WIND RIVER gives you a BODYGUARD

A thriller, a comedy, an action movie. What would all these could possibly have something in common? Well the fact that they are two of the offers for this slow end of summer season at the movies. A season that now will be part as one of the slowest and less exciting seasons in years for Hollywood. But that is another story to tell. For now what matters is to look at these options that might sounds different and they are in context and visually but they share a theme in them that is what brings us here this time. Survival and the decisions we make to survive. Sounds intense but even we don't notice it, these are part of our daily lives. Every move we make is based on our survival instinct and our circumstances. Because won't be the same to think about how to make it through a city, avoiding to be hit by a bus, surf a crowd in the streets, struggle with competitiveness for a high demand job, while in the country you might the learn how to hunt and face the wild to make it home, or learn how to depend and cooperate with others to get all the supplies you need to make it through winter. There are many things we face every day but we are so use to them that we don't notice them anymore. We go out and live our Ives experiencing what might come but do we have the strength to face the challenges or make the best decisions for us or the ones we love? Are we just moving through the life as we it comes, letting it to takes where should be or donwe take control and plan and act accordingly the situation?

"Wind River" (2017) is a thriller that is more character driven than the usual and takes its time to set up the environment where is happening so you, as the viewer, get the sense and get immersed in that world. Telling the story of a rockie FBI agent that is sent to solve the case of a just founded dead girl body in the middle of nowhere and a local hunter that will help her to solve the case by following the clues that are out there instead of following the technical procedure she is used to back in the city. This is a wild place . Mountains covered by snow and local habitats separated by miles. Here Times goes by slowly which turns everyone into desperation looking for more, that's why most of them get caught where they shouldn't , all kinds of addictions, just to make it through their daily lives. It's all about survival. When there's nothing to do but survive you might get too close into it. So when a local girl is founded dead in the middle of nowhere the motives are hard to pin point. What was she doing there? how or why she ended there? Seems like she was a nice girl. Just a teeneger with a bright future ahead but somewhere she made a bad decision. But don't we all? Only that sometimes or at some places those key moments might cost your life or you are not as strong to face the consequences of those actions when facing others. 

So this FBI agent is trying to figure out all options but things work differently here, far from what we know as civilization.  The rules of life are different and so the people struggling with them. And soon she'll notice in the face of her local companion, a troubled local hunter that faced a tragedy in his past and and even he knows the rules in need to move on and keep fighting for what is left, the pain of what he couldn't do to protect them hunts him harder than how he can run . He has learned how to survive in the there and he lets to kee those memories alive but he can't get trapped in there. Has to be stronger to avoid a fall again. And so he proves once the mystery shows signs of resolution. He acts fast and cold the way is needed, taking his time to observe and make the first move. Has to be faster than the rest because knows the consequences of he doesn't. You can't blink and lose sight of the ones you love because you can lose them in a second, but also we all need to realize that we can't overprotect them and make them weak. Everyone when becomes an adult is able to make their own decisions and will have to face their consequences and so they will in order to solve this case of power of the strongest and a way of survival in a wild land where not just a gun can kill you.

But also guns are a powerful weapon as we learned from "The Hitman's Bodyguard" (2017), an action comedy that delivered exactly the kind of entertainment for a late summer  flick, a well mixed pack of laughs and philosophical moments about live and love and the decisions that we make that keeps the audience laughing, giving it a though, all while enjoying some very old fashion action sequences around Europe that won't become a classic but deliver in times where sci fiction and FX dominate the screen. All by telling the story of a security guy that used to work for an elite security company, in charge of making sure that very important people make it safe through their visits in the U.K.  And protecting them from any danger by being one step ahead and plan every second of the situation. But life happens and you can't plan it all, until one day things don't go the way you expected and all what you know can fall apart. You can't blink when you are dealing with hunters remember ? , so know this guy after years of frustration, unable to move on from what he lost keeps doing sporadic jobs tasting the glory of what he used to be, just that he hasn't realized what he still is. Until he will meet a most wanted hitman, one that actually has faced multiple times in the past, avoiding him to finish his job by doing the best of his. 

