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%.

Quick summary of our year, note for ourselves - 2014

Let's sum up:

I have written only 21 posts in my blog this year, still not bad taking into account how busy I have been. For me it's very important to write since I want to remember as many details about my life , as possible. I want to leave behind me some legacy so that my family and friends can always go back and read my good memories. I'm not going to say that 2014 has been the perfect year, it has not been. There are always good and tough times but I only like writing about the good times because I do want to forget about the tough ones . Besides,  I always try to find the positive side out of anything that happens in my life, every event it's  a learning experience for me, which also makes me stronger and wiser.

Let's start with the summary:

How many films we have seen this year in the Cinema:

• 26 (4 less than last year and not many in comparison with 2011 where we saw 42 movies!). My favorite ones: Magic in the Moonlight, Mood Indigo, Gone Girl, Budapest Hotel, The Fault in our Stars, Big Eyes and Wolf of Wall Street.

Musicals and Theater :

•  3  Musicals ( Singing in the Rain, Dirty Dancing &and The Wizard of Oz). My favorite being "Singing in the Rain". I also went with my manager to see " My ideal husband" from Oscar Wilde.

Trips:

7 for me and 4 for Andres. Out of my 6 trips, 3 were due to business and for Andres 1 of them.

Concerts:

One Republic (Loved it! True Artists!), The Coronas ( We see them every year!), Lady Gaga (We went with Juan and Juan Diego).

In general I'd say that has been a very busy year studying the master, my leadership program in my company ( Green House) and working long hours. Overall , it has been a good year.

 
Something I have done for the first time in 2014:

We started our year with our first trip to the Emirates. We have taken the decision of buying a house (big decision !) ; We also waited for hours in a long queue to see our favorite Irish band to have their cd signed ( we realized that we are very old to do this.. but it was worth it! We even have a selfie with them). I also took part for the first time in a mini Marathon ( Flora's Women Marathon). I also went to a shooting ground as a team activity for the first time, I also realized that it is not for me, I'm more than a peaceful person lol. I also organized my first charity event selling doughnuts in the National college of Ireland, dressed as a bunny. It was all a Success! My mum also gave us a present a Thermomix and I have our Xmas party in the Aviva Stadium. Currently I'm leading a team of 20 people with 13 different nationalities and we cover 16 different languages. I also took part in my first Gay parade representing Facebook. We also won the Halloween competition due to our costumes for the " Adam's Family".  Our cat Pepe has already reached 100 fans in his Facebook Page!
 Ah! And my father got a park named after him, he will always be present not only for us but for younger generations that go to play in the park. Unfortunately, I still have very good friends that live in different parts around the world and not here, but thanks to the internet we continue to be connected.

Even my cat Pepe got a cd signed by the Coronas!!! Yes, Andres told them a story about our "sick son" that loved them and could not go with us. Of course, in the end, I had to tell the truth and explain that my "son" is actually a cat.

Loved ones that are not with us anymore:

Our dearest friend Ursula, I still can't believe that I won't see her anymore, we are very grateful for everything she did for us while we were living in Germany and she will always be in our hearts. Best wishes to heaven , if there is one, I'm sure you are there due to your kindness.

My auntie , Berty also passed away this year, I can't believe it either, it's so difficult to assimilate death of your loved ones when you live abroad. I still feel that I'll see her in Madrid in one of our trips.

Mention at least 3 highlights of your year:

• We helped our friends Juan & Juan Diego to have them settled in Dublin, they moved to our place in February 2014 and stayed with us for 6 months until the became fully independent (he,he).

• I took part in a Mini-Marathon for charity (Yeah, o.k. I walked all the way..) and I raised money throughout the year, not only for that but also for other charity causes that my company support.
•  Taking my sister, nieces and brother in law to the theater in Dublin. I was very glad to have them visiting us for the first time. Our Xmas has not been so lonely this time . Thanks for the visit!

Mention at least 2 things that I have stopped doing:

• Cooking. Is it my fault? No, I do not think so.. It's just that food is delicious at Facebook.. so I can't compete with the Urban picnic meals and when I'm not at work , I just don't feel like cooking. 
• I used to go out and travel much more than now. Now I even spend my holidays either studying or resting. Does this mean that I'm growing old? Gee!

Resolutions for 2015:

• Get finally the keys of our place, I can't wait to do the first check-in there.
• Finish our Master Degree and have our social lives back (lol).
• Continue growing professionally.
• Get fitter and not to eat so much sugar ( Will I stop drinking coke? Uhm.. don't think so)
• Go to more music concerts than this year. Music is very important for me.
• Continue learning new things and doing things for the first time.
• Do a trip with my mum since this year I haven't had time and it's something that I like to do every year. 
• Don't be so workaholic.. ( Not so sure about this one..)

Most importantly, Andres and I continue to love and respect each other, no matter the obstacles that we can find in our way. As I always say, marriage is about teamwork and we are a great team!

Last movies I have seen in 2014 and the last Musical " The Wizard of Oz"

I have not had a lot of time this year to write about the movies we have seen and most likely I may have missed a few behind:

The Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) : 

I usually enjoy superheroes movies but this was not the movie of my life. I have already forgotten the details of it.. , which means that it's a forgettable movie..

Horrible Bosses (2):

I really enjoyed Horrible Bosses (1), but the second part was not very good. Not even sure if I would give it a pass mark. Not worth spending your time watching it.

Big Eyes (2014):

This is the last movie we have seen this year and what a great way of ending it. Beautiful but sad true story about the female painter Megan Keane. Her husband took credit for her work for 10 years. I love her paintings of kids with big eyes where he wanted to portrayed their soul through the eyes. I'm very glad that we went to see it since i have discovered a new artist that I like. Excellent actor Christoph Walz, plays very well the role of Megan's husband.

