Neko Case, striking chords and melting hearts; image courtesy of merryswankster.com

I love lists. At the end of every year, I dutifully check in with my AV Clubs and my Pitchforks and my NPRs and my Dusteds and whatever other publications appeal to politically liberal youngish people trying to keep up.  

There’s a special place in my heart for music lists. Back in my college radio days, we used to devote hours (some of them on air) to dissecting the year-end best-of lists. Having served posts at office jobs that require a considerable amount of editing and fact-checking, and thus allow for some quality headphones time, these sorts of lists now serve as a discursive mix tape that I can alternately love, hate, or dismiss.   

Yet, I tend not to make lists. It isn’t a matter of feeling like my opinions aren’t valuable. It’s a resistance to canon formation. I question whether the list itself is a useful tool with which to measure history. There’s something so arbitrary about ranking, so temporal about certain offerings, and so glass-cased final about the results. It seems to render the chosen cultural moments accidental, temperamental, and airless. And often the items deemed worthy on these lists have nothing to do with me or anyone else who isn’t a straight white adult male.   

To me, the only use a list has is to argue about it with a group of friends over beer, make another list to counter someone else’s (whether it be drafted by a friend or a respectable publication), or scrawl all over the margins of the pre-existing document. Otherwise, the proceedings seem deceptive and unsatisfying to me. And even though I like to wrestle with lists, I don’t really need proof that good things came out each year. Good movies, TV shows, books, and especially music get made every year.  

That said, I do believe in favorites. While favorites can shift with time and gathered experience, I’m a big believer in selecting a defining text that encompasses the year. I don’t remember if I originally thought Pedro Almodóvar’s Volver was my favorite movie of 2006, though I know I loved it. When I think about it now though, I remember calling my mother immediately after the screening I attended because the thought of living in the same house as a grown woman with your mother who might be a ghost was too profound an idea not to relate to her.  

I remember how TV on the Radio’s Dear Science captured the hope of change promised by the potential election of Barack Obama, especially in the wake of a demoralizing Bush administration that the band gestured toward in previous, more emotionally turbulent albums.  

So what of this year? Well, my choice for album of the year picked me. 

Cover for Middle Cyclone (Anti- , 2009); image courtesy of pastemagazine.com

 Before getting into why I picked the album I did, which I established as my #1 way back in March despite keeping fantastic company with offerings from Bill Callahan, Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors, P.O.S., Fashawn, Micachu & The Shapes, Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, St. Vincent, Bat for Lashes, Speech Debelle, Grizzly Bear, Themselves, Memory Tapes, Janelle Monáe, Phoenix, Taken By Trees, Nite Jewel, Destroyer, Julianna Barwick, Fever Ray, The Noisettes, Atlas Sound, Vivian Girls, Gossip, Best Coast, Dan Deacon, Brother Ali, and so many others, I’d like to be candid for a moment. When I think about this year, I think about how I tried to make it a good one. I believe I was successful and I know I have many people to thank for that. But it was definitely a growing year, and usually not in the certain, considerable, triumphant ways that “growth” often suggests itself as a word.  

I started this blog at the end of April. While I made a New Year’s resolution to do it, I created it out of a need to control my feelings about a professional setback that rendered itself more heart-breaking than I thought it would when the decisions were finally handed down. Throughout this year, I’ve often (re: daily) reflected upon my future and who I want to be, worried not so much that I lack the ability to progress toward a career I really want and think I’d be great at, but that I’ll never get the chance to develop and move forward. That’s some heavy shit. It doesn’t translate well into party-time chit-chat either, especially when some of your friends are already on the path you’d like to be on someday.  

As a result, I tried to broaden my focus and interests. I tried to get some related things accomplished and made some progress. But I also got comfy and more involved with my current job, read more books, saw more movies, heard more music, hung out with my friends, had quiet nights at home with my partner and our cat, got involved with Girls Rock Camp Austin, co-taught some rad music history workshops, paid off my loan, and threw myself into this blog with abandon. Admittedly, it’d be nice to get paid to put this site together, as I could easily be happy making a career out of it. But it’s been so fun and rewarding to write up these posts and have smart, sensitive people follow along and participate. I’ll gladly pay the money to keep the domain name.  

