1/31/2013

"Inglorious Basterds" by Quentin Tarantino (2009)

Inglorious Basterds is the story of a group of a Jewish USA guerilla that go to France, during the Nazi occupation, to kill a group of high rank German soldiers during a military German film opening.

The strong powerful music, the use of 60s's-style typing and tempo, the visually explicit violence, and the "inspiration" from other movies are all Tarantino trademarks present in this movie.

The script is not as brilliant as Kill Bill, and reminded me more of Reservoir Dogs in its tone and style, but the film is truly entertaining, thrilling and captivating at times, obscure and pointless sometimes. It has, in a way, the playful mood of a the Great Escape, with a bit of comedy, drama, adventure, violence and little bit of romance added here. 

 There are not good or bad people in this movie, all are nasty in different degrees. The "basterds" are extremely violent and inhuman, which somewhat dilutes their good intentions of fighting inhuman violent people. If you are as cruel as the cruelest person, you are not better than them, even if your principles and aims are very different. On the other hand, German soldier Zeller, despite killing 300 soldiers in battle, does not enjoy or feels proud for doing that, which makes him more human than any of the basterds. The Jews-hunter is very clever and likeable, more than any of the basterds who are less clever, more naive and idiotic than this sophisticated German.
 
In many scenes, the violence is justified, but in others is not. Although this is quintessential Tarantino, by treating all moments with so much explicit violence, the tone and tempo of the movie get diluted; if Tarantino had dosed the violence in the film, leaving some of it for the dialogues, the spectator would have been less overwhelmed visually, and the film would have been more balanced.

Most of the main actors are good in their respective roles. I especially liked Christopher Waltz  as the ruthless Jews-Hunter, Daniel Bruhl as sweet soldier Zoller, Diana Kruger as the hot spy, and Mike Myers in his little cameo. Brad Pitt is OK in his role, but I find his facial gesticulation over the top, and truly annoying. On the contrary, Melanie Laurent is too hieratic and emotionless in her performance. Some of the secondary roles and actors are almost caricature-ish, so one does not know if this is a demand of the script or the actors not being specially inspired in their respective performances.

I consider the ending a big flaw. It can be understood as a projection of the Universal unconscious, but it lacks fictional verisimilitude not just historical one. This fictional licence rests credibility to the story and puts a sort of childish ending to a film that is not bad.

Despite its shortcomings and not being Tarantino's best, Inglourious Basterds is a very entertaining film that makes good points about the nature of violence, has an overall good cast, and has some good performances. 

1/27/2013

"Little Otik" by Jan Svankmajer (2000)

Little Ottik is a bizarre horror comedy that adapts and reinterprets the folk story of Otesánek (aka Greedy Guts) for the big screen.

This is the story of the struggle of Bozena and Karel to hide and control heir piece-of-wood son Otesánek, a freak of nature with an insatiable hunger, from their neighbours.

The film re-examines the myth of the primeval creation, in which the natural order is subverted and disrespected. The couple succumbs to an act of greedy love that produces, as a result, a greedy gluttonous carnivore woody creature. Svankmajer depicts with great insight the sins of parenthood in our modern world, in which children are spoiled rotten, and anything they do is excused or justified. The movie also depicts with great humour and realism the social dynamics of small groups in blocks of apartments and neighbourhoods, paced not only by a net of support, but also by gossip, the power of appearances, and enmities and tensions.

The role of food in this movie is also very interesting, as most human characters in the movie eat disgusting porridge-like meals, despite them longing for meat, while Otesánek, a wooden creature, is eating meat all the time!

The Actors are all great and charming in their respective roles. Veronika Zilková plays with great conviction barren wife Bozena, while Jan Hartl plays with sweetness her doubtful and confused husband Karel. Also terrific are the actors playing the good-hearted neighbours: Kristina Adamcová as the incisive rebel child Alzbetka -who is also the catalyst of the story-, Jaroslava Kretschmerová as Alzbetka's sensible Mother, Pavel Nový as Alzbetka's working-class male Father, and Dagmar Stríbrná as the building caretaker.

The stop-motion animation of Otesánek is delightfully odd, and the drawn illustrations (by Svankmajer's wife) shown in the book that Alzbetka is reading are colourful and artistic. Also delightful are the episodes involving the interaction between old spectacled neighbour and Alzbetka, which are really really naughty.

On the negative side, the film was shot using ugly-looking 1970-like colours and lighting, which are a bit weird for a 2000 movie; still they somewhat go well with such an odd story. Moreover, the movie is too long and its pace too slow at times, and that is not excusable in this case.

Little Otik is a grotesque mesmerising adult tale with a great story, terrific performances, and very interesting themes. Nothing you've watched before!