I truly recommend this film if you have the chance to see it.

Looking forward to what 2015 has to offer!

The Wizard of Oz, the musical ( National Concert Hall, Dublin, 27.12.2014):

Very lively performance that brought me back to my childhood. The main actors played very well and sang  beautifully. I was singing along "Over the Rainbow"with Dorothy all the time while the band played.  It was a great experience that I could share with my niece , nephew, my sister, Eva , my husband and my brother-in-law. They even had a real dog on the stage, so cute!! And the bad witch was even scary for us!! At the very end we were lucky enough to take a selfie with the actors.

One of those memories that will last for me, even though my husband fall asleep lol.

Recent movies I have seen, 2 recommended and one to avoid: "Dracula; Gone Girl and She is the one"

(2104) "Dracula , the Untold"

We really liked this film, it was a combination between the historic facts of Vlad the Impaler and Bram Stoker fiction novel of Dracula. This is what I really liked, the combination of the 2 and the effects and aesthetic scenes such as when Mina is falling from the cliffs and Dracula is trying to catch her. I also found very beautiful when the vamps were flying all together making different shapes. The movie portrays a powerful Dracula who becomes a vampire to defend his territory and his people. This is one of the films that you have to see in the big screen , main actor Luke Evans was a discovery for me, he plays very well his part.

" Gone Girl"(2014)

I'm not a big fan of Ben Affleck and I did not know what to expect of this film that is breaking records in the American box office. Well, we actually liked it a lot, I did not expect how it turns out to be in the end. I don't want to write much about it since i'll spoil the film for you but one thing i can say is that after seeing this film, you won't believe that much in the perfect marriage portrayed by Rich & famous American people. In a way, i think it's a criticism of what people want others to know about their lives and what are they really like behind doors. British actress Rosamund Pike plays an stellar role, it's one of those characters in a movie that you do not forget. The film reminded me a bit of how old movies used to be with a slow plot making you think of what could happen next. I'm a bit intrigued about how truthful the movie is to the original thriller novel by Gillian Flynn. A must see!

" The Best of Me"

Yes i know based on the title and on the trailer, it was not very promising. But I had one of those days where I wanted to see a romantic movie and we went to see this one. It's so predictable and cheesy that the aromatic side of things vanishes.., do avoid going and seeing this one. I regret not having gone to see a good movie instead! The only good thing is to see the male protagonist topless lol. A forgettable film ..

The Riots Club (2014)

The Riots Club (2014)

To be honest I did not know much about this film and I did not expect how it turned out to be.. it made me feel very bad when they showed the posh spoilt members of the Riot Club inside the town's pub and what happened in there.. I felt so sorry for the owner of the pub that I could not even looked at times. The audience has scored it with a 91% in rotten tomatoes. I have to admit that actor Sam Claflin plays an excellent role, he is so rotten.. Unfortunately Rich spoilt guys like that do exist.. they believe that money can buy everything and get them out of any situation and in a way they are right. After this film ended, both of us felt like crap. If you ask me if I recommend it, well no. I just want to forget I have watched it just because of what it made it me feel. The only good thing for me was actor Max Irons, he is a hottie!

2 movies to cry in the cinema: "The Fault in our Stars " (2014) & " If I stay" (2014)

" The Fault in our Stars"

I do not know about you but for me sometimes I just want to see a film to cry with a dramatic film. From the moment I saw the trailer of this film, i knew I wanted to see it, it's based on a best seller from John Green. The audience has given a 88% in the rotten tomatoes cinema page. Even though the protagonists are very young, they have a lot of chemistry together and they play very well. 2 teenagers, Gus & Hazel, fall in love in a cancer support group. The male protagonist, Gus (played by American actor, Ansel Elgort) has a prosthetic leg , is personally my favourite one, his positive attitude spite of his illness make Hazel , who has cancer, fall in love with him. Their love story is short but they enjoy every moment together, I personally did not expect how the movie ends. I think i haven't cried so much in the cinema for a long time... Of course, this film is not for everyone, it's for sensible people,  like me, that want to see a dramatic romance in the big screen.

If I stay (2014)

Yes, more dram of another teen couple that has a difficult romance.I did not cry so much with this film as with the Fault in our Stars, maybe because I could not see the chemistry between the 2 protagonist and their love story. The beautiful and talent Mia has a future ahead of her as a Cello player who would tell her that a car accident with her parents and brother changed her life forever. Int the film you see her struggle between life and death after she falls into a comma. I liked the film but it was not as good as The Fault in our Stars, in this one i could predict the end but not in The Fault in our Stars. The moral of the story is that life can change in seconds and it's always worth fighting for your life, for those who love you.

Recommended movie: Last Woody Allen movie "Magic in the Moonlight"

Last movie from Woody Allen " Magic in the Moonlight" (2014)

Thank you very much Woody for having shared with us this witty romantic comedy with one of my favourite actors, Colin Firth. We were smiling throughout the film and enjoying every dialogue, it really surprised me. I also love the lovely settings, the costumes and surroundings. Some of the highlights for me are when Colin playing Stanley realised that the medium could potentially not be a fraud and start to shout out of joy. The morale of the film is that love is not always rational and sometimes people are even happier if they live in their own world of what they believe to be true rather than trying to always find a logical reasoning behind everything. I remember to have had a very good feeling after this film ended. A very simple story but with elaborated dialogues that reminded me of the old good movies, where dialogues had a true meaning and special effects did not exist and the storyline was much more important than anything else.