Movie Review-Biutiful: Heavy Stuff

Well, that was depressing.

OK, you can all go home, that about sums up the latest work of Alejandro Inarritu. Given all that is going on in the World right now, none of it any good (unless you count an absolutely pointless wedding in England) I can't imagine any scenario in which people would want to subject themselves to such utter depression.

Well, alright, I digress. "Biutiful" is a very powerful piece of cinema. The story encompasses so much: fatherhood, death, crime, illegal immigration, human solidarity. This, I believe, is characteristic of Inarritu's films. These elements mix together to form an engrossing plot, centered around Javier Bardem's Uxbal. The setting is one of the World's great cities, Barcelona. Much of it takes place in the parts of Barcelona that no tourist would ever visit or care about, but there are some fantastic shots of the city, in particular the landmark La Sagrada Familia. The acting, well, lets just say that I like to think that Colin Firth took that Oscar by the very skin of his teeth. Bardem is really something else, if English was spoken in this film he very well may have won that golden statue.

Its all too much though. I won't give away any of the storyline here, but be forewarned, it is an incredibly dark film. It certainly seems intended. At times the plot, the acting, and the damn music all come together to make the film almost unwatchable. I was ready to shut if off and just start watching "Dumb and Dumber" or "Happy Feet". I wasn't at all surprised though. Given the storyline and the director (Mr. Inarritu's films aren't meant to bring smiles folks) I knew what was coming. I mentioned above that death is a key plot element, so, with that in mind, you can understand what I am getting at.

It is a very tough movie to rate. It really should be seen because Bardem is great in it, and it is a very very good movie. It is hard to say why, but it just feels like a cinematic masterpiece. That being said, no one really wants to watch a movie that is such a dark, depressing film, and unfortunately, "Biutiful" is just that.

Verdict: The acting, the storyline, and the directing for this film would put most other movies to shame, but it is too tough to watch. I will let you make the call. Grade: Cinema-wise, an A, but on the enjoyment scale, it gets a D.

If you liked this movie you might also like: Taking Zoloft.

Note: During my quest to obtain this film, Very First Recipient of an Official Four Corners' Shout Out Uncle Paul warned me that word on the street was that this film was a real downer. He was right. Chapeau Paul, chapeau. 

Get ready for those May Flowers

Sorry about the long respite there folks, my eyes were glued to the television following coverage of the Royal Wedding. Ok, no, that is absolutely not true, I actually couldn't have paid any less attention. Who got married again? Did the future King need a speech therapist to say the vows? Whatever.

April is coming to a close, tomorrow will begin the fifth month of the year. I figured now would be an appropriate time for......

The Four Corners' Official Top and Next Destinations Lists! 

A tragedy, but I have done no traveling since returning from South America. This is bigger news than Donald Trump's whoring it up with the media! There should be a countdown clock, Four Corners' Days Without Travel. Its a miserable situation. As it were, the Top Destination List remains unchanged (remember, no particular order):

1. Istanbul, Turkey
2. Buenos Aires, Argentina
3. Tel Aviv, Israel
4.Barcelona, Spain
5. Tokyo, Japan
6. Jerusalem, Israel
7. Kyoto, Japan

These places should not be missed! I mean, what better recommendation than The Four Corners?

The Next Destinations List sees some changes though:

1. Cape Town, South Africa maintains its grip on top spot, currently the Holy Grail for your humble correspondent. Check out the Wikitravel page or some Youtube videos to see just what makes this city look so appealing.

2. Sydney (and other cities), Australia still ranks high as well. Stepping foot down under will have put me on all six habitable continents (we can't count Antarctica, can we?). Sydney still looks gorgeous, but lets not forget the Aussies have some other neat places to check-out, Perth, I think, would be a cracker.

3. Bucharest, Romania- The surprise entrant! Yes, not too many people would even give this place the time of day, but for some reason I have been in an eastern-Europe state of mind lately. Western Europe is great, don't get me wrong, but the former Communist bloc has a certain appeal, and mystery to it. Bucharest was once known as the Paris of the East, and even though I am sure communist-inspired architecture is ever-present, I am eager to pound the pavement in Europe's less glamorous regions. Sofia, Bulgaria can be tossed on this list as well.

4. Bangkok, Thailand- The traffic-choaked, chaotic, Southeast Asian city still takes a spot on this list, hopefully I can knock it off sooner rather than later.