So when circumstances put ten together and will have to take care of each other as now the killer is a key piece to catch a bigger fish. But in order to do that, he has to keep him safe. And this is one of the big flaws of the movie. How come a hitman can be so charismatic and funny and full of wisdom, able to guide our troubled and confused young bodyguard. They clash as two different personalities bringing interesting perspectives to the table. One as in charge to protect and deliver, plans everything, pretends to live as a checkbook where every detail has to be taken care of. Every move he makes has been analyzed and approved, but you can't take control of every second of any situation. Life happens and part of be good at it is learninghow to solve and deal with these unexpected situations. Where's the fun about living under a series full of rules when at the end things still will happen and are out of our control. And that's a hitman's mojo. Living by the moment. Be spontaneous, because that way no one will see you coming. Acting fast and taking control of the situation by breaking the rules and making others uncomfortable and out of comfort is what success for him. He feels like a savor trying to help those that need to get riddle of someone that is causing trouble and not letting them be. So at the end, who's right or wrong? Who has more control? Is it some truth about their own way of living and how they face their situations and choices ? Again, it's all about survival and everyone has a different perspective of it and we all have different needs even we share same basics but our motivations will evolve into a unique mix that others might understand or not so we'll need to plan out next move in order to achieve them or protect them from others. When they say it's a jungle out there, that phrase takes a different meaning, but applies perfectly as we all are hunters and prayers for others, we just need to realize their intentions before they get us and be faster to do what it takes to make our own and stand out but always will be someone weaker and someone stronger, now how faster can you become from one to the other and avoid being one more in the statistics of missing persons?

DETROIT....fighting back

Feels good to have the power right? It's hard to denied when we are at that position where we can do what ever we want and get away with it. The idea of feeling better than others gives you some kind of power among others, but does that really makes you better? Or makes you the best at it? It's easy to assume the challenge of over come others just by a privileged position but what makes you superior than any? This has been the kingdom of white race. And not all white but male white men. Coming from a background where they were conquering around the world and dominating the old continent. But they didn't always win. But they learned how to over come those with more potential by submitting them and keeping them under control by selling them the idea of a helpful treat that will turn into what we now know as politics where negotiations and lies rule among the better at it with the right connections and being in the right position to make things happen. Money will help. Connections with the right people and skills to lead them will win among others.

But nothing lasts forever . The time will come that those that have been marginalized and kept under control suffering from physical and psychological abuse would stand up and say no more. Along history we've seen this sevaral times but also as we already know we don't learn from our mistakes . There's always someone trying to prove can do it better so here we go again. In recent times there was a moment and a place that this events happened but was totally manipulated by the government and authorities turning it into a facade but with the actual momentum of a new rise of a fight for civil rights and a re born or racism, a reminder comes handy by a powerful film that should be a must see to everyone, Americans or not, anyone can relate to the story in different settings and timings, but we are not different than what happened in "Detroit" (2017). Under the talented vision of director Kathryn Bigelow, an Academy winner that already prove her talent with other two powerful and resonant stories , now taking control of the current situation of her country where freedom has taken a different meaning and when society struggles for a divided perspective of what the American culture is and should be. 

All based in this big idea of some people, for not to say, races, are better than others. And coming from a culture and society than was build by the understanding and respect for immigrants coming from different regions m, but unfortunately all under the same color, it's shocking to find that the struggle is still real and stronger as it was a century ago. So for those with no idea of the events presented in the movie, all takes place in the city that gives the name to the movie, back in the summer of 1967, when white people moved out of the city to the suburbs as a better plan to raise their families leaving all the others at the city to take care of business . So police must have to take control of the situation trying to keep all this misfits under their wing, not because they were causing trouble but because they need them to be in control, meaning all their rights limited to avoid any thought of liberty and entitlement. Until one night after police abusing their power by trying to shut a party down for no reason other than enough is enough , people stand up for their rights and after watching their friends and family being mistreated like animals and with no rights or opportunities, fighting back and rebelling against their city and authorities.

What all started as a civil movement became chaos and turned the city into a no man's land and just being outside put you in danger. But life must go on. And so some people tried to. That's why one night at a hotel a few individuals, all by different circumstances were under the same roof, and what seemed to be a fun night hanging with friends and strangers turned into everyone's nightmare. All because a stupid joke by drunk people tired of leaving under these circumstances and screaming for a better resolution of events, just messing things up. So who would be to blame? Then for reacting after being living as nothing closer to a citizen or is for pushing them into that limit ? Is this the life you'd want for your friends and family? What would you do if you feeling like you are no one in this place and whatever you have can be taken from you, including your freedom and rights to just be and go out? Why would someone would pretend and act like is better than you, when you are smart, decent, genuine enough to become someone better and assume power and take charge of things if need so or that right is given to you .

