Movie Suggestion: Mary & Max

This weekend we watched a beautiful movie called Mary & Max.

Australian clay-animated animation​​, this film is a comedy-drama that deals with pretty heavy themes but in a very light, funny and lovely way. It is impossible not to be moved and involved with the characters! Available on Netflix (PS: this animation is not for kids!)

The HAPPY movie

Yesterday I watched a really touching and interesting documentary called HAPPY (available on Netflix).

It presents the results of several studies on happiness and what people want / need to be happy. And four points caught my attention:
1 - of all the cases, people who have very simple lives and less money are the happiest.
2 - from the moment you have enough money for your basic needs, no matter if you earn $ 1 million or $ 10 million that it doesn't make you a happier person.
3 - everyday things are the ones that make you happy. Taking different routes to work, including something that you really enjoy doing (exercising, dancing, volunteering ...) brings more happiness.
4 - a community thinking makes you happier. Feeling like you're part of something bigger and that one act of yours can change the life of another person brings great pleasure.

Fortunately, I can say that I'm already practicing some of the points above for quite some time. I'm still far from what I'd like to be, but I'll get there! Others, I still need to work on and you bet I will (accepting that we need to improve is a first step, right?). Anyway, the documentary has a nice message which can actually be applied in our daily lives if we're open to it. Loved it!

Movie Suggestions

As you know, hubby and I love to watch movies. And as we just had a longer weekend, we were able to catch up and watched three excellent documentaries:

The Last Mogul: The True Story of Lew Wasserman - tells the story of life, filled with scandals, of one of the most powerful men in Hollywood.

L'amour Fou - a beautiful and delicate story about the professional and personal relationship of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé.

Dominick Dunne: After The Party - interesting story about life's ups and downs of one of the most important writers of Vanity Fair.

These three docs are biographical and perfect for those who like Hollywood, fame, fashion, scandal and success; or for those just interested in good stories with real actors.

And the Oscar goes to... (Part 2)

As I said here, hubby and I are in this race to watch the Oscar's movies, and this past weekend we saw The Artist.

I confess I wasn't too excited. After all, silent, black and white movie isn't my favorite style, but The Artist is completely different.
The filmmakers had the courage to do something that entertains you - a lot! - without all the visual and sound effects of a "normal" movie.
I suggest you to watch it! It will be a totally different cinema experience.

And the Oscar goes to...

Last week, me, hubby and my in-laws, made ​​a bet for the Oscar: the couple who guesses more nominations will win a dinner paid by "the loser couple". That's because we love watching the Oscars and this year, as my in-laws are here with us, this was a great idea to make the ceremony even more interesting (menu to be defined!).
So we're are trying to watch as many movies as possible (at least those nominated for best picture, actor and actress), and this past weekend we saw:

I'm not a film critic, but as a film lover, I can say that the three of them are worth being watched. One movie is very different from the other, but all of them with captivating stories and great cast.
If all the other nominated movies are as good as these, this year's ceremony will be exciting!

This cinema adventure to be continued next weekend...

Suggested watching: Senna Documentary

Last weekend I saw the documentary Senna.
It was a very small release in 2010 (only in a few cities in Brazil, and also in other countries such as Japan), so I added it to my "to see list", and finally got the chance.
If you've never heard about Senna, he was a three-time Formula One World Champion who died in a car accident during the Italian Grand Prix, in 1994, at age 34.

The documentary talks about the amazing - and fast - career of this huge idol in Brazil (and all over the world), with shots of some of his accomplishments, and statements from important people in the world of sports and family.

It's two hours of joy, excitement, sadness and nostalgia that are worth.

Movie Suggestion: Crazy, Stupid, Love

This weekend I saw Crazy, Stupid, Love and loved it! In addition to being a fan of any movie that Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are in the cast - which also has Kevin Bacon, Julianne Moore, Marisa Tomei and Steve Carell, the movie is a great rom-com, perfect to watch with your partner, friends or even alone (my case!).

So go to the nearest video store (or buy it online), open that bottle of wine that is in your cellar, and reserve 2 hours to laugh and have fun!

Movie suggestions: Pearl Jam Twenty and Rabbit Hole

This past weekend, I watched two very different movies which I recommend: Pearl Jam Twenty and Rabbit Hole.

Pearl Jam Twenty is a journey into the past (the nineties - so not that long ago), recalling my old days as a fan of Pearl Jam. The documentary celebrates 20 years of the band, showing everything from its beginning until today. It has a lot of music, concerts and curiosities. It's pretty fun to watch.

Rabbit Hole, on the other hand, deals with a hard subject (a couple who is trying to rebuild their lives after losing their only son, age 4, in a car accident), but I thought it was beautifully portrayed, without too much drama and heavy scenes. Of course you will cry and get emotional, but it's not a tearjerker. Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart are great! But honestly, I think I only watched the movie, because I still do not have kids, but for parents, it might be painful to watch...

For a cultural weekend!

