February in Portugal

I apologize for the long silence. This time I was in Nijmegen for a very short time, and it was a period of a lot of work. I'm now in Portugal again and here I will be for the next couple of weeks.
February is always a great month for movies in Portugal, because that's when most of the movies that were nominated for the Oscars premier.
In the last month I saw Avatar, Up in the air, and Invictus. They all deserve some comments but not now. I also read the last book of the Millenium trilogy (which was interesting but not exciting).
More to come soon.

A new wine in a new place

While in Portugal for the holidays, I spent 24h in a wonderful place in Alentejo (a region on the south of Portugal) called Herdade da Malhadinha Nova. This place serves both as a country house (with Spa) and a winehouse. The 24h spent there were amazing, even though it rained as much as in the Old Testament. The food was great, the scenery was amazing, and the wines they make are fabulous. One in particular gathered my affection: Malhadinha, 2007. It´s a red wine (from Alentejo obviously). It uses five types of grapes: Aragonês, Alicante Bouschet, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Touriga Nacional. Some tasting notes (in portuguese can be found here.

One particularly great thing about this wine (and the other wines from Herdade da Malhadinha) is that it has a very family-like management. And, in accordance, even the children of the family who runs the place have a task in the wine process. They are responsible for creating the labels of every bottle. So you'll easily recognize this wine in the gourmet stores (and they can be found in lots of places in the world, in over 20 countries), because they are filled with tender lovely drawings, like the one of Malhadinha 2007. Enjoy.

Back in Nijmegen

New updtate on the lists

What I've enjoyed since the beginning of this blog:

Movies:

1) Slumdog Millionaire
2) 2001 Space Odissey
3) Dr Strangelove
4) It's a wonderful life
5) JFK
6) In the Valley of Elah
7) In Bruges
8) The graduate
9) Inglorious Basterds
10) Garden State

Books:

1) The lady with the dragon tatoo
2) The Road

Artists:

1) Tim Christensen
2) Elbow
3) Orquestra Imperial

Wines:

1) 3 Bagos Lavradores de Feitoria (Douro - White)
2) Cortes de Cima 2006 (Alentejo - Red)
3) Dolium (Alentejo - Red)
4) Callabriga 2007 (Douro - Red)
5) Passadouro Reserva 2004 (Douro - Red)
6) S de Soberanas (Terras do Sado - Red)

Movie #11 - Garden State (2004)

Garden State is simply the best OK movie I've seen in a long time. It was suggested to me by a friend (Dank je wel Martijn) who presented it as an OK movie. And he was right in the sense that the movie is not one bit pretentious and if I think about it there is nothing really spectacular about it. But within the kind of movie it aimed to, is just perfect. Nothing is wrong with it.
So, the movie is Zack Braff (the guy from Scrubs) 's directorial debut. It was critically acclaimed and tells a story of a guy who seems not to feel anything and numbly goes to their parents home to be in his mother's funeral. The people he knows and the transformation he undergoes there make the film wortwhile. For me, a big part of the reason I liked the movie so much was Natalie Portman. That girl can act and she's pleasant to watch. Also, the songs that populate each scene in a perfect way were personally chosen by Zack Braff and he got an award for that.
Not a masterpiece, but a great movie.

Please recommend a book

Since I've arrived in Nijmegen, I've read The Road (Cormac McCarthy), The Human Stain (Philip Roth) and The Lost Symbol (Dan Brown). This last one, by the way, I didn't like.
I don't have any book now. Could you please recommend something? Either in english or Portuguese.
thanks

Not all classics are good

In the vein of my thirst for classics that started a couple of years ago, I saw West Side Story last night. And it was important, because I realized that not all classics are good. I actually did not like the film. And it's not that I don't like musicals, because The Sound of Music is one of my personal favorites and it is by the same director (Robert Wise). So, it's not that. It's just that the film is boring, the plot is a very loose, very weak adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. The choreographs are poor, with the exception of the musical number: Cool. The acting is pitiful. The lyrics are not inspiring (except for Gee, Officer Krupke). Some of the musics are catchy like I Feel Pretty, and some are beautiful and classic like Maria (I just met a girl named Maria...), but all in all, most of the times I felt bored by the movie. I do not recommend it but I can totally understand those who may like it. It just didn't feel right.