FILM: A Haunting In Venice

Since we’re not horror flick fans, we’d been glossing over A Haunting in Venice in the movie listings, until we finally realized that it’s a Kenneth Branagh Agatha Christie film. Branagh returns as inspector Hercule Poirot, lured out of retirement to discredit a medium (Michelle Yeoh) as she holds a séance for a famous opera singer mourning her beloved daughter who fell (or jumped? or was pushed?) to her death from her room in their home, which happens to be a haunted palazzo in Venice. There’s a whole cast of characters, all of whom have secrets and potential motives, and everyone is locked in the palazzo on Halloween night during a storm, as more bodies start to pile up. Nothing is predictable, except of course that Poirot will figure it all out by the end. But along the way, even the great skeptic starts to wonder if there might actually be ghosts after all. The Venetian scenery is gorgeous, and the whole film is very spookily atmospheric. Our kind of Halloween film!

FILM: Cassandro

Gael Garcia Bernal delivers yet another knock-out performance in Cassandro, a film based on the real-life story of Saúl Armendáriz, a Mexican-American “luchador”, a professional wrestler in the melodramatic Mexican style of wrestling. Saúl became famous as an “exótico”, a traditional luchador character role who is a flambuoyant drag queen, generally there to be the punching bag for a macho opponent. Saúl (under the character name Cassandro) decided to buck tradition, flip the script, and be an exótico who defeats his macho opponents. The film is really engaging and layered, not only telling the underdog story of Cassandro’s rise to fame, but also exploring Saúl’s relationship with a closeted macho luchador, and with his supportive mother and estranged father. Two thumbs up from us.

Croatia Itinerary (Aug 2023)

This was a great 14-day trip to the Croatian coast, with dips into Bosnia-Hercegovina and Montenegro at the end. Our itinerary was somewhat driven by friends we traveled with, whose grandparents had all come from a couple different islands off the Croatian coast, and we went to see their ancestral towns and meet distant cousins who still lived there. That being said, I think this itinerary would still be generally enjoyable even without the personal connections.

Air Connections

Dubrovnik is the major airport for the Croatian coast, so we started and ended our trip there. While one would generally fly to a major European hub like London or Frankfurt, and then connect to Dubrovnik, we found United had a direct nighttime flight from Newark to Dubrovnik, allowing us to sleep on the plane and arrive in the morning, minimizing jet lag.

Day 1 - Arrive in Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik is a historic fortified city that for many centuries prospered as a major trading hub from its vantage on the sparkling Adriatic Sea, with Venice across the sea and the Ottoman Empire looming just beyond the mountains. It's now a UNESCO World Heritage site, with a beautifully preserved (and car-free) historic core inside its city walls, and a more modern city grown up around it. While there are many resort hotels outside the historic core catering to more beach-seeking tourists, the options for those who wish to stay inside the walls are mostly limited to AirBnB-style apartment rentals. For us, we love being right in the midst of it, and being just steps away from much of what we want to see. However, be aware that in Dubrovnik, your airport cab can only drop you outside the fortress walls, and you're on foot from there, wrangling your suitcase a substantial distance over cobblestone streets, with many of those "streets" actually being stairsteps. Our home for three nights was Apartment GAMA, which was the perfect optimization of close in, accessible, quiet, and comfortable. We settled in, grabbed some lunch on the street below (which is lined near solid with outdoor cafes), and then set out to meander this amazing town. There's so much to see easily walking within the fortress walls - an extravagance of baroque churches, medieval civic buildings, a grand clocktower, and those gorgeous limestone streets! (If you were a Game of Thrones fan, you'll quickly realize that you're in Kings' Landing, largely filmed here.) We also popped out to see the old port and its "beach" (rocky outcroppings along the seaside fortress walls that people swim from), and checked out the two Buža Bars, accessed through holes in the seaside fortress wall ("buža" means "hole" in Croatian), where you can sit and have drinks and watch people jump off the high rocks into the sea. That evening we dined at Restoran Dubrovnik, a Michelin Bib Gourmand venue with exquisite cuisine, high-end service, and the most romantic setting on the rooftop of a historic palazzo in the heart of the old town.

