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Wednesday, February 19, 2014
My Travels And A Little Bit of This And That: Melaque,Mexico redux
My Travels And A Little Bit of This And That: Melaque,Mexico redux: New post, new time and more than two bars for the internet connection, must grab the opportunity and take advantage of it while I can. Befo...
Melaque,Mexico redux
New post, new time and more than two bars for the internet connection, must grab the opportunity and take advantage of it while I can. Before addressing the title I forgot to mention one of the most important things about the Yelapa trip. On the way back we saw a mother whale and her baby. She came quite close to the boat. It's always weird how a hush descends as soon as a whale is sighted with everybody holding their collective breaths waiting for the breach. When the breach does come it's a general surge of happiness which infects todo el mundo, I need a whale sighting every day, if only we could bottle it.
The trip to Melaque was only eventful in that what should take four hours (and that's generous) considering the distance of 225 kms. took about 7 hours on a pretty rough road with lots of potholes, reminded me of Montreal actually....haha Ok Montreal is not that bad. It was nice arriving in a place that we know so well, this will be our fifth time here, not surprisingly not much has changed. Melaque seems to be one of those towns which time forgot hence the repeat customers. Some people mostly Canadians and mostly from B.C. have been coming here on a regular basis for the last twenty years. They stake out a favorite hotel and bingo before you can write snowbird they're back with the look of the true devotee in their eyes. Actually Melaque is a bit of a rough around the edges town. Not much seems to get fixed, road conditions are generally appalling, the garbage could use a little more picking up and the food options in terms of grocery consist of two main stores. The one which gringos prefer is called Hawaii for some arcane reason. It stocks fruits native to Mexico of a fairly dubious quality but sometimes one gets lucky. It's hopeless trying to buy other types of fruits like nectarines,grapes etc...they take too long to get here. Better to stick to avocados which are plentiful, generally excellent, pineapples, bananas and sometimes guavas. Guavas have the most incredible smell they perfume an entire room but you have to get them just right otherwise they're rather gelatinous and lumpy.
We have a beautiful room it's a suite and it's quite large with three double beds and one single bed. The kitchenette is decent size wise but it's not well stocked. Went to ask for a toaster and a coffee maker, no dice, none to be had. There is a common kitchen for those who have single rooms but travelers pretty well brought everything either beforehand or on this recent trip. We are settling for healthy breakfasts of granola, bananas, yogurt, milk, apples (yes they're OK) and I add a little thick condensed milk to mine. I also bought some coconut rounds which I shred and add to the mix. It's very tasty and nutritious. We also bought instant coffee which is fine, we only have the one cup in the morning. For lunch I'm alternating sandwiches with avocado,mayonnaise, ham or tuna with iceberg lettuce. The bread is Bimbo which is the biggest maker of bread, sweets, cakes etc... in Mexico. Bimbo bread is very very limp and soft even the whole grain one, evidently that's the way they like their bread. Of course most Mexicans still prefer their corn tortilla to anything else, they eat those by the truckload and I can see why much better than Bimbo bread.
Our room has a big balcony overlooking the beautiful bay and the beach. Actually Melaque probably has one of the best beaches in all of Mexico. It's huge, the sand is nice and it doesn't slope too much unless it's an El Nino year with big waves. The beach stretches all the way to another town called Barra de Navidad, we've walked the entire beach in the past more than once. I'm not sure we will do it this year, it's so hot. The sun seems hotter and the water is warmer than it's ever been no problem getting in that's for sure. Another plus it's virtually deserted unless there's a Mexican holiday or a weekend when Mexicans come down from Guadalajara for a little R&R. Many of the gringos are retirees and for some strange reason they seem to shun the sun, many of them don't even go swimming in the ocean. A few will splash around in the pool but mostly they're content socializing with each other, playing cards, drinking beer and organizing the occasional collective meals. There is one such lunch tomorrow which doesn't always please some of us who are naturally anti-social, not my case, although there are people here (men more than women) who don't seem to get out of their rooms and gripe and whine and complain a lot.
It's a bit disconcerting walking around town. There are Mexicans of all ages, lots of kids, families and then there is this population of aging gringos in various states of vigor and or decrepitude. Wow did I just write that....ooops Not including ourselves in that category of course.
