Fingers crossed...

Two things make me hope that the dreaded Proposition 8 in California, the one that would undo the California Supreme Court's pro-same-sex marriage ruling, will be defeated this November:

1. According to this article, the No (our side) has a slim majority right now, and usually initiatives that start out behind in the polls are defeated.
2. The California Attorney General has now changed the language of the ballot initiative with a title and summary that more closely reflect the new reality of the law, which gives same-sex couples the right to legally marry.

So, while the bigots wanted the people to vote on whether or not to amend the state Constitution "to provide that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California," which would have had a fairly good chance of passing, voters will now be faced with the much starker question:

"to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry"

which stands a tougher chance of passing because it clearly states that rights now enjoyed by the people would be taken away.

Obviously the initiative proponents are up in arms over the change, which, everyone seems to agree, favors a negative outcome, and have decided to sue to stop the change.

I personally don't see how they can possibly defend their position, given that the reality in the law has changed and the new wording more clearly reflects that. Also, the AG works for the Governor, who clearly stated he's against amending the Constitution with such a hate filled amendment.

We'll see what happens next in this saga. I hope the change stays.

And I hope the No wins.

Fingers crossed...

His End Is Near...

Just happened to see this milestone:


Only 6 months left of this loser's reign of terror. After that, hopefully, the first Obama presidency will start bringing stature back to the Office of the President in this country.

Let's just hope he doesn't start another war before he's gone, with Iran this time.

California Vacation!!

So, today I went back to work after a week spent in beautiful California with my family and Sue, a dear friend of Ray he met while working in Uruguay.

Sue actually hosted us the whole time, except for a couple days when we took a trip to see the wonderful Yosemite National Park. Truly a spectacle to behold.

Sue also took us to see Big Sur and Santa Cruz, which is the town where she lives. Santa Cruz was unusually cold this year for the middle of July, and as soon as you left its surroundings the temperature spiked up and the sky turned a marvelous shade of blue.

She also watched the kids for a day while Ray and I went to check out San Francisco, only about an hour drive away. What a charming city that is. The amount of time we spent there was very short, but enough to fall in love with it. It is truly one of the most beautiful cities I've ever been to and can't wait to see it again.

While there, we visited the Castro district and took a boat tour of the bay, which was great except for the quite inclement weather, sort of a fixture of this area though. We also crossed the Golden Gate bridge (Vittorio, you'd love it, since you love bridges) and checked out the view from neighboring Sausalito.

Finally, we went to Capitola and also to the recently opened aquarium, where I took many pictures with a brand new digital SLR Canon camera I just bought before the trip.

In fact, I took over 1,300 pictures, all in all (yeah, I know, sounds crazy, but taking pictures is a passion of mine and with this super-duper camera I just couldn't contain myself...), and I'll be posting the best ones every now and then, starting with a few right now.

View of the breathtaking California coastline en route to Big Sur:


One of the amazing things that Ray and I were surprised about was that the coastline, rather than being developed to the impossible, with tons of houses overcrowding each other, was almost completely devoid of them, allowing you to enjoy its natural beauty.

Nicole and Danny during a break on our first day trip, again, to Big Sur. Following, Ray and Sue in the same area.

Meet the Robinsons

This movie was purchased in Italy for the purpose of exposing the kids to as much spoken Italian as possible, and I was pleased to see that I didn’t waste my money.

[SPOILER PARAGRAPH] The movie tells the story of a little boy in an orphanage who’s more interested in his inventions than in getting adopted. One day, he meets another boy who takes him into the future where he discovers that into the past he is being stalked for the potential of his latest invention. The stalker, aided by a hat with an attitude, has as his main goal the destruction of the little boy’s future once and for all. Will he succeed in his attempts?

Although I was a little wary of watching this movie, because I hadn’t heard anything about it, I have to admit that it’s pretty good. The direction is fine, the animation top notch, and the actors voicing the characters all do a good job.

Most importantly, however, the story is fairly original and well told, and it sends a very good message about adoption and the fact that there is nothing you cannot do or become, even if your parents had to give you up for adoption. You just have to believe in yourself.

A nice movie, especially for a family with two adopted kids.

Grade: 7

Open Season

Wow, I really am not going to the movies anymore, am I? Yet another movie watched on family night, although this DVD I had picked up simply for the cheap price tag and wasn’t expecting much.

And I was right, since the story plays like a bad copy of Shrek.

[SPOILER PARAGRAPH] In both films, the main character is big, towering, scary looking but good hearted (Shrek vs. Boog) and they both have a sidekick who’s a little slow but good natured, and who ends up totally messing up their lives (Donkey vs. Elliot). So in Open Season, instead of a donkey that forces an ogre to go on a quest to free a princess and a bunch of fairy tale characters from an oppressive ruler, we have a buck who forces a bear to go on a quest to free the animals of the forest from the oppressive hunters hitching for the open season’s first day of hunting.

So, not much development went into creating an original story (nothing new there), and the dialogue isn’t terribly engaging either (like we’ve not all been there before), but the direction is ok and the actors did a fairly good job.