Day 2 - Dubrovnik: Boat trip to Elafiti Islands, Dinner on Mt Srđ

Competing with the historic city for attractiveness is the natural beauty of the Adriatic Sea and the nearby islands. Intentionally keeping our first couple of days fairly unplanned, we decided to take a boat tour out to the nearby island of Koločep, where there was a famous "blue cave". There are a bunch of operators just there in the old port putting together group tours to the islands, but as a group of nine, we were able to get a private boat for a reasonable price for a four-hour tour that afforded plenty of swim time at a couple of grottos, a stop in a village, and cruising around Dubrovnik's city walls (nice to see them from the sea side). Afterward, we had time to clean up, catch a couple more sites in town (the synagogue, the Jesuit church), and enjoy drinks at Buža Bar before dinner. In the evening, we took the gondola up to the top of Mount Srđ with its commanding views over Dubrovnik. There's a lovely terrace restaurant aptly named Panorama with breaktaking views and quite good food too, where we watched the sun set and the city lights come on. (We booked 2 months ahead to get a sunset table!) There's also a very interesting war museum up there, set in a Napoleonic era bunker/fort.

Day 3 - Dubrovnik: Walk the City Walls, Explore Lokrum Island

Dubrovnik's walls completely encircle the old town, and one of the best things to do is to walk them all the way around. It's a little over a mile of walking, but we started first thing in the morning on a hot day, and gave ourselves a few hours, cause we stopped a lot for the fantastic views. In the afternoon, we investigated Lokrum Island, a short ferry ride from the old port, a pine-covered island with some beautiful swimming including an official "FKK" (nudist) section. In the evening we had an excellent introduction to Bosnian food at Taj Mahal in the heart of the old town.

Day 4 - Drive from Dubrovnik to Bol

In the morning we picked up a rental car in Dubrovnik (from a city office, as the airport is a half hour south of the actual town), and started driving north. The Jadranska cesta (Adriatic Coast Highway, or ACH?) is a beautiful modern road with great views mostly along the coast, and including the brand new Pelješac Bridge which now enables driving from Dubrovnik to the rest of Croatia without having to cross into Bosnia. At one point, the road cuts inland through Opuzen, which is Croatia's fruit basket, and there any many roadside farmstands to get fresh fruit (peaches and figs!) and fruit brandies. We reached the cute port of Makarska in time for lunch before our afternoon ferry that would take us across to the island of Brač. The hour or so ferry crossing was delightful, and then the drive across the island to reach Bol was gorgeous, as the road goes along the mountainous top of the island and then offers breaktaking views as you drop down into Bol. We arrived in time to get settled and have a lovely dinner in the old port.

Days 5-6 - Bol

Bol is a cute old fishing village that has reinvented itself as a beach resort destination. Its famous Zlatni Rat beach is a tongue of "sand" (all "sand" here is really small pebbles at best) that juts out into the sparkling blue water about a mile west of the town. You can stay at one of a few mega-resort hotels right by Zlatni Rat, or stay at idiosyncratic rented rooms in town. The car is superfluous here, unless you stay a good ways away from the beach and would prefer to pay 20 euros for parking rather than walk. You're mostly here for the beach, Zlatni Rat and right nearby are where you'll find all the amenities like chairs and umbrellas and sports gear for rent, or sailboarding lessons. If you just want natural beauty without amenities, there are other beaches at the other end of town, or beyond Zlatni Rat (where you'll find the "FKK"). The town has some good charming seafood restaurants in the old port. There is a very old church, a few even older chapels, and a monastery to be seen, as well as a curiosity called the "house within a house". For us, this was also about spending time with various cousins of our friends who live here.

