My second favorite musical after "We will Rock you", "Mary Poppins" (2015) by Belen Delgado

I haven't been so excited for a long time to see a musical as I was to see this one . And you will probably be wondering why..? Well, when I was a kid one of my favourite Disney stories was "Mary Poppins". I can't remember how many times I read it , what I could remember was that I wanted to have a nanny like her. My sisters and I have different nannies but believe me ,none of them were as fun and magical as Mary Poppins (they were more similar to the horrible nanny that the kids from the story had when Mary Poppins leaves for the first time)! I wanted to dance over the roofs with an umbrella ; sing and dance while cleaning up the house but the truth is that Mary Poppins was every kid's dream but noneone had ever had a nanny like her!. Yesterday at the Board Gais theatre I could see the closest I'd ever get to see Mary Poppins. She became alive on the stage, the way she looked, the way she walked, was just like I imagined her. What a joyful way of finishing a regular Monday. I was blown away by the magical effects, the lights, the changes of sets, the costumes, the dancing and faultless singing. 3 hours of endless fun and happiness. We couldn't stop smiling! At the end, everyone stood up clapping and I even had tears of joy. It is unbelievable the magic that it has to see a story like this in the theatre. I could only imagine how i would have felt if i had seen it when I was a kid. The musical even ended up in the air with her umbrella getting closer to the audience among other surprises. I'd recommend it to anyone. One musical that you definitely have to see once in a life time! Thank you so much, Elisa for coming with me and share this unique and unforgettable moment of my life. The day when I finally met Mary Poppins! Yes, she exists!

Movie recommendation: Brooklyn (2015) - A 10! By Belen Delgado

Probably one of the last films I have seen this year. What a way of finishing another year of cinema. It made all of us feel and get into the protagonist's mind. A beautiful story set in the 1950ies in Ireland and New York. As an immigrant in Ireland, I could relate to Ellis 's feelings when she had to leave her family to move abroad to an unknown country in order to make a living since she had no opportunities in her country. She went on her own and had to start a new life, make new friends and start all over again at a very young age. The only contact she had with her family back in Ireland was through letters. She is very homesick , she finds love and at some point she is in the dichotomy where she has to choose whether to live in USA or going back to Ireland to be close to her mum. Very touching movie that shows how hard it is to be far from your family and also that not everyone is successful when they move abroad. Also losing a member of your family and not being able to see them for the very last time; Going back to your home country and seeing that you see things through different lenses but those who never left remain being the same. At some point you become a citizen of the world and you adjust to your new life style; just like Ellis. Just like a lot of us.

One of the best movies I have seen in a long time: "Crimson Peak" by Belen Delgado

I haven't written about movies I have seen for a long time now but after seeing "Crimson Peak" I felt that I have to do it to inspire my friends that can appreciate movies like this to go and see it. It is unbelievable how divided the audience is regarding this film, either you love it or you hate it. According to Rottentomatoes reviews, critics scored it with a 70% and the spectators with a 61%. I cannot understand those who cannot see the sensibility, beauty and excellent photography of Guillermo's del Toro horror love story. Those who complained that it is not a scary movie, well you are right, it was never meant to be one... It is more of a Gothic love story and you can clearly see the director's style from previous movies such as " Pan's Labyrinth" or "Julia's Eyes". I have not seen a movie of Guillermo del Toro that have not loved and this one is no exception. I really enjoyed the vibrant colours, the scenes with the butterflies , the delicate clothing from that era, the beauty of the slow movements of the protagonist hair, blood, ghosts and chemistry between the protagonists. One of the highlights for me was the last scenes between the 2 female protagonists that lead to the end and the dance between Edith & Thomas with the candle. What a poetic way of telling a story.. Thanks Guillermo !! Last but not least if you have not seen the other movies from Guillermo that I have mentioned above, go and watch them, they are very original and fascinating.