Well just left to say that things went south when police arrived . Trying to find what is not there, again abuse of power was taken and all this people, guests of a hotel, were treated like terrorist, leaving three dead, killed by police man that didn't know how to take control of things and shooting at them like an animal hunt. While the remaining where bullied and harassed, at the end, even with the confession of two of the three policeman, when things went to court, lawyers did whatever it took to mislead and undertake any testimony from the victims just because their race and their background, shadowing their acts of killing and abuse of power just by their privilege of being white. So race is an issue that overtakes societies and countries. Yes, all are different but no one is less or better than other. Why can you judge an entire community by their looks when their acts are the consequences of slavery and poverty. At the lack of culture and knowledge anyone acts by instinct but also when educated they can achieve great things. Just happens that some are more selfish than others to date that piece of cake and lose their power because it can be addictive and as we can see, that are willing to do what it takes to keep it as a privilege of a few, questions is what group will be the next to save it for their own? 

Life is a masquerade....LITTLE BIG LIES

Lying...is it right or wrong? why do we have the tendency or need to do it? Such a moral issue. But things have come to a point where it's not about telling a lie but turning our lives into a big lie. With social media being part of our lives every minute and societies turning into it to get a glimpse of what everyone is and it's doing, pressure is on and we can't stop but trying to be a better self, no matter if only it is as a facade but what really cares is what others will see. We finally got the opportunity of turning our lives into what we'd like them to be. Even at the end it is not true. But what would happen when all this creation, fades out and people get to see the reality? How about us, when at night we face the truth, and that might bring us down? Are we happier with the illusion we have created or we cherish what we got? Are we really genuine or we only expose things through a filter. And since society was created, it's been proved how we, as individuals, love to get our noses into others life. Always checking up on things happening around us:, what are my friends doing, who are they dating or hang out with?, whom from my family got married and whom got divorced? what's my neighbor up to?. All sort of things but our own issues. Those are the ones that matter, but also the ones that hurt to look close at, specially if they are far from what we wanted or even if we do get what we want, we'll always compare them to others and we might not like it anymore.

So why do we fall in his circle, trapped in a bubble? Forcing us to lie, compare, sneak in, gossip, pretend? Well, welcome to Monterey, California, a small suburban town, best known for it's first class and one the best aquariums in the country. And also home of a society that moves more on the high end of incomes, thanks to it's closeness to the Silicon Valley and San Francisco. Here we are about to meet a group of the most popular and social families in town, their successful husbands, half time moms, beautiful children, gorgeous houses at the beach front, that only serves as a setting for gossips or have's and have-not's fractured relationships, pretentious friendships, justifications of family structures and all sorts of social events . And it's here where we start "Little Big Lies " (2017- current) a new tv show or mini series based on the best- selling novel, that feels like a drama but acts more like a dark comedy following the lives of this families through the eyes of three wives but as there seems like has been a murder, we also get the a glimpse of the thoughts from the rest of the town that can't stop to gossip about their neighbors as if they knew all the answers and the fact that we like to read and judge people by the cover doesn't mean that we have all the facts done. Why are they so interesting to keep talking about them when I really have no clue what's happening behind their doors? Is it human nature to feel drawn to others lives as an escape from ours or as point of comparison but who are we to judge by the cover when all comes to morality and who determines what is right or wrong until we are brought into it.

Meet Madeline. An obnoxious woman and housewife that knows everyone in town as the socialite she is, she would be the one to ask for a place to go or what do while in town and tell you all details about life in a small town. But as perfect as she pretends to look at the eyes of everyone else she is living a big lie of her life. She's trapped in this search of perfection and unclosed love to her ex after the end of her first marriage. And since she has to face him and his new beautiful and free spirited wife everyday at school when picking up the kids, she can't but wonder what if and what went wrong with her, even now that she has a perfect marriage, a husband that adores her, a teenager girl that has grown as a strong independent woman, and a kid that might be the smartest kid in the house. But she can't see beyond that. She's so occupied trying to fix others lives that she can't stop to contemplate what she has accomplished and wonder what she's missing instead of what she got. Not helping is the fact that her ex keeps trying to be friends her with his new wife and unite both families just as a remind to her of what she couldn't offer but can do now as an outsider. Reason why she feels the need to help and introduce the new girl in tow, Jane, a young single mom that just moved to town and seems so lots and in desperate help to be introduced to this new life after trying to raise her son, a cute and charismatic young boy that sometimes acts more as her support and companion than as his son. Why single mothers end using their kids as a refuge to their isolation or excuse to hide the rest of their lives behind with no regrets but focusing on them as their only and main goal?

