Captain America

Captain America has been one of my favourite comic book characters since I was a little kid... so it’s quite comprehensible that I became very excited when I heard that they would advance with the making of the film. I saw the 1990 version with Matt Salinger... Don’t really remember when, but even though it had some dreadful reviews (and I acknowledged it) I recall enjoying it quite a bit! You know... it's just one of those things. I was a kid; I loved the "Star Spangled Hero", so it became one good memory from my childhood. That doesn’t mean my expectations for the upcoming 2011 version aren't good. Actually, quite the opposite! I can only imagine what sort of improvements they will do... considering how awfull the first movie was back then, but also due to the major advances in technology. A lot can be done for the Marvel Universe and in this case, especially for Captain America. I mean... it's not just anyone! It's Captain America!! Huge milestone in the comic books for the significant role it played as propaganda (this goes back to WWII) and form of distraction/entertainment. His status as a Marvel character is also an accomplishment. He's the leader of a group better known as: "The Avengers". That's something!

There's one thing regarding the possibility of this movie not reaching success that keeps me on the edge thought...

Joe Johnston!

The director chosen to lead this project is not what I would want for a feature like this! I mean... on the last few years Batman got Nolan, Spiderman - Raimi/Webber, Thor -Kenneth Branagh, Superman - Bryan Singer/Zack Snyder, Iron Man - Jon Favreu, The Avengers - Joss Whedon... As you can see, you've got a lot of talent there...

Well, to be honest... Favreu was also a big question mark... and Webber has only (500) days of Summer (2009) to show for... but common'... Seriously?! The Wolfman (2010)? What a bad effort on Johnston’s part…

Anyway... hopefully this movie will do great! The suit and sets look great...
In terms of casting I think that it was very nicely handled, especially on both main characters! Chris Evans is ideal for the role of "Super Soldier" Steve Rogers and Hugo Weaving is an excellent choice for the main antagonist, the Red Skull...Plus you have other names such as Tommy Lee Jones, Stanley Tucci and Hayley Atwell! Also, let's not forget the “origins” storyline that never gets old… and throw to the equation some other Marvel characters leading up to The Avengers movie!

That's enough to get me hyped about the upcoming summer blockbuster: Captain America: The First Avenger

Until it arrives to movie theatres, I will leave you with the last trailer available.

"Lost"

After a long series of years, last night i finally reached the end of the show Lost and I have to say: What an amazing journey!

Even though it still remained a lot of questions to be answered, I like the way that a lot of the stuff is left to interpretation, giving the viewer a chance to determine the faith of the characters and to give a meaning to theirs lives on the island. Throughout topics related to religion, mythology, spirituality and fantasy, Lost is a constant exercise of the mind. I felt stimulated in an in-numerous amount of ways, due to its ability to allow myself to experience different emotions and mixed feelings.

 Just wished that I’d seen it at the time that it came out, so I could discuss some of the ideas in a more accurate way… but I would reckon that right now most people can’t remember certain things.

I was up to date with the show but when I reached the end of the 5º season, while I waited the 6º to end (I always do that… rather wait to have all of the episodes, opposite to waiting a week for one episode) I kind of distracted myself and reached a point where I didn’t remember most of it… and while I gained the courage to go back one or two seasons in order to fully understand the 6º… well… it took me some time…

But eventually I decided to see the 5º season again, thus feeling much more prepared for what laid ahead of me. It was worth it, because I got to see again a wonderful cast in top shape while they helped me getting ready for a full season of revelations!

I have to admit… there are some things I wouldn’t be able do understand if not for some of the research made or the special episodes dedicated to give a more insightful view of the show.  And since there is still so much for me to “catch up”, part of my day will be definitely dedicated to Wikipedia!