Movie I saw recently: Andreas (2015) by Belen Delgado

I had the pleasure to see this film with my best friend, Matteo, we used to go together to the cinema a lot when I got my cinema membership card. It is the type of movie that you have to see in the big screen to live the action and effects. Yeah, you know what is going to happen next and that the Americans are going to rescue the world at the end (of course there is an American flag at the very end for those who had any doubts..). The film is basically about an earthquake taking place in the beautiful city of San Francisco, they destroyed the entire city in the film. It must have been difficult to watch for those who live there. At the end of the movie our adrenaline was high, i wanted to be rescued by a big guy like Dwayne Johnson. I have to say that I was entertained and in the best company. We laughed a lot! (and no, it was not supposed to be a comedy..).

A couple of movies I have seen: "Magic Mike XXL"& "Ted 2" by Belen Delgado

A couple of more movies I have seen:

"Magic Mike XXL" -> Well what I can say about this film, I knew it was going to be bad but I was not expecting to be bored at some parts of the movie. Channing, I love your dance moves but you are such a bad actor.. OMG. There was not much dialogue but when there was, it was bad. Anyway, I had a smile on my face when there were dance scenes of the guys, yeah, I'm simple and easy to please but I don't see those type of guys dancing as male entertainment that often. Usually the real ones as tacky and I do not find them very attractive. My favourite scene was the one in the petrol station, when one of the guys is challenged to make smile the grumpy cashier from the petrol station with his dance moves. That was funny lol. If you ask me if it's worth it to see this movie, well ,no, not really but I didn't want to miss it , so I didn't!. See below photo of my 3 favourite ones from the movie.

"Ted 2" -> I really liked the first movie and I thought I was not going to like this one, well, I actually laughed and out loud. Ted is hilarious, what a nasty Teddy Bear. I'm not going to ruin the funny scenes so that you can go and see it. Of course, TED 1 is much better but you will be entertained with this one, too.

Last movie I have seen by Belen Delgado "Amy" (2015)

I was not a big fan of Amy but of course I could recognize her talented voice and I wanted to know more about her life. I never understood why she was a drug-addict and how come people who loved her let her die like that. Well , after having seen today's documentary in the cinema about her life, I understood many things that were unclear to me. The documentary is real since it's Amy, herself, talking (real interviews and videos); her best friends, her mum, her ex-husband, her father etc. I did not realise how much is about her life in her own lyrics. The conclusion I have drawn after watching the documentary is that she was a young victim of her own life's issues with bulimia, depression, drugs, unexpected fame, the harassment of the paparazzi and meeting the love of her life, Blake, that would lead her to her death. Some people tried to take advantage of her fame ,  among those, her father , as you can see in the film, he started filming her life on St Lucia's island where she was trying to rest and recover (this can be seen in the film). This film has to be a difficult one to watch by her family , friends and biggest fans. It was difficult to watch for me, too, i cried in 2 scenes of the film, one of them was when I saw her innocence when the idol of her teens age , Tony Bennett announce her grammy award. It was so genuine.



Another beautiful moment of the movie I want to share with you , when she sang with Tony Bennett:



We all knew the sad end, it was a kind of chronicle of a death foretold. You could either love her or hate her but one thing is undeniable: She had an special gift that will never be forgotten: Her voice.

Humble review by Belén Delgado " Unfriended" (2015)

I did not have huge expectations about this movie but i wanted to see it since it was about the impact cyberbullying ( or at least, that's what I thought!) and this is something very close to my daily work. I have to say that it is a pity that with such powerful topic they did not use it in a clever way. Rotten Tomatoes has given this film a 62%. I'd give it a 40%, spite all i was entertained but if you ask me if I'd recommend it to anyone..uhm : NO. Let me tell you a bit more:
What is shown it´s a mixture between fiction and reality but it does have , unfortunately parts that are real. Teens can be very cruel and use social media sites and/or apps to harass other teens to lead them to suicidal thoughts, like the movie shows. It´s scary how quick a video and/or photo can become viral. In only a matter of minutes, insults and abusive comments can be posted online with all the consequences that this can have on people's lives. To sum up, this film is about a dead spirit that comes back via social media (Facebook) to take revenge on the the teens that made her commit suicide due to a video that was posted online on Youtube. Not sure who decided to make the scenes of the killings so tastelessly violent.. it could have been done much more elegantly and the moral of the story could have been remained. For those who have kids that will be teenagers once, make sure they are all aware of how to combat and report cyberbullying since the big tech companies are all well aware of it and have processes in place to take action quickly against the cyberbullies. No to cyberbulling!

