The Five-Year Engagement

Well I haven't written in a while. So much for keeping promises. I guess most people don't keep their promises why should I keep one I make for myself? Well... one reason is because I'm not like everyone else.  Going back to not writing, I guess I've been busy with a lot of stuff, specially a premiere of a feature I was in charge of which kept me up at night worried that I would mess it up because it was all my responsibility. Apparently, when I don't sleep well and when I'm too stressed it's hard for me to write.

Anyhow, going back to writing on my blog and starting back up with a so-so movie, The Five Year Engagement. (IMDB) First of all, before I go into technical specs about production, cast and crew etc, I must say that it is appropriately titled because it felt like The Five Hour Movie. Then I found out that it actually lasts 124 minutes!!! (124 minutes?!?! yikes!!!) That is quite long for a romantic comedy. Specially a rom-com that isn't edgy or new in its perspective nor is it independent. It really did feel like it lasted 5 hours, I guess because that's how the characters felt after been engaged for five years? Movie fatigue, anyone? Engagement fatigue? If that was the Director's (Nicholas Stoller) purpose, then he achieved it. I'm surprised this movie was so slow and predictable, specially after seeing Nicholas Stoller's resume. (And also because it was produced by Judd Apatow. I guess he can't make a hit out of everything!!) Stoller directed and wrote a movie I really liked - Get Him to the Greek- which I found marvelously funny. He also directed Forgetting Sarah Marshall which I love because of its principal character's quirkiness and its great realism about relationships. Stoller co-wrote FYE with Jason Segel who also plays one of the principal characters. I guess Jason Segel can't make a hit of everything he writes. I do like Segel though and I find him seriously funny. Emily Blunt who plays the fiancee is quite forgettable. On the other hand, Alison Brie who I love in Community makes a funny appearance as Blunt's sister. Segel and Brie carry this movie (slowly) to the end. I did like the ending, but I guess I can't tell you about it because then I would spoil it. I will say this, it's not called The Five Year Engagement for nothing!!!


Until the next time I write!!!

Woody Allen: A Documentary

Two new friends in my life suggested I watch "Woody Allen: A Documentary," after I commented to them how much I love the work of the writer/director and how little of his work I have seen. After watching the 3-hour documentary (It hast two parts, both of which you can watch on Netflix.), I am fascinated with Woody Allen. To the point where I have decided that I want to watch all of his 40 movies in chronological order (or as close to chronological order as possible). This is something I have done with writers, but have never done with film. It started in high school with Gabriel García Marquez. What I do is a look up a list of all their works and start reading them one by one, in chronological order if possible. I say, if possible, because sometimes I wouldn't be able to find certain works. After "El Gabo,"I went on to do it with such writers as Ernest Hemingway, Enrique Laguerre (local puertorican writer), René Marquez (also puertorican), Jorge Luis Borges, Unamuno, Gabriel García Lorca(this last one was the toughest as he had a lot of minor works that you can't find almost anywhere), and many more... but you catch the drift.  The decision to watch all of Woody's movies comes after the realization that most of his common themes are ones that I constantly think and obsess about: he doesn't care what people think of him (perception), he constantly thinks about death and immortality(death), he can compartmentalize his life (the human condition), he has an opinion on everything, and has a lot to say (somebody told me this about myself recently and I didn't want to believe it, but I guess it's true I do have a lot to say), among many more. I thought of course this task of watching all of Woody's movies would be easy because I have Netflix, but somehow life manages to throw me a curveball and lo' and behold Netflix only has five of his movies!!! Five!!! Out of forty!!!! Of course I find this ridiculous and will complaint to Netflix stat. They don't even have the most recent ones, not the very very recent, but ones like "Match Point" or "Aphrodite" or "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger." So, I think I will start with the five (five!!!) on Netflix and then go to Blockbuster or something. Expect a lot of Woody Allen coming your way for the next few months. Nothing excites me more than a cool short-term goal, and this will be a lot of fun! I'm very excited!!! 