But none of this fucking matters when a tornado is ripping up your house or a killer whale is eating your lungs. And with that, let’s get into Neko Case’s Middle Cyclone.  

So, the second time I heard this album, I knew it was the one to beat. And before people cry “safe choice!” or “bias!” I’ll point out that Animal Collective secured many publications’ top spot with a crossover hit back in January. And then I’ll add that Middle Cyclone, much like Merriweather Post Pavilion (and Dear Science before it and Kala before it) distilled the musician’s artistic growth. In this particular case (no pun intended), she honed her considerable writing ability, developed her Gothic noir musical tendencies, piled on catchy melodies and haunting harmonies, and showcased a maturing, perfect alto. The issue of vocal range is one of great importance to me, as it means I can sing along with her. We had some good sessions in my car.  

It was also the long-awaited follow-up to Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, which continued but further shaded the cinematic work the singer had done with Blacklisted. Fox Confessor was a cycle of post-apocolyptic fairy tales about car accident victims, army widows, and fingerless cannery workers.  

As is evident in much of her earlier and subsequent work, animals show up. Sparrows, lions, and foxes make often allegorical appearances, though her gendered connection to nature would take a more literal, weirder turn when she decided to record crickets chirping for Middle Cyclone’s final 30 minutes. Sometimes cover songs get re-interpreted, as on the spiritual “John Saw That Number” and Sparks’ “Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth” and Harry Nilsson’s “Don’t Forget Me” on her follow-up.   

Sometimes Case would show up too, most noticeably on “Hold On, Hold On.”   

But Case is all over Middle Cyclone. Whether she’s singing about a love-lorn tornado or a biker’s wife or a convict or an owl, she’s singing from their perspective rather than narrating their lives. She’s also often singing as herself, revealing who that might be with lines about being the dangling ceiling of a caved-in roof or threatening to punch a lover in the face if the word “forever” is uttered in “The Next Time You Say Forever.” I also love her assertion that “heaven will smell like the airport” but that we shouldn’t worry about whether we get proof of it is fair in “I’m An Animal.” However, her candor on the title track moves me the most.  

Through the liner notes, we even got more of a sense of who she is. Her deprecating sense of humor is evident, as is her confident sense of artistic ownership and her craftiness with collage art and découpage glue. As this was the year Austin City Limits released their cookbook, I can’t wait to try out her recipe for houndstooth chocolate chip cookies. And let’s not forget how many pianos she needed to make this album. She may be a goddess, but she’s also a kooky lady.   

This goddess and kooky lady are evident as one on the album’s bad-ass cover. While it’s Neko on the hood of a car, the image is far from Vargas girl cheesecake. This one is barefoot and holding a sword, but she’s also 38 (now 39) and pretending to be an eight-year-old boy.  

In sum, Middle Cyclone was a defining and distinctly female work that came about from age, experience, a clear sense of self, some hard knocks, and even more defiance to overcome them. It was exactly the album I needed to hear this year, often and at full volume.

We’ve reached the top 20 films of the ’00s!  This is the 2nd tier, or those films that would be numbered 11 – 20.  As with the previous group, I don’t notice any unifying theme to this group of movies so on with the countdown we go.  In order of (United States) release date:

11 – 20

• American Psycho (2000) – Mary Harron’s film is both an adaptation of and corrective to Bret Easton Ellis’ novel.  Reconfiguring the book’s horrific misogyny and looking with a scrutinizing eye at the psycho himself, Patrick Bateman, Harron’s film is more of a slyly feminist satire than a horror flick.  The film still carries through many of the book’s themes, but Harron’s take on the material is fantastic.