Regardless of that, I can honestly say that this has been the best show I’ve seen so far and I’m determined to buy the box set with all six seasons (something very unusual for me, because I don’t spend money on TV shows, let alone buy 100 pounds worth of seasons). I’m willing to open an exception as a sign of my appreciation towards the whole cast and crew of Lost, for giving me some of the best entertainment that I’ve had. A special “thank you” for characters such as John Locke (he stands out as my favourite), Jack Shepard, Benjamin Linus, Michael Dawson (too bad he didn’t show more often. Harold Perrineu is an excellent actor), Desmond Hume, Kate Austen, James "Sawyer" Ford, Sayid Jarrah, Charlie Pace and many more. In fact, this is one of those rare shows in which I loved almost every character, if not all of them!

One of the other things that made me love Lost since the beginning was knowing that the show was all written for those 6º seasons, being very crucial for its success to follow their guidelines religiously. Due to the success of a lot of shows, they usually extend their running time to generate more money… but eventually the show itself loses a lot of its quality. Not in this case! It stuck for what their creators planned and became one of the most profitable and watched shows of all time. It gained a cult status and it will certainly be followed for generations to come!

Very Baush(esque)

This video came to my attention by the hands of a friend of mine who explained to me (very briefly) what to expect of Pina Bausch.

Don't know what song is this or who made the video but loved both and just had to share! Hope you enjoy!

Underwear by FM Belfast (Music Video) from Daniel Scheinert on Vimeo.

Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer (2009)



Bit of Arcade Fire meets Interpol
(well... sometimes...)

David Luiz

When Chelsea signed David Luiz, some were a little sceptical in regards of his quality, due to his youth (23 years old) and lack of experience in a major championship such as the Premier League. A lot of supporters might even have wondered if Luiz was indeed worth the 23.1 million pounds Chelsea paid for him during the winter market. Since he was relatively unknown for most of the English fans, I honestly couldn’t blame them… but obviously, being a Benfica supporter myself, I had a great insight that allowed me to be clear on the thought that they were bringing a top defender into the club!

It certainly didn’t take that much time for the central defender to clear all remaining doubts! With only a few games played since arriving to England, it seems like he has competed here forever, demonstrating a huge showcase of qualities on both ends of the pitch.

As a defender he showed superb tackling, speed, excellent spring heeled, magnificent heading abilities, an improving sense of positioning and great working attitude

In terms of what he has to offer on a more offensive side… there’s a list of things that, in my humble opinion, amaze me. Good passing, good dribbling and a great sense of opportunity in finishing areas.

There are also aspects of his personality that contribute a lot to his game. Charisma and a professional attitude… On top of that, he’s not afraid to step in as a leader and copes well with pressure (something that we were able to see in matches such as the one against Manchester United or City).

Only his shooting skills remain as a weaker side, but if you think about it, that shouldn’t even be a concern to a defensive player… but I would reckon that’s something he intends to improve during the next few years!

He is seriously becoming an all around player… which is something very uncommon for a defender, especially a centre! He adds that Brazilian samba to his natural flair, mixed with the European elegance.

Allied to his natural born gift as a player, he was also fortunate to play alongside with Luisao, his partner in the Benfica squad! Luisao, a Brazilian international himself, was an excellent role model in every sense, providing him his experience and support.

Add to the equation a manager like Jorge Jesus, man with great knowledge on football, and you can tell why David Luiz has improved so much from one year to another!

Of course he has his flaws, as would any other player (specially being as young as he is), but those can be easily overcomed through out the years.

Just imagine!

With his amazing potential and being almost guaranteed that from now on, in his career he will only deal with top players and managers (assuming that all goes accordingly), you could possibly have the best defender of all time!

Might seem a bit exaggerated, I’ll give you that… and being fully aware that I’ve missed out some of the best years in football history (not being able to watch some of the great ones such as Beckenbauer, Baresi, Passarella or Bobby Moore), in my few years as a football fan, never have I seen someone with such abilities or prominence.

I assure you…

… The best is yet to come!

Secret Meeting

by: The National

I had a secret meeting in the basement of my brain

It went the dull and wicked ordinary way...

