Loneliest Planet Review, Verdura, and Armageddon

The Loneliest Planet organically meanders with very minimal dialogue and seemingly endless shots of an engaged couple and their guide hiking through rough terrain. Gael Garcia Bernal and Hani Furstenberg’s unadorned performances fit with the overly patient capturing of their trekking and love-making. Yet, when their relationship is challenged, the long, silent shots beg for action. Despite the two charismatic leads, the film pitfalls into moody tone shifts and stretches out what is instantly (and expertly) made clear through stunning visuals. What could have been an excellent, engaging short film became a tedious exploration that lacks the depth to be a character study, the insight to be a meditation on love, and the subtext to classify it as a metaphor of human dependency. The title would suggest that these characters reflect all humanity – wandering the world accompanied but ultimately alone. Yet, Julia Loktev’s direction is strangely content to follow these characters without truly examining, questioning, or presenting the purpose.  Why do these characters need one another? Is it love, need, or habit that binds them? Are each individual’s inscapes so remote that loneliness is the true reality? The isolated landscapes and the uncertain wilderness are the perfect backdrop for these questions to be addressed, but unfortunately the film meanders all the way to its trite, anticlimactic end. 

2/5 Stars.

PS - this whole film could have benefited from 

Gael Garcia Bernal's naked body. That's all. 

Vegetarian Entry

Last night, I attempted to make my mother’s “verdura” recipe. The plate is a combination of yuca, taro root, yautia, and plantains boiled and served with olive oil, roaster yellow onions and garlic, and a glass of milk. I tried to add jicama, but it wouldn't cede to the boiling water. (I was just informed that should be eaten grated like carrots in salad or in slices like apples as a snack… the more you know.) I love this dish. I wish I had added sweet potatoes or found some breadfruit to add, but my first attempt was delicious. Unless you’re name is Ryan (Trent) Jackson Oldham. Trent did not care for the dish. After tasting the taro root, he said, 

TRENT:That taste like dirt.

NELSON: It taste like potato to me.

TRENT: Well, then, it tastes like a dirty potato.

He apologized for not liking the dish and downed his almond milk. It is for sure not a texture or taste that everyone will enjoy. Next time I will try roasting them and see if that improves his opinion. Oh and I’ll make a much smaller batch. Yikes, I am gonna have to freeze the verdura because there’s like four helpings leftover. 

PS – did you know that taro root is the most hypoallergenic food in the world because of its starch grains are the smallest and most easily digested of all complex carbohydrates? I didn't  the more you know. 

The End of the World

So it's the end. Chicago is being battered by a snowstorm tonight apparently and the world is going to end shortly there after. Growing up Jehovah's Witness, I was taught that Armageddon would be conducted through a series of natural disasters orchestrated by our ever loving God. yay. But also, it's confusing because wouldn't the Mayans be considered "false prophets?" Ugh! Anyways, the metaphor states that some (hopefully hunky) men will ride in on (undoubtedly fabulous) horses to signify the end. The illustration in my JW publication was this:

I now understand that it's God's army waging war on unrepentant sinners and that it's a metaphor, but when I was little I thought horses were literally going to be coming from the skies which didn't seem all that likely. Logically though, this metaphor came from a society that battled on horses. So bible verses written today would have WHAT coming from the clouds with God(the sun)'s light shining from behind while strangely not silhouetting it? Tanks? Fighter Aircrafts? Viruses? The Pentagon? But that's how America wars. Oh well, I'm done thinking for today. Adios!