5.  Havana, Cuba-But Adam, that is illegal! Yeah, I know US citizens still aren't allowed, by our own government, to travel to the Caribbean country, but one can still hope. After my last fantastic experience in Latin America, I am eager for some more, and what better place than Cuba's famous capital? I have heard some great things about this place, so, Mr. Obama, tear down that (figurative) wall.

6. Goa, India-Another dark horse! Yes, India's much larger cities also call out to me, but I have long held an interest in this coastal city. Hell, its where Jason Bourne lived until that Russian assassin found him. But seriously, it seems like quite a contrast to the overpopulated, absolute chaos of places like Mumbai and New Delhi. Other places on this list are for the most part large, bustling cities, so Goa's beach-side atmosphere takes up the mantle as the "wind-down" Next Destination.

7. We will give one more spot to Moscow, Russia. This city is never very far from my mind, I am dying to get there. Visa issues and the like make this destination one of the tougher ones but, nothing can impede your humble correspondent (well, war and disease would).

OK, so there is your list of the destinations that have been tickling my fancy in recent days. Can I knock them off soon? My boss at work says no, at least if I like being paid. Damn, well, we will have some pins to put in that map soon enough.

Keep an eye out for a movie review of "Biutiful", the Spanish film directed by Alejandro Inarritu and starring Javier Bardem. I started watching last night, and have almost finished. The review will be up soon.

Cheers.

Movie Review-London Boulevard: Bollocks

It has been a while since we had a movie review around these parts. I believe the head-scratcher "Stone" held the honor as the last film viewed by your humble correspondent, and that was way back in mid-March. That's quite a drought. Well, I finally found some movie watching time last night. "London Boulevard" may have been a movie that didn't catch a lot of attention. It is an English film, which tend to not grab as much attention as their Hollywood brethren. But this flick has some pretty big name actors, and the trailer looked pretty good. The verdict?

Disappointing. The movie started out the gate unbelievably strong. The acting was solid, to say the least (except really Kiera Knightly, she is annoying, why does everyone like her? She is not attractive, unless you like the anorexic type....) some brilliant one-liners, and the beginning of what looked to be a very interesting story-line. But, unfortunately, faded towards the end. It is a short film, only an hour and a half, which was a good thing at first, because it explained the quick start to the film, right down to business. But, as it where, I wish it had been longer so I could have better known what the hell was going on. It just stopped making sense. There were far too many subplots and sub-sub plots and it just became too confusing. It also just started to become pretty unrealistic. The phrase "losing the plot" is a British saying after all.

Going back to what I said about the acting: stellar. Colin Farell comes off as a cold, disinterested fellow, but that is what he is supposed to be: A guy who has lost interest in life and the seediness of the London underworld. David Thewlis? Give him an Oscar. Don't know that name? Look it up on IMDB, you will recognize him. He was fantastic in this film in his role as the caretaker to Knightly's recluse actress character. Ray Winestone? Put him up there with Thewlis. He was superb in his role as the tough gangster. He was more than convincing playing his character, and had some cracking one-liners to boot. Knightly was the only real disappointment, but maybe I am biased, because I think she is a shite actress (shite, wow, I need to lay off the English films).

Unfortunately the acting couldn't save the story in the end. It just became far too confusing at one point, and pretty unconvincing. Like I said, perhaps more background could have been given, at the expense of making the moving longer. It seemed like I was always missing some plot element, so I had no idea what the hell was going on. It is a shame, because it is a very nice concept. Farrell, just out of prison, is hired to be the bodyguard to a reclusive actress, but gets caught up with Ray Winestone's Gant, a Kingpin in the London underworld. It should have been better with this plot, but, like I said, the director lost the plot, and it ended up costing the movie.

I really wanted to like this film, British gangster films are usually top notch, and I like all three of the the male actors mentioned above. But it faded, faded badly, after passing the halfway mark.If this movie could be split in two halves, the first half was better than even Guy Ritchie's films, while the second half was "Stone".

Verdict: I am still going to say see it, just for the acting and some of the dialogue. Grade: C

If you liked this movie you might also like: British slang. Oh, and anything with Ray Winestone in it, the guy is, well, a "proper" actor, if you will.

You have to work to earn money.....who knew?