As these two moms start to hang out and get to know themselves are involved in the daily moms drama of elementary school, where everyone is looking after their own kids but more concern about how the others are doing and how that will impact in their beloved ones. Why can't get just get along and let them be kids and realizing that their behavior is a reflection of whatever is happening at home not necessarily outside. And soon they'll find it out, specially Celeste, the third mom in this story that from the outside only looks like having the perfect marriage and been the perfect wife. She is beautiful, had a perfect and successful career that she left to become a full time mom and follow her husband to this town and settle. And her husband seems like a Prince Charming, su attentive and passionate with her, but is he? What happens when the door closes and they share intimacy? Well  they have a lot of sex and would say that keeps a healthy marriage going on but with hides behind that it's darker than what meet the eye. How many times are you forced to act in some ways more as a response than a desire? What would you be able to sacrifice for your family and in order to make thing work out? Is it really a marriage or any relationship something that need to be put on a test and keep it as a hard work in progress or should just feel right and move organically? How many times do words don't match with actions and we are ok with it? The appearance of what happens in public compared with the reality of a bedroom can be shocking and hard to judge by looking but what really matters is which one makes you happy and is the best option for you and your family because not all the time pretend is the solution but why do we like to lie to ourselves and believe things will or might change? Are we also attracted to masochism?

While these three women move along their suburban lives and struggles to keep up with all the package of family and society, we, as witness of the full cycle keep wondering if there was real murder in town and if so, who's the victim? Is anyone of them or are they the ones who committed a crime? And why someone like them would do anything like that? Is this part of the entitlement of being wealthy and privileged? And how all this will, and is already, reflecting in their kids behavior because they are the future and what they are nurturing at home is what builds the person they will become. So why we keep blaming and looking after our neighbors and friends life for an answer of our own problems? Why can we be happy when having a good life instead of looking at the possibilities that are gone but keep bothering and messing with our mind? Why sacrifices have to be done one sided and we still believe in the fantasy of being able to change someone or will they change by the power of love? And is it running away the real solution to face your fears and get a fresh start or is it just an excuse to be hunted in a different place? And most importantly, why all the lying? As if that would be the solution to our problems, taking the easy way out of our reality, instead of fixing what is wrong we prefer to create a new life, an ideal new impression that will do the trick to others but our nightmares will still be there and one little lie after the other will just create a bigger splash, but could it be the answer to a happier, full filling, successful life? Is it necessary and part of growing up to keep the spark in our relationships with others, or is it just a selfish move needed to keep going? No one is perfect so Just lie to me a bit but don't leave me, they say....

ATOMIC BLONDE ... truth could be a blast

Why are we so drawn to the spy genre or stories about spies trying to save the day? As if they were some kind of super hero, is it because the idea of being someone else in order to accomplish something appeals us or the fact that we can hide who we are so we can solve a mystery sounds exciting and takes us out of our routine and simple life? Whatever it is, the fact that we had objectified these people as some kind of super humans able to save the world under the alias of CIA, KGB, MI6, and many others, doesn't change the fact that they are as humans as you and me and can be vulnerable even they've been trained to be not, or dedicate their lives moving under water and pretending to be someone else making some allies while wining some enemies. But they are no more than fancy, well equipped and trained cops. Their goal is still to protect us and catch the bad guy or figure out if something is happening that can turn into a big mess. Yes, they are humans, they don't have super powers but some really cool gadgets and the are well trained to be in the field and face all kind of circumstances from kicking someone's ass to be able to decrypt some intel information from another country .

All sounds exciting and thriller on paper, and even when translate it to the screen, could be too fun to watch but in reality is different. There won't be car chases or futuristic gadgets to work with but our simple human skills and some help from other people. Still we'll get some fighting action and guns might be involved. But if what you really want is a glimpse of this reality, go and check out "Atomic Blonde" (2017), a new action thriller that follows a woman, that happens to be a secret agent, thing is we don't know to whom she works for, and what is she fighting for. Does she have a personal agenda or she's actually following orders and trying to find who murdered his co worker, and lover, and stole some information including a list of all active agents of different international agencies. With a captivating performance by actress Charlize Theron, who is basically who keeps the story moving, specially when she proves, she can kick ass and do it well, facing either big guys or other skilled assassins, she can managed to leave alive and use her strong presence and beauty to get some information while getting in trouble with other agents.

