Escapism.

Originally posted on Jan 23, 2017 / Corrections on April 18, 2020

In the darkest moments, the culture will shed a light at the end of the tunnel.

While the rest of the world is being a witness of the dark spectacle of the ascension of simplicity in the highest places of power in Washington, this movie will remember us that there is a vast wealth of culture in the United States that for decades has been shared with the rest of the world.

And yet, this is not just an American Movie. It’s a movie about people, a movie that will make you dance and will make you remember the day that you floated through the air. (If you got the chance to float in one moment in your life.[I did]).

I don’t think the movie is a by-product of The Donald as president, but I think the reception will be a direct reaction to the simplicity that reigns in the news cycle.

People need an escape.

And if it is raining in the USA … the simplicity already reigns in our country and we urgently need to have more culture around us, no one is writing our story. We also need our tropical escape valve.

And there is a tune that will be stuck in your head for a long time.
And you will learn what is the meaning of a song.
And you will learn what is the meaning of going to the movies.

Don’t waste this movie. Go by yourself or go with someone special.

 

 

American Crime

Well, this is something.· I got this in Hulu as a part of the ABC offerings. This will engage you from the very beginning.
This is a story that is segmented by skin color. The characters can be well-defined as The whites, the blacks, the Latinos. They shall not mix. And if they mix the hell will break loose.
It’s a really heavy drama where you can go through an entire chapter without one single smile from them. But the real star here is Felicity Huffman.
A gimmick from the make-up artist: they put black eyes on her. That, and the incredible talent of this woman, gave birth to an angry mother full of racial issues and prejudices. She is stubborn but crying out for help, every minute. She is hopeless. And she is not the happy wife of the other series.
And the junkies. They got families, they need help, but it’s really hard to deal with them. You want to kill them in some chapters. You’ll yell at your tv. And then you’ll feel sorry for them. Again.
It got me, and I’m an outsider. God only knows what will be the effect inside the United States. One of the characters is an American born of Mexican parents. And he hates and blames the immigrants of all the problems in their neighborhood. And the guy calls her kid “Mija”. For sure this is true. The race thing en the USA is complex, and you can take a look at this with this drama.
Part of the secret here is the writer: John Ridley, the same guy who wrote the script for 12 years a slave.

 

IMDB

Emmy Nominations

The affair

Dominic West as Noah and Ruth Wilson as Alison in The Affair (Keyart). – Photo: Steven Lippman/SHOWTIME

Thanks to the wonderful marriage between Hulu and Showtime, I was able to watch this series. I have to confess, being a Latin American I got all the authority to tell you that this is a soap opera. But a well written almost well-acted soap opera. Taylor Swift sings on the opening credits and most of the story goes on a pretty, white, American beach where there are just one black woman and one Latin American, (who works for AAA and knows how to fix a flat tire.)
Why this drama is worth seeing? Because of the format of the story. Each chapter is split into two parts, Noah and Alison. Because every day the same story will be told from the perspective of each one of the characters. Very Rashomon. But that’s the only thing where we can compare with Master Kurosawa. There are some moments where I can almost see a close up like they use to be in any Mexican or Venezuelan soap opera. There is a waste of talent in the rich spoiled wife (Maura Tierney) of the womanizer-failed-writer. She used to be a part of the crew of News Radio a couple of centuries ago. But it’s a guilty pleasure. Go ahead and see a novela.   Wikipedia