these past months. I have been to France, Mallorca, Madrid, Boston, the Berkshires, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine. I have seen truly beautiful places. I have enjoyed the wonderful colors of autumn for the first time in 24 years.

Not bad, not bad at all.

“THE GUMBALL RALLY” DILEMMA

When I was in high school I had a friend who was obsessed with cars. This obsession translated into many instances of reckless driving that placed out lives at risk and to taking our group of pals to movies about people obsessed with, well, cars.

Of course, he dragged us to the Paramount theater in Santurce to see “The Gumball Rally”, a movie about an illegal cross-country race. It featured then cool guy (I guess) Michael Sarrazin and an unknown actor called Raul Julia. I remember kind of liking the movie, but I don’t recall whether I really did or if I was just being nice to my friend.

Thanks to the magic of DVD I was able to see this movie again 34 years later and decide for myself. And here’s my verdict.
1. It is a fun movie if you keep your expectations low. Very low.
2. Raul Julia shows his star quality really early in his career. He steals the movie as an egotistical, incredibly self-absorbed Italian driver.
And finally, the movie is better than its rip-off, Burt Reynolds’ “Cannonball Run”, which is, of course, no great accomplishment.

Still I am not sure how I feel about it. Maybe because time has made me nostalgic about movies of the 1970’s. But mostly, because it reminds me of my teenage days and of my long lost friend.

On reunions

My high school class has a Facebook group. And it has been interesting to see how people who had not seen each other for 30 years suddenly reunited online. For a few days, everyone exchanged memories of that teacher, or that student. It was a fun, touching experience. But suddenly everyone stopped writing.

And it has been the same with friends that one sees again after many years. One runs into them at the mall, one asks about a couple of common old friends and one says “Bueno verte.” With the promise, of course, of “meeting for lunch.” And one goes on with life.

It seems that both online and in real life, there is only so much one can talk with old friends and acquaintances. There are the old stories, the old memories, the common friends. But the truth is we have grown apart irremediably. We can talk for a few minutes. But that’s it. We have moved on and made a new life, new friends. The past is nice , but the idea of rekindling old friendships is unrealistic. Like Paul McCartney once said about the Beatles getting back together, “You can’t reheat a soufflé”. Well, actually, you can try, but one should always be ready for disappointment.

Remembering all who died…

From photos taken during my visit to Normandy, France this past June 5th.

Home movies and more

Anyone remember Super-8 movies? This was the film format used for taking home movies. It worked just like regular film used in motion pictures but had a lower quality and resolution. Parents used to buy a Super 8 camera and shoot birthdays, trips and all that sort of thing. Kids, well, we used to shoot movies with them. Because the fact is that many kids and teenagers had a lot of fun with those cameras and one could even edit the material (cutting it literally). In high school, some friends and I shot a movie in which our high school principal (we shot her footage secretly) was in reality a serial killer. It was 15 minutes long and a lot of fun to make.

Well, some people took the “let’s all make a movie” concept one step further and shot what is basically a monster home movie with some cool stop animation and titled it “ The Equinox”. A producer bought the film and added more footage and released it to theaters as “Equinox”. It’s a truly unique story and DVD distributor Criterion Collection, known for artsy fare, gave it a two DVD royal treatment.

It is truly an enjoyable experience. It includes both versions of the movie, interviews, other projects by the teenagers that made the movie. There is something very unique here.
It’s a DVD to see on a Saturday afternoon, while enjoying a few soft drinks and plenty of popcorn.

Order it from Netflix. Or catch the theatrical version that is playing on Showtime these days. But with that version you miss most of the fun that is included in the Criterion release.

Prime Cut

One of the great things about DVD is that you can discover forgotten movies. And this weekend I discovered a great one. It's called "Prime Cut" starring Lee Marvin, Gene Hackman and Sissy Spacek. It's one of those movies that could only have been made in 1972. It's a gangster movie set in America's Heartland. And it's central message is expressed in an exchange between Marvin and Hackman " Humans, cattle...what's the difference?" "There is a difference.".

This is a terrific movie full of every un-PC thing you can imagine. The movie begins with titles imposed over scenes showing you how cattle are killed and turned into ground beef. It has violence, nudity and a total sense of nihilism that is hard to match. And the idea of setting the movie in Missouri showed the dark side of small towns way before David Lynch made "Blue Velvet".

Lee Marvin is amazing as a paid Mafia man (the good guy here!), Gene Hackman is great as the mand running a cattle operation and a prostitution ring and Spacek (in her film debut) is touching as an innocent Midwestern girl forced into becoming a prostitute.

I loved this movie.

Remembering "American Graffiti"

Before he destroyed serious American cinema with “Star Wars” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, George Lucas was a director of small movies. Like people such as Peter Bogdanovich, Brian De Palma and William Friedkin, Lucas was a child of early 1970’s American cinema that sought to create more personal movies.

His first hit was an interesting nostalgic look at the rituals of “Pre-Beatle” American youth called “American Graffiti”. It was a movie that basically took place in one night and in it we see the lives of different teenagers cruising the streets in search of fun, booze, romance, sex.

In this movie we see many actors that were later to be pop culture favorites such as Richard Dreyfuss, Harrison Ford, Ron Howard, Susanne Sommers, McKenzie Phillips, Kathleen Quinlan, Kay Lenz and many others. It is light movie full of great songs. It is a look at the United States before Vietnam. It portrays an era innocence that will never occur again. It is a funny, sad, wonderful film. A small, quiet movie from a director that would never make a small, quiet movie again.