The movie takes us back to 1989 Germany, just a few before the Wall was torn down and the country found itself in the middle of a revolution from the two sides of a divided city, making it the perfect scenario for these agents to move around trying to get each other while nobody notices. Once she gets involved in the case, ordered by her director and pushed by her broken heart, she meets a fellow British agent that is supposed to help her but along the way seems like a reflection of herself, acting by his instructions but moved by his own agenda. So who to trust when the dust haven't settled and all you can see is shadows and shapes. Things are pointing in different directions and everyone seems to have a motive but at the same time a different reason or purpose. And playing naive is not the answer anymore as even she is a woman, guys don't under estimated her. She can beat them up so they won't stop to kill her if they can, plus at every step she seems more lost that before. Is these because the heads back in the agency are manipulating everyone or is it really the agents on the field just messing around with each other trying to create a facade to confuse the rest and get away with the goal?

So this is why we are so fascinated by these game of spies. The masquerade that they create, all smoke and mirrors, so they can move like snakes under everyone else noses, and becoming of some kind of actors, performing to be other person in order to fool the rest and the excitement of traveling around the world, exploring new places, under a different identity,  being able to kick some asses and get away with it, and the feeling that you are doing something big, that will change a country's fate, can't be more intriguing but what happen when all these is over? When at the end of the road mission was accomplished and you got back to yourself find no one waiting for you, feeling lost about who you really are and what really defines you after so many layers of unreality. Truth can be hard to swallow. Facing who you really are and what is your real core and agenda might hit you harder. What's a life of excitement and pleasure when under that, when it vanishes and settle down, only left is a dark empty room. Do you think lying and pretending to be someone you are not to cover all the imperfections is fun instead of taking it raw as truth can be, accepting the fact that is you ad no one else who is making a difference and getting some recognition, Is that more exciting?

Well, you can always escape your reality if still think is too boring and simple by heading to see this and other movies from the same genre, and if you willing to witness a story of a strong, intelligent women able to be one on one with some strong big guys and watch some very well done fighting sequences, this one will make your day, also if in the mood for some twists on the story, that might not surprise you but are well appreciated, and a prove of the talent of an actress than not only can look great in the magazines cover or in a drama but as an action leading actress able to do her own stunts while keeping all together. But what you would miss is going inside of what is motivating all these people to become whoever they are now. Other than their agendas, what are their real motives? What is so sad about our simple, ordinary lives that can't be an example of truth and need to be fixed by some excitement and thrilling action to make it better? Why we judge lying as a sin and immorality bu when you add a cause like being part of your job or as part of a bigger picture then is ok. We like to choose the easy way out and instead of working in fixing our own issues we choose to put a mask and pretend to be someone else or create a new persona as if that would be a solution. Do we want to be a spy or just want to play spy games?

DUNKIRK... fighting for and to get home

At this point we should be tired enough about war movies and specially those back to the great war, World War II. How can it be possible to be more stories to tell and be able to resonant as strong and powerful as the first time? Well, i guess the answer is yes, there are still plenty of stories that we ignore about that period in time and it's all about the way you tell the story that will make a difference. And maybe it's  getting old at this point coming back to the genre but also feels like a reminder in times were tensions between countries are at point and an imminent new war seems to be knocking the door, so these stories serve as a warning more than a tribute in some aspects. And for so, we get this summer a war film that has all critics raving. "Dunkirk" (2017), the new project from talented and visionary director Christopher Nolan, that explores for the first time this genre, delivering what most of critics call a master piece or one of the best entries of the year. But what's all about? Why is all the fuzz about it, when covers just an event that happened during the war and not even translate the whole war but instead summarizes all what the war means and represents for all the involve from one single man to a whole country bringing a strong voice of honor and courage to  the involved.

The story is divided in three settings, telling the same story from different perspectives and timing. One is a view from the soldiers on the ground along a week. The second comes from a family man coming to help to rescue the soldiers on his boat through the English Canal, along a day, and last one is a view from the air during an hour from a couple of pilots trying to protect and defied those Nazi's bombers dedicated to stop the allies to leave the coast. All this based on the events occurred at Dunkirk, a small town in the coast of France where the Nazi's were pushing the allies, cornering them to the share where they await either to be saved by their country or killed by the enemy. 400,000 men where stuck in the shore waiting for the boats to come and rescue them. No where else to go they just wait patiently avoiding all bombs coming from the sky while the Prime Minister of England refused to send any help and focusing on keeping the combat going, no matter the casualties could be, including all these men that were sent to fight for their country and now this one is turning his back to them, reason why Churchill answered the call and send for reinforcements and fisher men and country men ran to their boats and sailed through the Canal willing to help their fellow country men and be part in some way of this fighting proving that united all as a community can be stronger than any enemy abroad.

