Oh yeah! I'm back after a minor hiatus. I'm sure the one guy who reads this has missed me. I actually had a job in Costa Rica being a tour guide for the summer. So to commemorate my travels, one of the movies for this week is a story about a boy on a journey through an unfamiliar land. No, not the Ilian Gonzalez story - the Che Guevara story!

But did you know that in Costa Rica they have an official saying? Everyone always says "Pura Vida" all the time. It means "Pure Life", and it's the closest thing I've heard to "Hakuna Matata". People will come up to you and just say it. "Pura Vida" they will say, and I pretty much just stand there and think: "Do I say gracias, or do I say it back to them, or what?"

It's a very peculiar situation. People will also use it as an adjective: Esta hombre es muy pura vida. That man is very pure life. What the hell does that mean, really? I started realizing that you could say it to describe anything: The sun is very pure life. I am very pure life. The only thing you can't really use it for is for anything grim, such as a member of your family passing away. "That funeral was very pure life - well I mean to say that it was a kickass funeral!" Not acceptable in any language, buddies. Let's do some trailers.


The Forgotten
Starring Julianne Moore

Ooooooohhhhhhhhh, spooky!
Honestly though, this trailer did a good job of piquing your interest and not telling you too much about what really happens. It looks pretty scary, too. It's about a hot mom whose family is gradually erased from existance. The only thing I saw that was immediately ridiculous was the 'disappearing people technology', or DPT that was used to take people out of photographs. It's so ripped straight from "Back to the Future" that it's not even funny.

That is to say, of course, that it is funny. If you were doing like a legitimate modern spooky thriller, don't you think you would avoid the afforementioned homage to "Back to the Future"? Nothing against "Back to the Future" of course, but if I were making a hi-tech space-age movie such as "Predator vs. Alien" I wouldn't steal that crazy invention Doc Emmit Brown uses to feed his dog Einstein and use it as the machine that feeds the Predator. That would immediately make me lose my respect for the Predator. As did getting beaten at his own game by the governor of California.

One refreshing aspect of this trailer was that the very attractive Julianne Moore's husband in the movie is played by Anthony Edwards, who is very low on hair, like me. So that opens up two possibilities: 1) Girls that are as hot as or less hot than Julianne Moore go for bald guys. 2) I may get a part opposite a ot girl in a movie and people will buy it, thus opening up more possibilities for me to go out with hot girls in real life.

Here's a cheesy quote form the movie: She says, "Who could erase our lives? Who could do that?" I don't know, The Editors? The people who invented the DPT from "Back to the Future"?

I want to see this movie on a spooky and chilly October night.

Rating: 4 jack o' lanterns out of 6.



The Motorcylce Diaries
Starring Gael García Bernal

This was one of those previews wrought with emotion. It shows the main characters really happy, then really sad, then really pissed off and fighting, then celebrating, then happy again, then forlorn, then sad again, ad infinitum. This usually signifies a really good movie, believe it or not. It is a highly emotional experience watching the trailer, but it doesn't tell you much about El Che.

If you don't know who Che Guevara is, he's that latino guy who's on your new t-shirt from Urban Outfitters. You might have heard him rolling over in his grave as you paid $25 for it. Yeah, the handsome one!

I actually read the Motorcyle Diaries a few years ago as I was travelling through South America, and I kind of followed his footsteps for a thousand miles or so. Look at me! La ti-da! I don't have a reason for mentioning that, except to impress all you ladies out there. You can purchase a t-shirt with my picture on it for a much more affordable $5. Note: I have not been instrumental in starting any revolutions for the people. I did one time get all these people in my building pissed off at this whino outside. Ladies? You still with me?

This movie, if well done, could be really sweet and I will most likely see it, most likely with a girl so I can be like, "Ooh, I went there - yeah that's Patagonia - oh, Macchu Piccu, totally been there. So, do you want to get out of here and go to my place? My seven roommates cleaned up our place about a year ago and you barely have to use the gasmask anymore. If you can hold your breath for a really really long time."


Rating: This trailer deserves five wanderlust gringos out of six.


Movie fans - Here are some actual movies that I've seen that I rate as spectacular, and if you are looking for a movie to rent one day and can't find anything but trash in the movie store (imagine that crazy scenario!!!), consider these movies for a rental, as they are excellent:

Garden State (2004). Napoleon Dynamite (2004). You have my personal Shalit Guarantee on those.