Our #21!

Five goals in 88 minutes



1st goal - 03.41

2nd goal - 04.31

"Um golo á ponta-de-lança, um golo á Nuno Gomes"

RIP Michael Gough 1917 - 2011

(Michael Gough)

Altough having many years of career, I have to be honest and say that I've only met Mr. Gough through the Tim Burton/Joel Shumacker Batman movies...

So please do understand if I say that To me he will always be Alfred... 

More than Bruce Wayne's butler... but also his confident and only family left... a character of extreme importance that left a mark on my childhood!

Click here for a quick BBC article

They can try all they want...

but they'll never be as good as Nike commercials!

(although this is actually pretty good)

Adidas - All in

Nate Dogg ¦ 1969 - 2011

Woke up this morning hearing that Nate Dogg has passed away! Even though he's not one of my favorite artists/MC's, he stands out for one of my all time favorite tracks called Regulate, alongside with Warren G.

That song has been mentioned before in this blog, but won't hurt to upload it one more time.

The Way We Get By

by: Spoon

Rural Alberta Advantage - Departing (2011)

A great album in which Stamp stands out as being one of the best songs so far this year!

And once again i'll leave my thanks to the MFTF community for giving me a chance to hear this amazing track... 

Carmensita

by: Devandra Banhart

Almost Famous - Soundtrack

Almost Famous Sountrack

1. Simon and Garfunkel - America
2. The Who - Sparks 

3. Todd Rundgren - It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference
4. Yes - I've Seen All Good People: Your Move

5. The Beach Boys - Feel Flows 

6. Stillwater - Fever Dog
7. Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells A Story
8. The Seeds - Mr. Farmer 

9. The Allman Brothers Band - One Way Out 

10. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Simple Man

11. Led Zeppelin - That's The Way
12. Elton John - Tiny Dancer
13. Nancy Wilson - Lucky Trumble
14. David Bowie - I'm Waiting For The Man
15. Cat Stevens- The Wind
16. Clarence Carter - Slip Away
17. Thunderclap Newman - Something In The Air

If you read my previous post, you'll see I mention this exact moment...
Great great great scene! An excellent musical moment!

Almost Famous (2000)

Only recently have I seen the movie Almost Famous (2000), directed by Cameron Crowe. It might come as a shock for most of those who know me well, since its movie that combines both cinema and music, with exceptional good taste and quality. Plus, being myself on the way to become a journalist (hopefully), it also provides great insight on an amazing story regarding an aspiring journalist as well. Point being: This feature matches (in many ways) both my personal taste and professional ambitions. I would reckon it would bring enough to possibly inspire me. And so it did!

The movie follows William Miller, a young kid educated under strick rules by a loving (but also very paranoid) mother, played by Frances McDormand. As William grows up, he develops a great interest in music, especially Rock N Roll, under his sister’s (Zooey Dechanel) influence.

Although his mother considers Rock N Roll to be dangerous and responsible for the decaying of American youth, she learns to deal with the fact of having to trust her son, in order not to push him away. Being so, music allied to his writing skills, eventually lead him into meeting Lester Bangs, a rock journalist. Once established a certain bond and having listened to a lot of personal and “professional” advice, William gets an assignment consisting on writing a review of a Black Sabbath concert. This takes William to meet the opening band for that show, Stillwater. 

With the band's introduction comes a big moment in the narrative development! From this point on, the story takes a big leap, in which after a few developments he is eventually invited by the historical “Rolling Stone Magazine” to write an article about  Stillwater who that at the time was struggling to make a name for itself.

But let me make a quick change of direction, since this isn’t actually what I intended to say.

I guess that, the thing that i enjoyed the most was the opportunity and (for a lot of you followers I presume)  dream of being able to write for a magazine such as RS. I mean… you get to write, you get to hang out with a lot of cool people, listen to great music, and even though you might not get a great salary, you have other perks.