The Watch

Last night, I went to see "The Watch" with Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn and Jonah Hill. The Watch is a comedy about a group of neighbors that, under the leadership of Evan (Ben Stiller), begin a neighborhood watch. Evan, a Costco store manager and over achiever, is deeply disturbed when his store's nighttime security guard is brutally murdered (who sadly had just gained his American citizenship only to be killed inside one of the staples of American culture, a Costco). As a result, he decides to start year another club in his neighborhood (among other clubs he has a running club and a reading club etc.), but with a much bigger purpose, to solve his friend's murder. It is no secret that in their quest to solve the murder mystery they discover aliens (it's on the trailer, so spoiler alert). I have never been a fan of any of the three headliners in this movie, but I must say that lately Ben Stiller has grown on me, as well as Jonah Hill. Vince Vaughn won me over with The Break-Up which I think is a fantastically brilliant comedy. (although sometimes I think he talks too much). Anyways, the movie made me laugh which is very hard to do lately (make me laugh) so props on that. I must warn you that my expectations for American comedies are usually very low. My standard is as follows: if ti makes me laugh it's ok or good. It made me laugh and hence, it's ok. Hopefully someday Ben, Vince and Jonah will make a comedy that really knocks my socks off.

Moonrise Kingdom

So this post isn't really about Moonrise Kingdom . However, this movie did make me think about connections between human beings because the two kids that fall in love seem to both be a bit weird and sort of connect through their weirdness. This made me think about soul mates. About whether they exist or not, or if it's just that we connect through our commonality. So... It's a little bit about soul mates. Yesterday, all of a sudden, I got sick. Out of the blue I felt like shit. My mom checked and I had no fever. I just couldn't move because everything hurt. (I went to see Moonrise Kingdom because I took some Panadol that made it better, but while I was watching the movie all of a sudden I had chills and it was NOT because of the movie, because it is GREAT!!! A must watch) I didn't know what it was until late last night (I couldn't sleep either) I got some bad news from someone very close to me. Is that possible? Is it possible to have such a deep connection with someone that when something that affects that connection is going to happen you get sick? The most interesting part is that I sort of knew that that would happen. I was expecting it. I was expecting something bad to happen with that particular person, but for no particular reason. Is it possible that two human beings can be miles apart and feel each other? Or is it that I can be miles apart from someone and still feel them? I don't like to feel someone and not see them. I don't know if it's because of a special connection I have with that person or because I have always been a deeply spiritual person. I wonder if it is one-sided. I guess, now, I will never know. I guess with time the connection will fade away and hopefully, die. The sad part is not missing that person, the sad part is that I can't stop thinking about how I don't want days, weeks, years, to go by without seeing or knowing about that person. At the same time, I can feel them and it makes it a lot harder to let go... Are only deep connections, commonalities possible or... do you think soul mates exist?

Love and Other Disasters

An American intern at U.K. Vogue helps her friends find love.

"Love and Other Disasters" (2006) is a romantic comedy written and directed by Alek Keshishian (who also directed one of my favorites from the 90's, "With Honors") and starring Brittany Murphy (1977-2009, may she rest in peace). Yes, I watched yet another unknown Brittany Murphy movie. (this one is way better than "The Ramen Girl". HBO must have gone on a Brittany Murphy films shopping spree) I must admit that I always really liked her, ever since she was the "chubby" (compared to very skinny Alicia Silverstone) in "Clueless." I always thought she was cute and charismatic, definitely the perfect actress for lead roles in cute romantic comedies. "LOD" is set in London, where Emily Jackson, nicknamed "Jacks" (played by Murphy) is a very stylish, educated, and wordy intern at UK Vogue.  (you can imagine the fashion is amazing in this movie, all the wardrobe changes for Murphy are uber-stylish) The plot of this movie is forgettable, but what I did find memorable were the conversations on love. (although I would be happy to not hear Murphy's at times forced british accent) The movie is really one big conversation on love between Jacks and her gay roommate, Peter Simon (played by the adorable Mathew Rhys). Peter is a screenwriter who lives his love life like if it were a movie and keeps trying to get Jacks to do the same, while Jacks keeps trying to ground Peter. To make him live his life outside his screenwriting and with a more realistic point of view. 