Other things I've noticed, in general Mexicans are pretty well glued to their cellphones like everywhere else in the world it seems. Bootleg CD"s and DVD's which used to be a "thriving" industry are slowly disappearing. Even here they're listening to music through their phones and watching shows through other devices although with such limited connectivity it's a bit of a mystery how they manage to download anything. I couldn't even download a little "movie" sent by our daughter, was going to take hours literally. I had to quit. I'm sitting outside writing this enjoying the warm air, relishing not having to wear heavy encumbering clothing although the nights are a little long even with air conditioning. The appliance blows too much cold air at once to have it going all night. Luckily the pillows are soft not rock hard like they so often are and the beds are not cement beds, they're nice and comfortable. The price for all this comfort and beauty is a mere 700 pesos or about $59.00 a night, it's a little more than we're used to paying in Melaque. On the plus side it's close to town and all the amenities plus there's no walking to the beach involved and the pool is a decent size.
I might update again in a week or so. Don't anticipate anything momentous happening. For now we are content staying put, there might be a fishing trip on the horizon, nothing definite yet. Hope you've enjoyed reading this, hasta luego amigos.
The trip to Melaque was only eventful in that what should take four hours (and that's generous) considering the distance of 225 kms. took about 7 hours on a pretty rough road with lots of potholes, reminded me of Montreal actually....haha Ok Montreal is not that bad. It was nice arriving in a place that we know so well, this will be our fifth time here, not surprisingly not much has changed. Melaque seems to be one of those towns which time forgot hence the repeat customers. Some people mostly Canadians and mostly from B.C. have been coming here on a regular basis for the last twenty years. They stake out a favorite hotel and bingo before you can write snowbird they're back with the look of the true devotee in their eyes. Actually Melaque is a bit of a rough around the edges town. Not much seems to get fixed, road conditions are generally appalling, the garbage could use a little more picking up and the food options in terms of grocery consist of two main stores. The one which gringos prefer is called Hawaii for some arcane reason. It stocks fruits native to Mexico of a fairly dubious quality but sometimes one gets lucky. It's hopeless trying to buy other types of fruits like nectarines,grapes etc...they take too long to get here. Better to stick to avocados which are plentiful, generally excellent, pineapples, bananas and sometimes guavas. Guavas have the most incredible smell they perfume an entire room but you have to get them just right otherwise they're rather gelatinous and lumpy.
We have a beautiful room it's a suite and it's quite large with three double beds and one single bed. The kitchenette is decent size wise but it's not well stocked. Went to ask for a toaster and a coffee maker, no dice, none to be had. There is a common kitchen for those who have single rooms but travelers pretty well brought everything either beforehand or on this recent trip. We are settling for healthy breakfasts of granola, bananas, yogurt, milk, apples (yes they're OK) and I add a little thick condensed milk to mine. I also bought some coconut rounds which I shred and add to the mix. It's very tasty and nutritious. We also bought instant coffee which is fine, we only have the one cup in the morning. For lunch I'm alternating sandwiches with avocado,mayonnaise, ham or tuna with iceberg lettuce. The bread is Bimbo which is the biggest maker of bread, sweets, cakes etc... in Mexico. Bimbo bread is very very limp and soft even the whole grain one, evidently that's the way they like their bread. Of course most Mexicans still prefer their corn tortilla to anything else, they eat those by the truckload and I can see why much better than Bimbo bread.
Our room has a big balcony overlooking the beautiful bay and the beach. Actually Melaque probably has one of the best beaches in all of Mexico. It's huge, the sand is nice and it doesn't slope too much unless it's an El Nino year with big waves. The beach stretches all the way to another town called Barra de Navidad, we've walked the entire beach in the past more than once. I'm not sure we will do it this year, it's so hot. The sun seems hotter and the water is warmer than it's ever been no problem getting in that's for sure. Another plus it's virtually deserted unless there's a Mexican holiday or a weekend when Mexicans come down from Guadalajara for a little R&R. Many of the gringos are retirees and for some strange reason they seem to shun the sun, many of them don't even go swimming in the ocean. A few will splash around in the pool but mostly they're content socializing with each other, playing cards, drinking beer and organizing the occasional collective meals. There is one such lunch tomorrow which doesn't always please some of us who are naturally anti-social, not my case, although there are people here (men more than women) who don't seem to get out of their rooms and gripe and whine and complain a lot.
It's a bit disconcerting walking around town. There are Mexicans of all ages, lots of kids, families and then there is this population of aging gringos in various states of vigor and or decrepitude. Wow did I just write that....ooops Not including ourselves in that category of course.