Day 7 - Drive from Bol to Dugi Otok

This day was mostly just about getting from one island to another, which entailed driving over Brač, taking a ferry to Split, taking the highway to Zadar, where we picked up another ferry to Dugi Otok (Croatian for "long island"). Both ferry rides were scenic, especially the longer latter one, as it went past a number of other islands to reach Dugi Otok, an outer island. Dugi Otok is less populated and less touristed than Bol, though the tourism it has is mostly what is keeping it going. A car is definitely desirable here, as there are interesting things to see all over the island. We stayed in a rented apartment at Panorama Apartments in the tiny hilltop hamlet of Dragove, where the charming hosts rent out a handful of rooms, offer breakfast, and have a lovely pool. Our first evening, we popped up to the port village of Božava for dinner.

Day 8 - Dugi Otok

When visiting smaller places like Dugi Otok, one should always find out if there are any festivals on. We lucked out in that the week we were there, the town of Sali was having its annual festival. We headed down to that cute little port town a couple of times over the weekend to check out the events, and it was utterly charming. There was a parade of sailors returning from the sea, townswomen and girls in traditional dress dancing, donkey races, and a parade of horn-blowers who marched right into the port, as the local boys splashed everyone. Between festival events, we also checked out the remote but beautiful Veli Žal beach, and a couple of the "potkops", Yugoslav-era marine bunkers where submarines or naval boats were hidden.

Day 9 - Dugi Otok

On Sunday, we attended mass at the church in the port village of Veli Rat, the same church where our friends' grandparents had married a century ago. Though all in Croatian, much of it was sung, and it was lovely to listen to. We met some cousins afterward and explored the village a bit, before going up to see the famous lighthouse. Veli Rat Light is one of the oldest and tallest lighthouses on the Mediterranean, and we got some spectacular views from the top of it. There's an unexpectedly good seafood restaurant in the camp by the lighthouse, and also a very nice beach.

Day 10 - Zadar

The historic core of Zadar is a small peninsula with sea walls forming a harbor. The area is all a pedestrian zone, with limestone streets, some beautiful squares, remnants of a Roman forum, a grand 9th century church, a beautiful cathedral, several other historic buildings, as well as some engaging works of modern public art including the Sea Organ and the Sun Salutation. We were very happy to stay at Apartment Piazzetta Marina right in the heart of the old town, and we enjoyed a Michelin-rated dinner at Restoran Kaštel in the Hotel Bastion, also right in the old town.

Day 11 - Trogir and Split

In the morning, we drive south toward Split, starting on the superhighway but then cutting out to the scenic coast around Šibenik, and stopping in Trogir for lunch. Trogir is an absolute gem, another coastal walled town UNESCO World Heritage site, with some beautiful squares, charming lanes, and a gorgeous baroque cathedral. It was a shame to spend only a few hours here. Our ultimate destination was Split, which is a fantastic world heritage site. In the 3rd century AD, the Roman emperor Diocletian retired here and built a grand Roman palace. Many remnants are still very visible, as the city has moved in and around its walls and catacombs. The grand vestibule and peristyle are still there. Diocletian's mausoleum has been repurposed into a cathedral, and a temple to Jupiter lightly repurposed as a baptistry. The mix of Roman, Renaissance, and modern is delightful. (On the modern side, there is a bounty of Meštrović sculptures; he is the Croatian Rodin.) We arrived with enough of an afternoon left to see many of the essential sights. We very highly recommend the Hotel Vestibul Palace which is literally built into the historic Roman ruins, luxury in just steps from everything.