“American Graffiti” played at the old Cinerama theater in San Juan and is now playing on premium cable this month along with its forgotten sequel “More American Graffiti” which takes a look at the late 1960’s and which Lucas did not direct.

a great Tuesday

It was a night to remember. Locally, Luis Fortuno won by a landslide, freeing Puerto Rico from the inept hands of Anibal Acevedo Vila. And in the mainland, Barrack Obama won easily, freeing the United States from the inept hands of the right wing.

In both cases, people voted for change. For 8 years, Puerto Rico had suffered from two administrations that were unable to face up to the economic problems facing the island. In the last 4 years, we were lead by an erratic, lying governor who would do anything to save his skin. He created terror in the private sector by his constant shifting when it came to taxes and by his willingness to support extremist groups looking to paralyze the economy through illegal acts. He was also willing to lead the island into a collision course with the U.S., just to get some support for his criminal trial. Stability is the most important thing for an economic system to succeed and Acevedo Vila was instability personified.

Now we are going to be lead by an intelligent, resourceful governor. A PNP governor who has transcended the old image of PNP as close minded people and who is willing to reach out to others. A person with a stable sense of what he wants to achieve.

In the US. Well, we all had to fight tears when we saw the tv screens last night. We were looking at a great moment in history. The era of the United States as the bigoted bully is over. The United States showed the world that it is a more open nation than people thought. That it is embarrassed for the last 8 years and wants to begin again. The whole world is watching and dreaming.

a movie that challenges you (imagine that)

We have reached the point in movies and literature in which every movie or book has to have one interpretation. It seems popular art has lost its ability to leave doors open to many explanations. This was going through my mind as I watching Ingmar Bergman's "Persona" the other day. Here is a movie that like "2001" lets the spectator create his or her own explanation of the events just witnessed. And, even though it takes some effort one can enjoy that type of movie or book.

Effort. Maybe that's the word. We want our pop culture to be easy to digest. To be simple. Good guy. Bad guy. CGI. The End. Your mind at rest. Your expectations at ease. Movies are things to escape to. My life is complex so my my movies have to be simple and reassuring.

"Persona" is a movie that makes us realize that there was a time when movies wanted to challenge an audience. Young people used to seek out these movies. The youth culture wanted the offbeat, the strange. Today the are looking forward to "Transformers 2".

So I am glad to have seeing this movie. And kind of sad that movies like these will never happen again.

When baseball mattered (to me)

It’s interesting to see how meaningless the World Series has become in my life. I barely watched an inning of this year’s Fall Classic. But there was a time when I wouldn’t miss a game. In fact, when I was a boy, my grades would fall dramatically during those days.
It was the time of daytime World Series, when I used to get home just in time for the start of the game. It was the days of the Orioles (my favorite team then) and Frank Robinson, Boog Powell, Brooks Robinson, Elrod Hendricks, Jim Palmer. It was the days of the Big Red Machine with Tony Perez, Johnny Bench, Pete Rose. Of the Pirates and Clemente, Stargell and Sanguillen. The World Series was a wonderful event before TV ratings decided that games would begin at 8pm and made it impossible for kids to see the whole game. Suddenly it didn’t matter anymore.

My father’s neighborhood theater.

This is a photo of the old Fox theater in Miramar. I never saw this old neighborhood theater, located next to the Lourdes gothic Church in Ponce De León, close to the old Fine Arts theater. It was torn down many years ago.

But my father did see it. This was the place where on Saturday afternoosn he used to watch serials, newsreels, westerns and adventure movies. Four hours of fun every Saturday for maybe twenty five cents. Must have been quite a time.

Shivers/ They Came from Within

This being Halloween season I keep going back to old horror movies. Especially strange ones I saw as a kid. Which brings me to a “They Came from Within” (AKA: “Shivers”). I saw this movie at the Regency theater in Fernandez Juncos in Santurce, Puerto Rico. At the time, I loved watching B horror movies and the poster for the movie made it clear that we were in B movie territory. It featured a woman in a bathtub being attacked by a strange creature. This meant two things, the movie had gore and the movie had nudity. A fun time was surely guaranteed.

I’m not sure what friend went to see this movie with me. But I imagined he must have been very bored to accept seeing a movie like this. But at the end of the movie, he must have agreed that this was a great one.

I didn’t know at the time that this was a movie by David Cronenberg, a director who would gain great fame in the 1980’s and 1980’s for movies such as “Scanners”, “ Videodrome” and in the 2000’s for the excellent “A History of Violence” and “Eastern Promises”. But what I realized then was that this was a terrific movie.

In an isolated apartment building in Canada a scientist was doing experiments which resulted in creating a virus that would make people lose all inhibitions, especially sexual ones. The virus begins spreading one night throughout the building, creating all kinds of mayhem. And this being a Cronenberg film and this being the 1970’s, anything was possible. No taboos went unexplored.

The movie featured Barbara Steele in a small role. She had gained some cult fame because of some horror movies she made in the 1960’s, but I was unaware of that at the time. It also featured a quirky looking actress called Lynn Lowry (see photo), who I considered to be extremely sexy. I had seen her in some other B movies and always found her to be beautiful in an odd sort of way. Actually that could be a topic for a separate blog entry.

So, all in all, this was a fun movie. And a couple of years ago I saw it on DVD and had a great time. It still holds up as a good horror flick. I may see it again these days. And I recommend it to people looking for a strange, no holds barred horror flick. It occasionally plays on Showtime and the Movie Channel on cable tv. Check it out or rent it. You’ll be glad you did.