Other things I've noticed, in general Mexicans are pretty well glued to their cellphones like everywhere else in the world it seems. Bootleg CD"s and DVD's which used to be a "thriving" industry are slowly disappearing. Even here they're listening to music through their phones and watching shows through other devices although with such limited connectivity it's a bit of a mystery how they manage to download anything. I couldn't even download a little "movie" sent by our daughter, was going to take hours literally. I had to quit. I'm sitting outside writing this enjoying the warm air, relishing not having to wear heavy encumbering clothing although the nights are a little long even with air conditioning. The appliance blows too much cold air at once to have it going all night. Luckily the pillows are soft not rock hard like they so often are and the beds are not cement beds, they're nice and comfortable. The price for all this comfort and beauty is a mere 700 pesos or about $59.00 a night, it's a little more than we're used to paying in Melaque. On the plus side it's close to town and all the amenities plus there's no walking to the beach involved and the pool is a decent size.
I might update again in a week or so. Don't anticipate anything momentous happening. For now we are content staying put, there might be a fishing trip on the horizon, nothing definite yet. Hope you've enjoyed reading this, hasta luego amigos.
Monday, February 17, 2014
Yelapa and Beyond
I'm starting to get used to those two dreaded phrases when trying to work on the internet: Processing your request (ie get ready for a long wait) and Google Chrome is not responding (what else is new). A little b%^&$#*(& is good for the soul if nothing else.
The day for Yelapa started out beautifully, it was going to be another hot sunny day, that's the kind of weather dependability a girl could really get used to. We were to meet at the newly constructed pier at 9:30 but this being Mexican time it turned out to be more like 10:30 departure, nothing unusual there. The boat was one of those typical Mexican launchas extremely sturdy with a powerful motor about 20 of us on board, all gringos of course. I was actually surprised at the fair amount of Americans thought many of them had given up on Mexico with all the travel advisory scares but it turns out Canadians are now being singled out for an advisory warning of dangerous travel not that it's really stopping determined Canadians fleeing the harsh winter conditions and seeking some respite from the cold.
The trip took around one hour, we motored along stopping briefly at Los Arcos famous for its abundant sea life and beautifully colored fishes similar to Nemo for those of few familiar with the film. One of the guides threw some food in the water and they all rushed merrily to the surface. It was a lovely kaleidoscope of colors with the beautiful green turquoise sea as its backdrop. I was able to take a few good pictures.
Yelapa is a small town set in a bay with plunging tropical covered foliage mountains, bougainvilleas everywhere in a rioting of colors. I wish we could grow these trees in Canada they yield such happy flowers and with such abundance, not stingy at all.
We settled in some beach chairs ready to soak in the day, there was a free drink to be had with the price of your ticket. The cost was 280 pesos per person, about $25.00, not cheap but not too onerous either although prices have gone up in Mexico not sure how the average Mexican with a modest income is coping, not very well I suspect. We were told there was a waterfall somewhere in the jungle which necessitated a walk uphill and through the village. We were helped along the way by two lovely little girls who wanted to make sure we wouldn't get lost. The waterfall itself was nothing spectacular of course I don't want to brag but after having seen Iguazu the widest falls in the world in Argentina everything else fails in comparison and this was no exception. The setting in the jungle with all that lush vegetation was still very pretty. We made our way back down, crossed the river channel and then it was beach time, swimming and dolce farniente. Ah the life of Riley it's a real tough one but somebody has to do it. We got back around 4:30 and left the very next day for Melaque on a second class bus, cheaper but much longer and hard on the posterior with deeply rutted roads. We are now ensconced in the rather palatial sounding Las Brisas de Melaque where we have a suite, 4 beds (anybody want to come????) a balcony with a gorgeous view of the bay. Strangely there are barely any waves, we have never seen Melaque without waves and the water is almost lukewarm with a few colder undercurrents. One can easily stay for hours in the water. The sun is fierce but we have access to an umbrella from the hotel. My battery is dying will post later some time this week with a few timely, or not, observations on the state of Mexico and changes I've noticed in general after a four year absence. Hasta pronto.
The day for Yelapa started out beautifully, it was going to be another hot sunny day, that's the kind of weather dependability a girl could really get used to. We were to meet at the newly constructed pier at 9:30 but this being Mexican time it turned out to be more like 10:30 departure, nothing unusual there. The boat was one of those typical Mexican launchas extremely sturdy with a powerful motor about 20 of us on board, all gringos of course. I was actually surprised at the fair amount of Americans thought many of them had given up on Mexico with all the travel advisory scares but it turns out Canadians are now being singled out for an advisory warning of dangerous travel not that it's really stopping determined Canadians fleeing the harsh winter conditions and seeking some respite from the cold.
The trip took around one hour, we motored along stopping briefly at Los Arcos famous for its abundant sea life and beautifully colored fishes similar to Nemo for those of few familiar with the film. One of the guides threw some food in the water and they all rushed merrily to the surface. It was a lovely kaleidoscope of colors with the beautiful green turquoise sea as its backdrop. I was able to take a few good pictures.
