Months in Review: September & October films 2018 (part 1)

I return to this blog of mine on the verge of crossing 200 posts (this will be my 197th). While 200 may seem like a big number at first, this is one that spans almost 8 years, thus revealing just how little I actually blog.

When I first approached the idea to start a blog, the mission was very different and my life was too. I had more time and more energy for blogging. The lofty goals I had in mind for this site belonged to that context alone.

Often, I like to talk about “life getting in the way of blogging”, or about being “too busy” to really dedicate myself to this pursuit. The truth is that there is always time, like my dad used to say. The problem is mostly about the relationship between effort and output.

In order for me to have the blog I would like, I’d need to de-prioritize certain things in my life that I’m not willing to. When I started this blog I didn’t quite comprehend how much work goes into a single post, especially when you care about what you’re putting out for the world to read. If I had known exactly how much time I would need, I would have perhaps never embarked on this journey.

Having said that, I have enjoyed it so far, even if my audience is about as numerous as the fingers in my hand. If I blogged to get a meaningful audience, I would have given this up a long time ago.

Now…to the topic at hand.

Months in Review: The World Cup + Films of May & June 2018 (part 1)

As the warm summer breeze begins to sweep by Chicago’s sandy lakeshores, one is hard-pressed to find justification for staying indoors. As enjoyable as a film can be, the allure of being able to wear a t-shirt outside after a long wintry hibernation can sometimes prove too tempting.

If the summer is also accompanied by the 2018 edition of the World Cup, then the act of film watching becomes an impossibility. There’s simply no time after putting in an 8 or 9 hour work shift, to find time to watch a movie after you’ve also enjoyed two 90-minute games of soccer.

Film review: In Time (2011)

Director: Andrew Niccol

Cast: Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy

Year: 2011

What would you do if you knew when you were going to die? How would you spend your last few days or last few hours?

These are some of the questions at the center of In Time, an existential thriller that takes place in a futuristic California where time is the new currency and bus fares cost 2 hours of your life.

Our protagonist, Will Salas, unevenly played by Justin Timberlake lives in a run-down district named Dayton. On his left arm, and that of everybody else, there is a timer, counting down the days, hours and minutes he has left to live. Through work he survives, day by day, too busy trying to stay alive to have any time to enjoy life and get himself a girlfriend as his mother urges him to.