When Jacks is asked by Peter about why she keeps having sex with her ex, she responds: "I happen to care about James. A lot. And I hate the fact that he feels more than me, and I hate the fact that I'm not IN love with him because I know I should be, because he's smart and sweet and decent and I don't wanna hurt him. So I keep hoping that I'll grow into it. That maybe one day I'll wake up and I'll feel..." And that is one of the eternal truths on love, that the ideal person isn't necessarily the person you actually fall in love with. 

The one big conversation on love is quite charming. The dialogue in this movie is key and I really did enjoy it. It is a very wordy movie. You feel that you are hearing Murphy the whole entire movie, even when they aren't speaking. Some of the dialogue I loved:

Jacks: If this was a movie, you'd be famous.
Peter: That's the problem with life. It's nothing like movies.

Jacks: "Love isn't always a lightning bolt, you know? Maybe sometimes it's just a choice. Maybe true love is a decision"

I think I agree that love is a choice, but at the same time, you can't force love. You have to be ready for it but  one cannot love someone just because you want to, just because that person is the ideal person, one must feel it. Love isn't something you can force on yourself, but something that must grow from within. However, to fall in love you must allow it, and hence it is a decision.

Like I mentioned, this movie isn't groundbreaking or anything like that, but the conversations between the characters provide great food for though on love.

Love and Other Disasters IMDB

Savages

Pot growers Ben and Chon face off against the Mexican drug cartel who kidnapped their shared girlfriend.

I went to see Savages for 3 reasons that made me curious about it: (1) directed by Oliver Stone, (2) Salma Hayek, and (3) Benicio del Toro.  (also maybe a little bit for John Travolta and Demián Bichir) The cast was definitely well chosen to attract many different types of fans. There were, however, 2 reasons why I didn't want to see it: (1) Blake Lively has never convince me as an actress and (2) the whole polyamorous relationship thing I just don't buy. What I didn't expect was that this movie was going to start off so sexy, sexy, sexy! We watch O have sex with Ben and Chon in the first 20 minutes of the movie. (I found it interesting that as she narrates she mentioned that between the two of them, they made one man. A statement that can be quite demeaning to men)Anyways, one thinks that what will be interesting about this movie is the relationship between Chon and Ben and their girlfriend, O (for Ophelia like the bipolar woman in Shakespeare's Hamlet says "O" herself). I haven't read Shakespeare in a while, but from what I remember Savages has nothing to do with Hamlet. Just a cute fact included in the movie that adds nothing to the plot line. Anyways, the movie is titled Savages because the Americans think the Mexican cartel are savages and the Mexicans think "Ben and Chon" are savages. In the end, we learn that they are all savages... The battle is over the greatest strain of weed of all time, with the highest content of THC. In other words the mother of all weeds. (no pun intended) And O is caught in the middle. What is really interesting about the story is how the characters are presented and how Mr. Stone constructs it. O is actually quite the pothead and quite the character, a little rich kid who is used to getting what she wants and at the end has to get down and dirty to save herself. Also, Benicio del Toro as the two-timing blood-thirsty "Lado" is brilliant! He portrays his character so well that you are disgusted and horrified by him. (and must I point out that Ben and Chon are not too hard on the eyes either and deliver a respectable performance) I won't tell you how it ends, I would never spoil that. I just have to tell you that there is a twist and even though I'm not really a fan of Blake Lively and this movie is generally forgettable, Mr. Stone has delivered yet another dysfunctional stoner movie to mankind.  

Savages IMDB

Savages Official Webpage

Puerto Rico Production Capital opens up in PR to finance tax credits

In light of the very competitive Film Incentives Act (Act 27 of March 2011) adopted by the Puerto Rico Legislature last year, Production Advisory Services has partnered up with Film Production Capital LLC from Louisiana to offer film tax credit financing in the island. This means that by financing in Puerto Rico, producers can count the financing costs and interest towards the 40% tax credit (the tax credit financing expenses and interests count as expenses paid to Puerto Rico residents).