Yelapa is a small town set in a bay with plunging tropical covered foliage mountains, bougainvilleas everywhere in a rioting of colors. I wish we could grow these trees in Canada they yield such happy flowers and with such abundance, not stingy at all.
We settled in some beach chairs ready to soak in the day, there was a free drink to be had with the price of your ticket. The cost was 280 pesos per person, about $25.00, not cheap but not too onerous either although prices have gone up in Mexico not sure how the average Mexican with a modest income is coping, not very well I suspect. We were told there was a waterfall somewhere in the jungle which necessitated a walk uphill and through the village. We were helped along the way by two lovely little girls who wanted to make sure we wouldn't get lost. The waterfall itself was nothing spectacular of course I don't want to brag but after having seen Iguazu the widest falls in the world in Argentina everything else fails in comparison and this was no exception. The setting in the jungle with all that lush vegetation was still very pretty. We made our way back down, crossed the river channel and then it was beach time, swimming and dolce farniente. Ah the life of Riley it's a real tough one but somebody has to do it. We got back around 4:30 and left the very next day for Melaque on a second class bus, cheaper but much longer and hard on the posterior with deeply rutted roads. We are now ensconced in the rather palatial sounding Las Brisas de Melaque where we have a suite, 4 beds (anybody want to come????) a balcony with a gorgeous view of the bay. Strangely there are barely any waves, we have never seen Melaque without waves and the water is almost lukewarm with a few colder undercurrents. One can easily stay for hours in the water. The sun is fierce but we have access to an umbrella from the hotel. My battery is dying will post later some time this week with a few timely, or not, observations on the state of Mexico and changes I've noticed in general after a four year absence. Hasta pronto.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Leaving on a jet plane from a very cold Quebec
Left as planned on February 12th, that date couldn't come soon enough. We have enjoyed the bracing cold temperatures but it was definitely time for a change. Arrived at the airport with time to spare thanks to my querida sister, gracias Annie. We embarked on time and even arrived about twenty minutes earlier than anticipated, apparently the winds were favorable. A couple of observations on airplane traveling, it's fast, it's convenient, it costs a lot in fuel which doesn't make me feel very good about my carbon footprint, it's ever expanding with all the traveling we're doing and have yet to do. We must try and make up for the waste in other ways and just deal with our guilty consciences. The food this time around was barely palatable. Usually Air Transat food isn't bad or maybe I'm just so bored with sitting there I wolf it down regardless. This time there were only two options: Fettucine Alfredo or Boeuf Bourguignon. Why do they always insist on Fettucine Alfredo it's the most toxic pasta dish there is in terms of calories. If I ever meet this Alfredo I'm going to give him a piece of my mind. In any case Alfredo was not to be had it was a huge success with this group of travelers, wouldn't have chosen it in any case. The Boeuf Bourguignon was bourguignon in name only but enough with the boring travel food.
Arrived in Puerto Vallarta where transportation wise you can either take a local,noisy, belching bus which visits every single colonia (neighbourhood) along the way or an overpriced taxi. We chose the latter, I did get him to go down 100 pesos better than nothing. The hotel Hacienda de Vallarta is a sprawling rather tortuous affair with hidden corners, steps,side entries etc. In fact we knew this hotel and had visited it once before while in P.V. The room is great it's very big with one double bed and two single beds and the shower has hot water, yeah! There's also A.C. which makes a lot of noise and doesn't seem to cool down the room all that much. We just turned it on I was sweating writing this but won't complain it's been a while since I've experienced sweating. We ate tacos from the friendly taco vendor just around the corner and they actually tasted really good with the corn tortillas. Woke up not too too early went for a buffet breakfast, 59 pesos per person which is around $4.50 and then off to the beach. The water was lovely, we swam for quite a distance before walking back. They've built a brand new pier it's quite different looking, lots of steel although it's already showing signs of corrosion with the sea and wind taking their toll. We found the house where Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton had their torrid affair while filming the rather execrable Night of the Iguanas directed by a John Houston already past his prime. The house is called the Kimberley House not sure why and it was completely gutted. Apparently it's been in a constant state of renovation for the last few years not that we could tell. The woman who owns it and other houses near it apparently made her millions
through a thriving phone sex operation business, this might just be one of those hard to refute rumors which have a way of floating around when it comes to Mexico.
