Zander’s Weblog

A more recent Pedro Almodóvar film, also known as: “Carne Trémula”, which sounds less pornographic. The film has a complex and rather fantastical plot that takes what seems like a long time to unfold. More Hollywood wrapped in Almodóvar, where the opposite would have satisfied better. But still, not a bad film.

Also known as: “Que He Hecho Yo Para Merecer Esto?”, another early Pedro Almodóvar film–excellent and bizarre. Three generations living in a shabby apartment with a lizard named “Money”–the characters are indelible.

If you like Pedro Almodóvar you’ll appreciate the wacky creativity and finger-in-your-eye subversiveness of this colorful early film. Nuns on heroin, anyone?

Also known as: “A’ Cause d’un Garcon”, a tepid and rather formulaic French coming out story. The grass does not appear any greener in France for gay teens—rather the same as here, in fact.

I’m sure anyone who rents this movie will be immediately placed under surveillance by the NSA. Noam gives away all of their secrets. And it’s no wonder they don’t want to talk about any of it—very nasty stuff.

An excellent documentary. So that’s where multi-track recording and the solid body guitar came from!

No one doubts that oil is not an unlimited resource, that we’re burning through what we have at a rapid and accelerating pace, that this activity is harmful to the planet, and that sooner or later some serious shit is going to hit the fan. This film examines how we got here and where we might want to go.

Impeccably filmed, beautifully styled, but rather sterile Frida-by-the-numbers biopic. Particularly disturbing was the choice to cast so many Spanish-speaking actors and have them all render their lines in English with a latin accent. ¡Qué feo! It was also weird how Salma Hayek never aged a day during the entire film. Get over yourself, hon.

Were the characters all animated, or were some of them real? The visuals tended to switch back and forth unpleasantly and the question distracted. The story, of course, was a brutal mess–men boasting, getting drunk, telling lies, treating women like objects, and following their “burning loins”–but woe unto you if you are untrue to your wife with an animated water creature!

A brief film (45 min) about climbing Everest. I had read In to Thin Air, which documented the (all too typical) disastrous attempts by Gary Hall and Scott Fischer’s expeditions during which 8 people died. I also knew that the IMAX team was coincidentally on the mountain at the same time and helped out with the rescue efforts. It was sobering to see all of the places talked about in the book in such amazing detail. And no, they did not show any bodies, although just over 150 of them have accumulated up there, frozen in their climbing gear, since Hillary and Norgay became the first to summit in 1953.