Nueva Oficina en la Isla para financiamiento de producciones filmicas

Un Cuento Chino

Debo admitir que fui a ver esta película con mi mamá porque me llamó la atención el nombre. Un cuento chino es como una excusa o un cuento increíble que nadie puede creer. En este caso, la película trata de Roberto (interpretado por el genial Ricardo Darín) que es un hombre solitario, testarudo y huraño que es dueño de una ferretería pequeña que heredó de su padre. Sus padres murieron hace ya mucho tiempo y él parece no tener más familia así que el se dedica todo el día a la ferretería (al punto que vive al lado de ella) y tiene sus hábitos muy arraigados. Sin embargo, Roberto tiene un "hobby" muy particular que heredó de su padre: el colecciona historias de periódico que son increíbles de cosas que como decimos solo pasan en las películas. Un día cuando está viendo los aviones llegar cerca del aeropuerto conoce a Jun. Jun es un chino que viaja a Buenos Aires en busca de su tío y que no conoce ni pizca de español. Roberto le ayuda a regañadientes y está toda la película tratando de salir de él. Como siempre, no les contaré como termina la película pero sí les diré que hay mucha comedia en lo que estos dos se conocen y que Roberto trata de salir de él en varias ocasiones. Resulta entonces que el título no es sólo sobre los "Cuentos chinos" que Roberto colecciona sino también sobre la relación que se desarrolla atropelladamente entre Jun y Roberto. Al final, curiosamente, Jun resulta ser el protagonista de una de las historias de Roberto, demostrando que el mundo es bien pequeño y que hasta los cuentos chinos pueden ser verdad.


Un Cuento Chino IMDB

Crazy Stupid Love

A middle-aged husband's life changes dramatically when his wife asks him for a divorce. He seeks to rediscover his manhood with the help of a newfound friend, Jacob, learning to pick up girls at bars.

I love, love, love this movie. I think I have watched it like 50 times in the last month. It's funny and insightful. It is definitely not your typical boring predictable Hollywood rom-com which I despise so much. (Hottie Ryan Gosling helps a lot too, specially when he re-enacts a Dirty Dancing scene WITH HIS SHIRT OFF!!!).  This movie is very well cast (and not because of Gosling!!): all the actors have great chemistry!!! Aside from the  fact that it is very well shot and that it is very funny, I like this movie because it is about staying young at heart and believing in soul mates: that very deep connection with someone else that one rarely finds in this superficial world.  It is about a teenager teaching his Dad a lesson on love. It is about finding love with the most unexpected people and it is also about keeping love alive when we find it. There are many types of love and this movie definitely touches on all of them: family love, young love, puppy love, mature love, friendship love. 

But, what is love anyways? I love (no pun intended) to look up such important words in the dictionary. According to my iMac's dictionary, love is a noun and a verb. As a noun it has 3 meanings: (1) an intense feeling of deep affection (a deep romantic or sexual attachment to someone); (2) a person or thing that one loves (no shit Sherlock) as in "he was the love of her life"; (3) in tennis, squash and some other sports a score of zero. As a verb it means "to feel a deep romantic or sexual attachment to someone, like very much, find pleasure in." Yep, the meaning throws no light on what love really is nor how to attain it and/or maintain it. I do find it interesting that love is a "deep sexual attachment" because we are usually taught by social convention something else: that love is not just about sex even though sex (intimacy) is sort of a big important part of a couple's relationship. Without it what's the point of having a relationship anyways? Anyhow, since it is so hard to define, I do believe it is just crazy stupid. It is crazy because only a fool would love knowing that somehow or some way you will get hurt (be it on purpose or by accident or just by nature (as in natural death) and stupid because when their is love involved all logic and reason goes out the window. 

Yep, this movie is all about all types of love and you know they are all a little bit crazy and a little bit stupid. 