Remembering "Carrie"

If you were a teenager in the 1970's, "Carrie" was a movie you never forget. I certainly never did. I remember a group from school went to see on a Friday afternoon. It played in the Puerto Rico theater in Santurce. In those days, one screen theaters like the norm and you would wait outside in the lobby to wait for the previous show to end. While waiting one would look at the lobby cards and the various posters for upcoming attractions. While doing so with a group of friends, we suddenly heard the biggest audience scream I have witnessed in my life. Two minutes later, hundreds of people left the theater, laughing, excited. Everyone waiting to get in was wondering what all the screaming was all about.

So we went in. The movie begins with a volleyball game and then the titles appear over scenes of the young women in their locker room. This was a scene that a teenager can never forget. There was nudity everywhere, there was Nancy Allen completely nude, Amy Irving in only underwear. You inmediately knew that anything could happen in this movie. And th movie does eliver some amazing shocks, including the final shock that made everybody jump out of their seats. It is still the most memorable jolt one can experience in a horror movie. No scene has ever made me feel that way.

I had not seen "Carrie" in years. But yesterday I decided to watch the DVD. First thing, the locker room scene is still as memorable. In a way, it looks more daring today since nudity has all but disappear from multiplex screens, replaced by gore and extreme violence. The shocks are still there but, with age, one notices different things. First, one can appreciate the cruelty that was inherent in the world of high school. even though life can always be cruel, nothing can be as cruel as high school. For some reason, those years bring out the worst in people. And "Carrie" certainly shows that. Second, one sees life's ironies in realizing what happened to many of the actors in the movie. John Travolta and Sissy Spacek went on to become stars, William Kaat ended up in awful movies, Amy Irving married Steven Spielberg , but her career went nowhere.

Finally, there's the ending. I knew it was coming and it brought back so many memories of that Friday afternoon at the Puerto Rico. But it did not make me jump. Unfortunately, things like that only work once in a lifetime. And in a dark movie theater. Especially on a Friday afternoon with friends.

Bad movies we love

What is it about bad movies we saw as kids that make them so fascinating? When I was maybe 8 years old I went to the Metro theater with my parents to see this terrible movie called "Wicked, Wicked". It was a standard serial killer movie with a great twist (at least for an 8 year old)..it was in "Duo Vision" which basically meant that the screen was splt in half and you would be seeing two different actions in each one. Usually this consisted of the killer on one half of the screen and the potential victim in the other.

This movie, released my MGM, has never received a DVD or VHS release...so I had not seen it since 1969. This all changed last weekend when wonderful Turner Classic Movies showed it as part of their TCM Underground movie series. And I must admit I enjoyed it so much. It was tacky, the acting was awful...but it was strangely fascinating. It seemed like a cinematic experiment in which the filmakers decided halfway through that it wouldn't work and just said "let's have some fun."

The movie also has Tiffany Bolling, one of those so 1960's sexy movie actresses that triggered my childhood's fantasies. So that made it even more interesting to watch.

All ina ll, a fun time.

Double Feature

Last week I bought a couple of old horror DVDs at Best Buy that featured old fashioned Double Features. Since we are in Hallloween season I thought it would be fun to see some not so classic horror flicks. So this weekend I did a Double Feature of " The Shuttered Room" and "It!". And I have to admit that it was a lot of fun. "Shuttered Room" is another variation on the old "who's in the attic?" theme. It features Carol Lynley, Gig Young and Oliver Reed. Very 1960's.
"It" is a retelling a the old Hebrew folk tale of The Golem. It stars Roddy McDowell in one of his many "strange young man" roles. It is totally ridiculous, but very entertaining.
The other Double Feature DVD I bought was " Chamber of Horrors" and "Brides of Fu Manchu". I'll leave that treat for later on this week.

On vacations

I have been noticing that as years pass by, one's idea of a great vacation change. In my 20's when I had my vacation days I would choose wild places like Club Med(back when it was a single's paradise). I remember those vacations in Martinique and Cancun very well. It was all about the fun and the drink and the potential for sex. After all, Club Med in the late 1980's was a place in which there was practically no one over 30 there.

So, by magic, when I hit 30...it was goodbye Club Med, hello Miami. It was still a fun, sexy place, but certainly more organized and interesting than a simple resort. It was adult. Yes, it was more adult. I had grown a bit.

When I hit 40, I wanted to go to cities. So it was New York...museums. Good dining became important so going to cool restaurants became a must. Yes, the good life. Maybe catch a play on Broadway. Love the cities now.

After 45, well, I have been to France. Talk about sophistication. Went to Bordeaux, Paris, Normandy. Saw the beauty. Drank the good wine. Went to the museums. Sat in a Paris cafe and watched people go by. Heaven.

Now I'm going to a forest during autumn to simply watch the colors. Just that. To see the beauty of autumn after so many years of seeing it in college and not really appreciating it. And I'm looking forward to that. To nature, to beauty.
To a change of seasons that shows very clearly the change in me.

Mozart: better than Prozac

More and more I am using music as a kind of relaxation therapy. I put on the headphones, close my eyes and I do a 45 minute escape. And frankly, the music I am using for this is the kind of silly looking CD's that feature classical music. These days it's "Mozart for Massage". Last week it was "Bach for Relaxation". I can imagine classical music fans being outraged at this kind of use of classical music. But I love it. For a few minutes I listen to this music and everything is fine. Better than Prozac. Better than so many things that ruin your health. Put on some "Chopin at Midnight" and all destructive thoughts just dissappear.