Day 12 - Mostar

From Split, we made the two hour or so drive to Mostar, by way of Počitelj, a beautiful town along the Neretva River with a historic tower and fort wall on the ridge above the town. Entering Bosnia-Hercegovina (crossing an old-school border with passport-checking guards!), we also came into a very different land filled with mosques, minarets, and the influence of the Ottoman Empire. Mostar was fascinating, and of course we couldn't get enough of the famous "old bridge", its gracious arc sweeping over the Neretva River. We also wandered the street of the coppersmiths (and brought home some wares), visited the Koski Mehmed Pasha mosque and climbed its minaret, and visited the Biščević House, a beautifully preserved house from the Ottoman period. We stayed at the charming Hotel Kriva Ćuprija which was just steps from the old bridge and the bazaar, and we also had a lovely dinner there.

Day 13 - Drive to Kotor via Blagaj Dervish House

Heading out of Mostar, our first stop was Blagaj, where the source of the Buna River emerges from a cave in a cliff, and beside the cave is a historic Sufi monastery once inhabited by the movement known as Dervishes. We toured the remarkable Dervish House, built into the cliff, its traditional monastic Turkish furnishings preserved. After lunch by the river, we made the 3-hour drive out of Hercegovina, across Srpska (where all the signs turned Cyrillic), and into Montenegro. It had many scenic stretches through dramatic karst canyons, pastoral countryside, and finally a breathtaking drop from above into the Bay of Kotor fjord.

Day 14 - Kotor

The town of Kotor lies at the base of a very long inlet with high mountains all around, like a Norwegian fjord but on the Adriatic. Yet another gorgeous medieval walled town guards the base of the fort, but the fortifications of Kotor not only surround the town by the water, but they run high up to the top of the surrounding hills, like a town-size version of the Great Wall of China. Inside the town there is an impressive cathedral, but this is Montenegro and most of the churches are Eastern Orthodox. There is the grand Saint Nicholas Church, and across the square from it, the 800-year old St Luke Chapel. In the morning, we walked up the mountain walls, defensive in purpose but also like a pilgrimage path with prayer stations along the way, and at least one church partway up. The views over the town and the bay are spectacular. In the afternoon we took a boat tour of the bay, seeing all the cute little villages along the inlet all the way out to the sea, and stopping at Our Lady of the Rocks, a picturesque church on a man-made islet in the middle of the bay, because some fishermen had a vision of the Virgin Mary inspiring them to build a church on that spot. Our lodgings in Kotor were at the elegant Hotel Vardar right on the main square of the old town. We had a couple of lovely dinners right on the water, our first night at Restoran Galion on the marina, and our last night at Konoba Bonaca in the next village over from Kotor.

Day 15 - Head Home

We chose to spend our last night in Kotor, which was a bit daring. Though Dubrovnik Airport is only 45 miles away, there was an old-school border crossing involved which can get pretty backed up in the summer, and took us not quite 2 hours waiting in a long car queue. Fortunately, we'd allowed for it, and we made it to the airport in plenty of time. And the drive out of the Bay of Kotor at the crack of dawn was gorgeous!

Notes on the Itinerary

Overall we were very happy with this itinerary. We normally wouldn't travel in August at the peak of tourist season, but did so because we traveled with friends with kids. The crowded places were crowded, but it wasn't horrendous, and we didn't encounter anything that was sold out or booked up. We had booked our accommodations in April. We booked our car and our ferries a couple months ahead. August was hot at times, but the water was delightful (about mid-70s temp). Having the car for most of the trip was a good call. Even though for a number of the towns we didn't need a car while there, it was the best way to travel between and allow stops along the way. Our itinerary's inclusion of Bol and Dugi Otok was driven by personal reasons (to visit our friends' ancestral towns), but they were both beautiful places that we would recommend even without the personal connection.

Regrets and Things We'd Do Differently

No regrets on the itinerary, other than many places we'd like to have stayed longer. Zadar, Trogir, Split, and Mostar all could have used another day. We were happy with all of the lodging choices except for Bol, where next time we might consider splurging for a tourist resort hotel. Lack of breakfast right at hand, and a very feeble air conditioner on a very hot night made us really regret our choice there.

