Random Thoughts

This is a visually arresting film. Some seemingly very strange choices have been made, but it works. I first thought that the actors (and their line readings) we uncomfortably stiff, but then I realised that that’s what the director was going for (a la Robert Bresson).

Mesmerising.

The Battle of Tabato. João Viana. 2013. Guinea-Bissau.

West African Ginger Drink

• 3 ginger roots
• 6 limes
• 2-3 cups of water
• 1 heaped tbsp peppercorns
• 1 heaped tbsp raw sugar
• rum

Chop ginger and lime into pieces (including skin and rind). Add the water and run through a blender. Strain and squeeze into a bowl. Return to the blender and add the peppercorns and sugar and blend until smooth. Strain and squeeze into a sauce pan and bring the liquid to a boil. Allow to cool, add the rum, and strain into an ice-filled lowball glass.

This post is part of the World of Films and Cocktails series. Explore the map.

Man, modern life is complicated.

I was going to watch this on my big Ipad, but it turns out that you can’t screenshot this film there, even though the previous film let itself be screenshot. So I had to scramble (since the cocktail was already made) and watched the film on my 10″ Android tablet. (Where screenshotting was not a problem.) (Yes, this makes sense.)

I’m not doing that again, so I have to find a way to … er… do something. An external HDMI screenshotting box? A larger android tablet? Android->HDMI? Is that I thing? Research is needed.

DVDs were so much simpler than newfangled media!

And then there’s the film.

Oh, deer.

This turns out to be more of a low-budget American film than an Iraqi film. I mean, aesthetically and actor in the acting dept. (It’s filmed in Iraq and Jordan, allegedly, but it’s difficult to tell one window-less room in Jordan from a window-less room in Miami. And there are so many scenes in window-less rooms.)

For some reason, American lo-bu films are way more amateurish than, well, anything else in the world. I have no idea why: There’s more of a divide between the pros and the ams in the US than in most places?

The dialogue is physically painful in places, in fact. Literally! But it’s not without a certain charm.

Curse of Mesopotamia. Lauand Omar. 2015. Iraq.

Kubbeh Libre

• 2 parts pomelo juice
• 1 part arak

Combine over ice in a highball glass. Garnish with some sprigs of mint.

I used raki instead of arak, because it’s about the same number of characters.

This post is part of the World of Films and Cocktails series. Explore the map.

After a very pleasurable experience watching The Cave of the Yellow Dog, this was a bit of a downer.

It’s all so… paint by numbers. Daddy issues and people talking and talking and talkin to each other about deep, deep stuff. It’s like, zzz.

It’s not offensively bad or anything: It’s competent, which is the worst thing you can say about a film, perhaps. It’s all so tedious.

The Forgotten Kingdom. Andrew Mudge. 2013. Lesotho.

Lesotho Lady

• 1 part gin
• 1 part grapefruit juice
• dash of agave syrup
• 2 parts brut sparkly wine

Shake the first three ingredients with ice. Pour into a serving vessel and top up with the champers. Stir slightly

This post is part of the World of Films and Cocktails series. Explore the map.