Same event told from different perspectives being a totally new and different narrative that expand the genre to other dimensions rather than focusing in battles and its consequences. Instead we can feel and live the event of war from the ones that are trapped in it and just looking for a way out. Their fight is over , there's no more for them to do but to fight to survive while help gets on their way. And so it comes in the face of fisherman, and anyone else that owns a boat as they set them up and got in the way through war crossing the English Canal to save their children. And this men know better about war than those fighting them because they stayed home while their children went out to fight. They are survivors from past wars or are the ones organizing and orchestrating war through an office or bunker while others risk their lives following their directions. So now that have the opportunity to make it right and be part of it. To actually make a difference and save their own people because they know the consequences of war and how it changes everyone in ways that no one will be the same or how it makes anyone to act in ways that in other circumstances they would never act. War scratches your brain and sticks with you like and old childhood fear that won't go away even after turning the light skin on. So if they can't come home, home will come to them making history as one of the more selfless events in history where citizens got involved in war risking their lives to save their own and bring them home proving that humanity as horrific it can be also shows lighter colors of courage and unity that is hard to compare otherwise.

And this unity is also a very strong example when soldiers become brothers as nothing can get you closer to another than the fact that both are facing death together and the possibility of someone to be able to save your life and go through a battle next to you, fighting for the same cause risking everything, life included, only create some a bond that only blood can defeat. And so we'll se in the face of a young soldier, he's probably not older than 20 but we won't ever know, because he might not make it, he is trapped in that shore and trying to survive and find his way back home at any opportunity that presents. And he tries but also fails but he will meet another similar kid that won't give up finding a new opportunity when other closes, so now both will increase their chances helping each other but they might not know much about the other. They are not friend but now they are together and they'll help each other sharing the same purpose. But when war hit them and casualties happen their faces can't hide the damage and the change happing in each one of them realizing that they don't see anyone else like humans but just as one more in the list but they have each other until they can't , young teenagers fighting for a cause bigger than them, using their energy and abilities to survive as a weapon when they deserve a better future than the ideals of their elders, and the only thing they need for now is to go home and have a chance of a new start and a new life.

But this opportunity might only come in hands of someone able to help them and protect them. And that's the honor that soldiers show in battle and pilots in the air. When the battlefield is stock to move forward or too destroyed to continue, the only way to reach further is by air and sadly since nowadays sky is the limit and we can reach any frontier pushing a bottom at home, also the damage can expand for miles. Someone has to protect it. And that's a pilot's duty. As a soldier committed with the cause, we are witness of the nerve breaking strategies that take in the air to survive and eliminate the enemy where upside down takes no meaning but only way to make it through is being one step ahead and move faster than the other . From above you can see the consequences of everyone's acts on the beneath you but how to stop it, how can you do more from where you are standing. The only way might be not the best option for one but the better for all the rest, so how far are you willing to go in order to save all that might not include you. Will you be able to fight and protect by understanding that by saving others will give you no escape for you. How selfless can someone be to put others, hundreds before yourself. That's what war can prove and show even when is far from a fair game, shows the true colors of humanity and how capable are we all for greater and evil when all comes down to survival. Are you ready for this tense, dense story with an ensemble cast that includes British actor Tom Hardy and Kenneth Branagh among others with a brilliant score that will keep you at the edge of your seat while learning another passage in human history that would have been better not to happen but will remind us how far are we from learning from our mistakes.

ANIMAL KINGDOM....the american dream

Who hasn't ever wanted a good life? That's what it's been sold as the american dream. A land of opportunities that can be reached. But at what priced? Been able to accomplish a status quo has a high price but what are you willing to do to make it? And what if you lose yourself through the process? We all focus on the goal: making more money and get all needed for a perfect life, a big house, a nice car, trips, provide your family with what is best for them, but what if what you think is the best for them is actually not and can destroy them, and actually turns out it might be the best for your own interests. Trying to achieve your goals and the american dream, might be for the best of you and your family but is it? Stories of family dramas are what surround everyone. We are part of one or probably be close to one. Family is the core and foundation of society or is society what forges and creates families? Either way they have a big impact into each other. And that is exactly what a new series drama for TNT network wants to tell. A story of a dysfunctional family that actually found it's way to make it trough successfully but a very high price. This is "Animal Kingdom" (2016-current).

Based on the Australian film, the story follows J Cody, a 17 year old teenager that after his mom committed suicide by drug overdose, he ends moving with his grandmother and his uncles. But soon he'll realize why his mom kept him away from their family. Smurf Cody, the grandmother nurture a lovely-incestuous relationship with her sons, taking them to get involve in the family business, armed robberies and other criminal activities with a very planned organization and keeping all the information inside the family, giving them most of the benefits from their heists and letting them leaving a very comfortable life but at the same putting them in the sights of the police and FBI. Regardless their criminal activities, these guys are not your friendly neighbor. Raised in the streets and all from a different father these guys play by street rules and are used to  leave with whatever they want but when the are at home, it's their mother who has the control and who rules the house, with love and protection but at the same time manipulating them through her mother love to make them do what she needs and follow them, without realizing she had broken her children souls and now they find themselves navigating through the waters of the city in survival mode just caring about today and and themselves.