International Jameson Festival, 2015, Dublin by Belen Delgado (Cinderella , meeting Kenneth Branagh and "Gente de Bien")

One of the things I love about living in Dublin is its cultural life. I'm a big fan of the International Jameson Festival and I do my best to go every year to a couple of movies. It is a great opportunity to meet famous actors or directors and to listen from them about the film you have just seen in a premiere. I would have never had an opportunity like this if I'd have stayed in my city back in the South of Spain.

This year I have seen 2 films: Cinderella (the premiere in Savoy) and a Colombia-French movie "Gente de bien".

I have admired the director of Cinderella (2015), Kenneth Branagh since college when I used to watch his movies from Shakespeare ( Henry V, Otthelo  & Hamlet) and I couldn't believe that he was actually coming to the festival to present the premiere of his last movie as a director: Cinderella. He introduced the film at the very beginning and then at the end there was a Questions and Answers session. We were lucky to be in the 4th row in the Savoy cinema . I could see him perfectly. He is such a great way and good speaker, i could be listening to him all day. You can see that he is really passionate about his job. Cinderella is done with such a respect and elegancy , it was beautifully directed. Kate Blanchet plays the excellent role of Cinderella's mean step mother. There are a few scenes that seem theatrical due to the Kenneth Branagh's touch. The film brought me back to my childhood where I used to love to read tales and also my dad and grandpa used to read those to me before going to bed. I was smiling throughout the film, loved the humour touch of the mice talking in their own language, the colours, the beautiful costumes (in the ball). Even Kenneth said that his favourite part of the film was the one from the Ball. I felt as part of the audience of an American program called "Insides the Actors Studio" that I used to watch via cable during my college times. See below a few photos and videos of the premiere. I truly recommend the film, I voted with a 4-star rating during the festival!

Last Thursday we went to see the French-Colombia movie: Gente de Bien (2014) at the Light House Cinema, one of my favourite cinemas in Dublin, by the way. It was a very short film about the huge gap difference between classes in Colombia. The protagonist is a 10-year old boy that goes with his poor, low-class father who works as a carpenter for a high-class family. It's a realistic drama set in Bogota ( Colombia). If you belong to the low-poor class, it is very hard to change your situation and a very different reality stays in front of you. This little kid is born into that reality and can see what the high class have, he still decides to go back to his father's poor place and live with their dog in very poor conditions. My husband and I ended up crying in the end. It is a movie that won't become a blockbuster, it won't be seen by many but by those who see it, you will be touched, specially if you have been to Colombia and you know that is true. According to my Colombian husband, he said that it's a movie for European, for people who live in Colombia it would be boring to watch, it's something they live with and you get used to that gap, you can rescue all the poor people and everyone gets on with their lives.

Humble review by Belén Delgado " Fifty Shades of Grey" ( Feb 14, 2015)

I have to admit that i have not read the books and it´s not the type of literature that I usually go for but I heard a lot about 50 Shades of Grey (I even received the book in pdf format from a friend that loved the books) that I was intrigued to see the film. I wanted to see it, too to be able to have my own opinion about it, specially after having received such bad criticism from the public and the media. I have a blog where I write about cinema so I could not make an exception with this movie that everyone is talking about. It seemed the perfect plan for a 14th of February: A torrid love story with a sexy billionaire based on a bestseller, specially being read by women, so why not going and seeing it?

Well, I knew what i was going to see was not going to be excellent acting and that the the plot was based on a best-seller erotic romance trilogy. I do not like being influenced by others who hate a movie. I like to have my own opinion about things, in general. So if you ask me what I think about it, well, the Irish male protagonist is attractive, yes, not my type but attractive, so not bad there, however, his acting was really bad and I´m not sure if that was the intention of the film  but it turned out to be a "comedy" with some of the quotes from the film. The audience laughed several times (including us..), so again, not sure if that was the intention. Some of the lines I remember now are " I do not make love, i fuck hard, really hard" , If a guy says that to me in the real life, i would have laughed in his face, the same i did in the cinema , so not sure if that would actually turn me on or off lol. Anyway, my point is that the movie entertained me, i laughed and i enjoyed some of the aesthetic scenes between the too (both of them kissing in the piano with the great view of the skyscrapers from the apartment). The female protagonist, Dakota Johnson  (Melanie´s Griffith´s daughter) plays her role much better than his male, counterpart , Jamie Dornan , however none of them blew me away with their acting.

