Up, close and personal

All the way up the Piramide de la Luna (Moon Pyramid), with a nice view of the Calzada de los muertos (Road of the dead)!

Sunset at Xochicalco, Morelos. You won't see that smile at the office, though!

This book, by C. Ruiz Zafon, was an unexpected Xmas gift from my mom. It tells the story of a boy who finds a book of a completely unknown writer hidden in a secret library. He reads it that very same night and, after that, things start to become quite strange for him, as a wide and mostly weird variety of characters begin to move around the book. Almost 600 pages, interesting and easy to read, but no surprise -for me at least- in the storyline. I sort of figured everything out in the first few chapters and was expecting the unexpected until the very end, which, in fact, never happens. I'd give it a 6.5/10.

Ok, I've just seen possibly the funniest Kim Possible episode thus far: "Oh Boyz". I'm not telling anything, better go and watch it yourself. Just, on a quick note, Shego is possibly the most expressive cartoon character ever and Sr Senior Jr strongly reminds me of someone I know quite well ... :D

So this is what I've watched this weekend! I've read some Hellblazer comics now and then and as far as I go, I think that "Dangerous Habits" was a good storyline to make a movie both for the comic fans but also for the general public. Rather than a horror movie, though, this one is an action flick. The Hellblazer ambient was pretty well caught and Keanu Reeves did it okay (even though he was not as disgusting as Constantine sometimes is and he was basically a good guy -which Constantine obviously is not-) Gabriel and Papa Midnite were cool and even though Chas was a bit out of character, he fitted all right. All in all, I liked the movie a lot. Plus, there is yet no Weisz's movie I haven't liked! :)

So this is pretty much what I watched this weekend. I've liked all Eastwood's movies, specially those directed by him, but I think Million Dollar Baby has become my favorite one. It does not need excess to become a touching film and it caught me from the very beginning. Despite its more than 2 hours length, it has a fast pace and is well tied even though it has clearly 3 different parts. I'm not commenting much about the plot because I expect a lot of people will be watching this. However, I'll say that I don't think the film would have worked the same without Hillary Swank. Amazing that the first rol I watched her play was in that horrible Buffy movie! I'm fairly confident now that she is in for her second Oscar and, as in "Boys don't Cry", her work is worth it. Eastwood will more likely go for Best Movie, but I'm not so sure about the actor one, not that he doesn't deserve it, but who knows with Hollywood? I'd say this is a perfect movie: ten out of ten.

P.S. Well, I also watched Azumi on DVD. If you like swordfight and east movies, this film is definitely for you. Don't expect much of the plot, but there's action enough to compensate.

At least, in their summer, around February. This is a watercolor sketch of Piha beach, one of the most famous ones in the West Coast of Aoteaora, from my visit back in 2002. Too bad it's so far from Spain!!

Leaving aside the fact that I would not have chosen Gardner to play the rol (Patricia Velazquez or Claudia Black would have been more likely), I'd not say that the film was a dissapointment, but simply because it was what I expected. I mean, I did not like it. Elektra was too soft and most of the film she was out of character. How come a cold blooded assassin meets a random girl and becomes a mother all in 10 minutes time? No way. At the beginning of the film, Gardner does a great Elektra, anyway. Should have kept her in that line. But, of course, an american movie about a bad guy would not work, would it? Save your money or go watch again "The Incredibles", boys and girls!

I've loved every extra minute of the extended edition, even though I'd still missed some stuff. Maybe an EEE (Extra Extended Edition) in a future would do, as long as I can spare a couple of days to watch the three films in a row.
BTW, does Eowyn rules in Pelenor! Here goes a watercolor sketch I did on TTT

I'll post in this blog anything that comes up to me and has nothing to do with my work. So you know what to expect ... Or maybe you don't :)