Volver

I know it comes as no surprise that I like Almodovar, and his movies. To me they are a world that is close by, the world of Spanish women and their idiosyncrasies. I love his descriptions, the way that world he puts on the screen at times real and at time fantastical, blends together to give you a sense that reality is more than what it appeared before you went into the theater. Also there is the way he can finds humor and dignity in the most tragic and macabre circumstances. So go see Volver, it is not his best picture, by any means, but it is a great movie, the characters feel real and the situation at hand, goes from murder to chuckles in 5 seconds.

I have to agree with the Canuck that Volver is not his best movie, in my opinion his best movie is “All about my mother” and from an artistic point of view, “Talk to her” was jarring and beautiful all at once, but disturbing in the way only European moves can be.

So if you like movies, and you enjoy ensemble pieces, where it takes 6 extraordinary women to tell a story, go get your tickets now. If you do not understand the female universe, and want to see a less biased story, then skip it. Hopefully his next movie will be a comedy –comedy again.

PS. Can you tell I am in training and I had to can all these posts? LOL will post live again next Monday when I get back in the office.

When you like the writing but hate the characters

Last month’s book was called “On Beauty”, for those who do not know this, I am in a book club, and the main reason I joined was to read book I would not normally chose. This particular reading circle is very gay and very varied; we all have strong opinions and tastes. So far we have only read 4 books, so we are just getting started, and we take turns choosing what to read. For December, the Imelda chose the latest Zadie Smith book, which I had wanted to rea, but never really got to it. So I went home with it and read it. It was an easy task after all when you are flying 9 hours each way and you are home, just waiting on people or doing errands you have time to read. I finished the book in about 2 weeks, and I liked the writing, I thought the book was written very well but the staory had big flaws and I could not care about any of the characters – with the exception of one. I know she won the Orange Price for fiction with it, and was short listed for the Booker, but seriously some of the story lines just faded away and some were irrelevant. But it was writing was very good, and enjoyable and easy to read and deep and funny and sad at times. Unfortunately that was just the writing, the characters were all, crazy and petty and not likeable at all. Sow what do you do? How do you praise a book you enjoyed reading but you felt nothing about? How do you say this is a good book, based on grammar and structure alone?

I guess this is why I joined the book club to read more of these books, and less of books that I know I will like because they agree with my point of view and my life’s experiences. Still I have no answer to the questions above, except to give a mixed review.