Tomorrow we are off to beautiful Yelapa, it's a secluded beach on a bay and there's a splendid water fall near by. The boat ride is over 2 hours, it should be great fun and a gorgeous outing for Valentine's day. We're a bit conflicted as to when we should leave for Melaque, we might want to spend more time in P.V. where there's always something going on. Then again we can't forget the appointment with the dentist. We're giving up on going to Puebla. There has been some disturbing news recently concerning some of the areas where we might have gone, including an elderly couple who got murdered and their house ransacked near Guadalajara and Lake Chapala where we initially had intended to retire. Okay that's neither here nor there but Puebla on the map is very far, long bus rides maybe late night arrivals, dragging suitcases around and we've already visited some of the greatest colonial cities in the world. Somehow it didn't feel right this time, sometimes one has to listen to one's gut feeling. Getting on the net can be very frustrating, it takes forever to log on, watch the wheel spinning round and round. I might not be able to update as often as I want for now hasta luego and Happy Valentine.
Arrived in Puerto Vallarta where transportation wise you can either take a local,noisy, belching bus which visits every single colonia (neighbourhood) along the way or an overpriced taxi. We chose the latter, I did get him to go down 100 pesos better than nothing. The hotel Hacienda de Vallarta is a sprawling rather tortuous affair with hidden corners, steps,side entries etc. In fact we knew this hotel and had visited it once before while in P.V. The room is great it's very big with one double bed and two single beds and the shower has hot water, yeah! There's also A.C. which makes a lot of noise and doesn't seem to cool down the room all that much. We just turned it on I was sweating writing this but won't complain it's been a while since I've experienced sweating. We ate tacos from the friendly taco vendor just around the corner and they actually tasted really good with the corn tortillas. Woke up not too too early went for a buffet breakfast, 59 pesos per person which is around $4.50 and then off to the beach. The water was lovely, we swam for quite a distance before walking back. They've built a brand new pier it's quite different looking, lots of steel although it's already showing signs of corrosion with the sea and wind taking their toll. We found the house where Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton had their torrid affair while filming the rather execrable Night of the Iguanas directed by a John Houston already past his prime. The house is called the Kimberley House not sure why and it was completely gutted. Apparently it's been in a constant state of renovation for the last few years not that we could tell. The woman who owns it and other houses near it apparently made her millions
through a thriving phone sex operation business, this might just be one of those hard to refute rumors which have a way of floating around when it comes to Mexico.
Tomorrow we are off to beautiful Yelapa, it's a secluded beach on a bay and there's a splendid water fall near by. The boat ride is over 2 hours, it should be great fun and a gorgeous outing for Valentine's day. We're a bit conflicted as to when we should leave for Melaque, we might want to spend more time in P.V. where there's always something going on. Then again we can't forget the appointment with the dentist. We're giving up on going to Puebla. There has been some disturbing news recently concerning some of the areas where we might have gone, including an elderly couple who got murdered and their house ransacked near Guadalajara and Lake Chapala where we initially had intended to retire. Okay that's neither here nor there but Puebla on the map is very far, long bus rides maybe late night arrivals, dragging suitcases around and we've already visited some of the greatest colonial cities in the world. Somehow it didn't feel right this time, sometimes one has to listen to one's gut feeling. Getting on the net can be very frustrating, it takes forever to log on, watch the wheel spinning round and round. I might not be able to update as often as I want for now hasta luego and Happy Valentine.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
My Travels And A Little Bit of This And That: Thoughts on Parkland and The Fifth Estate
My Travels And A Little Bit of This And That: Thoughts on Parkland and The Fifth Estate: It seems appropriate to critique the films Parkland and The Fifth Estate in tandem. Both deal with events of momentous importance for the w...
Thoughts on Parkland and The Fifth Estate
It seems appropriate to critique the films Parkland and The Fifth Estate in tandem. Both deal with events of momentous importance for the world, events which continue to shape history either through conspiracy theories in the case of the Kennedy assassination or through the ethics of the dissemination of sensitive information via unnamed sources through the website Wikileaks.
I must admit to approaching the film Parkland with a remarkable lack of enthusiasm due to its subject matter: the aftermath of the Kennedy assassination in Dallas on that fateful November 22nd, 1963. To state that the topic of this assassination has been exhaustively studied, either through conventional channels or through more peculiar means via conspiracy theory books, websites and just plain nut jobs, would be an understatement. At some point Kennedy fatigue is bound to set in. My interest in the film was mostly sparked by the news that Tom Welling was going to have a feature role in its making. I've been a fan of the actor since Smallville so this was exciting news. Much to my chagrin he is featured very little as head of Kennedy's security detail. In fact Parkland is one of those wanna be prestige projects with a lot of famous actors attached seemingly because they want to be a part of something profound and influential. In my estimation the film would have had the same resonance with no name actors which is to say a moderate resonance in terms of critical acclaim or the events which the film seeks to illuminate.