The Swiss Chalet, the Under the Trees. Some memories.

I am dedicating these two photos to my parents. They show two places from their youth. Places where they got together to talk, to have something to eat, perhaps have a soda. They were both located in Condado in De Diego Street in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The Under the Trees was a restaurant that specialized in sandwiches, chicken wings. It was the Dunbar's of the 1950's. I remember going there, but it was no longer a popular place.
The Swiss Chalet was a special restaurant. They had the best tasting bolitas de queso in the world. I remember going there on Sundays with my whole family. My parents, my grandparents, aunts, uncles. And after having lunch we would sometimes go to catch a movie at The Riviera theater. located around the corner. It was such a wonderful time in my life. There was something so reassuring about having everyone I loved together in one place. Now most of them are gone. But as I write this I am remembering them. Keeping them alive through my thoughts. And recalling small moments that will never happen again.

back to work

Tomorrow I am going back to freelancing at an agency. A small miracle in a way. These are tough economic times and very few places are looking for freelancers. But thanks to Facebook I was able to get a two week gig. And one that involves working until 4pm only. Which is wonderful. I will leave work while the sun is still out. Now that's a miracle.

box office karma

Seven years ago, my favorite movie theater, The Riviera in Calle Loiza, was torn down. Here is a photo of the old box office before the destruction. In its place stand two towers that have been a financial disaster. Karma indeed.

A taste of happiness

As summer of 2008 fades into history, I am re-reading a book about the wonders of that season. It's "Dandelion Wine" by Ray Bradbury. The author is best know for his sci-fi classics such as "The Martian Chronicles" and "Fahrenheit 451 (not so much fiction anymore in this world of Sarah Palin and her library censorship ways).

But this book is different. It is a summer tale full of whim and magic. It takes place in the summer of 1927 in a small town in the United States. We meet different characters and many small things happen. Small things that show us that what is significant in life is not the big moments, but the small ones. In this book happiness is anywhere, even in the simple joy of drinking a glass of dandelion wine.

Reading this book, one enters a world of good, decent people. A place of magic. But it is magic far different from the one in Garcia Marquez's world. This is a place one would love to visit. Because it reminds one that sometimes people can be good. That good things can happen. That sometimes all one needs to be happy is a bit of refreshing, sweet dandelion wine.

Three Comrades

A few years ago I decided to re-read Erich Maria Remarque's "All Quiet in the western Front". I enjoyed the experience so much i decided to read some of his lesser known works. And they are truly remarkable books. One of those I read was "Three Comrades", a book about 3 friends trying to survive in the tough years following the First World War.

I had no idea that a movie had been based on that novel. So it was really interesting to tune in Turner Classic Movies and see it.
And it truly is a good movie. Not suprisingly, the movie tones down on the politics present in the book and tends to concentrate on the friendship between the 3 comrades and the ill fated love affair of one of them with a woman stricken with TB. Still, it's remarkable movie, considering it was made in 1938, when the US still mantained a certain neutrality towards Nazi Germany.

A wonderful find indeed.

When cool chicks ruled the earth

A month ago one of my childhood's favorite movies finally arrived on DVD. It's "When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth". I remember reading about the movie on Famous Monsters magazine and seeing the photos of the cool dinosaurs and the incredibly beautiful Victoria Vetri. I could not wait to see the movie. Unfortunately in those days, movies took about six months after their US premiere to get to local theaters. So I waited patiently.

Until finally I saw the poster on the Puerto Rico movies theater in Santurce. And it was more than a poster, it was a huge cutout showing amazing Ms, Vetri and the dinosaurs. That first weekend it played, I was there with a couple of friends. And I loved the movie. I think I probably saw it again at a double feature.

Seeing it again, I can understand why I liked it so much. The effects are very good for its time. The movie was fun and fast paced. But I also see that part of the appeal was watching Victoria Vetri. I was 9 years old and discovering the beauty and appeal of women. So, in a way, she was my first movie crush. Yes, that was it. And looking at her so many years later, I must admit I had pretty good taste.

This movie is shown for the first time in its original, uncut version featuring some nudity. A nice extra that the 9 year old who saw it at the Puerto Rico theater would have loved.

high school reunions

Next year marks the 30th anniversary of my graduation from High School. I didn't go to my 10th and 20th reunion parties. Somehow I didn't feel like seeing people from that period of my life. I was never part of the cool group there. My friends and I were the under the radar crowd. So I had no sense of nostalgia that would drive me to one of these events. The few people from high school that I cared about, I would occasionally see here and there. The rest, well, I didn't care much about them.

Then something interesting happened this year. I went to my niece's high school graduation and somehow felt a sense of nostalgia about the old high school. I sang the school song and for a few minutes felt part of the whole place. I never thought I would feel like that.

Now, I'm part of my class Facebook group and I'm seriously considering attending the event, especially if some of my old friends living in the Mainland decide to attend. 30 years down the road, I finally feel at ease with my high school years. Took me a while, I know. But better late than never.

Remembering the Cinerama

The Cinerama theater in San Juan, Puerto Rico was one of my favorite movie theaters when I was a kid. It's curved screen and spectacular achitecture made it a special place to watch movies. The Cinerama specialized in showing epic movies, but even the cheapest exploitation movies (and they ocassionally showed those), looked great on the giant screen.