All things considered, the movie isn’t bad and it is occasionally funny, it’s just that it leaves you with the feeling that you’ve seen it all before (which you won’t experience if you are among the 3 people who haven’t seen Shrek). However, it’s ok for a quiet night with the kids, just don’t expect anything too original.

Grade: 6

Beauty and the Beast

Another movie from our family night, this one was picked by myself. I felt bad that Nicole had been slightly bossed into picking a “boy” movie by Danny when it was her turn, so I picked a “girl” movie when it was mine. And got teased endlessly by both kids.

Oh well, I also picked this one simply because I wanted to finally see it. I’m glad I did, since at last I got to hear some songs I knew already (yes, I like Barbra Streisand and Celine Dion, so there) in their original setting instead of as part of some set on stage or CD.

The story (no need to talk about it, we all know it) is powerful, sweet and excellently developed. The actors cast to voice the characters were also very well picked, notably Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Potts, and the end result is one for the ages.

Don’t miss this one for the whole family, even if your kids tease you...

Grade: 8

Tarzan

This is one of the movies we’ve been watching as part of our “family night,” which usually falls on a Friday. On that night, we all sit together to watch a movie and eat popcorn, and we each get to pick the movie on rotation. I don’t remember who picked this one, maybe Danny.

We all know the story, so there’s no need to talk about the plot, which is well developed, with a few well placed and paced comic relief moments. The voices of the characters are well cast, with no one in particular stealing the thunder.

The animation is still the classic 2D kind and in this age of 3D wizardry and Pixar (well earned) dominance it holds up pretty well. Actually, watching it, I never had the feeling of watching something antiquated or out of style, which goes to show that you can still tell stories the old fashioned way, because what matters isn’t how you make it but what you say.

I would definitely recommend this movie for all kids, although the littlest ones might get a little scared by some of the scenes where wild animals attack.

Grade: 7

Little Miss Sunshine

I watched this movie mostly because of all the positive word of mouth it enjoyed and because it was even nominated for Best Picture of the year (GASP! A comedy!!).

I was pleased to see that the movie deserved all its accolades. It’s a very simple story, told with light touches, but with a big heart.

[SPOILER PARAGRAPH] The story is that of a little girl who wants to enter a beauty contest and of her quite dysfunctional family. Her father is trying to make it big as a writer, while her mom is trying to make ends meet. Her brother has made a vow of silence and her uncle (who, very nonchalantly, happens to be gay) has just attempted suicide. The only “issues free” character is her grandfather, who has been trying to help her get ready for the contest, were she to be accepted. When she finally is, the family gets on the road.

This movie has very few and simple plot points, but it keeps you entertained in spite of, or maybe thanks to, its simplicity. The script is one of its strongest points, of course, since the dialogue never feels strained or forced and one can easily relate to anything that happens to the characters.

Naturally, it helps to have a great cast deliver those lines. Greg Kinnear, not an marquee-name actor, is very good, as is the always wonderful Toni Collette. However, it’s newcomer Abigail Breslin as the little girl and veteran Alan Arkin as the grandfather who steal every scene they’re in. Arkin also won his first Oscar for this portrayal.

A very simple movie, well directed and written and with a great cast. What more could you ask for?

Don’t miss this one.

Grade: 8.5

Humans and machines

I read this very interesting article about how we're getting more and more automated in our way of thinking, more and more like computers, and less and less able to read and ponder complex pieces of writing because of the changes in the way we read, mostly due to the Internet.

Read it, even if it's long, it's very interesting:

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

And the last paragraph of the article also gave me a new hint to better understand that supposed masterpiece that is "2001: A Space Odyssey," by Stanley Kubrick, a movie I liked even though I never fully got:

HAL’s outpouring of feeling contrasts with the emotionlessness that characterizes the human figures in the film, who go about their business with an almost robotic efficiency. Their thoughts and actions feel scripted, as if they’re following the steps of an algorithm. In the world of 2001, people have become so machinelike that the most human character turns out to be a machine. That’s the essence of Kubrick’s dark prophecy: as we come to rely on computers to mediate our understanding of the world, it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence.

Friendly Norway

Apologies for being so late in posting about this, but in June Norway joined a few other European countries in allowing gays to marry and adopt children:

Norway's parliament on Wednesday adopted a new marriage law that allows homosexuals to marry and adopt children and permits lesbians to be artificially inseminated.
[...]
Norway thus became the sixth country in the world to grant homosexuals the right to marry on an equal footing with heterosexuals, according to Norwegian television TV2.

"This decision is of an importance comparable to universal suffrage and our law on parity," Labour Party rapporteur Gunn Karin Gjul said during the debate.

The most controversial part of the law is that which gives lesbians the right to be artificially inseminated. The sperm donor must be identified so that the child can seek out his or her biological father at the age of 18.

"We are now creating a system where the father is reduced to a sperm sample," lamented Ulf Erik Knudsen, a member of the far-right.
[...]
The new law is expected to enter into force at the end of this year or early next year.

