Category: Uncategorized (Page 12 of 13)

Favorite Movies 2011-2020

In chronological order, only one movie per director.

  • Mientras Duermes (Jaume Balagueró, 2011)
  • Her (Spike Jonze, 2013)
  • About Time (Richard Curtis, 2013)
  • Only Lovers Left Alive (Jim Jarmush, 2013)
  • The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014)
  • Birdman (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2014)
  • Ex Machina (Alex Garland, 2014)
  • Relatos Salvajes (Damián Szifrón, 2014)
  • The Hateful Eight (Quentin Tarantino, 2015)
  • The Lobster (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2015)
  • Trumbo (Jay Roach, 2015)
  • Captain Fantastic (Matt Ross, 2016)
  • The Shape of Water (Guillermo del Toro, 2017)
  • Marjorie Prime (Michael Almereyda, 2017)
  • Get Out (Jordan Peele, 2017)
  • Parasite (Bong Joon-ho, 2019)
  • Dolor y Gloria (Pedro Almodóvar, 2019)
  • Waiting for the Barbarians (Ciro Guerra, 2019)
  • Ventajas de Viajar en Tren (Aritz Moreno, 2019)
  • The Midnight Sky (George Clooney, 2020)

Playing Old CRPGs Again: the plan

One of my projects for 2024 (yes, I have many projects) is to play again (or, in some cases, for the first time) old computer role playing games (CRPGs). It’s something that gave pleasure for many years and I want to experience it again. I think I will be disappointed in some cases but rewarded in others. I won’t start with games from the Ultima series (Origin Systems) or the Gold Box series (SSI) because I was never able to like them. It wasn’t because of the primitive graphics, I don’t mind that (I still enjoy playing the classic Rogue,

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Favorite Movies 2001-2010

In chronological order, only one movie per director.

  • The Lord of the Rings (Peter Jackson, 2001/2003)
  • The Ring (Gore Verbinski, 2002)
  • Basic (John McTiernan, 2003)
  • The Dreamers (Bernardo Bertolucci, 2003)
  • Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003)
  • Kill Bill: Volume 1 / Volume 2 (Quentin Tarantino, 2003/2004)
  • Sideways (Alexander Payne, 2004)
  • Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
  • Crash (Paul Haggis, 2004)
  • House of Flying Daggers (Zhang Yimou, 2004)
  • Match Point (Woody Allen, 2005)
  • A History of Violence (David Cronenberg, 2005)
  • La Moustache (Emmanuel Carrère, 2005)
  • Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, 2006)
  • Volver (Pedro Almodóvar, 2006)
  • The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006)
  • The Man from Earth (Richard Schenkman, 2007)
  • Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman, 2008)
  • The Time Traveler’s Wife (Robert Schwentke, 2009)
  • Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010)

GMing D&D: Lost Mine of Phandelver and Dragon of Icespire Peak

I have enjoyed an uncountable number of hours playing Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), and many of them being the Game Master (GM). I particularly find pleasure in being the GM for a group of people who are playing D&D for the very first time. Guiding new players into the game, helping them create and grow the characters, sharing with them the magic of discovering new worlds, all this is a reward in itself. I often use the official starting adventures published by Wizards of the Coast, Lost Mine of Phandelver (from the the 5th Edition Starter Set) and Dragon of

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Favorite Movies 1991-2000

In chronological order, only one movie per director.

  • Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 1991)
  • Delicatessen (Marc Caro & Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 1991)
  • Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
  • The Usual Suspects (Bryan Singer, 1995)
  • Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead (Gary Fleder, 1995)
  • Twelve Monkeys (Terry Gilliam, 1995)
  • Fargo (Joel Coen, 1996)
  • Contact (Robert Zemeckis, 1997)
  • A Simple Plan (Sam Raimi, 1998)
  • Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999)
  • The Matrix (Andy Wachowski & Larry Wachowski, 1999)
  • Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze, 1999)
  • Todo sobre mi Madre (Pedro Almodóvar, 1999)
  • Nueve Reinas (Fabián Bielinsky, 2000)
  • Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000)

Learning to play chess: my first five games

So, I put my plan in motion and began playing at chess.com. I started unrated and had to play five games to get my first rating. In the first game I got a victory by resignation on the 16th move, after my white knight forked the black king and queen. But the game review said I played with only 69.5 accuracy. I guess it didn’t like me taking too long to check mate. Despite that, it said I played two great moves. Estimated 900 rating for this game. Opponent from: Philippines. Opening: Ruy López, Morphy Defense, Deferred Schliemann Defense (I

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Favorite Movies 1981-1990

In chronological order, only one movie per director.

  • Body Heat (Lawrence Kasdan, 1981)
  • The Postman Always Rings Twice (Bob Rafelson, 1981)
  • Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981)
  • Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)
  • Storia di Ordinaria Follia (Marco Ferreri, 1982)
  • Amadeus (Milos Forman, 1984)
  • Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (Hugh Hudson, 1984)
  • The Terminator (James Cameron, 1984)
  • Ran (Akira Kurosawa, 1985)
  • The Decline of the American Empire (Denys Arcand, 1986)
  • House of Games (David Mamet, 1987)
  • Mujeres al Borde de un Ataque de Nervios (Pedro Almodóvar, 1988)
  • Farewell to the King (John Milius, 1989)
  • The War of the Roses (Danny DeVito, 1989)
  • Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Tom Stoppard, 1990)
  • Misery (Rob Reiner, 1990)

Watching the same gunfight in seven different ways

Sometimes I get obsessed with a theme and dive into a marathon of movies and/or books about it. This week it was the famous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. It all started because I read the book Tombstone – Wyatt Earp, the O.K. Corral, and the Vendetta Ride, by Sean McLachlan. It’s a straightforward account of the gunfight and the events leading to it and spreading from it. That got me thinking about all the movies I had seen that misrepresented the episode, so I decided to watch them again. I couldn’t find Law and Order (Edward L. Cahn, 1932)

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Favorite Movies 1960-1980

In chronological order, only one movie per director.

  • La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini, 1960)
  • Yojimbo (Akira Kurosawa, 1961)
  • L’Année dernière à Marienbad (Alain Resnais, 1961)
  • What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (Robert Aldrich, 1962)
  • The Exterminating Angel (Luis Buñuel, 1962)
  • Le Samouraï (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1967)
  • Rosemary’s Baby (Roman Polanski, 1968)
  • Planet of the Apes (Franklin J. Schaffner, 1968)
  • Z (Costa-Gavras, 1969)
  • The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
  • La Planète Sauvage (René Laloux, 1973)
  • The Man Who Would Be King (John Huston, 1975)
  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Milos Forman, 1975)
  • All That Jazz (Bob Fosse, 1979)
  • Life of Brian (Terry Jones, 1979)

Learning to play chess: the plan

It would be an exaggeration to say that I know how to play chess. Yes, when I was a kid I learned how to move the pieces and also a few basic principles (control the center, develop knights before bishops, etc). That doesn’t entitle me to say that I am a chess player. But one of my projects for 2024 (yes, I have many projects) is to properly learn how to play chess. I have a plan. I will start by creating an account on chess.com. Then, before playing any real games, I will study all their tutorials and practice

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