1/25/2013

MooGoo (Online Shop, Australia)


MooGoo is an Australian company that specialises in natural hypo-allergenic low-in-chemicals cosmetics and body care products. The brand started with an adaptation of an cow udder cream to the treatment of eczema and psoriasis, and has become a successful ever-growing cosmetic brand. At present, they sell, skin, scalp, hair and body products, and special creams for eczema, psoriasis, acne, sensitive skin, and much more.  The pricing is very good, more or less the same price you would pay for any commercial moisturiser or cosmetic product, but way better, way safer, way more natural and it is Australian made and operated.

The success of the brand is due to mouth to mouth advice, which says a lot about the company and the quality of its products. In fact, I myself learnt about it thanks to Jenny B., who mentioned the brand in one of our Yelp outings. I have been told that this is the case with other people, too.

I have tried many of their products and they are all great.

MooGoo products can be purchased from different pharmacies and natural remedies shops throughout Perth. However, my experience is that none of them has the full range of MooGoo products, at least the four places I have visited so far. This makes MooGoo's Internet site perfect for shopping everything you want in one transaction.

MooGoo's website is easy to navigate, informative, colourful, bright and fun. A cow is looking at you no matter where you go, always. Shopping from the website is no fuss. You have all the products listed, and its ingredients and virtues clearly displayed and commented about. 

You can check out as a guest or as registered customer. They accept payment by credit card, Paypal and Internet direct deposit, and orders over $50 are traceable. Many of the products have similar prices, or slightly cheaper, as the prices they are sold in the Perth stockists I visit. There is flat rate of 6.90 Dollars for any Australian shipping order, which is not bad if you order many things at once. International orders have the shipping fee waved, unless their heavy shampoo and conditioner bottles are in your cart.

Shipping is fast, and it is express for Western Australia, Northern Territory and South Australia. If you are not at home, you can opt for delivery at the door -but no responsibility accepted if lost- or deliver through Post Office, which is great. My parcel contained a generous sample of one of their creams, which was a nice surprise. We all love freebies, don't we? Their packaging is great with straw fibres used as filling. So organic, environmentally conscious, and very "cowy" indeed.

Customer service is based in Australia (Monday to Friday) and the lady at the other end of the phone was extremely helpful and nice.Their answering machine has a cow's moo as introductory greeting, which is kind of funny.

MooGoo international expansion has started, with branch websites starting to operate in UK, Ireland, USA, and Malaysia, and stockists overseas starting to be found and listed.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
1/ Tracking device should be provided even if you are not a registered customer.

2/ I love cows and MooGoo's website, but I think they could improve a bit their packaging. What works for a website or a booklet is not that appealing for a cosmetic package. At the moment, the brand looks like a baby products brand. This is not a complaint, I like the Swiss-ish fresh looking of the brand, but other packaging would help the company to sell better. Their cleansers bottles are, however, an example of how to pack something in a very appealing way and catch the eye of customers who have never heard about the brand before.  

3/ The Delivery Company that MooGoo uses should be advised to leave written notice of visit if nobody is at home when they visit. I had to call Customer Service because I did not know if the parcel had been sent, was lost or where had been taken.  

1/21/2013

Zurich Airport Dayrooms & Rest Area (Switzerland)

Zurich Airport Dayrooms & Rest Area
Ph.: +41 (0)43 816 21 08
Booking email
(Photo courtesy of the Zurich Airport's Website)

PROS 
+ Very easy to find within the airport.
+ They have rest rooms with long-chairs, and proper rooms (single, double or family). 
+ Wonderful lady at the desk, at least the day I visited. You won't find a friendlier person in the whole airport. Danke! 
+ Spotless clean facilities.
+ Comfortable room with a small bed, water basin, TV, several wall hooks to hung your clothing and little more.  
+ Seconds away from several budget restaurants.
+ Fair value for money - You pay for what you get. Still, I found the prices very cheap, having into account that this is Switzerland and Europe.
+ Simple but comfortable lounge area with computers, flights monitors and papers.
+ Wake-up call available.
+ They provide one-hour free Internet.
+ You can book by email. Mention your complete name, nationality, and flight details (date, time, flight number) of your arriving/departing aircraft. 


CONS
- This is more a good backpacker facility than a proper hotel. Dayrooms really describe what this place is. It serves a function if you need to stay a few hours. However, if you need to stay overnight, go outside.
- Bathrooms and showers are on the corridor, not inside the rooms. They are separated for women/men, though.
- You must pass a Police check-up counter  to enter and leave the area, and must show your passport each time. That is a bother.
- To get your free Internet hour, you need to register your mobile number and your password will be delivered by SMS. Why making things so difficult for just 1-hr? This is so last century!
- The toiletries in the room are reduced to a sachet of soap and 2 towels. The bathrooms have dispensers of body wash and soap. You can purchase very cheap amenities sets at the front desk, and hire more towels, robe and stuff like that if you stay overnight.
- The single room and its bed could be a bit small for you if you are a big person or very tall.  