One reason I am posting about the Cinerama is that this week a special edition of the movie "How the West Was Won" appeared on DVD. This was the first movie shown at the Cinerama way back in 1962. It was also the first real movie shown in the Cinerama process which featured three projectors showing the movie at the same creating, creating an effect which made scenery even more real than today's IMAX. Unfortunately, the cost of making movies and the fact that only a few theaters in the world could show real Cinerama made it unprofitable and Cinerama died.

So it is interesting to think that San Juan was one of the few cities in the world with a Cinerama theater. I was too young to see "How the West was Won" there, but I remember seeing " Reds" and "Krakatoa, East of Java" there. Unfortunately, the Cinerama, like most Santurce theaters became a victim of the urban decay and crime ridden 1980's and it closed. I was able to take a photo of it before it became a carpet store. A carpet store, What a sad ending to one of San Juan's most special, magical places.

Vicki Cristina Barcelona

Maybe I have been concentrating too much on movies I saw as a kid. So it's time to comment on recent movies I've seen and liked. "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" is the new Woody Allen movie. It is not advertised as an Allen movie I guess because people these days have a negative attitude towards his movies. Which is a real shame. Because even a bad Allen movies is more intelligent and better than 99% of the trash that clogs the multiplexes. But such is life in movieland these days.

Which does not mean this is a bad Woody Allen movies. This is one of the really good ones. It's fun, it is witty, it is very sexy without being explicit about it. Even though Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz and Scarlett Johansson get all the headlnes, it actually Rebecca Hall as Vicki that makes this movies special. Her low key performance is truly wonderful.

So go ahead, enjoy a movie about romance, love, Spanish guitar music and Barcelona. You cant go wrong with it

a 10 year old again

One of the wonders of the DVD era is that once again one can enjoy the movies one saw as a boy. And with my new LCD I can see them even better than I did when I saw them on the local movie house. Which takes me to one of my favorite movies as a child.

I saw "Journey to the Far Side of the Sun" at the old Cortes I theater in Miramar back in 1970 in a double feature. I remember being blown away by it. I may have even seeing it twice. And now I can see why. This was way back when the Space Age was at its peak. The Apollo 11 had just landed on the moon. And boys everywhere were obsessed with anything dealing with space. Then this movie comes along full of cool gadgets, showing how life could be a century from 1970, although people dressed in cool 1960's clothes.

The plot is this. An astronaut travels to a just discovered planet on the far side of the sun. But when he gets there he finds out the planet is a mirror image of the sun. Which means that when gets there, to him watches work the other way around. He is completely disoriented because everything is a mirror image. It's a pretty cool concept.

I loved seeing this movie again in my big LCD. The colors are cool, the gadgets are pretty silly now, but still...this is a pretty interesting movie. Especially if you spend an afternoon at the Cortes 38 years ago.

these days

I have been out of work for quite a while. I did work freelance for a month and a half, but things have been pretty quiet. These are tough times for the advertising industry and tougher for a 47 year old copywriter in an industry that only wants young people. So I have been back to basics, trying to create a portfolio and all that. I have also been given a chance to see this a sort of sabbatical in which I have been able to relax, read, meditate, exercise and watch movies on my new LCD.
So I am enjoying myself. I am relaxed. After 22 years of almost non-stop stress....maybe it was all for the best.

here again

It's been quite a while since my last post. I bet nobody is visiting this site anymore. So here I am promising once again I will write.

travel

Estoy tan fuera de practica con esto de viajar. Llevo varios dias para aqui y para alla, pensando en cosas que debo llevar. Travel light, dammit. Si, pero y el I pod..y la Mac....la camara,,,,y todos sus cables? Travel light.

words and the past

I found some papers that I wrote 18 years ago. I had written them during a week at Club Med Cancun. I became sick during my stay there and had to stay a couple of days in my room. So I decided to write a short story, with a big element of autobiography in it. Well, let's just say I changed a few names here and there.

So today I began to read those 15 hand written pages again. They were full of "life is not fair" statements. Of self pity. Of expecting so much from life. It was interesting to note that I used to think like that. It was pretty awful writing, overall.

But it did feature a couple of paragraphs describing moments I had forgotten about. Small, joyful moments. Words spoken. Smiles exchanged. Two very good paragraphs that reminded me of days long past.

For a moment I thought whether to keep those papers or simply throw them away. It was tempting to simply say, "Forget it", that was the past.

They are still there in my drawer. Maybe I'll read them again in 20 years.

these days

My poor blog. Abandoned and forgotten. Its writer too tired after a day of work to write again. Well, I'm unemployed now so I have time. There days I've been so busy preparing for my three week trip that I haven't seen any movies on DVD. My Netflix movies lay there, forgotten too. These are days for zapping, watching Cubs games and listening to music. That's it.

hoy

Ayer estuve hablando con una amiga, analizando donde estoy. Pues, estoy en un buen lugar. Pronto un viaje y luego a ver que hago. Hacer mis trajetas, hacer mis llamadas y comenzar de nuevo. Pero cuanto me tire de nuevo al ruedo , no lo sé. Quizás sólo un poco. El tiempo dirá. Por ahora es pensar en comprar el convertidor de electricidad y ya. Ver cine. Ver a amigos. Y seguir.

