Medium

http://www.nbc.com/Medium/

Allison DuBois is probably one of this year´s best fictional characters (the other one may be doctor House, but I run away from hospital plots as much as my cat does from water). Allison travels at daybreak to the sewers of terror, and then, when she wakes up, she finds her husband´s look, a saint in strict sense, still half asleep, her children and the daily chores. The way in which she intertwines the threads of panic and life is amazing, as much as the ability of the scripts to extract credible stories from her incredible powers. The chapters hardly last for 45 minutes, a juice with no spare pulp.

Good night, and good luck: Afterthoughts

The smoke and the Truth

When the lights went on a sepulchral silence filled the room. I thought that most of the audience had found it difficult to digest this wonderful but complex film, not suitable for the general public (better for journalists and such), shot in a glorious black and white as the story it tells is one of those stories which can only be recalled in black and white. Some of the audience ran away most likely to smoke as soon they could, since in “Good night, and good luck”, people smoke lots and with such class, especially the main character, Edward R. Munrow (David Strathairn). The smoke itself is actually another character, so good that it would have Continue reading Good night, and good luck: Afterthoughts

My bet on the Oscars

http://www.oscar.com/

“Brokeback Mountain” (8 nominations) is the hot favourite to the Oscars, which will be handed out tomorrow. There´s a high level of competition this year, with the magnificent “Crash” as the outsider and “Munich” by the always great Spielberg. George Clooney, willing to shake off cliches, has caught three nominations: best director and script for “Good night, and good luck”, and best supporting actor for “Syriana”. I would like the cowboys (Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal) to win because of their sober and felt performances, but the same may happen to them that happened to Thelma and Louise (Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis), since the competition is big. Another wish: that “The corpse bride” wins the Oscar for best animation film. To me, it is one of this year’s big movies.

The Garden of Eden

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11114156/

Those unknown bugs from Papua Island should consider themselves screwed up. When someone discovers a Garden of Eden, it automatically ceases to be, so I really feel for the honey eater bird, the tree kangaroo and the Zaglossus Bruijni ( a mix between a hedgehog and a duckbill), which should have hidden themselves better. The “fifth extinction” has already reached them, unless scientists erect in that jungle a wall like the one used to contain King Kong and throw the key into some abyssal hole. And even so.

Experts calculate that there are seven million species in the world, from which only 1.75 million have been described. Every year 17 000 species are lost, many of them without having shown their credentials. Who knows if some of those which are still hidden, or are already gone, hold the cure for AIDS or radical islamism. I would be content if that frog which looks at me with bulging eyes from the picture in the newspaper spit the poison of common sense.