• The Son (2003) – The Dardennes’ film is at once simple and immeasurably complex, a quiet but compelling story about a carpenter’s multifaceted relationship with the boy he takes on as an apprentice.  Shot in a bare bones realist style with spare dialogue and naturalistic performances.

• Kill Bill (2003/4) – Vol. 1, a bloody, ultra-violent love letter to kung fu cinema, tells a straightforward revenge plot in which action is the language used speak about the characters and their shared histories.  Vol. 2 draws more from the Western genre, humanizing itself as it draws to its conclusion.  Tarantino is another polarizing director on this list; I happen to love his style, and he brings it in spades for this epic two-part film.

• Maria Full of Grace (2004) – This story about a young Colombian woman’s experience working as a drug mule is another example of the neorealist (or just plain realist, or whatever A. O. Scott wants to call it) tradition that thrived in the ’00s.  Catalina Sandino Moreno makes this movie with her amazing, naturalistic (frequently silent) performance.

• Volver (2006) – Penelope Cruz gives a career-defining performance as Raimunda in Pedro Almodovar’s Volver, a tribue to the women of the director’s childhood.  Ms. Cruz is supported by a talented cast; how nice it was to see Carmen Maura working with Almodovar again.  The story is a haunting and beautiful melodrama (that manages to have a sense of humor).  The characters are so lovingly drawn that it’s hard not to fall under the director’s spell.

• Zodiac (2007) – Zodiac faithfully recreates the events of the Zodiac Killer’s crimes in San Francisco and other areas of California.  David Fincher’s best film to date, the pic builds its feeling of anxiety in a slow, controlled fashion all the way to the uncertain conclusion.  The film may be considered a blend of several genres, and Fincher combines these elements with his usual attention to detail but while also exercising a restraint not seen in his work up to this point.

• Eastern Promises (2007) – The ’00s were a fruitful time for David Cronenberg (keep your eye on the forthcoming top 10 list), and this dark crime drama packs a punch.  The pic weaves a tight narrative around fully conceived characters; yes, it’s a mafia story, but beneath the surface you’ll find some unsettling notions about sex(uality) and violence.  Viggo Mortensen gives possibly his finest performance to date.

• No Country for Old Men (2007) – This movie is the Coen Brothers masterpiece.  Occasionally funny but more often dark and serious, the pic boasts exceptional performances (Mr. Bardem is frightening) and beautiful lensing.  A Western-but-not-a-Western, a violent crime/chase story framed by the sincerest cinematic depiction of the “I’m getting too old for this shit” policeman cliche.

• Persepolis (2007) – Another excellent animated film in the ’00s (there will be one in the top 10–stay tuned).  Marjane Satrapi worked with Vincent Paronnaud to bring her own autobiographical graphic novel to the screen.  A visual wonder, Persepolis is Satrapi’s own emotional coming-of-age story, set against the backdrop of the Islamic Revolution.

• Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) – A lighter side of Mike Leigh that brims with optimism and is still as humanistic as any of his films.  Sally Hawkins is perfect as Poppy, and Eddie Marsan is hilarious (when not frightening) in the role of Poppy’s tightly wound driving instructor, Scott.

♫ : Juan Son

El Viento Ya No Sopla… Piensa En Tu Madre, Déjate Caer

Die beiden Schwestern Raimunda (Penélope Cruz) und Sole (Lola Dueñas) wuchsen in einem abgelegenen Dorf irgedwo in Spanien auf, leben nun allerdings in der Nähe Madrids, wo Raimunda ihren arbeitslosen Ehemann Paco und ihre 14-jährige Tochter Paula (Yohana Cobo) mit Gelegenheitsjobs durchfüttert. Als Paco im völlig betrunkenen Zustand versucht, seine Tochter zu vergewaltigen, sticht Paula ihn nieder, woraufhin die Pragmatikerin Raimunda die Leiche in der Kühltruhe des Restaurants eines Freundes verschwinden lässt, das sie kurzerhand übernimmt. Währenddessen muss Sole allein in die alte Heimat zur Beerdigung ihrer kürzlich verstorbenen Tante fahren, wo sie von ihrer vor einigen Jahren verstorbenen Mutter erwartet wird …