Apparently the film was a pet project of Tom Hanks who was determined to see it realized. It's directed in an indifferent, competent fashion by Peter Landsman a director I know nothing about.
The film focuses on the critical hours following the shots heard around the world. For such a momentous event the film is a rather dull affair. The barely alive President is rushed to the emergency room of the Parkland hospital with Jackie his wife pitifully cradling part of his brain in her hands in one of the most affecting part of the whole movie. Thereafter we witness the valiant efforts of the staff to try and save JFK and then a whisking of the corpse back to the Presidential plane (yeah Tom Welling) and off to Washington. Most of the time is spent looking at the dying president with very grim faces,understandably so,yet the lack of passion in filming these pivotal scenes yields a certain ennui. I wanted to be engaged but I wasn't. The heavy use of archival footage renders the film inert as we witness the shots, without the benefit of sound, through the googly eyes of Abraham Zapruder played indifferently by Paul Giamatti.
The only part of the film which managed to capture my attention was the part concerning the brother of Lee Harvey Oswald ,their mother and Lee Havey's wife with the aftermaths of the shooting hanging over their heads and sure to do so for the rest of their lives. In conclusion the film was full of good intentions,historically accurate yet a lifeless recounting of an event which changed a nation and the world. It felt incomplete as if most of it had been left on the cutting floor waiting vainly to be reanimated.
The Fifth Estate directed by Bill Condon and starting almost there mega star Benedict Cumberbatch in the role of Julian Assange, is also potentially full of good intentions but ends up feeling confused and a virtual character assassination of Assange himself which the film never fully assumes. We meet the mysterious Assange through a hacker acquaintance of his the soon to be partner in "crime" and de facto second in command Daniel Berg. Their relationship is a fractured affair. Things go smoothly at first until Assange's thirst for truth and his disregard of the danger posed to his "anonymous" sources bring things to a head in particular with the leaks attached to private Bradley Manning which rocked the U.S. military establishment to its core. The director tries very hard to make this a propulsive affair with
endless jetting by Assange between capitals in Europe and Kenya where Wikileaks revelations will lead to the assassination of two Assange acolytes. To signal its hip factor as befits a movie about a hip character ample use is also made of technology, cryptic messages, split screens, undecipherable references to hacker know how in short so much is piled on that it becomes a bit of a bore just sifting through all the garble. The problem with a film tailored as a wannabe thriller resides in the fact that it lacks a credible villain. Sure Assange is not an especially pleasant guy but we more or less already know this from interviews and portraits gleaned here and there in the conventional press. The jury is still out on whether Assange is guilty of the rape charges brought against him which he has vehemently denied. Meanwhile he's still waiting,not very patiently I suspect, in exile in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London although that hasn't put an end to Wikileaks revelations to wit Edward Snowden being its most prominent whistle blower to date.
Cumberbatch is great in the role and Daniel Bruhl in the role of Everyman Berg is also excellent. The film is peppered with well known actors in minor roles, a trend it seems for another prestige project with high intellectual significance (cough). Assange remains an enigmatic problematic figure to the end. With a more rigorous script placing greater emphasis on motive rather than subjecting us to great bouts of frenetic keyboarding the film might have gotten somewhere. As it stands it's an unfinished mess with some need of serious editing.
I must admit to approaching the film Parkland with a remarkable lack of enthusiasm due to its subject matter: the aftermath of the Kennedy assassination in Dallas on that fateful November 22nd, 1963. To state that the topic of this assassination has been exhaustively studied, either through conventional channels or through more peculiar means via conspiracy theory books, websites and just plain nut jobs, would be an understatement. At some point Kennedy fatigue is bound to set in. My interest in the film was mostly sparked by the news that Tom Welling was going to have a feature role in its making. I've been a fan of the actor since Smallville so this was exciting news. Much to my chagrin he is featured very little as head of Kennedy's security detail. In fact Parkland is one of those wanna be prestige projects with a lot of famous actors attached seemingly because they want to be a part of something profound and influential. In my estimation the film would have had the same resonance with no name actors which is to say a moderate resonance in terms of critical acclaim or the events which the film seeks to illuminate.
Apparently the film was a pet project of Tom Hanks who was determined to see it realized. It's directed in an indifferent, competent fashion by Peter Landsman a director I know nothing about.
