lunes, 28 de febrero de 2011

The Kids Are All Right - Lisa Chodolenko (2010)

Great picture about a family with two moms but not so different after all. All of us are just human in the end. The outside factor that stirs things up in the family life is an easygoing pal who captivates all of them. The story is smartly developed and the acting is really good. There's also a tribute to Joni Mitchell and a more subtle one to David Bowie.

viernes, 25 de febrero de 2011

Autobiografía de Federico Sánchez - Jorge Semprún

Básicamente lo que se explica en este libro es la expulsión del partido comunista, en los años sesenta, del autor. Se hacen pesadas las disquisiciones ideológicas y es entretenido el resto aunque no se sabe hasta que punto se trata de una novela o de hechos históricos (parece que algunos personajes son inventados, aunque no he podido deducir cuales ni acabo de entender por qué los tenía que inventar). Tiene fuerza la forma de narrar; me gusta por ejemplo el título del primer y del último capítulo: "Pasionaria ha pedido la palabra".

miércoles, 16 de febrero de 2011

The Dying Animal - Philip Roth

This is a short novel published in 2001 and the basis for the film "Elegy" directed by Isabel Coixet some years later. Let's get it straight: There's never been a novel by Roth entitled "Elegy". It just happens that his novel "Everyman" was translated to spanish as "Elegía". What a mess... Anyway, here we got Roth in one of his impersonations, David Kepesh. As usual I find the text brilliant. He writes in a kind of paroxysm about morals in american pioneers, some memories of the sixties, men and women (Consuela and himself in particualr) and father and son's affairs.

lunes, 14 de febrero de 2011

True Grit - Henry Hathaway (1969), Coen Brothers (2010)

A nice western it was back in 1969, with John Wayne as the old marshall and a nice western it is now with Jeff Bridges in the same role. Was it necessary to remake it?. Well, the new generations deserve it, I guess. The plot is the same, of course, with some minor changes. I object to the new version the scenes by night (I can't see a thing and I don't know who's firing who) and the mumbling by Bridges (I had to check the script in order to understand him). And yes, it is the young girl, Mary Ross, who got the true grit, the guts.

miércoles, 2 de febrero de 2011

Zenbaki lehenen bakardadea - Paolo Giordano

Denok zenbakiak baldin bagara, gehienok zenbaki arruntak baino ez gara, nahiz eta batzuk zenbaki lehenak izateko joera ere badaukagu. Horrexegaitik nobela honetako pertsonaiekin parekatu gaitezke eta arretaz jarrai ditzakegu beren bizitzen gorabeherak. Italiar kutsua ere nabaria dela esango nuke eta idazlea matematikaria izanez analogia aproposak asmatzen dituela. Amaiera gazi-gozoa da eta agian oso errealista.