unemployed diary

Yesterday I sat down at Starbucks to have a cup of coffee and browse the Net. It was a quiet moment. Somehow time went by slowly. I began to breathe normally. To feel at ease. I realized how badly I needed a break. It doesn't mean I am happy they fired me. I'm not. I would have preferred to have taken a few days off and then gone back to work. But it wasn't to be. I will miss all the fun of the place. The being there with people I really liked.
Anyway, at noon I was able to have lunch with a few of them. Which means that I may not be losing them after all.

losing my job

I lost my job yesterday. It was the usual thing. They call you over. They tell you the agency has lost too many accounts and that they have to let you go. after five years of hard work, of loyalty, of never taking fake sick days, of being there nights and weekends, well, nothing of that matters. You are a person wearing a salary on your forehead. And they want to save that money. That's it. Never forget that's all you are.

these days

I haven't written for a while. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's the fact that I've been concentrating in getting better physically and mentally. And I have been doing things like watching movies, reading and calling people up for lunch or dinner or a movie.
And it's been an interesting process since I'm not beginning to see positive results.

Creatively I have been more interested in photography than writing. Every Saturday morning I create a photo project. I go somewhere, a beach, a park, a city street and take photos of what I see around me. Then I work on those photos throughout the week: cropping them, working with colors, trying to create something interesting. For now, those photos are jsut for my creative satisfaction. Maybe one day if I get better I can exhibit them somewhere. For now they are simply in my drawer. And maybe a couple of them can find their way here in this blog.
Anyway, I want to write again. And I will. Promise.

porno

El otro dia me dio por ver una pelicula triple x en Video on demand de Onelink. Una de esas que consisten de 8 o 10 escenas de sexo y ya. Con estrellas porno generiacas. Rubas. Tetas hechas. Y con una actitud de aburrimiento increible. Nunca habia escuhado tanto gemido fingido en mi vida.

Lo que me hace recordar que hubo una época cuando no era así. Cuando el porn tenía grandes ambiciones de ser algo como cine underground. Eran las películas de los 70. Las de gente normal teniendo sexo. . Las de Seka, una rubia que realmente te hacia creeer que estaba disfrutándolo todo. Y las de Jeniffer Welles, una rubia con algunas libras de msá que era la favorita de los cines x de San Juan.

Y eso es otro tema que resultará extraño a los voyerus de hoy que ven porno en la privacidad de su casa. Antes habia que ir al cine para verlas. A cines como el Miramar, donde la gente de Miramar que firmaba peticiones anti-porno los domingos en la iglesia de Perpetuo iban ver película porn en la semana.

Era un mundo raro, prohibido. De "yo no diré que te vi aquí si tú no dices que me vistes aquí." Y en verdad era algo surreal, 100 o 200 seres, extremadamente bellacos, compartiendo una experiencia cinematográfica.

Y el silencio del lugar era aún mas extraño. Nadie hablaba. Nadie reía aun cuando el film tuviera humor. Todo el mundo estaba serio. Cada persona en su mundo de fantasias sexuales, pero rodeado de gente a la vez. Que raro, ¿no?

Man of the West

Sigo en mi descubrimiento de películas westerns. Y el sábado, un de esos días lluviosos, casi hechos para ver cine en casa, vi uno de los mejores ejemplos del género. Una de esas películas que tienen una trama sencilla (ex criminal huye de su pasado, pero inevitablemente el pasado se encuentra con él) que es casi una novela existencialista puesta en el oeste. Siendo Gary Cooper el protagonista, sabemos que se enfrentará valientemente y decentemente a todo.

En la película también aparece Julie London, una actriz que recuerdo de cuando niño de la serie "Emergencia" y que luego averigue también era una buena cantante de jazz. Y bueno, una mujer muy atractiva.

Existencialismo. Vaqueros. Gary Cooper. Julie London. Dirigida por Anthony Mann. Todo un clásico para un sábado por la tarde.

Sabrina

Me he dado cuenta que las mejores películas las ponen en los canales premium, bien temprano en la mañana. Hoy, aunque es sabado, me levanté a mi hora acostumbrada de las 7am. Prendí el televisor y comencé a buscar algo que ver mientras me desayunaba. Y en Cinemax estaba "Sabrina". Francamente había escuchado mucho de la película, pero nunca me había sentado a verla. Y bueno, su reputación como un clásico es justificada. Hay mucha magia en esta historia de dos magnates (Bogart y Holden) que están enamorados de la hija su chofer (Audrey Hepburn). Increíble poder mencionar tres nombres así en una película. Hoy en día una película tiene dos estrellas en su reparto. Pero en ese tiempo una película podía tener tres leyendas juntas. Y esas leyendas convierten una película en un clásico. Y, claro, el hecho de que fue dirigida por Billy Wilder ayuda un poco.

vuelvo a escribir

Había dejado un poco abandonado este blog. Pero, de pronto, tengo deseos de escribir. Y tengo temas y en el fin de semana me sentaré con mi café en mano...y comenzaré.