The film focuses on the critical hours following the shots heard around the world. For such a momentous event the film is a rather dull affair. The barely alive President is rushed to the emergency room of the Parkland hospital with Jackie his wife pitifully cradling part of his brain in her hands in one of the most affecting part of the whole movie. Thereafter we witness the valiant efforts of the staff to try and save JFK and then a whisking of the corpse back to the Presidential plane (yeah Tom Welling) and off to Washington. Most of the time is spent looking at the dying president with very grim faces,understandably so,yet the lack of passion in filming these pivotal scenes yields a certain ennui. I wanted to be engaged but I wasn't. The heavy use of archival footage renders the film inert as we witness the shots, without the benefit of sound, through the googly eyes of Abraham Zapruder played indifferently by Paul Giamatti.
The only part of the film which managed to capture my attention was the part concerning the brother of Lee Harvey Oswald ,their mother and Lee Havey's wife with the aftermaths of the shooting hanging over their heads and sure to do so for the rest of their lives. In conclusion the film was full of good intentions,historically accurate yet a lifeless recounting of an event which changed a nation and the world. It felt incomplete as if most of it had been left on the cutting floor waiting vainly to be reanimated.
The Fifth Estate directed by Bill Condon and starting almost there mega star Benedict Cumberbatch in the role of Julian Assange, is also potentially full of good intentions but ends up feeling confused and a virtual character assassination of Assange himself which the film never fully assumes. We meet the mysterious Assange through a hacker acquaintance of his the soon to be partner in "crime" and de facto second in command Daniel Berg. Their relationship is a fractured affair. Things go smoothly at first until Assange's thirst for truth and his disregard of the danger posed to his "anonymous" sources bring things to a head in particular with the leaks attached to private Bradley Manning which rocked the U.S. military establishment to its core. The director tries very hard to make this a propulsive affair with
endless jetting by Assange between capitals in Europe and Kenya where Wikileaks revelations will lead to the assassination of two Assange acolytes. To signal its hip factor as befits a movie about a hip character ample use is also made of technology, cryptic messages, split screens, undecipherable references to hacker know how in short so much is piled on that it becomes a bit of a bore just sifting through all the garble. The problem with a film tailored as a wannabe thriller resides in the fact that it lacks a credible villain. Sure Assange is not an especially pleasant guy but we more or less already know this from interviews and portraits gleaned here and there in the conventional press. The jury is still out on whether Assange is guilty of the rape charges brought against him which he has vehemently denied. Meanwhile he's still waiting,not very patiently I suspect, in exile in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London although that hasn't put an end to Wikileaks revelations to wit Edward Snowden being its most prominent whistle blower to date.
Cumberbatch is great in the role and Daniel Bruhl in the role of Everyman Berg is also excellent. The film is peppered with well known actors in minor roles, a trend it seems for another prestige project with high intellectual significance (cough). Assange remains an enigmatic problematic figure to the end. With a more rigorous script placing greater emphasis on motive rather than subjecting us to great bouts of frenetic keyboarding the film might have gotten somewhere. As it stands it's an unfinished mess with some need of serious editing.
Monday, January 20, 2014
Review of Dallas Buyers Club
Dallas Buyers Club opens with a bang. We're on rodeo grounds and Ron Woodroof a would be cowboy in his spare time and electrician in his regular joe job is giving it hard to two "ladies" under the stalls. Right away we know this guy's no woos, he's a heterosexual full blooded male and it's important to note this since this is a movie about Aids and being HIV positive at the very beginnings of the deadly disease which will hit especially hard in the gay community. For a time and in some circles it was even branded the queer disease.
The story is based on real life Ron Woodroof played in a go for broke performance by Matthew McConaughey. The physical transformation of McConaughey is quite startling but I had seen quite a few previews of this film prior to going to see it in its entirety and therefore knew what to expect.
The time is 1985 Rock Hudson has died of Aids, panic has yet to grip the gay community but when people start dying in record numbers communities will start to organize all across the U.S. In that respect founding the Dallas Buyers Club was not unique although it's portrayed as being quite singular in the film.
Woodroof is hospitalized after passing out in his trailer and told at the hospital that his blood has tested positive for the HIV virus, in short order he has thirty days to live. One of the more sympathetic doctors is played by Jennifer Garner. She will become an unlikely ally as the story progresses.
Hard playing, hard boozing, pill popping, prostitute frequenting, sex addict Ron Woodroof is not a pleasant character. He's a raging homophobic and thus considers it a supreme injustice to his manhood to have fallen prey to the queer disease. I have to say that even after his so-called conversion and semi-acceptance of the gay/transgendered milieu he never quite grew on me.