This is crazy. This is stupid. This is love. 

CRAZY STUPID LOVE IMDB

What's your number?

"What's your number?" (2011) is another romantic comedy about a girl re-visiting her old relationships and/or sexual encounters. The movie stars Anna Faris ("Ally Darling" yes in typical Hollywood rom-com style even her name is cute) and Chris Evans (starving hotness musician "Colin"). Ally decides to re-visit her past sexual encounters after reading an article about the famous "number" of men a woman has been with. According to the article that is supposedly based on research by a Harvard professor, a woman's number, on average, is 10 point something. Also, the research found that the closer a woman's number gets to 20 the less likely she will be able to get married. Of course Ally immediately counts and finds out that her number is 19. She decides that she has only one more chance to get married and that she is not going to waste on not just anybody. However, she gets drunk and wastes her number 20 by having sex with her icky former boss. Because she wasted her last chance, she then decides to re-visit all of her past sexual encounters and/or relationships. That way her number won't go up to 21. That's when her front-door neighbor, Colin, begins to help her because he is good about "digging up people's dirt." Colin helps Ally find all of her past flames and in the process they both learn (which turns out to be the whole point of the movie anyway) why her past relationships haven't worked: Ally failed to remain true to herself in all of them, to the point where she dated an English man and faked an English accent with him the whole time. In every relationship she would leave her own true self aside and would become what she thought they wanted her to be. At the same time, this provides some great humor to the plot. The lesson of the whole movie (which thankfully isn't just about her finding her true love like a lot of Hollywood's rom-coms) is that in order to find true love or for someone to really love you, one must remain true to oneself. In other words, "being in love means being yourself." The person who truly loves you must love you for exactly what you are no more and no less. Which is also a lesson in self-esteem. In the end, Ally finds love with the person who has gotten to know her and loves her for exactly her authentic self. No I won't tell you who it is you have to watch it for yourself, but it is definitely very predictable. Why is it there are so many authentic and beautiful love stories, but a lot of the Hollywood rom-coms getting made are so predictable??? The only thing that differentiates this movie from any of the other rom-coms is the fact that there is a very valuable lesson: be authentic.

"I think too much sun makes people stupid" - Ally Darling

What's your number? IMDB

Lucía, Lucía o La Hija del Caníbal

"Lucía, Lucía" es una comedia mejicana protagonizada por Cecilia Roth (muy conocida por su participación en "Todo Sobre mi Madre" y una de las musas del genial director español, Pedro Almodóvar). Fue dirigida y escrita por Antonio Serrano quien también dirigió "Sexo, Pudor y Lágrimas" una de mis comedias mejicanas favoritas (tiene tantas lecciones sobre el amor y las relaciones que perdí la cuenta). No me sorprendió aprender que esas dos películas fueron dirigidas por la misma persona ya que tienen, para mí, el mismo encanto. La película es basada en una novela de Rosa Montero titulada "La Hija del Caníbal." (en el largo, aprendemos que el titulo "La Hija del Caníbal"se debe a que al papá de Lucía, un actor famoso, le decían "El Canibal" no sé si ese es el título del libro por la misma razón) A Lucía (Cecilia Roth) le secuestran al esposo y a consecuencia de ello, ella aprende varias lecciones sobre su propia realidad, con la ayuda de dos vecinos, un jóven idealista, Adrián, y un viejito ex-comunista veterano cubano exiliado, Félix. Lo más que me encanta del cine latino (en su mayoría) son los diálogos filosóficos y algo poéticos que siempre incluyen. Aquí unos ejemplos de Lucía:

"El silencio es un amigo que jamás traiciona" (Confucio)

"El verdadero viaje del descubrimiento, no consiste en cambiar el paisaje, sino en mirar con nuevos ojos"

"El cielo, si es que existe, debe ser un pedazo de sexo detenido"

"Los amores se los termina comiendo la rutina"

"Tal parece que me he reconciliado con la vida, incluso con la oscuridad de la vida"