The young kid, soon realizes of all of this because he is different. He was raised in a close circle and with some morality, trying to be a student to forge a future for himself. But as soon as he moves in with his new family, everything starts to fade out and he finds himself trapped in between his grandmother influence of unconditional love if, and only if, agrees to be part of the family tradition, while his uncles just keep trying to influence him for good or bad. Pope is the oldest son and he just came back after serving in prison. He is mentally ill so he'll make life miserable to his young nephew after feeling he is taking all the family attention. But he has uncle Baz, the most sane and down to earth of all, that tries to advice and protect him, but only while he can keep it away from the family drama, as he has two families of his own, and while living a double life seems natural to him, after also having a double life as a nice guy that actually commits criminal acts, he can't make his mind what doe he want for his life and what road to follow, the right one or the one his mother has chosen for him, because she need him, as the most self aware, he is the brain of all the operations and his brothers listen to him, so makes him the perfect leader even he can actually lead no one nor himself, making perfect room for mom to take over her influence on them.

Then we have Craig, the crazy one in the sense that he likes to have fun, the consumes drugs and party more than needed and because of that he gets usually in trouble with narcos and women, having to hold on to his family to save him and take care of him, making him needy but perfect to influence and manipulate as a man that acts like a boy. And last the younger Deran, a closeted gay, that has no idea who he is and what he wants, afraid to pursue his feelings and desires afraid of what his family might think or do about it, while back in his mind, he wants desperately to leave them and move away from his background and start over with his lover, a surfer with whom has an on and off possessive relationship but as scared as he is of himself, he is of his family so finds himself in between what he is and what he wants to be, and his fear makes him weak, and his mother sees that and will use in her advantage to keep him close. With all that said, sounds like Smurf is an evil mother but she is not. She is just a survivor that has gone through a lot, reason why she won't let that happen to her cubs. She's fighting a war everyday to bring the best for her family and she loves them to death but the only way to provide the best to them is using them for the only thing she knows how to do very well, to hustle, and she now can't  separate the good from the bad and is  dragging her family with her, reason why her now passed daughter ran away from all that.

Sometimes we do what we learn to do in order to survive out there. We transform and adapt ourselves into this person we need to be in order to survival. If you look weak other will hurt you and take advantage so we  build a wall that can protect us from the rest and sometimes we include our beloved ones into this bubble, forgetting that our battles are ours and not always need to be shared with other but to face them on our own. Family is important and their influence is the most important example we get in life. But most of the time is their fears, insecurities, dreams, goals, frustrations and achievements the ones that we heritage by living them day by day and not by choice, becoming a circle where at some point we'll do the same when times come for us to have our own family and so on, but the lesson learned in this animal kingdom is that you need to make your own choices and follow your own path, either if it aligns with your family's or fight to follow the one that you deserve and picture for yourself. We can't keep blaming it to the love he have for our family or the one the profess for us, but realize that real love is not manipulating but supportive and respectful for own choices and what we feel is the best for us. Blood is a strong tie and can push us far or pull us down but at the end we are the only ones to blame when comes to our choices and how we deal with the circumstances we were given by birth, because at the end any animal has to leave the nest and so we'll see through it's first season of this family that will have to be united by the circumstances while each one of them will deal with their own choices to jump to a second season where they will have to face the consequences of those choices and fight to find themselves before others find them first.

THE BIG SICK.... love you till the end

Love is a very complex thing. A feeling that most of us can't comprehend or even figure out. But one thing is for sure. We all are looking for it and willing to find it someday even we believe or not in it or scared to fall for it. True statement is that we as human could be different in many ways, each person very alike and very different at the same time to the other but only thing that unite us and we share in common is that powerful feeling of love and when that happens, great and big thing happen. But in order to get there is a long way and a path that just a few are willing to take regardless if back in their minds are dreaming about it. So what happens when two very different people connect but at the same time there is a sea of differences and what is called "a cultural barrier" in between that separate the feeling from the reason. How can we manage to understand, respect and love others if we can't understand them? How can we break this barrier if we don't know how because there s so much that we ignore from others background and now that we live in times of globalization where internet has united us as a whole and broke all physical limitations, we can see societies more and more diverse where new generations can't be defined as one pure race but a mix of some and new traditions have started to be written and taken by everybody else.