Woodroof refuses to go easy into the night and becomes determined to procure himself with any illegal and unapproved medicine which will prolong his life. While the disease is spreading pharmaceutical companies are competing to come up with a cocktail which will do just that while, at the same time, enhancing generously their bottom line. Unfortunately clinical trials which will lead to an eventual approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) take too long and Woodroof eventually ends up in Mexico where he finds a cocktail which appears to be working. He sets up a partnership with a transgendered woman called Rayon played by Jared Leto with sensitivity and panache. Thus the Dallas Buyers Club is born. Rayon is an invented character placed there to make Woodroof's conversion more plausible to the viewer.
I have read a few articles by gay activists condemning the portrayal of Rayon by a straight man. I personally don't feel there is any merit to such criticism. Throughout history men have portrayed women, women have portrayed men etc...Art should transcend such reductive arguments. It is not necessary for the portrayal of Rayon to be effective to have a transgendered actor playing the role arguments like that just muddy the waters. The film was never meant to be an exhaustive chronology of the ravages of Aids rather it is the story of a man's journey in uncharted territory yet despite its pro-gay attitude the film never manages to overcome a certain lack of empathy for the people such as Rayon and other members of the gay community who are portrayed as extremely passive in the face of this horrible disease.
Nevertheless it is an appealing story of mitigated triumph over adversity. Woodroof is forced to confront a medical and pharmaceutical system disinclined to give all the help it can unless it can make a tidy profit. His fight against the FDA is the real deal and the beating heart of the story. While Woodroof himself remains a problematic figure, at least for me, he does attain a certain measure of redemption for his early homophobic ways. The renowned Québécois director Jean-Marc Vallée never sinks into sentimentality where sentimentality and romanticism might have been easy to mine. The story is told in a straightforward manner without any embellishments and once again as in the case of August:Osage County the acting elevates it above the ordinary.
The story is based on real life Ron Woodroof played in a go for broke performance by Matthew McConaughey. The physical transformation of McConaughey is quite startling but I had seen quite a few previews of this film prior to going to see it in its entirety and therefore knew what to expect.
The time is 1985 Rock Hudson has died of Aids, panic has yet to grip the gay community but when people start dying in record numbers communities will start to organize all across the U.S. In that respect founding the Dallas Buyers Club was not unique although it's portrayed as being quite singular in the film.
Woodroof is hospitalized after passing out in his trailer and told at the hospital that his blood has tested positive for the HIV virus, in short order he has thirty days to live. One of the more sympathetic doctors is played by Jennifer Garner. She will become an unlikely ally as the story progresses.
Hard playing, hard boozing, pill popping, prostitute frequenting, sex addict Ron Woodroof is not a pleasant character. He's a raging homophobic and thus considers it a supreme injustice to his manhood to have fallen prey to the queer disease. I have to say that even after his so-called conversion and semi-acceptance of the gay/transgendered milieu he never quite grew on me.
Woodroof refuses to go easy into the night and becomes determined to procure himself with any illegal and unapproved medicine which will prolong his life. While the disease is spreading pharmaceutical companies are competing to come up with a cocktail which will do just that while, at the same time, enhancing generously their bottom line. Unfortunately clinical trials which will lead to an eventual approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) take too long and Woodroof eventually ends up in Mexico where he finds a cocktail which appears to be working. He sets up a partnership with a transgendered woman called Rayon played by Jared Leto with sensitivity and panache. Thus the Dallas Buyers Club is born. Rayon is an invented character placed there to make Woodroof's conversion more plausible to the viewer.
I have read a few articles by gay activists condemning the portrayal of Rayon by a straight man. I personally don't feel there is any merit to such criticism. Throughout history men have portrayed women, women have portrayed men etc...Art should transcend such reductive arguments. It is not necessary for the portrayal of Rayon to be effective to have a transgendered actor playing the role arguments like that just muddy the waters. The film was never meant to be an exhaustive chronology of the ravages of Aids rather it is the story of a man's journey in uncharted territory yet despite its pro-gay attitude the film never manages to overcome a certain lack of empathy for the people such as Rayon and other members of the gay community who are portrayed as extremely passive in the face of this horrible disease.
Nevertheless it is an appealing story of mitigated triumph over adversity. Woodroof is forced to confront a medical and pharmaceutical system disinclined to give all the help it can unless it can make a tidy profit. His fight against the FDA is the real deal and the beating heart of the story. While Woodroof himself remains a problematic figure, at least for me, he does attain a certain measure of redemption for his early homophobic ways. The renowned Québécois director Jean-Marc Vallée never sinks into sentimentality where sentimentality and romanticism might have been easy to mine. The story is told in a straightforward manner without any embellishments and once again as in the case of August:Osage County the acting elevates it above the ordinary.
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