It makes me wonder, what would it be like to ingress in such a profession… especially at that time and age, where the “politically correct” wasn’t as demanded as it is today or where music seemed to make more sense and have more purpose… Times where you “could go to a record store and visit all your friends”. Not implying that we can’t feel the same way nowadays, but you have to agree, there was something magical about the 60’ and the 70’. Going back to a time where “Woodstock” broke all boundaries and united people. That’s by far one of the best examples of the power of music!

Anyway (getting lost in my own words here) half way through the film, I already knew how much of an impact it would have on me! It is an awesome motion picture! Great directing by Crowe, great performances from a cast in the likes of Billy Crudup, Patrick Fugit, Kate Hudson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jason Lee, Anna Paquin (actually her roll was so minor, that I didn’t really care for her character) and (the already mentioned) Frances McDormand and Zooey Deschanel.  Another of its major strong points is (of course) the soundtrack that has the ability through sound to take us into a journey beyond our wildest dreams, as a new generation!  Forget the pure and revolutionary Rock N Roll on which most of the soundtrack consists! What about classics such as Elton John’s Tiny Dancer (which by the way provides one of the finest moments of the movie) or the soulful Clarence Carter with Slip Away?? It’s just unbelievable!

Either a music fan or cinema lover… I absolutely recommend the viewing of Almost Famous, as it will contribute to your knowledge, as well as to the uplifting your mind and spirit!

Worth listening to...

Kaki King - ...until we fel red (2006)

Wise Up

Here's a track by Aimee Mann that I absolutely love!

In Portugal most people became aware of this song after watching a commercial which turned out to be very popular during the mid 90's I presume. That commercial had one purpose (a very noble one in that matter) to appeal to the audience's conscious about themes related to road security, using a real person's tragic life experience as a way to captivate people's attention, thus making them more socially aware of events such as the one described at that specific ad. I reckon that those who know what I'm talking about, immediately thought about Salvador, the now host of his own show, dedicated to charity causes!

Although I probably got to know Wise Up after this ad, it became even more of a reference after watching Magnolia (1999) by Paul Thomas Anderson (in my humble opinion, his master piece), with top notch performances of an amazing cast - from Philip Seymour Hoffman, to William H Macy, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, Jason Robards, Philip Baker Hall to an amazing Tom Cruise (in one of his best rolls, if not the best).

(SPOILER ALERT)

In that movie, there is a scene in which P.T Anderson takes the viewer through all of the characters, while each one sings a part of the Aimee Mann hit! This particular scene is one, out of many more, that standout as one of the great trades of Anderson's vision as a film maker.It's one of those moments that captures you off guard, bringing out your most most sensitive side in a heartbeat! It is indeed one of those moments where music and acting come together in a very unique and beautiful way. So basically that's what I recall each and every time I hear that song... However, there are a few traces of Salvador's campaign, but definitely.. is the movie that comes to mind 99% of the time!

Hottie Body Hump Club

Falta-me o tempo

(Desculpem o texto "quase dislexico" mas isto foi muito feito em "cima do joelho"...)

Para quem se interessa, para quem lê e para quem gosta do que escrevo e faço, peço desculpa pela minha ausência deste mundo que é a blogosfera!

A minha mudança para Londres, tem sido difícil, no sentido em que me falta tempo para fazer tudo aquilo que quero. Tive de largar alguns dos hábitos que tinha em Portugal e reajustar-me a esta nova realidade, que embora intensa e diferente, é agradável e importante. Porque me está a transformar numa pessoa que talvez nunca estivesse à espera de um dia vir a ser…

Talvez um pouco precipitado nas palavras é certo… até porque o crescimento e evolução são processos contínuos sem fim à vista… não me consigo coibir de fazer tal afirmação! Talvez deslumbrado pela quantidade de coisas que se sucedem ao mesmo tempo, é difícil (e quase inevitável) para mim, pensar que não fosse a minha vinda para Londres, e algumas transformações nunca ocorressem. É uma ideia que se encontra muito presente nestes tempos que decorrem…

Enfim, muita conversa apenas para vos dizer que ando completamente sem tempo, e verdade seja dita, o facto de não ter acesso a internet em casa é um grande (e grave) entrave nas minhas diversas formas de comunicação para “casa”.