So whit all that said who can resist a rom-com, that will make us feel good for a moment, make us believe in love and laugh while make us think about the real things happening out there? This is "The Big Sick" (2017), a story that is presented as a love story while underneath is more than that. And all the critics are loving it. Under producer Judd Apatow wings presenting a very actual story that sometimes feels more like a documentary about new societies in big cities and countries where immigration has turned cultures into a clash of different backgrounds creating a whole new one united for more than just a label. To understand this better, let get deeper into it, which happens to be based on the real story of it's main characters and lead actor, Kumali, a Pakistani guy that happens to be a comedian trying to make his  life through standing comedy, waiting to find it's moment and be found for some talent agent that will give him an opportunity to make it big. He's life as an immigrant is  very simple. He has immersed into the American culture, loves comic books and video  games and usually hang in bars with his roommate and friends, all comedians, and visit his family that lives in the suburbs of Chicago. But as any immigrant he tries to educate everyone at any opportunity about his background and country of origin. There are many facts that people don't know about Pakistan other than what they see in the news, most of it regarding terrorism but it's more to know, and one of their big traditions is arrange marriage.

His family keeps bringing girls home trying to find the best fit for him. But he is far from that now. He grew up along the American traditions that can't go along with his family and wants more for him but knows what the consequences will be so lives trapped in between what we wants and likes and what he is supposed to do and what is expected from him. Things get more complicated once he meets Emily, a young grad-school student that likes him and they connect in many ways, so they start just as a hook up thing, something casual, no strings, no commitment, but just casual fun. Until that fun starts to get serious and they keep running into each other, making them harder to not fall for each other. But besides the attraction and the chemistry they will soon find out that there are more differences than just be a guy and a girl. The way they were raised is very different and will put their love to a test. But when Emily gets sick and goes to a medical induced coma, things will get more complicated as families will get involved in the process. Emily's parents come to town to  take care of the situation and will try to take him out of the picture but he is not willing to let her go, so he stays regardless if he is wanted or not. So as the time goes by waiting for good new about her recovery, Kumail, starts to get along this couple and they will also start to get him know and realize why their daughter fall in love with him.

Who can't relate to that? Everybody that has been in a serious relationship has faced the fact of meeting your partners family. And that is a nerve breaking situation. So many expectations are involved. Would they like you? Accept you? Welcome you to their family? Or all the opposite. Now imagine that situation adding the fact that you look different to them, your background is very different, so you have others traditions and way to see things. So that could turn into a mess. But again, the proof that all this won't matter at the end is that if you keep an open mind to get to know someone before judging them and realize why they are different from you, you might actually see that at the end they are more similar to you than you think, Everybody loves and want to be loved. We all enjoy laughing and need to cry sometimes. We all have our goals and try to be a better self, just figure out what that would be is needed. And if you look closer you'll realize how alike we all are. The only thing that matters at the end is if you a good person, no matter how do you look, what do like to do for fun, what holidays do you celebrate , the things that really matter, define you and connect you with the rest of the world are what makes you genuine, humble, smart, funny, educated, because everyone can relate to that and see that beyond however the cover looks.

Sometimes we wonder why some have better luck for love and why others just can't find it. And after being spoiled by Hollywood and their fairy tales making us believe that love will just happen, finally we are learning that love is a thing that we need to make it work out. And for all those hopeless romantic, the formula is not on the cliches presented in the movies or post cards, is about to find the right person and once you do, make it happen, and work hard to build that relationship that you looking for. The key is noticing who's  the right for you. Someone that likes you, that makes time for you and specially is willing to get to know you and accept you for who you are. Many times we are just drawn by the cover and want a person that looks like all that we ever wanted. But beyond the psychical attraction, that is key and just the beginning, should be more, does he or she makes you laugh? can you two carry a conversation for hours going from topic to the other? Does that person makes you feel comfortable and inspired to be yourself and be a better self? Stays with you when feeling sick? There are so many facts that will indicate you that you met the one. Because if someone is ok with you when you wake up, looking at your most simple and natural way, farting when needed, all sweaty and smelly after work out, when sad or stressed out after a bad day. All this are thing that we all share as humans, no matter your background, where you were born, how do you look, if we n pass though all this judgments we an be able to relate to anyone and for once break the cultural barrier, and sometimes could be easier to do than the ones you grew up with and supposedly know you better and have more in common with you but all this is blinding you from what should be rather than what it is.