Notes on Logistics

We had had some fear about availability of ATMs, particularly on the less-populated island of Dugi Otok, but that was misplaced. ATMs are completely pervasive now, even on Dugi Otok. Croatia and Montenegro are on the euro now (with Croatia is pretty recent, and we did receive a few of the old coins in change). Bosnia-Hercegovina is still officially on its own currency, but euros are very widely accepted as are credit cards. We did have a few places that insisted on cash, including our apartment in Bol and (surprisingly) our hotel in Mostar, but in general, credit cards can be used everywhere with no problem (and no funky PIN issues). One thing that did bite us a few times was relying on Google Maps for navigation. There were a couple of times in Bosnia and once in Croatia where Google was just plain wrong, insisting on driving us down very sketchy unpaved roads or in one case, even trying to cross a footbridge over a river by car. It was not easy to find the right "plan B" in those cases, and I was sorely missing my old-school Michelin maps.

Notes on Costs

Total cost for two people was about $13,500 including $5000 airfare. (Airfare could have been less but I paid near full-fare coach in hopes for an upgrade that never materialized.) Less airfare, that comes out to $600/day, comprising $3126 in lodging costs ($223/€203 per night), $1200 for 11-day car rental with full insurance (and including $110 in gas), $4070 in food and other costs (tours, taxis, ferries, etc). It's hard to separate the food but that may have been about $200/day. We ate mostly really nice dinners, and at even at the most high end restaurants dinner for two was generally $100-$150.

FILM: Barbie

The Barbie film opens with a 2001: A Space Odyssey parody to explain the origins and impact of Barbie on the world, with Helen Mirren narrating in most serious BBC voice. At the outset, director Greta Gerwig has her tongue planted so far in her cheek that it actually curls around and tickles the brain a little. Barbie the brand encompasses a multitude of contradictions, with the stereotypical Barbie, impossibly thin with pink shoes and stylish wardrobe, also trying to inspire girls through the years by modeling being a doctor, a pilot, and an astronaut, while still always embracing her core pink perfection. The film leans into these contradictions, with a hilarious vision of life in “Barbieland”, where women (mostly named Barbie) live in wall-less and staircase-less dream houses and rule the world, and men (mostly named Ken) exist just to hang out at the beach in hopes that a Barbie might pay attention to them. Every day is perfect and pink in Barbieland until a rupture in the separation between Barbieland and the real world threatens to change everything, and Barbie must go into the real world to fix it. The film is a delightfully playful and visual confection with lots of winks and nods to the long history of the Barbie brand (embracing its less successful as well as more successful spin-offs), but the confection wraps a core of feminist critique that raises weighty questions about gender-based role models and the “male gaze”. Happily, the philosophical underpinnings aren’t so heavy as to lose track of telling a fun story and keeping us smiling and laughing, even while this Barbie forges new ground in providing a new role model for 21st century girls.

FILM: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is a rollicking E-ticket ride from beginning to end, and a marvelous way to send off the beloved but aged professor-adventurer. Bravo to the now 80-year old Harrison Ford who can totally still bring it. The film opens with immediate high adrenaline at the close of WWII, when a 45-year old Indiana Jones and an Oxford archaeology colleague are trying to keep some invaluable ancient artefacts out of the hands of the Nazis. There was some amazing AI-driven CGI de-aging, but that’s the actual Harrison Ford doing all that running and fighting in and on a moving train. Then we flash forward to “present day” 1969, when the 70-year old Professor Jones is nearing retirement, a curmudgeonly old man in highest “get off my lawn” dudgeon, beating on his young neighbor’s door when the music is too loud. But just when he’s despairing of getting this new generation of students to care about anything, it turns out that there are still a few remaining Nazis with some diabolical plans concerning ancient artefacts with supernatural power. And just like that, as fast as you can crack a whip, the aging Indiana finds a new reason to race across Morocco, Greece, and Italy, solving ancient mysteries and unlocking secrets, with Nazis (and possibly the CIA) in hot pursuit. The film shifts into high gear and never lets up, with high speed chases, and lots of winks and nods to previous films. The other moving part in this engrossing contraption is the appearance of Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Helena “Wombat” Shaw, Indy’s long-neglected goddaughter. She might be the perfect partner for this latest last adventure. Or is she? “How did you turn out this way?” Indy asks her at one point. “You mean strong, confident, beautiful, and exceptionally capable?” she retorts. Indeed, she is all that, and if she turns up in more movies, I’m in. At risk of spoilers, I’ll say no more except to say that the ending is pure gold. And also, speaking of active octo+genarians, bravo to John Williams who at age 91 has turned out yet another marvelous score, fanning the familiar themes and introducing new ones. If you have any nostalgia for Indiana Jones, or just if you enjoy a good action-adventure film, don’t miss it!