Ich fürchte, Freunde werde ich mir mit dieser Rezension nicht machen. Wenn ich mich normalerweise dazu genötigt fühle, der Allgemeinheit bei der Beurteilung eines Filmes strikt zu widersprechen, geht es für gewöhnlich um Blockbuster mit Beteiligung von Spezies wie Roland Emmerich (oder Will Smith), deren Verrisse mir meist verziehen werden. Allerdings habe ich mich bisher noch nie derart negativ über einen von Presse und Publikum gleichermaßen als Meisterwerk gepriesenden Film auslassen müssen, wie das im Folgenden passieren wird. Seht es mir nach, ich bin auch nur ein Mensch.

“Volver”, zu Deutsch “Zurückkehren”, möchte Tragikomödie sein, ein Genre, dass ich seit dem deutschen Independentfilm “Schultze Gets The Blues”, spätestens aber seit “Lost in Translation” lieben gelernt habe, denn es verspricht skurrile Charaktere, absurde Dialoge und den ganz normalen Wahnsinn des Alltags. All das findet sich auch in “Volver” wieder. Was mich stört: Weder das Tragi- noch die Komödie kommen in dem Film wirklich zur Geltung. Den ganzen Film hindurch habe ich einmal, ein einziges Mal schmunzeln müssen – die Tote-Mutter-Geschichte hatte schon was für sich; das war’s dann aber auch. Gelungene Komik ist etwas anderes. Ich kann dem Plot einfach nichts Lustiges entnehmen, so sehr ich mich auch angestrengt habe; dass ich bis zum Ende des Films durchgehalten habe, ist schon eine durchaus lobenswerte Leistung gewesen, finde ich.

Der tragische Part lässt sich leichter ausmachen und ist auch gelungener. Allein die Szene, in der Paula auf Raimunda wartet und sie in die Wohnung führt, wo sie die Leiche ihres Ehemannes findet, ist schon ein, zwei Punkte mindestens wert. Überhaupt hätte sich aus dem Film so viel mehr machen lassen, wenn Regisseur und Autor Pedro Almodóvar “Volver” von Beginn an als Drama konzipiert und die Möchtegern-Komik beiseite gelassen hätte. Mag sein, dass ich mit spanischem Humor einfach nicht viel anfangen kann, dennoch hätte ich etwas mehr Feuer erwartet. “Volver” tröpfelt einfach so lange vor sich hin, dass man – das heißt, ich – nach einiger Zeit nicht einmal mehr erwartet, dass noch allzu viel passiert – und diese Einstellung ist für einen Film natürlich der Gnadenstoß, denn das durchaus stimmungsvolle Ende geht dadurch etwas unter.

Mein letzter Kritikpunkt ist eigentlich gar keiner; Penélope Cruz spielt nämlich wirklich toll, auch wenn ich sie wie schon im ungleich besseren “Vicky Christina Barcelona” für etwas overhyped halte. Das soll aber nicht weiter stören, sie agiert nämlich auf jeden Fall sehr souverän, was auch für den Rest des Ensembles gilt, und rettet auf diese Weise, was eben noch zu retten ist. Mir persönlich hat das letzten Endes nicht gereicht. Auch wenn ich damit allein auf weiter Flur stehe.

Wertung: 3 / 10

A cidade do Rock Indie Brasil é Goiânia e não é de hoje… do fim dos anos 80 em diante apareceu no mapa e não saiu de cena. Esse ano a coisa promete será uma FESTA maluca e roqueira … confiram as dicas… e não se esqueçam que o calor é animal nessa ROCK CITY.

Esta edição do Goiânia NOISE será espalhada pela cidade com shows em 8 lugares diferentes e conta ainda com uma mostra de cinema e uma exposição de artes, além de palestras e debates.