Greystone Mansion, Beverly Hills

Over the weekend, I went with my hubby and a friend to the Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills.
I had heard about this place for some time, but never had the opportunity. So, to do something different with my guest, there we went!

         

The Greystone Mansion was owned by the Doheny family (a very important family from the oil business that also names a major Drive here in Los Angeles), but was acquired by the city of Beverly Hills and became a public park (entrance and parking are free).
Unlike most American attractions, you can´t bring food, drinks or pets (maybe that's why when we were there, it was pretty empty...). But still worth a visit to see the incredible view of the city and stroll through the gardens.

   

The mansion is used for filming and events until today. That same day there was a wedding going on (very good idea because the ambiance is beautiful!). The ceremony was held outdoors in the garden and the reception around the main house. Since the house was closed for the event and we found no one from the park to talk to, I can´t tell if the mansion itself is open to visitors or if it is just the gardens (when I get back there I'll find out and let you know!).

As a curiosity, here are some movies that used the mansion as a backdrop: The Social Network; There Will Be Blood, The Prestige, Garfield, Austin Powers: Goldmember, Spiderman, X-Men, Indecent Proposal, The Body Guard and Ghostbusters among many others.

Quiet and nice stroll in Beverly Hills!

Suggestion for the weekend: Carlos Miniseries

This weekend I finished watching the miniseries Carlos, on the Venezuelan revolutionary Carlos the Jackal.

Originally composed of 3 parts, the miniseries was shown on French television and won the 2010 Golden Globe - Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television. Besides that, the leading man (Edgar Ramirez) was nominated for an Emmy this year and shows his amazing skills speaking Spanish, English, German, Arabic and French.

Here in the U.S., in addition to the original version available online (Netflix), they did a short version for festivals and movie-theaters, but I suggest watching the extended version.

Filmed in several different countries, the documentary mixes fiction and reality, and through it we can learn more about that revolutionary era (the 60s) and its ideals. Very interesting!

Sergio Vieira de Mello - documentary

This weekend I watched a documentary that I highly recommend: Sergio.
Produced by HBO, the documentary tells the story of the Brazilian Sergio Vieira de Mello - one of the most important UN diplomats - since his early career until the day he died buried in the UN building, in Baghdad, on a mission in 2003 .
Extremely well produced, the documentary has emotional testimonials from people who have worked with him, his girlfriend and even the firefighters who tried to get him out. The documentary shows that there are competent people out there able to give their life to make the world a better place.

I bought the DVD through HBO's website but if you rather read the book the documentary is based on, you can buy it here.

Brazilian Culture - Documentaries

I'm a huge fan of documentaries and it's been a while that Brazil has embarked on this bandwagon by creating incredible movies about our culture and history. Last year I saw Simonal - No One Knows How Tough It Was and The Man Who Bottled Clouds, and besides the great amount of good music, I was delighted with the visual, the content and the quality of these productions.

To my great surprise, I've just watched the trailer of Filhos de João - O Admirável Mundo Novo Baiano (something like: Children of John - The Great World Novo Baiano) and it was automatically added to my "to watch" list. It is a documentary about the music and musicians from a group from the 60's and 70's called Novos Baianos, which will be released on July 22 in some cities in Brazil. And it seems that the viewers will have 76 minutes of Brazilian culture and good music!
For now, the documentary is only available in theatres in Brazil but whenever you have the opportunity, it's always great to support your or other cultures, especially when we have high-quality documentaries like these!

Midnight in Paris

Woody Allen surprised me again with a creative idea in his new movie Midnight in Paris. In addition to the great and funny story, Paris is portrayed beautifully. Its 130 minutes fly by and you keep smiling from the beggining until the end!

Departures

Departures is a beautiful Japanese movie about the amazing delicacy and respect Japaneses deals with death. Very touching, the movie is available for rent. I recommend it!

Food Inc Documentary

A few days ago I watched the documentary Food Inc. It draws attention to some important  issues about our food, such as the way animals are treated from slaughterhouses to the supermarkets; the concern about what these animals eat, how they sleep and the amount of hormones they have to take, and the relationship between buyers (fast food chains, supermarkets etc.) and slaughterhouses/farmers. I'm not going into details about the documentary, because I do think it is interesting to watch, but it is important to say that it's not a kind of brainwash to turn us into vegetarians. It only reports the striking facts and gives some suggestions which are very easily to use on a daily basis. If you are interested, below I list some of these suggestions (it's important to say tha it is a documentary made for and about the American market, but many things can be applied to any other country):
- Know the origin of your meat, eggs and dairy products (doing this you might have a better idea of how the animals are treated and the quality of the food)
- Go meatless once a week
- Choose meat from grass fed animals
- Buy organic food
- Buy free range and hormone free eggs
- Buy local
- Ask for healthier lunches at your kid's school
- Read the labels. You should know what you're buying
For more information about the documentary or what else you can do to improve the food you put on your table, visit the official website.