2008

Bueno, hoy es el último día del 2007. Y por un rato pensaba escribir algo mirando atrás a este año. Y luego, pensé que no quiero hacerlo. Quiero dejarlo ahí. Y comenzar el 2008. Y ver lo que pasa.

enfermo en dias de fiesta

Tengo la habilidad de enfermarme en fines de semana largos. No sé de donde viene ese magistral talento. Pero lo tengo. No puede ser pura casualidad que las dos mongas que le dan a uno anualmente siempre caigan en fines de semana largo. Lo gracioso es que ya varios días antes del fin de semana voy viendo como todo el mundo en el trabajo está enfermo. Fueron los afortunados que cogieron la monga en dia de semana. Pero yo no tendré esa suerte. Y empezaré a sentir los síntomas el viernes, para así estar jodido el fin de semana. Ni modo. A tomar agua y Tylenol.

nostalgia por lo malo

Es una de esas películas en las que un cientifico de NASA dice "Nothing happens around here." y de pronto se dan cuenta que un asteriode está a 10 horas de chocar con la tierra. Y la credibiidad va en descenso desde ahí. Esta terrible película japonesa era una de mis favoritas cuando tenía como 8-9 años. Lo que no me sorprende ya que el monstruo parece algo de la seri de TV Pufnstuf. Nunca ha salido en video, aunque debería ya que si vemos IMDB parece que tiene muchos fanáticos. Me alegra mucho que TCM la pusiera hace un par de semanas.

desde la caída

Hoy se cumplen tres meses desde que me caí y me lastimé la rodilla. Llevo tres meses con este lío. Me siento mejor que aquel primer día...y que aquel primer mes. Pero todo es tan lento. Cada día me levanto pensando que hoy es el dia en que la rodilla se va a sentir tan bien como antes. Pero no es así. Se siente más o menos igual que el dia anterior. Sólo al mirar uno o dos semanas atrás me doy cuenta que en realidad ha mejorado. Pero todo es tan lento que el cambio no se nota día a día.

Mi mente está mejor que aquel primer mes donde pensaba que todo se me venía encima. He logrado echar a un lado la mayoria de los pensamientos negativos. Ahí noto una gran diferencia.Y hago lo que me dice la siquiatra y trato de concentrarme en otras cosas. En mi trabajo, mi familia, mis amigos. En los libros, en el cine, en mis escritos.

Tres meses. Wow. Y me imagino lo que falta.

ya es Navidad

Para mí, la Navidad no comienza el día de Thanksgiving. Ni el día cuando se escucha musica navideña en la radio. No. La Navidad comienza la noche cuando aparece "A Charlie Brown Christmas" en televisión. Esa noche me siento frente a la tele y dejo que la magia de Peanuts me transporte a la Navidad. Me río de nuevo con Lucy y Charlie Brown. Disfruto la música de Vince Giraldi. Se me forma un nudo en la garganta en la escena donde todos se burlan del arbolito feo y se me aguan los ojos cuando el arbolito se transforma uno frondoso.

Es un ritual que llevo haciendo hace más de 30 años, desde que por primera vez vi este especial, en aquel tiempo cuando cable tv consistía de dos canales. Hacía una alto en mis años de universidad en Minnesota para ir a mi cuarto y verlo. Y, bueno, sigo viéndolo año tras año.

Y es que hay una simpleza y unos buenos sentimientos en este especial. Como si hubiera estado escrito no tanto por alguien con mucho talento, pero más por alguien que es una buena persona. Alguien que cree en la Navidad. Alguien que sabe que la verdadera Navidad se trata de los amigos, de la familia y de la esperanza que nuestro mundo puede ser mejor. Alguien que reconoce que la idea que dentro de cada arbolito triste hay uno grande, frondoso y maravilloso listo para salir, sigue viva Navidad tras Navidad.

ayer escuche a Mario Lanza

Cuando era niño siempre escuchaba a mis abuelos hablar de un tenor llamado Mario Lanza. Según ellos, no había una voz tan maravillosa como la de él. Como era de imaginar, no me interesaba mucho conocerlo. Ese tipo de música no era muy atractiva para un niño mas interesado en discos de los Monkees. Pero siempre me acordaba de ese nombre: Mario Lanza.

Pues ayer gracias a la magia de Turner Classic Movies y el DVR, pude verlo en su película más famosa :"The Great Caruso". Uno de esos magníficos musicales biográficos de la Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer que, en realidad, no tenían nada de biografía real y mucho de gran imaginación. No eran basados en la realidad, pero no importaba por lo entretenidos que eran.

El punto es que puedo entender porque mis abuelos hablaban tan bien de Lanza. Tenía una gran voz y una gran presencia. Y, en realidad, fue el primer tenor que trató de llevar la ópera a las masas. Mucho antes que Los Tres Tenores.

Y, bueno, la película es maravillosa. Lo es. Como sólo pueden ser los musicales de la MGM. A veces pienso que son la cura para cualquier depresión o ansiedad. ¿Quien necesita Zoloft cuando está Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Fred Astaire y Mario Lanza?

fotos viejas

El otro día una tía me dió unas fotos viejas de la familia. Y vi a mi abuelo frente a un carro en los años 1920. Y lo vi junto a mi en 1969 en un domingo de esos que íbamos al Parque de las Palomas. Vi una foto de mi abuela tomada en los años 20 también. Y otra junto a mi en su casa. Habían fotos de abuelos, tío abuelos. Todo un mundo que ya desapareció por completo. Ellos se fueron con los años, uno a uno. Y sólo quedan estas viejas fotos para probar que pasaron por aquí.

Vi también fotos mías cuando era niño. En cumpleaños, en reuniones familiares. Siempre saliá sonriendo y mirando a la cámara de manera juguetona. Y de pronto, me dí cuenta que ese niño también había desaparecido en su manera. El niño que veía todo con ilusión convertido en un hombre de mediana edad, que no ríe tanto. Que a veces pierde la ilusión. Que necesita ir a siquatras para hacer algún sentido de la vida. El niño ya no existe. Sólo quedan unas viejas fotos para probar que pasó por aquí.

