The world at my feet

I like Almodóvar, I’ve seen all his films. I suggest you to get his two first movies: “Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls on the Heap” and “Labyrinth of Passion”. They are two mad, outrageous, entertaining cult movies that fully express the free spirit of La Movida Madrileňa (The Madrid Movement), the sociocultural movement that took place in Madrid after the death of Francisco Franco. In the last two decades, he has had a very enviable career. Currently, he is working on a new film, “Broken Embrace”, that has a typical Almodóvar plot: a plastic surgeon seeks revenge against his daughter’s rapist. The shooting will start in May and the protagonists will be his muse Penelope Cruz, Lluis Olmar, Blanca Portillo and Jose Luis Gomez. Meantime, the fans can already follow the first phases of it on his blog (in Spanish, English and French), that contains pictures, videos and snippets of Almodovar’s world. It’s not a new thing, blogs are popular with many directors by now, but good Pedro’s movies are always a guarantee. Then, it doesn’t seem the posts are written by a ghost writer. It is not a trifling matter.

Photo El Mambo Taxi 

Boris Godunov is crowned Tsar, but the remorse for Prince Dimitri’s murder plagues him. Lost in bad omens, he doesn’t notice the spectres in ski-mask that come brandishing menacing weapons. In a few minutes, they fill the place with explosive and..

Welcome to the new show of La Fura dels Baus, one of the world’s most important performance companies. On 6 March, the Catalan theatrical group previewed “Boris Godunov”, a piece based on Alexandr Pushkin’s play. Pushkin’s plot fuses with reality, taking inspiration from the terrorist attack happened in the Moscow’s Dubrovka Theatre in October 2002. The Chechen terrorists took the audience hostage threatening to blast the building and exacting the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya. After three days of negotiations, Putin chose the hard-line: the special forces raid ended with the death of 129 hostages and 33 terrorists. Now, La Fura dels Baus retrieves that terrible event in this sort of docu-drama, where the audience is involved in a whirl of sensations, including  fear too. The company chose a little theatre in the small town of Molina De Segura, giving an even more claustrophobic touch to the show. Spectators and critics were very fascinated by this tragic parable about the quandary between means and purposes.

I like Manu Chao. I miss the Mano Negra, but he still makes an excellent music. Now, Manu Chao is going to bring an action against the Spanish People’s Party. The conservative party has used a Chao song in its election campaign. The song La Trampa is the soundtrack of a video transmitted in the meetings stood in the Principality of Asturias. Manu Chao is a point of reference for the no-global movement and has never wanted to lend his voice and his face to traditional politics, let alone to a conservative party. The fact is, the Spanish People’s Party is a merry bunch of pirates, for sure doesn’t have good experts in communication. Now, I expect to listen a Rage Against the Machine  song as a new anthem of the U.S. Republican Party.

Gaspar Llamazares is a politician that keeps pace with the times. He has a channel on You Tube and spaces on Facebook and MySpace, where he chats with the electors. Gaspar Llamazares is the leader of the Spanish Party Izquierda Unida (the United Left Wing) and runs for the general elections of 9 March. If he loses the Spanish elections, he will be able to revenge himself with those of Toontown. His last stunt is an animated cartoon whose protagonist is his alter ego Gaspi. Take the popcorn and enjoy the first compelling episode of Supergaspi saga. Our hero helps a chap imprisoned in a real estate bubble. I adore this man! If he also makes a puppet, I buy it in a rush.