The audience in the cinema was all couples and group of women that were giggling most of the time, beer was sold , which it´s the first time i have seen , the ads prior to the movie were about condoms, in the end it was the perfect setting to see an erotic movie mainly done to please the female audience that wanted to have a good time. I did not see anyone walking out the cinema and believe me, i have seen it with other films. To me, even though the topics of sadism and masochism are handled , it´s done with a great deal of respect, not to hurt anyone´s feelings, in the end it´s a love story and she agreed to what it was being done to her and when she didn´t like it, she walked away. In the end, the film and book is all fiction and you are entitled to think and have your own fantasies in a story in a book or movie. I totally disagree with the critics that have talked about abuse being shown in the film. On a separate note, I was thinking all the time, if the Spanish director, Pedro Almodovar .would have directed this movie it would have been much tougher and real. However, this version is a light one, there are cheese romantic scenes. Even some scenes that could have been much more difficult to watch. If there is still anyone out there that thinks that this film is about hard sex in the screen.. well , it´s not.. there is some nudity shown but very light.

See link of an interview with the author and the protagonists:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1946193/?ref_=tt_cl_t2

Last but not least, for those who may criticize me because I have seen this movie , I have to say that I do not care much, I usually like going to see movies that are talked about to be able to write about them, so I won´t change that. I have to say that I hope i have made it clear that it was not the movie of my life but i was entertained and I´m glad I went to see it. If you ask me if I would recommend it, well if you have the same expectations than I had , go and see it and make your own judgement. But please see it in the original version, i do not even want to think how it sounds in Spanish.

A humble short review of : Birdman (2014)

I had high expectations of this film, i knew it had several nominations for the Oscars and although I'm not a big fan of Michael Keaton, i knew it was going to be good and definitely different from other American movies since it was also directed by a Mexican director, Alejandro Gonzalez I., so i knew it was going to have a different touch. Well, I did not know it was going to be as different as it definitely is, it's not a movie for everyone. In a way, there are many similarities with Michael Keaton's life due to his role of Batman and the impact it had in his career. Keaton's role in this movie is by far the best I have seen of him but to me, the star of the movie is actor Ed Norton, his role is superb. 10 out of 10! The photograph and takes of the film are different and it's heavily based on the dialogue, which remained me of the old good movies. It's also highly scored in pages such as rotten tomatoes with over 90% .  The movie is full of metaphors , some of them I'm still trying to understand myself. I love the end. I'm not going to tell you what it is. No worries

A movie that you cannot miss, humble review by Belén Delgado : Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)

In a single word: Wow!!! . What a great film!! British do understand what secret agents movies need to be! It's a UK film to see it in the big screen and if possible in IMAX format, the effects in the different scenes are just fab! Everyone looked very happy while watching and this is a good sign (I usually look around me in the cinema when I'm enjoying a movie to see how other people react). I'm a big fan of Colin Firth myself, I have not seen a movie from him that I have not enjoyed so far, so I knew he would not disappoint me. His elegance, great diction and great acting makes him the perfect secret spy. Young British actor, Taron Egerton, plays also very well his role of being a street kid that is chosen to is do a training to become a true Kingsman spy. The movie can be a bit violent at times but due to the effects and the way the photography is done, it's actually aesthetic. One of the highlights for me was the scene inside the church. We were open-mouthed.. but in the end, movies are fiction, aren't they? ( If you are very catholic, do not take it personal)
I think it was very original, the idea that one day people can be controlled via a free simcard to use internet and then all of them would be connected and would become violent. And of course, the rich would survive out of that because they would not fall for a free simcard. In the end it's all a criticism about today's society where the rich control the world and people like us, would go and get the free internet simcard in a matter of seconds!!! Note: I love the ending!

If you would like to see a new version of a James bond movie with a modern twist and great effects, go!! WE loved it! For me , it's a 10!