Estas pequeñas lecciones que son algo abundantes en mucho del cine latinoamericano y europeo no se ven tan comúnmente en las películas americanas o de "Hollywood." Esas pequeñas expresiones filosóficas aquí y allá hacen para mi de ese tipo de cine uno más interesante y más profundo, asemejándose más a un arte que a un negocio. En "LL" también hay muchas lecciones filosóficas sobre la vida, empezando porque Lucía se siente ahogada por su realidad (quien no se ha sentido así alguna vez no ha vivido, porque la vida tiende a ahogarnos a todos de vez en cuando) y no se había dado cuenta porque estaba viviendo su vida en un piloto automático hasta que le secuestran al marido. Lo secuestran y claro está perjudicada por el incidente, pero en verdad, muy en el fondo de sí, está agradecida de que haya pasado. Porque estaba viviendo su vida sin vivirla y eso tiene que ser una de las cosas más tristes que le puede pasar a un ser humano. Le tomó un incidente tan drástico para darse cuenta que en realidad no conocía a su marido y que en verdad ya no se sentía viva a su lado. Y es que a veces, o muchas veces, nosotros los humanos continuamos en situaciones que no nos hacen felices por conformidad.  En el caso de Lucía aprendemos que lo hacía por ignorancia y por miedo. Sin embargo, a pesar de no quererlo de vuelta, ella hace todo en su poder para tratar de salvarlo.

"Lucía, Lucía" IMDB

Primos

"Primos" es una comedia española sobre un hombre, Diego, que lo dejan en el altar y vuelve al pueblo costero donde pasaba sus veranos, en búsqueda de su romance veraniego, Martina. En realidad, aunque la sinopsis dice que lo dejan en el altar, no lo dejan en el altar, lo dejan 5 días antes. Su novia, Yolanda, lo deja porque se fue para la India y le gustó otro hombre allá y comienza a dudar sobre su relación con Diego. Porque pues si le gustó otra persona es por algo, ¿no? Aunque ella lo deja la noche antes él de todas maneras decide aparecerse a la boda y explicarle a todos sus invitados en persona en la Iglesia lo que pasó. Obvio, que Diego es algo masoquista e inmaduro. Y también romántico porque en cierta manera tenía la esperanza de que Yolanda apareciera para casarse. Justo después decide irse con sus primos, José Miguel y Julián, a buscar a Martina. Julián es lo que a mi me gusta denominar como un loco-cuerdo. Es un hombre que disfruta la vida, bebe mucho pero que sabe muy bien cuales son los valores que hay que priorizar en la vida. Durante su tiempo en Cuevillas se esmera en re-unir a un padre alcohólico (el Buchi, dueño de un video club que conoce todas las películas con sus directores y sus años de estreno. Su vida se fue con el viento, "Gone With the Wind") con su hija. El otro primo, José Miguel (un veterano de guerra que le falta un ojo y que sufre de shock post-traumatico por lo que se pasa tomando pastillas y bebiendo) provee muchas situaciones jocosas en la trama a través de su amistad con el hijo de Martina, Dani. Se llevan bien porque José Miguel le tiene miedo a la vida y Dani le tiene miedo a la muerte. Hacen un perfecto yin y yang que te hacen reír durante toda la película. Al final, la historia es más sobre la superación de los tres primos sobre sus diferentes obstáculos y problemas mentales que sobre la decisión que Diego tiene que tomar.

Julián: Hay dos tipos de personas en la vida, las que ponen la cara y las que ponen el culo, ¿cuál eres tú?

Diego: Yo pongo el corazón. 

