Thoughts about "American Hustle"

Completely lost amidst of exams, paper dues, work and deadlines, I am quite late to see movies nominated for 86th Academy Award. Feeling absolutely bad about it, several days ago I finally managed to watch "American Hustle", American crime-drama nominated for ten Oscars this year.
The movie is directed by David O. Russel with Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams and Jeniffer Lawrence starring. The movie has already won three Golden Globe Awards, and three BAFTA Awards among other achievements which are quite attractive facts to drive movie-maniacs crazy.
The film begins with an unusual on screen message "Some of this actually happened." This refers to Abscam operation, which led to the conviction of a US Senator, six members of the US House of Representatives in late 1970s. Even there are some elements inspired by this operation, the 120 minutes long movie does not necessarily follow Abscam's storyline.

- This whole thing is racist. Abscam? "Arab-scam"? It's completely racist! -So what do you have to worry about, Sheik? You're Mexican.

The movie can be considered quite slow and long, but in my opinion it is wonderfully acted and filmed. What made the movie memorable for me was the standout performance by the main five cast members (Bale, Adams, Cooper, Lawrence, Renner). It was quite hard to recognize Bale - he gained around 20 kgs for his role as a con man, Irving Rosenfeld. His character is this con man who is just happy in his world of small hustles and lies, and who is afraid of big plans. This character is shown from various perspectives in the movie which makes him quite memorable for the audience: he is a man in unhappy marriage, but also knows what true love is, he is a responsible father even though the kid is not his biological son, he is witty enough to move the plan forward, but also afraid to take risks. Two incredible ladies - Amy Adams and Jeniffer Lawrence completely stole the show with their genius acting, and did a solid job in creating the inner world, insecurities, pains and loves of the women of their society. For me at the scenes where Lawrence fights with Bale in the bedroom and with Amy in the bathroom, Lawrence was at the pick of her talent and proved once more that she deserves all the movie awards of the world.

Well, he must like it on some level. He must want it, because he keeps coming back for it. It's like that perfume that you love, that you can't stop smelling even when there's something sour in it.

Another big plus of the movie was definitely well chosen soundtracks which were utterly breathtaking and did fantastic job in retrieving the soul and mood of 1970s. Blue Moon by Oscar Petersen, I've Got Your Number by Cy Coleman & Carolyn Leigh, The Coffee Song by Frank Sinatra, Don't Leave Me This Way by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, Delilah by Tom Jones and so many smooth, sexy, moody masterpieces will take your breath away while you watch the movie.

Follow this link for a complete playlist of the soundtracks

And some words about what I didn't like about the movie: First of all, as I mentioned in the very beginning the pace and the length of the movie should be seriously reconsider by the director and the movie crew in general. No matter how the well the actors are performing, the director should not ignore the strength of the plot. In fact an interesting plot can make actors' job way easy in terms of creating a movie that will last in the audience's mind for a long time.

Being a great lover of con/gangster movies for me this movie lacked some serious drama, crime and shooting. What it also lacked was a good humor. In fact, there was no humor put in the movie at all, except couple of lines by Lawrence.

Finally, for a con movie it was a very Disney-style happy ending - creativity was lacking. But happy ends are good in general :)

Notes on Travel: Spain

I have all kinds of lists: lists of the movies I want to see, list of things I want to do, list of books I want to read, list of cafes I want to dine in, wish list, to-do list, promise-list (yes, yes "promise-list"), and so on. Even though I do not consider myself a very organised and plan-oriented person, I still like making lists, because the feeling of accomplishment I get while creating them keeps me motivated for some time!

But there is one list that never looses its value and I always look forward to crossing over items on that list - it is my Travel List. And recently I put a tick on another country in my list - Spain. I spent amazing 8 days in two cities of Spain - Madrid and Barcelona and want to share with you some of my "must-do"s :

Madrid only for now

1. Reserve a table at World's oldest restaurant in Madrid, Sobrino de Botín

This restaurant has incredible atmosphere - you will feel like some magic time-machine has taken you back to 18th century. With its extraordinary design, delicious lamb roasted in an old Castillian way, and the most amazing Sangria this places deserves to top Forbes "10 Classic Restaurant of all Times" list, as well as to be nominated as a Travellers Choice 2012. And isn't it just awesome to know that sometime back in old days Hemingway or Goya was sitting around the same table and sipping sangria just like you in this restaurant?

2. Watch some hot Flamenco show

Did I say "hot"? Sorry, I ment "smoky hot". The passion, colours, fire, arrogance, pride, love, tenderness, beauty - all can be found and felt throughout this amazing performance.

This is maybe one of those rare chances when you can see real Gitanos - gypsies singing and dancing with a specific gestures and expression and of course sense of pride and display of courtesy. And I assure you - it is the same as seen on movies and videos, even better and livelier.

And one last piece of advise - try not to get too captivated and especially avoid falling in love with a gypsy guy :)

3. Explore beautiful Retiro Park

The first thought that came to my mind while touring through Madrid was "Gosh, the city is so green". And Park Retiro proved my observations.

It is a large magnificent park full of beautiful sculpture and monuments, galleries, and lake. It is a place for everyone; if you jog or run, go out for a coffee or ice-cream, feel like listening to some amazing live music, want to get your picture painted, or want to take your kid to open-air theatre, then Retiro Park is a right place to be.

Put some comfy shoes on and be ready to spend around 3 hours in this beautiful park.

4. Taste Spanish cuisine

As a huge movie fan one thing that caught my attention while watching Almodavar's "Women on the verge of a nervous breakdown" some years ago was special drink titled "Gazpacho" that characters keep offering to each other throughout the movie. The drink was on my "must try" list ever since and I was glad to have a chance to try it in Madrid even though I would never order it again :)

If you are sea-food lover, Spain is a heaven for you. Try some tapas, paella, tortilla espanola, and escabeche.

Food lovers also should consider going to Mercado de San Miguel (San Migel's Bazaar), Madrid's oldest market. It is perfect place to hit up between sightseeing. You can get beer, wine, tapas, sushi, sweets and pasties - there is something for everyone here.

These places and experiences were very unique for me, among other countless of places I visited which included Prado Museum (not a big fan of museums unfortunately), Plaza Mayor, Puerto Alcala, Plaza de Cibeles, Pueto de Sol, King's Palace, Gran Via and many more.

Welcome!

Hello and welcome!

If you go through my profile details you will notice that I have created this blog back in 2010 but unfortunately have not posted a single post since then. Blogging has always been in my mind, but I have either been too busy or oh well, too lazy.

I have always been a "girl-who-writes" rather than a "girl-who-talks". By logging back to this blog account, editing my profile and writing this post, I believe and hope I will write and share my thoughts more.

So I wish good luck to me in this journey, and I hope you will enjoy reading my posts and find them useful in some ways.

Enjoy the tour :)