Os shows ocorrerão em 8 locais diferentes, da seguinte forma:

Quarta-feira, 25/11:
Teatro Madre Esperança Garrido, 20h: Hermeto Pascoal e Grupo (SP)
Fiction Club, 22h: Vamoz (PE) / The Soundscapes (SP/USA) / Motherfish (GO)
Capim Pub, 19h: Os Cabeloduro (DF)/ HC 137 (GO) / Leptospirose (SP)/ Ressonância Mórfica (GO) / Señores (GO)

Quinta-feira, 26/11:

Goiânia Ouro, 20h – Siba (PE) + Roberto Corrêa (DF) / Cega Machado (GO)
Bolshoi Pub, 22h – Ricardo Koctus (MG) / Detetives (SP) / Johnny Suxxx and Fucking Boys (GO)
Metrópolis, 22h – The Name (SP)/ Sapatos Bicolores (DF) / Bang Bang Babies (GO)

Sexta-feira, 27/11:
Centro Cultural Martim Cererê, 18h :

Supersuckers (USA) / Móveis Coloniais de Acaju (DF) + Bocato (SP) / MQN (GO) + Walverdes (RS)
Devotos (PE) / Guiso (Chile) / Vivendo do Ócio (BA) / Punch (GO) / Milocovik (SP) / Volver (PE) / Rinoceronte (RS)
O Melda (MG) / Sattva (GO) / Hellbenders (GO)

Sábado, 28/11:
Centro Cultural Martim Cererê, 18h :

Dirty Projectors (USA) / Black Drawing Chalks (GO) + Chuck Hipolitho (SP) / Mama Rosin (Suíça)
Porcas Borboletas (MG) + Paulo Patife (SP) / Los Lotus (ARG) / Mugo (GO) / The Backbiters (GO)
As Mercenárias (SP) / Mechanics + Grupo EmpreZa (GO) / Confronto (RJ) / GrimSkunk (Canadá)
Cassim & Barbária (SC) / Mini Box Lunar (AP) / Evening (GO)

Domingo, 29/11:
Centro Cultural Martim Cererê, 18h :

Diego de Moraes e o Sindicato (GO) + Astronauta Pingüim (RS) / Violins (GO) / Domá da Conceição (GO) / Barfly (GO)
Naquele Tempo (GO) / Torre de Jamel (GO) / Terrorista da Palavra (GO) / Umbando (GO) / Grace Carvalho (GO)
20h30 – Gloom (GO) / Cine Capri (GO) / Hot and Hard Co. (GO)

Centro Comunitário Goiânia Viva, 18h :

Face a Face (GO) / Ivo Mamona (GO) / Soldados Suburbanos (GO) / Reverso da Moeda (GO) / Linha Dura (MT)
U Plano (GO) / Eko (GO)

INGRESSOS

Fiction Club, Capim Pub, Bolshoi Pub e Metropolis: R$ 10,00 (meia-entrada) até o dia 20/11

Martim Cererê (sexta e sábado): R$ 20,00 (meia-entrada) até o dia 20/11

Centro Comunitário do Goiânia Viva: R$ 5,00

Martim Cererê (domingo): Grátis!!!

Teatro Madre Esperança Garrido e Goiânia Ouro: Grártis!! Mas é preciso retirar os ingressos 2 horas antes dos shows! Um par por pessoa, ok??