Movie Recommendation by Belén Delgado: Wild (2015)

Like every year, I like to see movies that are nominated for the Oscars to be able to make my own nominations based on what I liked. Well, I´m not surprised that actress Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon has been nominated for her protagonist role in this movie. She is so natural and spontaneous that one can easily relate to her story and to what she is going through. To me , this is her best performance to-date. Cheryl,Resse, does what many people would like to do, leave your life behind for a short period of time to embark in a trip to be able to think and evaluate what changes need to take place in your life. She is a very brave woman who decides to go on her own to hike on the Pacific Long trail after losing her beloved mother and after her husband left her due to her addiction to drugs and uncountable infidelities. The way the story is told in a narrative technique , going back and forth to the past and present and it seems as if you were reading a book, many times. It´s a beautiful story told with a breathtaking scenery. After watching the movie you feel like going hiking! Straight after I started looking for the mountains to hike in Ireland! I´m not going to tell you more so that you can go and see the movie. I´d scored it with  a 9 out of 10. Class movie! I do hope Reese wins the oscar!

Humble review by Belén Delgado of: "The Theory of Everything" ( 2014)

I had very high expectations of this movie, also after seeing the very high scores in the cinema web page "Rotten Tomatoes" with 81% from top critics and 84% score from the audience. In my view, it deserves a 10. British actor Eddie Redmayne plays brilliantly the physical disability that Stephen has had since he was diagnosed with  amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at age 21. Eddie really deserves an Oscar. The movie portrays an image of Stephen as a funny, intelligent and inspiring man who wants to live and won´t stop until he finds the theory of everything no matter what. Eddie and actress Felicity Jones have a lot of chemistry on the screen. They make very believable their role as husband and wife in the film. The movie is based on Stephen wife´s (Jane) second reviewed autobiography and it´s told in a very respectful and elegant way. I could really relate to the protagonist´s lives and even though there were some scenes where I had to swallow my tears, I really enjoyed to get to know more about Stephen´s life. Did you know that he had 2 daughters and a son that were conceived while he was already sick? It´s crazy what true love can do. As an anecdote, it seems that Stephen is not willing to change the robotic voice that was provided with the machine that he communicates with. This voice has even an American accent and does not match his Oxford origins at all. As even told by actress Felicity Jones in a few interviews, she prepared for 4 months to get to know better the real protagonists of the story and she describe Jane as a woman with a very strong determination and you can see that in the film. What a woman! And Stephen, hats off to him, he has not had an easy life
spite of that he has never stopped fighting. In addition, his great mind and strength has kept him alive and he has even been able to share his ideas with the rest of the world thanks to modern technology.

Let me finish with one of the quotes that I really like from Stephen:

"However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at."

Below a photo of the real Stephen and Jane and the actor Eddie and Felicity.

Here the link to the trailer, If you are interested in knowing more about Stephen´s dramatic life, do not miss it!! It´s really worth it!

http://youtu.be/LUayjO_KgsQ

First Movie I have seen in 2015: "Exodus" by Ridley Scott

Those who know me are aware that Christian Bale is one of my favorite actors since I saw him for the very first time in his interpretation of the "Empire of the Sun" when he was only a kid. Well, the main reason why I wanted to see "Exodus" was because of him (yeah, otherwise I would not have gone to see see such a long movie when I have so much to study..). He did not disappoint me, he plays very well his role of Moses. Even though the movie has some biblical historic errors in it, we enjoyed it. I´m not surprised that the movie was censored in some countries since they show the Catholic God as a bit evil, the kid playing God is actually a bit scary. In addition, some of the scenes are very gore showing the Catholic God as a merciless God of destruction and death. They do not describe a very good image of the Egyptians, either. See an article about this: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/egypt-biblical-epic-exodus-banned-errors-27862379 . Surprisingly , Rotten tomatoes scores for this film are very low, they do not even reach the 50%. Ok I agree that some of the guys playing the Egyptians with such heavy fake tan were not great but the effects and the main battles, specially for those who are brave enough to see this movie in 3D, are very well done with the usage of today´s technology.

I actually thought that it was going to be too long for me as it lasts more than 2 hours but time flew fast and I was quite comfortable with the duration it had. Good cinematographic start of the year, next one on my list " The theory of everything". I definitely want to see more movies this year, let´s see how it goes!

My score is a 65%.