Sorry for the dry spell as of late folks, I haven't been traveling, to state the bleeding obvious, and haven't kept up on current events or movies as of late. It was my first full week of work last week, so I had my mind concentrated on trying to become a working stiff. Think "Jason Bourne gets a desk job". Ok, well, I can't fight like him, but I travel quite a bit, so we have that in common. But, as it where, I had to drop my other duties in order to enter the rat race for the very first time.

Having no travel news is really pretty disheartening, but I could be doing some traveling for work, as I found out last week. I cross my fingers for that, can you imagine, getting paid to maintain The Four Corners!

Well, the government passed a budget, I am glad they could finally come to some sort of agreement over Planned Parenthood. Glenn Beck left Fox News, finally. Jesus Wept. Who is going to speak for the right-wing conspiracy theorist lunatics now? Too bad Rand Paul has a day job as....get this...a Congressman. For shame. It is good to see Glenn Beck finally off of TV for now, his fake crying and fake outrage was really becoming tiresome.

I see Qadaffi is still clinging on to power. Couldn't the fashion police come and arrest him? His pillbox hat never matches his dress, not to mention his atrocious plastic surgery. There are running gun battles in the streets of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, as Gbagbo won't leave either. Its good to see the world hasn't changed much during my week in the salt mines.

I have come across a copy of London Boulevard, a recent movie starring Colin Farrell. Look for the review here later. Mom rented "The Tourist" last night. I half watched for maybe 45 minutes, but quickly lost interest, so I can't comment on that one. Mom said it was good though, so you have that to go on.

Arsenal won today, ending a run of three games without a win. It was totally unconvincing, but we take want we can get. A good result. 

Ok, back to the grind tomorrow. But look for more squawking from me more as I get into the all work-thing groove.

 

Movie Review-Stone: Psychological "Thriller"

Sorry for the wait. I know my readers eagerly await my thoughts on cinema. Anyway, the film in question today is "Stone", a limited release film starring Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, and Milla Jovovich. I started watching this film one day in West Lafayette while Jiayi was doing work, and didn't get a chance to write a review since I was predisposed in Argentina, but, better later than never:

Woeful. Absolutely woeful. I have seen some bad films in my time, many noted here on this blog, but it is pretty rare that you come across a movie that makes no sense. After watching the last few minutes of this film, I literally sat up and said out loud: "I have no idea what I just watched". Because  I didn't. Sure, I knew the basic premise of the story, but the way it all came together, or was supposed to come together, made absolutely no sense. Its like the screenwriter decided to throw in a plot element and than just forgot to have it explained in the movie. The ending pretty much summed-up the entire film: It just ended at a random point. No real conclusion, just, boom, screen goes black. I think the director realized his mistake of taking this script on and just said "fuck it, I am going out for doughnuts, lets end it here". There were also some pretty heavy religious undertones in this movie, and I am still struggling to figure out what they had to do with anything at all.

"Psychological thriller", that was what "Stone" was billed as. Yeah, sure, you can see the "battle" of wits taking place between De Niro's character as a parole officer and Norton, who played an arsonist trying to spring out from the clinker early. Norton uses his wife, Jovovich to seduce De Niro's character. Well, it was hardly thrilling, pretty predictable, if anything. I would say that the interchanges between De Niro and Norton were pretty interesting, and it should be said that Norton actually does do a pretty good job, he is a solid actor, and the word is he shadowed an actual Detroit white-trash inmate in order to imitate him. Other than this the movie does not show one iota of sense and is devoid of anything that might make it a thriller. De Niro, who really doesn't need any introductions, just plodded without a clue through his role, which was horribly written, and it was a shame to see him put in such a position. You want to hear something funny though? Mill Jovovich acting. That's right. Whoever cast her in this movie must have thought themselves a real riot, because she has absolutely no business being in front of a director's camera. I mean, what was her break out role? Resident Evil. Let me say that again: Resident Evil

Verdict: Why bother? Fantastic waste of time. Grade: D, Norton saves this from just absolute failure.

If you liked this movie you might also like: Listening to the ramblings of Qadhaffi or Charlie Sheen, or watching John Boehner cry. They all make about as much sense as this movie did. 

Argentina/Uruguay Photos

OK folks, as promised, all photos from the most recent trip are up, including from Uruguay.

Enjoy, and remember, comments are welcome.