ლორდის პოსტმა შთამაგონა დამეწერა ეს პოსტი. მინდა გაგახაროთ, რომ ეს არის ჩემი ბოლო პოსტი, რომელიც ასე თუ ისე ეხება კინოს. ბოლო პოსტებს რომ გადავხედე სულ ფილმებია შუაში, თავში ან ბოლოში. ამიტომ გადავწყვიტე, რომ საკმარისია, წიგნების დროც დადგა. რამდენი ხანია საყვარელ და საინტერესო წიგნებზე არაფერი მითქვამს, ბოლო ზარატუსტრა და ოსტატი იყვნენ თუ სწორად მახსოვს. არადა მინდოდა დამეწერა ორიოდ სიტყვა დანაშაულზე და სასჯელზე, დორიან გრეის პორტრეტზე, დაკარგულ სამოთხეზე, ამაოების ბაზარზე, კლოუნის თვალთახედვაზე, აურზაურზე არაფრის გამო და კიდევ ბევრ რამეზე. მაგრამ ამის მაგივრად ვაკეთებ იმას, რასაც არ უნდა ვაკეთებდე და ვჯღაბნი ათასგვარ სისულელეს. ვდებ პირობას, რომ ასე აღარ მოვიქცევი :დამნაშავებავშვისსმაილიკი: (სულ იმის ბრალია ეს ყველაფერი, ოთხშაბათობით  დილის და პარასკევობით ღამის 12 საათზე რომ ვნახულობ და სხვაზე ვეღარაფერზე ვფიქრობ მერე მთელი კვირა). მოკლედ, ეს არის ბოლო პოსტი, რომელიც ეხება კინოს. პოსტი Lord Vader-ის აი ამ პოსტმა შთამაგონა და გადავწყვიტე გამეხსენებინა საყვარელი მუსიკა ფილმებიდან და მუსიკა საყვარელი ფილმებიდან. აი ისინიც (რაც გამახსენდა ის არის, რიგითობა უმნიშვნელოა)

სხვებსაც დავტაგავ თუ არ ეწყინებათ  <img src=”http://www.pic4ever.com/images/34efamg.gif” border=”0″ >

ვთაგავ:

კაპუჩინოს

ეკუსის

ქეთის

kevana-ს

Lord Vader-ს

თუ რა თქმა უნდა არ დაეზარებათ :დ

Vuelvo a volver. Como dice este malísimo cartel político de Venezuela: vuelvo “porque lo bueno se repite”.

Juanjo López.

PD: No todo lo que hace este candidato es tan malo. Mirad su campaña.

The day after Halloween, I watched a movie I’d been looking forward to seeing for a very long time: Broken Embraces. The movie is debuting in America this weekend, but I was lucky enough to stumble upon a European copy of the film, which was released there much earlier in the year.

I’m not going to get too in depth and review the movie for everyone (you can read fandango for that) but I will say this movie is amazing. It might be too slow, or too romantic for some. But to me it was Almodovar at his best. It’s a movie about movies, and is beautiful, funny, mysterious, and haunting. I think I enjoyed it almost even more than Volver, which is a near *perfect* movie. Just writing about Broken Embraces makes me want to watch it again.

I still haven’t worked my way through his entire body of work (I started a few years ago with “What Have I Done to Deserve This, an odd choice to begin with) but can now say Almodovar is one of my favorite directors. I only wish all of the people in my life who scoff at “reading subtitles” would watch his movies as well. Penelope Cruz is excellent as Lena, and makes you feel her pain as a failed actress and spurned lover in this movie. And her wardrobe is just as spectacular:

Just as beautiful as in the film is Penelope in real life:

I went to the Ed Sullivan Theater (where The Late Show is filmed) today just to see her in person. Autograph hounds mobbed her, but Penelope was ever graceful before heading off to attend her movie’s premiere.

Broken Embraces starts Friday November 20th.

Penelope at Letterman photo ® 2009 RS/The Greyest Ghost

Por Rodolfo Lima

Alô pessoas, depois de um longo tempo de não-atualização no blog, cá estamos nós de volta.
E é com muita honra que voltamos a postar aqui trazendo a notícia do Festival de Vídeo de Pernambuco 2009.

Pois é, quem estiver afim de conferir as novidades de 2008-2009 no mundo dos videos, é só aparecer nos dias 30/11, 01/12 e 02/12, no Teatro do Parque.