*********************************************************************************

Diego: Soy un desastre

Martina: Es parte de tu encanto

*********************************************************************************

"No has tomado decisiones, ya las decisiones estaban tomadas"

*********************************************************************************

"Te pre-quiero" 

Primos IMDB

Primos Página Web Oficial

The Ramen Girl

"The Ramen Girl" caught my attention because it has the late Brittany Murphy in it, may she rest in peace. Poor girl really had a lot of talent but got lost in getting thin and pills. "The Ramen Girl" was released in 2008, directed by Robert Allan Ackerman (who had pretty much only done tv movies and it shows in this film) and written by Becca Topol (God knows what she has done she certainly has no other credits according to IMDB). It's about a girl who  gets dumped and while she waits for her boyfriend to come back to her (spoiler alert: he never comes back) she decides she wants to find some sense to her life and learn how to cook ramen. This Ramen has nothing to do with the ninety nine cents ramen you and I had in college. According to this movie, to learn Ramen is special in Japanese culture and the knowledge and tradition are passed down from one generation to the next. In order to become a Ramen chef, "Abbie" (Brittany Murphy) must clean and scrub the Ramen restaurant for months on end until she gets her spirit(learns to love herself?) and is able to cook the Ramen. (The idea behind the Ramen in the movie resembles quite strikingly that in "Chocolat" and "Like Water for Chocolate" where the cook transmits his/her feelings to the food and then those who eat it feel the same way) Even though the whole idea seems pulled by the hairs, the movie does provide a valuable lesson to all women dumped in the world: find something to bring some meaning to your life and you will find love and happiness. Although it seems pretty altruistic, it is that simple lesson that makes this movie somewhat consequential. It's an ok movie and it helped pass the time. Too bad it should have been on Lifetime and not on HBO. Yes, it's that type of movie.

 "In food as in life, sometimes the missing ingredient is love."

The Ramen Girl IMDB

To Rome with Love

Today I went to see "To Rome With Love" for the second time. I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I was to watch it the first time, and how I loved it the second time. It is definitely not "Midnight in Paris" which is my favorite of the latest, but it is good, funny, entertaining and beautiful. I know it is not the best of Woody Allen's European tour (which began with "Match Point" I think, continued with "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger," "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" and next to last with "Midnight in Paris"), but I still love it. I do think it is the funniest of all. One of the things I love about Woody Allen is that a few years back he just decided he wanted to film in Europe, in various cities, and started in London. Supposedly, he got bored with filming in New York City. That is one of the advantages of being a well-known, proliferous and respected Director. That he can just one day decide to go film somewhere because he is bored of filming in his hometown.

TRWL is definitely very quirky funny. (Starting with an opera singer who sings from a shower in the middle of a stage to an omnipresent traffic policeman who narrates) Another Woody Allen quirk the term "Ozymandias melancholia." I won't tell you what it means, you have to watch the movie to find out, but don't you think it sound quirky? Woody Allen is also very funny. The audience laughed as soon as he was present on screen even without opening his mouth. And his lines are funny, and quirky. Probably because he writes his lines for himself. Quite another perk of being an actor/director/writer. When responding to another character saying "he sings for pleasure, not for money," he says "there's a great deal of pleasure in money. It's green and crispy and you can fondle it."

TRWL is also a love letter to Rome. It is a beautiful portrayal of the city. From a beautiful vista from Woody Allen's character's hotel room, to the Fontana di Trevi, the Spanish steps, a 360 degree shot of a piazza, the Coliseum and the Roman Forum. The views are breathtaking and make you want to go to Rome, now, immediately, get on a plane and don't think about it twice. (Thank you Woody for leaving out the strong smell of urine in certain public places and public transportation and the ugly graffiti and dilapidated buildings that can be found throughout all of Rome) Even though it is a beautiful portrayal of Rome it is also quite a sharp criticism of some aspects of Roman culture. It criticizes what the Europeans invented and Paris Hilton crossed over to the American soil the art of being famous for being famous. Everyone thinks this was created by Paris Hilton or the most recent Kardashians, but what no one knows is that the Italians had mastered that art way before the Americans. However, even though it criticizes these celeb-realities or reality celebrities in the Italian pop culture, it is a criticism that carries over to this side of the ocean. There is also some portrayal of Roman idiosyncrasies such as their inability to give accurate directions, just like puertoricans. A typical Roman (and puertorican) direction goes like this: "follow the road, take a left at the pharmacy, then a right, then a u-turn left, then over the bridge and next to the Church."

