Luis - My favourite scenes: ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA / THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

I was thinking of my favourite movie scenes.

In "Once Upon a Time in America"(1984), there are two or three which deserve attention: the dancing scenes - involving the little girl and, above all, her adult character’s relationship with a man. They are played, respectively, by Elizabeth McGovern (who appears in Downton Abbey) and screen icon Robert de Niro.

So probably the common element in my favourite movies is the artistic couple made up by a classic musician and a long gone director, who are very special to me: Ennio Morricone and Sergio Leone. So I have decided to also send you one of the greatest scenes ever, from one of the best films, accompanied by one of the best music soundtracks.

The leading actor is Eli Wallach, still alive at the age of 98, and the name of the song is "Ecstasy of Gold" - which has a very nice cover by Metallica. Also starring Clint Eastwood and a dog, the film is called "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (the original title in English), set in the American Civil War in New Mexico, though the real scenario was the countryside of Burgos.

Just enjoy it through both your eyes and ears!

Well Luis, those were the days of the so called "spaguetti westerns"! And there's that wonderful love scene in "Once Upon ..." 

It's only coincidence that yesterday I was mentioning in class, after Jose Enrique's post on Godzilla, that The Colossus of Rhodes was one of my "childhood films", as it were, or at least the first that I could remember seeing in a cinema. Guess who directed it? Spot on, the great Sergio Leone! 

I would be lying if I talked about my fave scene in this 1961 film (hey, I was a bit older when I saw it, OK?), as I can barely remember it, so let me just embed the vintage trailer.  It does bring back fond memories ...

Luis - Film review: 25th Hour

Last Christmas I had the chance to watch a movie that a friend had recommended to me for a long time, when we became fans of Mafia movies, specially Scorsese’s. But this time it’s my pleasure to introduce you to a movie by a very different director, starring a great cast.

“25th Hour” is one of the greatest films by independent movie-maker Spike Lee. It’s an entertaining movie, set in present-day New York which tells the story of a friendly businessman (Edward Norton) who actually is a drug dealer, specifically his whole last day of freedom before starting a prison sentence. 

He is a nice guy, as it can be seen from the very first scenes, where he appears happily with his dog, and from the way he talks with people and treats his girlfriend. However, he has friends who are bad guys, as they belong to the Russian Mafia. He should have left the business earlier, but he wished to save money and because of that he was unable to.

Someone has ratted on him and here starts the intriguing part of the movie with the other important characters: his two best friends, a broker (Barry Pepper) and a teacher (Philip Seymour Hoffman), as well as his exotic, beautiful girlfriend (Rosario Dawson). During his last day and night with them he will face the decision about his next step: whether to kill himself, become a fugitive or ‘do time’. 

Anyway, his life will never be the same and one of his friends concludes: “It’s over”. The role of his father, a retired fireman (Brian Cox), is determining; furthermore, he has a slight connection with Ground Zero (9/11) in the movie.

Equally impressive is the final sequence, when the father is supposedly driving him to prison, then talking about his son’s imaginary future life: how he runs away, meets his girlfriend and starts a family. Then the father utters the famous last words that his son will repeat to his own children: “It all came so close to never happening”.

The great strength of this movie is the impressive character of Edward Norton: his brilliant “f* word” monologue in front of the mirror gives us food for thought about both the rules in our society and corruption; the way he ends each sentence - “Fuck everyone!” - is really thought-provoking, as is usually the case in Spike Lee’s directing.

At the end of the day, we’ll believe Edward Norton’s character is more honest than these high-ups who control our lives. Not only is 25th Hour a complex, unusual film - it has no plot, it just tells a 24-hour-long story - but it also tackles real problems in society, such as which drugs should be legal or illegal or who are the greatest criminals, as well as corruption and family. A gripping must-see movie, which I hope you really enjoy!

A good post, Luis, thanks a lot! I've seen bits and pieces of the film myself but I intend to watch it in its entirety over the weekend. I deem Norton and Seymour Hoffman two of the finest American actors of their generation and I cannot emphasize how much I admire the also great Scottish actor Brian Cox, whose work, I believe, has often been underrated. 

Come on guys, keep sending more entries for our blog or indeed your comments.

Luis. A book review: Memento Mori

Last year, when I was still living in Valladolid, I discovered a novel which now I bring to this blog. It is the first part of a trilogy whose author is César Pérez Gellida, a brave man from Valladolid, who quit his job in order to devote himself to his writing career. The first fruit of this is Memento Mori.

Let me tell you a little about the story. There’s the seemingly typical police inspector, Sancho, and a murder to investigate. A corpse has been found, horribly mutilated, next to a note with a poem. We could expect a police thriller, like many others with these ingredients, but this would be a big mistake, because "Memento Mori" contains several details that make it different and innovative from its beginning, including the foreword by Michael Robinson.

The story is told alternating the points of view of the two main characters: Sancho, the investigator, and Augusto, the murderer. We see the perspective of the antagonist very closely. We know his identity from the very first page, but the plot does not lose interest because of this early revelation. On the contrary, after ending the novel, the feeling is that Augusto is the engine of the story.

Sancho is a tormented inspector, dealing with ghosts from the past, whereas Augusto is psychologically complex. Not only do we perceive their fears, their strengths and weaknesses, but also we go on a tour through the streets of Valladolid while they try to beat each other. An extremely interesting route filled with monuments, famous streets, as well as pubs and restaurants.

There is room for constant literary references, like Kafka; many of them are the inspiration of Augusto for his murders.

His musical preferences are also the key to understand his behavior. So for the novel’s soundtrack, which is available on the author’s website, songs by Héroes del Silencio, Placebo, Rammstein and Depeche Mode, among others, appear during the development of the plot.

In short, Memento Mori is a different reading experience and you will easily devour its pages. However, a calm reading is recommended in order to enjoy each page better, and, of course, you must have Youtube at hand as the songs complement the story. It’s a novel to read as well as to listen to. When you finish it, you will probably be looking forward to reading its sequel, “Dies Irae”.