La salvacion de Hollywood

Se me había olvidado lo que era ir al cine y ver un thriller inteligente. Uno que me mantuviera adivinando. Que no me dejara saber lo que va suceder desde el primer minuto. Que maravilla encontrarme con una película como "Michael Clayton". Un film lleno de excelentes actuaciones y que te trata como un adulto.
Me recuerda mucho las películas de los 1970 como "All The President's Men" Y "The Paralllax View". George Clooney se ha convertido en alguien muy importante en el cine americano. Un actor que está dispuesto a hacer películas inteligentes, bien actuadas y entretenidas a la vez. Algo que ya nadie trata de hacer. Clooney es la última esperanza de Hollywood. Deberían darle todos los Oscares del mundo.

de sueños y otras cosas

Hacía tiempo que una película no me hacía soñar cosas extrañas. Y más sorprendente aún que fuera una película que vi cuando adolescente y que pensé que era una basura. De pronto anoche la pusieron en Cinemax y me acosté en la cama a verla. La película es sobre una modelo que se muda a un apartamento en Brooklyn y comienza a conocer a sus extraños vecinos. Pero resulta que esos vecinos...realmente no existen..o es...que...

Ok. Suena corny. Pero la película tiene una secuencia de sueño y un final que es de lo mas incómodo que he visto (estilo película "Freaks"). Tengo el presentimiento que eso fue lo que me hizo tener sueños raros.

Me imagino que la seguirán dando en Cinemax en estos días. La recomiendo, pero no para ver justamente antes de dormir.

hacia el oeste

Ayer un amigo me trajo de España un libro sobre "westerns". Y por supuesto, anoche estuve leyéndolo. Es interesante ver una perspectiva europea de algo tan realmente americano como ese género. Y me di cuenta que un tema sale una y otra vez. El tema de los grandes espacios que vemos en esas películas. Para alguien en Europa esos espacios vaciós de Arizona, Nuevo Méjico, ese Monument Valley tan vasto, tiene que ser tan atractivo. Allá no hay espacios así. Espacios que dan la impresión de que hay lugar para todo el mundo. Que el mundo no es una ciudad ampiñada de gente.

Quizás me pasa lo mismo. Viviendo en una isla pequeña y sobrepoblada, hay algo en los grandes espacios que me atrae. Cuando visité Arizona quedé maravillado con el lugar. No todo son tapones y peleas por espacios para estacionar. Hay otro mundo.

Y quizás por eso, cada vez más me gustan los westerns. Hay espacio. Hay un mundo si sigues hacia el oeste. Hay esperanza.

pasos

Hace años leí un famoso libro Zen escrito por un monje vietnamita. El libro se llamaba "Peace in Every Step". Una de las leccioones, bueno más bien la lección principal, era la idea de apreciar cada paso que uno daba en la vida. Estar "mindful" del presente. Darse cuenta de que cada momento y cada paso era algo maravilloso. En estos días me he acordado de ese libro que debe estar escondido en algún closet de mi apartamento.
Y es que ahora cada paso es importante. Por primera vez estoy consciente de cómo camino. Quizás demasiado consciente, según mi terapista. Ella me sugiere olvidarme de cada paso y no pensar en caminar, simplemente hacerlo. "Mira arriba, no mires el piso, no te mires lo pies." me dice.
Quizás es que todavía tengo "Fear in Every Step". Miedo de caerme. Miedo de dar un mal paso.Miedo de estar tirado en el piso como en aquel viernes.
Caminar, algo tan automático, ahora es algo diferente. Es una batalla de cuerpo y mente.

Adiós a Moti.

Anoche murió Moti, la gatita de mis padres. Tenía como 17 años, estaba cieguita, pero era todo un personaje. Hace todos esos años se apareció por casa de mis padres y fue adoptada. Ya en la casa había otra gata, Sol. Y bueno sus batallas por el territorio eran extensas y Moti siempre perdía. Siempre se rendía. Era la pacifista de la casa.La eterna "underdog" siempre a la sombra de la otra gata.

Moti era arisca y no muy simpática. De pronto, cuando Sol murió, se convirtió en la gata más simpática y cariñosa. Era como si nunca podía expresarse porque la otra gata era la dueña de la casa. Y por dos años se ganó a todo el mundo con sus cariños y ocurrencias. Hasta el miércoles cuando de pronto no podía caminar.

Vas a hacer falta Moti.

imágenes de una tarde hace tanto tiempo

Hay imágenes que se quedan con uno. Y una de ellas viene de una película que vi cuando niño. Pero no era una imagen de una película infantil. Provenía de una película que vi, si me acuerdo bien. en un doble programa en el teatro Grand de la Calle Loíza. Me acuerdo que no entendía nada de lo que sucedía en el film. Era una historia de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, demasiado complicada para un niño de 7 ó 8 años. Pero siempre se me quedó grabada una secuencia en la cual un pueblo completo decide esconder el vino del pueblo de los Nazis. Era una secuencia maravillosa, llena de vida. O por lo menos eso me pareció hace tanto tiempo.

No he visto esa película desde entonces. Creo que nunca estuvo en VHS o en DVD. Pero mañana por la noche Turner Classic Movies la pone a las 9:30pm. La pondré a grabar en el DVR ya que temo estar cansado el viernes por la noche y no poder disfrutarla de una manera completa. Espero poder verla el sábado por la tarde. En la tarde, como posiblemente la vi hace 38 años en el pequeño Teatro Grand.

Me estoy volviendo un nostálgico. Lo sé. Pero, realmente no me importa.