1/17/2013

Louis' Tavern Transit Hotel Dayrooms (Bangkok, Thailand)


Louis' Tavern Transit Hotel Dayrooms 
Level 4, Concourse G (West Side)
Suvarnabhumi International Airport, 
Bangkok, Thailand
Ph: +66-2-134-6565-6
Website
Email

If you have a lot of waiting between flights, need to have a rest and take a shower, this might be your place.
 
 PROS
+ Located within the Airport and seconds away from restaurants and cafes.
+ Easy to drop by or book online.
+ Bookings by hours (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12) or overnight.
+ Simple but very clean and pleasant rooms. There is an offer of standard, superior and suite rooms.
+ Free all-day self-service light breakfast included.
+ Basic Toiletries provided, as well as two complimentary bottles of water and two mini-snacks.
+ Super-friendly and helpful cleaners and housekeeping ladies.
+ Spotless clean facilities.
+ Free unlimited Internet.
+ Electric adaptors provided if required.
+ Good selection of International TV channels.
+ TV includes monitor of flight departures and arrivals.
+ Very pleasant and quiet dinning area.
+ There is a massage shop, spa, and hairdresser's within the hotel. 
+ They have the coolest water taps on the planet.

CONS
- Service at the desk is sometimes unfriendly and/or lacking. I didn't feel welcome in my two visits. Desk staff can also misinform. Example, I asked for my flight's gate, as the TV display in the dinning area only showed the flights departing the following hour. I was told that my flight's gate wasn't displayed because it was too early. I went to my room, and try to verify that in my flights monitor to find that the gate was already displayed.
- This is an average three star hotel, but it is way overpriced for Thailand, especially if you pay for a small number of hours.
- Booking online doesn't guarantee that your room will be available at the time you specified when booked it. My experience. I was informed that my room was being cleaned when I arrived.
- Money Deposit of 500 Baths (20 bucks, approximately) required as a key deposit.
- The breakfast is not good. The sort of thing you find in backpackers hotels - continental bad quality breakfast. 

MIND
& Although you provide your credit card when you book online, your card won't be charged, and you'll have to pay at arrival.
& There are several Louis' Tavern VIP lounges scattered throughout the airport, but the hotel is on the 4th floor.
 
RECOMMENDATION
If you need to stay overnight, better go to any of the hotels within the airport area. They all offer free transfer shuttle, you pay about the same price, but you get a de-luxe hotel by the same price. I've stayed at one of them in the past, and it was fantastic.

1/13/2013

"The Lovely Bones" by Peter Jackson (2009)

The movie is based on Alice Seabold's eponymous book, which I read a few years ago and I absolutely loved. If you have not read the book, you will certainly watch the movie with different eyes. Unfortunately, Peter Jackson's adaptation does not convey the emotional depth of the novel.

The Lovely Bones is the story of a murdered girl grieving her own death and the emotional struggle of her family after her vanishing. It is, above all, a story of sadness, guilt, resentment, and redemption by forgiveness and letting go.

Jackson focused on two aspects of the book to develop his movie. 1/ the murder investigation, and 2/ the recreation of the limbo, or pseudo-heaven, in which the girl stays. By doing so, he's forgetting the core of the book, what makes it so meaningful and memorable.

The thriller occupies a minor part in the book, while the grieving of the family, the despair, sadness, uncertainty, pain, love, hatred, forgiveness and self-forgiveness is what matters. In fact the issue of who's the murderer is directly avoided in the book from the beginning,  and the name and face of the murderer do not appear until midway the novel. However, if Jackson wanted to create a thriller, why did he decide to show who the murderer is from almost the beginning of the film? The thriller is killed before starting! I really do not see the point.

Jackson has recreated limbo-heaven with great detail, awesome images and creativity. It looks gorgeous. However, all of that was unnecessary, since the limbo is barely drawn (narratively speaking) in the book, as what matters in the book is the story of the emotions. There are too many special effects and not enough lyric emotion or character drawing in the movie, too.

The acting is very good, by both adult and young actors. I loved young talented Saoirse Ronan, whose face transmits great lyricism and performs with great conviction her role. Susan Sarandon makes a terrific quirky drunk Grandma. Rachel Weisz is good, too, but she doesn't play her role with the intensity and conviction with which Mark Wahlberg plays his role of father and husband. Stanley Tucci is also terrific and the weird neighbour.

Jackson adapted The Lord of the Rings superbly, so I was expecting another superb adaptation. This is not the case here. The movie does not honour the book, its spirit and depth. Still, this is a beautifully filmed well-acted movie, with a great script and stunning visuals.