Homosexuality was illegal until 1972 in Norway, a country which has since become one of the most liberal in the world in the field.

I'm looking forward to the day when these posts won't be necessary anymore, because gay marriage will be commonplace, but for now, old or not, this is BIG news for all of us.

Hurray!!

Fast Food Nation

This movie’s plot outline read “An ensemble piece examining the health risks involved in the fast food industry and its environmental and social consequences as well.” That sounded pretty interesting, so we decided to give it a try. Unfortunately, the end product feels like it was hastily put together by a toddler with ADD.

Perhaps what dooms the movie is the “ensemble” part, since there seem to be way too many plotlines going on that don’t get fully developed and some that don’t even get a final resolution. When the movie ended, we looked at each other thinking, Where is the rest? What happens to such and such?

Not much more needs to be said about the story, since the outline pretty much says it all. Greg Kinnear does a good job as the unscrupulous marketer who realizes that what he helps selling might not be the best thing for either the consumer or those who work in the food industry (or the animals that fall victim of our consumerism for that matter).

Unfortunately, while the cast as a whole does a good job, nothing can really save this movie, which feels like a cheaper version of the very smart “Thank You for Smoking.” Editing, screenplay and direction all feel unfinished, and maybe that was the filmmakers' intention, but I doubt this movie will ever make anyone’s “must see” list.

Grade: 5

World Trade Center

One of two movies about the tragedy of 9/11 made to date, this is the one that generated the most controversy because of its director, Oliver Stone.

[SPOILER PARAGRAPH] The story follows Nicolas Cage’s character and a group of his coworker firemen that get summoned to the World Trade Center when it is hit by airplanes highjacked by terrorists. Buried under the rubble when the two towers suddenly collapse, he sees most of his friends perish, one at a time, waiting for rescue. Their odyssey is intercut with the reactions and gradually diminishing hopes of their families.

Stone, known for making controversial films that usually hit a nerve, wanted to tell the story of a group of ordinary men who were called upon to perform extraordinary deeds on the most unusual of circumstances, and he succeeds admirably. The movie is touching and flows very well, and brought back a bunch of memories from that fatal day when innocence died for many people.

Cage does a good job, albeit a little understated, but maybe that’s how the guy he portrays really is, since this is a real story. As his wife, Maria Bello is good too as is Michael Peña as his buddy in harm’s way. No actor particularly stands out as exceptional, but that’s also because the real protagonist of this movie are the fallen towers. Their presence pervades the spectator’s every thought, probably because the tragedy is still so fresh in our consciousness.

A good movie, but not for the faint of heart, given the subject matter.

Grade: 8

Ladies in Lavender

I only watched this movie because I’m a huge fan of Maggie Smith and Judy Dench, and I’d never miss the opportunity to catch a movie that showcases them together. That being said, I’m glad I didn’t spend money to watch it in a theater, because it doesn’t really amount to much in terms of cinematic relevance.

[SPOILER PARAGRAPH] Smith and Dench play two older sisters who live very quiet lives, dominated by their well ingrained routines. The sudden appearance of a young man, washed ashore after a storm at sea, ends up rocking their world and their relationship.

As you can see from the summary, the concept is pretty simple, and although I left out a few details and developments, it’s pretty much all there.

Needless to say, the two British actresses are excellent, and Daniel Brühl holds his own as the young man who is suddenly thrown in a whole new dimension. No other element is really of note.

The most puzzling thing is perhaps the title, since it doesn’t say anything about the movie, the plot or anything else. Of course, it relates to the two old ladies’ age, but I think they should have come up with a better title, because from that alone you can sort of tell that there isn’t much here at all.

Grade: 7

The Last King of Scotland

An excellent portrayal of one of the worst dictators in the history of the African continent, this movie earned Forest Whitaker his first, well deserved Best Actor Oscar. He is so scary and effective in the role of the murderous head of state that every time he’s on screen, your alert level goes up by a few notches.

[SPOILER PARAGRAPH] Whitaker portrays Idi Amin, a general who snatches power from a corrupt government via a coup to become the new leader of Uganda. He is initially loved by the people for his promises to lead in their name and to work towards improving their quality of life. However, drunk with power, he quickly turns to the ways of the people he ousted, brutally eliminating anyone who opposes his rule. He crosses paths with a young doctor, who had come to Uganda to help the poor and who naively gets sucked into Amin’s world of deception and death. When he realizes what is going on around him, it will not be easy for him to pull out of it and start anew.

Every element in this movie deserves great praise. Direction, script, cinematography, and music are all extremely good, but the performances are what really make this film earn its grade.

Besides Whitaker, James McAvoy, a then still little-known British actor, gives a performance so natural and subtle in the role of the young doctor, you totally believe he is genuinely clueless about what he is getting himself into and you feel sorry for what his situation comes to in the end.

Whitaker and McAvoy make this little seen movie based on a real story, one of the best I’ve ever seen.

Grade: 9