Musical Cats in Dublin by Belen Delgado

What can I say about the last musical we have seen " Cats" , directly from Broadway to Dublin. As cat lovers what better way to enjoy a Saturday evening than seeing a musical where the dancers look and move like cats at the Board Gais Theatre! Beautiful! So colorful, lively and sweet! Loved the outfits and professional make-up. They were even mingling with the audience in between songs. You feel like in a tale. There is not a specific complicated plot/story, it's all about describing different type of cats through music and dance ;real life is like that, every cat is different, they are full of personality: the cheeky one, the chubby one, the funny and lively one, the shy one .. ! IT's so cute the way they move their tail! I personally liked the performance of the song "memory":

The whole show goes so fast that you don't want it to end! A must see for cat lovers!

I leave you with the best moments of the musical, another cultural moment shared with my husband that will remain in our memories:



Next one on our list, Priscilla!

Movie recommendation: Elysium (2013) by Belen Delgado

I can't go on holidays before writing about the best movie I have seen lately in the cinema. It was about time! What's wrong this summer?!!! Well, thanks to the South African director Neill Blomkamp, we finally had a good time watching an excellent science fiction film in the big screen: Elysium. I personally love films about how the future would be, in the last movies I have seen they show the future as decadent and with a bigger division between rich and poor. Well, this is exactly how they show it in Elysium which is set in 2154. I don't want to tell you many details, only that Matt Demon plays an excellent role, the effects are superb and I liked the action and fights in it. It reminded me a bit of Terminator in some scenes, the idea of being half man and half machine. I found the role of Kruger fascinating, he's really the bad guy! Gee!!

Something we didn't like was the fact that in the future in Los Angeles, the city on earth is swamped with dirt and poverty and the poor and scumbags are "latinos", Spanish speakers and the rich world on another planet, they speak English and French. There are similarities in the film  with the real world between the way the illegals (of course , they are portrayed as the dirty latinos who bring illnesses and trouble)  try to cross the frontiers paying for their way out. Jodie Foster has been criticized due to her role in the movie but I think she is ok, I was glad to see her after so long, she plays a powerful fearless woman living in the world of the Rich trying to change the government in corrupt way.

In-spite of all this I like may of the ideas that they had about the future as for example a machine to cure any illness (of course only for the rich). I found interesting the way they show the earth with ugly small dirty houses built on top of each other going up touching the heaven. And have I mentioned already how good Matte Demon is in it??!!! He's a new man! The last 2 movies I have seen from him, are so different. He really transforms himself ! Such a good actor!

So go and see it but in the big screen to enjoy the effects to the fullest!!!

Not good: "2 Guns" by Belén Delgado

Probably due to the fact that it´s summer time, we are not being lucky with the movie choices we are making. This one , I cannot say that it was terrible, I actually was enjoying it at the very beginning and then I started to get bored. At one point, my husband and I started checking our iphones instead of paying attention to the movie. This is definitely not a good sign. It´s one of those films that you see and then , you forget about it. For me another waste of time. Am I very demanding? Or what?

Concert - Glen Hasard, Iveagh Gardens (2013) by Belén Delgado

I do not need to write much because There is a video where you can see and listen the talent Glen Hasard has, he is definitely one of those talented artists that you need to see live before you die. It was a sunny day in Dublin, at the Iveagh Garden, my husband and I had a picnic there with a couple of drinks and enjoyed the music very much with the crowd! We had to leave before it finished because I had to wake up at 5 am next day to go to work. If you check the video you will see us going downstairs , it´s in the minute 5.09 and no we were not late! We are actually early and got a very good place! It was moving to hear live a few songs from the movie "Once", so beautiful!!!

http://arbutusyarns.net/2013/08/10/glen-hansard-iveagh-gardens/

Movie to avoid: Only God Forgives (2013) by Belén Delgado

We are big fans of the actor of Ryan Gosling, this was the main reason why we went to see this film. We had no idea what was about (a very risk thing to do..). Do not think that it´s a religious film due to the title, no... it´s just the opposite! The only positive things for me about this movie were to see Ryan again, of course, although his role is not stellar .. and the photography of the film, that I cannot deny that it´s beautiful. To me it was extremely violent, too much for my liking , blood everywhere and a bit of a paranoia when the bad  Thai guy sang after every killing. You don´t feel like going to Thailand after seeing this film that only shows the underworld of prostitution and crime. At some point , I felt like I had stomachache.. I did not want to see again the bad corrupt cop : Chang killing any more people with his sword.. gee I think I had nightmares after it.. and of course I did not feel like eating any popcorns while watching. And yeah, at least, ladies, if you think, well Ryan Gosling is in it and he´s a hot guy and all.. well he is hot for a few minutes, then he´s beaten-up in the film and he looks the most horrible I have seen him.. OMG!! No , please don´t go!! Just use your time to do somethingelse. As the grumpy cat would say: I hated it!

Recommended Film : The Purge

I wanted to see this film since I saw the trailer in the cinema. I have to say that I'm very surprised in relation to the score it received in the Rottentomatoes page, I actually enjoyed it very much. Maybe because I'm a fan of Ethan Hawke and maybe because I usually like films telling a story about how the future could be. This film is set in 2022, a year in the future when in USA, there is only 1% of unemployment, no violence and very rarely crime. The government allows the population to commit any crime or act  of violence once a year during what they call "The Purge" without any consequences. The Rich will have very strong security systems to lock them down on this day or they can go out to the streets if they need to be violent. A good film to see in a big screen, I thought it was very original and the end surprised me. What would you have done? I'm just trying to think a day of violence and crime in Dublin.. gee, I think I'll move to a safer place!!!! If you ask me how I would score it, I'll give it a 75%. It made me think and a discussion started after it, for me this is already a plus! Nowadays, not too many American films have this impact! So go and see it ! Just to warn you there is a bit of blood and violence.. so if you are very sensitive to this.. maybe it's not the film for you!

Movie to Avoid .. " Life is a Breeze" (2013)

Those who know me know that I support Irish films and I go to see one whenever I get a chance, I have been living in Ireland for longer than 7 years now and I love this country , so I support the national Film industry. However, I cannot recommend this film.., it was great to see Dublin in it and recognize the settings but the plot just didn't do it for me. It's about a grandmother who had all her life savings hidden in her old mattress and her son throws it away without being aware of that. Then the whole family start looking for the mattress to recover the money. I was bored and if I could, I would have gone to look for the mattress, too so that they could find it earlier.., this is the main plot, yes. They show a bit of the relationships of the Irish families and all Irish culture but I was not engaged with the story line , at all. The reason why I stayed until the end was because I left my keys at home and i was waiting for my husband to pick me up in the cinema, otherwise I would have left in the middle of it.. so no sorry, not convinced.

You have to love it: Monsters University (2013)

And last week, I left my keys at home .. so what did I do? I went to the cinema!! So I chose this one "Monsters University". Who doesn't love a good Monsters movie? They are so cute!! I love the similarities they make between their Monsters world and real life. It's a perfect film to bring your kids, adults will enjoy it, too! If you have seen any of the previous films with the Monsters in it, you will know that their goal is to scare kids at night and they study for it to become better at it this is why they go to the university. The one who gets the loudest screams from the kid wins! Competition starts with a few nerds monsters who will show the rest how to compete! A good film to smile with pop-corns and a coke in the cinema! Full of lively colors with entertaining monsters of all shapes ! I'll score it with a 7,5 , in rottentomatoes the audience scored it with 85% and critics with 78%. I don't tell you anything else so that you can go and enjoy it.