Confira a lista dos videoclipes que foram selecionados e serão exibidos no decorrer dos três dias:

Os dois lados da ponte do Pina – The Playboys (Videoclipe, 2009, 2 minutos), de Filipe Novais
Eterno domingo – Zeca Viana (Videoclipe, 2009, 7 minutos), de Zeca Viana
A sorte – Volver (Videoclipe, 2009, 4 minutos), de Leonardo Domingues
Sossega sereia – ??? (Videoclipe, 2009, 3 minutos), de Igor de Lyra
Automaníacos – ??? (Videoclipe, 2008, 4 minutos), de Media Sana
De galho em galho – Mamelungos (Videoclipe, 2009, 5 minutos), de Weré Lima e Luccas Maia
Dia azul – Volver (Videoclipe, 2008, 5 minutos), de Leo Rodrigues
A torneira (quanto tempo faz?) – Zeca Viana (Videoclipe, 2009, 6 minutos), de Zeca Viana
Acima da chuva – Volver (Videoclipe, 2009, 4 minutos), de Taciana Oliveira
Dilema – Bob Black (Videoclipe, 2009, 4 minutos), de Taciana Oliveira

E você acha que é só isso?! É não, Zé Mané!
Tem muito mais no decorrer dos três dias.
Fica ligado no ‘Tem Lugar Na Mesa’ que em breve te daremos mais mais informações e te deixaremos por dentro da programação completa do Festival.

E pra dar uma aquecida no que vem por aí, vou postar o videoclipe da banda Volver que concorre com 3 clipes e carrega consigo uma grande possibilidade de faturar o prêmio de melhor videoclipe no Festival de Vídeo de Pernambuco 2009.

Abráx, rapêize!

“…Al fin decidiste quedar y salir,
bailar como una loca,
volver a las mil…”

Sidonie en Sin querer (Canción 9 del disco El incendio)

Ya un vergo de mara lo tienen en digital y no lo compraron, que garras, hahahahha. Va vivos aquí les dejo el link para descargar el demo de Volver. Pronto estaremos editando un nuevo Ep así que no se duerman.

Guatemala Está Muerta
-Volver

bpr_017 – Volver – Demo 2009

En el Mundo de Iván.

¡Vuélvete a nosotros, oh Dios Todopoderoso!
¡Asómate a vernos desde el cielo
y brinda tus cuidados a esta vid!
¡Es la raíz que plantaste con tu diestra!
¡Es el vástago que has criado para ti!
Salmos 80:14-15

Con raras excepciones todas las plantas de las cuales esperamos obtener algún tipo de fruto requieren de específicos cuidados si hemos de lograr nuestro propósito. Algunas plantas requieren que el sitio donde están plantadas esté libre de malezas o de otras plantas que les puedan robar los nutrientes necesarios para el sano crecimiento. Otras requieren ser podadas para evitar que algunas ramas improductivas consuman los nutrientes necesarios para aquellas ramas que si van a fructificar. Otras plantas requieren de un terreno bien abonado o de lo contrario se atrofian y mueren.

¿Qué tipo de planta eres tú y qué clase de cuidado requieres para fructificar?

Habla directamente con el viñador y plantéale tus necesidades. Eso sí, que sean verdaderas necesidades y no caprichos o veleidades. Tus carencias serán atendidas con gran ternura y compasión. Todo lo que verdaderamente necesites lo recibirás de su amorosa mano. Acude ahora mismo a él y deposita en él todas tus angustias y preocupaciones. Él te dará lo que te hace falta para ser una planta cargada de buen fruto.

This week Kurt talks with the Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, who’s made a career of films about passionate, quirky women: “Women On the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown,” “Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!,” “Volver,” among many others.  Almodóvar’s new movie, “Broken Embraces,” opens this weekend.  Like his other films, it draws from a rich, quintessentially Spanish palette, filled with the vibrant streets, landscapes, and colors of Almodóvar’s home country.

Our listener David Sarpal wanted to know if Almodóvar would ever shoot a film in Latin America, and if so, where. In our featured web extra for the week, here’s Almodóvar’s response:

Listen to Kurt’s full on-air interview with Pedro Almodóvar here:

- Erin Calabria

Les dejo los videos del set de Volver en el Preshowcase.