Manolo’s Shoe Blog

Manolo says, it is Tuesday, time to see what the Manolo is…

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Normally, the Manolo is not the gadget person, someone who must each week rush out and obtain the latest piece of technological gimcrackery, however, many of the Manolo’s friends have been recommending the tiny little mini-computer, the Asus Eee PC as being suitable for the boulevardier blogger such as the Manolo.

“It is light and small and can be easily fitted into your man bag,” said one helpful friend.

“The Manolo does not have the ‘man bag’. It is the Swaine Adeney Brigg document case!”

“Whatever, it’s perfect for you, Manolo.”

And so the Manolo purchased this little inepensive computer and it arrived yesterday. And now, today, the Manolo is sitting in the cafe, sipping the cappuccino, and blogging to you with his new machine. Yes, the Asus Eee PC is very tiny, and light, and powerful enough to surf the internets, but unfortunately, the keyboard is too small for the Manolo’s thick and inelegant fingers, and this has been terribly frustrating, as the Manolo is the touch-typer of some ability.

The Manolo suspects that he will use this new machine occasionally, but will ultimately rely upon his beloved MacBook.

Although, this objet d’art calls powerfully to the Manolo.

“Buy me, use me, love me,” says its siren song.

Manolo says, it is Tuesday, time to see what the Manolo is…

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Watching

What can one say about Lacombe, Lucien except that it is the magnificent and magnificently troubling small masterpiece.

Manolo says, it is Tuesday, time to see what the Manolo is…

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The Manolo loved the first half of Be Kind, Rewind. It was innovative, anarchic, unexpected, and hilarious, nearly every detail made the Manolo laugh. Sadly, the second half of the movie was maudlin, sentimental, slack, and drippy, and it left the Manolo wondering if the movie had been put together by two different peoples.

Manolo says, it is Tuesday, time to see what the Manolo is…

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Sadly, after watching Dr. Zhivago for the first time in many years, the Manolo concludes that it is the exceedingly beautiful movie, but also ponderous and ultimately unconvincing.

Laying aside the ridiculousness of the plot, and the sudden and inexplicable manner in which various characters act in ways that are contrary to their essence, the biggest fault is that Omar Sharif, although dreamily handsome, is strangely inert. His standard response to any complication or problem is bewilderment, the charming little half-smile and cocked head of the stupefied man.

Rage, man, rage against the manifest injustices of the new order! Don’t just stand there looking like the handsome idiot.

Sadly, the ridiculous plot does little to help Sharif make the most of his meager talents, as by the end, one is forced to conclude that Zhivago, the character, is also the idiot.

Manolo says, it is Tuesday, time to see what the Manolo is…

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The Manolo found this Juno movie to be exceptionally annoying, more than the little manipulative, and yet also somewhat moving.

The worst and falsest part of this movie was the first ten minutes, in which the Office man pretended to be the sharp-tongued pharmacist who engaged in the witty banter about pregnancy tests with the precociously annoying Juno.

Note to the budding screenwriters: please, keep this sort of thing to yourself. The Manolo does not require more ironically ironic irony to be piled onto the heaping helping that various “hip” artists have attempted to serve him over the past decade.

Go away and come back with something authentic, something that fully takes advantage of the remarkable talents of the magnificent Jennifer Garner.

Manolo says, it is Tuesday, time to see what the Manolo is…

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Ayyyy! The dogs, they are so beautiful, and the shoes of the handlers, they are so hideous!

Manolo says, it is Tuesday, times to see what the Manolo is…

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Based upon Andrew Morton’s new biography of Tom Cruise the most charitable thing the Manolo can say is that Tom Cruise is well-intentioned. Although he is also so self-absorbed, callow, solipsistic, and ignorant as to seem very unpleasant indeed. But, in his favor, the same could probably be said of most major movie stars.

Manolo says, it is Tuesday, time to see what the Manolo is…

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Manolo says, it is Tuesday, and after the long break, it is again time to see what the Manolo is…

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All the Manolo can say about the new Sweeny Todd, with the magnificent Johnny Depp, is that it is the masterpiece, the mad, misanthropic, repellent, gruesome masterpiece. In recent years, the Manolo had grown quite weary of Tim Burton and his whimsical, Addams-Family-style schtick, but this movie is on the entirely different level.

There is the undeniably malignant artistic vision at the heart of this movie that goes far beyond the usual winking and ironic stage productions of the past thirty years. Burton seems to be the first director to have fully comprehended the monstrosity contained in Sondheim’s lyrics, and is he certainly the first to have approved of it.