“Casa” com as aspas propositadamente colocadas, na procura de lhe dar um outro sentido além daquilo que poderiam interpretar como sendo o mais óbvio… isto é: casa=Portugal/casa=cascais.

“Casa” neste caso estende-se muito para além disso… passa por tudo e todos que de uma maneira ou outra faziam parte de uma rotina, que parece ofuscada pelo movimento e novidade que Inglaterra tem-me estado a oferecer. Coisas básicas, como por exemplo escrever neste blog, são sem sombra para dúvidas formas de me fazer sentir mais próximo do que “deixei para trás”. E há coisas que não se substituem, mesmo que em alturas tente comparar ou compensar…

Na véspera da minha viagem, fui jantar a casa de um amigo em Lisboa, perto do Bairro Alto. Na caminhada do Cais Sodré até ao topo da rua, fui ao som d’Os Golpes ate ao Largo de Camões eis que me surge um pensamento inédito (quase insólito).

Adoro Lisboa!

Permitam-me que vos contextualize:

 Os que me conhecem minimamente sabem que tenho um enorme amor pela vila de Cascais, onde nasci e fui criado! É aquele tipo de amor que me leva a pronunciar o nome de peito feito e com sorriso na cara. O tipo de amor que quando nos perguntam “de onde são?” e alguém responde “Lisboa”, faço questão de marcar posição e dizer “Eu sou de Cascais!”. Não é de todo pretensioso, até porque a malta estrangeira nunca ouviu falar de tal nome … maior razão ainda para falar da magia em redor da minha terra natal. Com tamanha paixão aficionada, a minha atenção nunca esteve muito virada para Lisboa e levaram muitos anos até que eu começasse a ganhar real interesse pela capital, algo que aconteceu principalmente com a minha entrada na faculdade e que desde então se tem vindo a desenvolver. Claro, gosto da cidade, mas nunca realizei ser das coisas que mais falta me faria.

Faz sentido terem sido Os Golpes, orgulhosamente portugueses e filhos de Lisboa, que me encaminhassem para, o que foi para mim, uma das grandes surpresas em tempos recentes! Mas não só Lisboa ou Cascais são motivos de orgulho em ser Português… a nossa história, a língua e tantas (tantas) personalidades são mais que razões para querer ter uma bandeira no quarto ou andar de camisola encarnada e verde… e depois num campo pessoal, é impossível não mencionar a família fantastica com que fui abençoado e os tantos amigos que tenho e tanta influência exerceram sobre mim! Até nas pessoas com quem me cruzei e não partilho grande afinidade, existem aqueles que deixaram alguma réstia de si na minha formação ou nas inúmeras experiências (muitas boas, algumas más, mas todas importantes!).

A todos os que se sentirem “mencionados” o meu obrigado! Por tudo e por nada, mas obrigado! Espero vir a ser motivo de orgulho, principalmente além-fronteiras, onde de certa forma me sinto parcialmente representante do nosso País no meio onde me encontro!

Para concluir, e correndo o sério risco de parecer pouco coerente (ainda mais depois de ter escrito este texto), quero-vos alertar para o facto que este será o meu último texto escrito em Português nos tempos que se seguem (excepto talvez em alguns casos pontuais)…

Naturalmente isto tem várias razões de ser… Primeiro por uma questão de treino visto que cá tenho de praticamente pensar em inglês 24/7! Depois porque na minha área, dominar o inglês escrito é um requisito, e como tal, vejo isto como uma óptima forma de evoluir… e por fim, por querer expandir o blog, fruto das ilusões provocadas pelo conceito de globalização de que sofro!