It's funny, quirky, beautiful and fun. Just like movies should be.


"La vida es corta y hay momentos escritos en las estrellas." -"Luca Salta" played by Antonio Albanese.

IMDB
Official Website

Runner, Runner

Justin Timberlake and Ben Affleck are in Puerto Rico filming "Runner, Runner." Whoop de do! I am not working on the production of this movie as unfortunately the original PM they hired here was fired along with a few other people (I'm not sure but the rumors are that quite a few art department people and casting director, among others, were fired). I am not going to complaint about that, although I think it is a very sucky situation. What I do want to complain about is the absurd media coverage the production has been receiving everyday from the Puerto Rico press. These are a few of the headlines: "Ben Affleck farts in La Concha," "Justin Timberlake pooped in La Perla." Well, those aren't really the headlines, but they might as well be, as they are all just as insipid. It's like El Nuevo Dia and Primera Hora think they are the official Facebook status of the production of "Runner, Runner." Do these people know how annoying it is to work in a production, or to just work in general, and be followed by the press? Or more like stalked? No wonder JT has to have his bodyguards with him at all times. I think  the media coverage is ridiculous!!!! Leave these people alone!!! Let the production of "Runner, Runner" work!!!! Let them film in peace so that these actors, these producers and crew want to come back and film in Puerto Rico!!! I don't care what goes down anywhere in the world when foreign productions go to film, I care that when those productions come to Puerto Rico everything goes smoothly and that they can feel they can work peacefully and without being stalked by the local press. To the Puerto Rico press: LEAVE RUNNER RUNNER ALONE YOU ARE HARMING OUR FILM INDUSTRY for a few extra sales. Your articles on it aren't interesting, they are annoying! Who cares if Uma Blasini is in it, who cares if Bodine Kohler is filming today, who cares if Zuleyka Rivera is filming tomorrow??? Pretty please and thank you!!!

How to Lose Friends and Alienate People

I cannot help but identify myself with the protagonist of this story. He is the anti-hero. He is not your typical protagonist, he is not dashing, nor handsome, nor brave, nor smooth. He is actually exactly the opposite. He is awkward, inappropriate, and accident-prone. Exactly how I have felt my entire life.

Ruthless People

This morning I watched "Ruthless People" with Bette Middler and Danny De Vito (also Bill Pullman and Judge Reinhold). Remember Judge Reinhold? Who doesn't like Judge Reinhold? (Beverly Hills Cop etc.) To me, he was one of the cutest 80's actor ever. Anyways, "Ruthless People" was released in 1986 produced by Michael Peyser (who also produced another one of my favorite movies of all times "Hackers"; who can forget Angelina Jolie with her short hair and cool style?) and directed by 3 people who I won't discuss here because it's too many people to direct a movie!!! I guess maybe something happened there or did they really co-direct? Anyways, all three have gone on to either write or produce very funny movies. "Ruthless People" is a comedy (if you didn't know that already by the cast...) about a dude who wants to kill his wife but two very bad kidnappers beat him to it. They kidnap her before he gets to kill her and so the "dude" who is played by Danny De Vito decides to kill her by omission. He won't pay the ransom, so they will kill her. Bill Pullman plays a minor role as a dimwit and he is actually quite funny as the dumbest guy in LA. Bette Middler is awesome as usual. She's  fat when she is kidnapped and then she spends her time working out, so when she is "rescued" ( I won't tell you a lot about the story just in case you want to see it so I won't spoil it) she is a beautiful thin woman. Not that she wasn't beautiful before, but you know what I mean. The two popcorns I give this movie are for: 1. it made me laugh with some of its silly situations. It is such an 80's comedy and I do love those, because they used to be wacky instead of tacky (as a lot of them are nowadays.) and 2. I liked how the character Ms. Midler portrays a woman who is quite ignorant and oblivious not only of herself but of her douchebag husband and how she takes advantage of her crummy situation, she learns from it and grows from it and hence, in the end, transforms herself into a much better person.