ART: Zoe Walsh and Milo Matthieu at M+B Gallery

After a lovely summer lunch on the beautiful patio at Gracias Madre in West Hollywood, we stepped in to the M+B Gallery to see “When the breezes start”, an exhibit of Zoe Walsh. I was intrigued by a description of this non-binary Los Angeles artist as “interrogating notions of what it means to both look at and live in a queer body.”  Walsh starts with inspiration found in the ONE Institute gay and lesbian archives, looking at 1960s photos of amorous men in places like Griffith Park. Using layered silk-screening technique that superimposes silhouettes in negative or alternate color space, they have created large canvases with a collation of Los Angeles parkscapes and bodies, some obvious and some more concealed (which of course is a perfect analogy of what all goes on in Griffith Park), in muted dream-like color.

M+B has two spaces a couple of blocks apart, so we wandered over to the other space to see “A Note to Self”, the exhibit of Milo Matthieu, a New York artist whose Haitian roots inspired his latest works. These are more abstract than his earlier works, but evocative in color and form. Some of the shapes may suggest certain objects or ideas, not literally but more like a Rorschach test, in an intriguing way. You can only describe them the way we talk about wine, by analogies to flavors suggested but not really present. In The Rebirth with a few green shoots growing out of bold reds, it has “notes” of a boat, a bird, and a wedge of citrus. In The Exchange, I’m comforted by the cool aqua, and I might be in a kitchen with a teapot on stove looking out a window toward a neighbor’s window. But then the teapot might be a boat, and there’s a palm tree in the kitchen. Not sure what it means, but I enjoyed contemplating it.

FILM: Asteroid City

Last weekend we had the pleasure of seeing Asteroid City. Filmmaker Wes Anderson has a distinctive style that you either love or you just scratch your head wondering what was that. Each of his films have their own unique sense of time, place, color, and mood, and yet each is unequivocally Anderson. Here we’re in the 1950s, in a southwest roadside rest stop of a town somewhere along some Route 66-like highway. The color palette is ripped from the tailfins of 1950s cars. Even the sky seems airbrushed turquoise. Jason Schwartzman plays a newly widowed man driving with his four young children to move in with their grandfather when their car breaks down in Asteroid City, a wide spot in the desert road where an asteroid landed years ago, and which hosts a sort of “space camp” for nerdy young kids, with nuclear test explosions going off occasionally in the distance. The whole place goes on military lockdown when an actual alien shows up to repossess the asteroid. For a normal movie, that might have required a spoiler alert, but in a Wes Anderson film, the plot is tentative at best, so there’s little to spoil. As usual, there’s a whole cast of familiar actors including Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Tilda Swinton, Steve Carrell, Edward Norton, Matt Dillon, Margot Robbie, Adrian Brody, Willem Dafoe, and even Jeff Goldblum makes a cameo as the alien. Everyone wants to have a part in Anderson’s fertile imagination. None of them act normally, but deliver their lines as if they’re all a little bit on the spectrum, unexpressive and unfiltered, like cartoon characters speaking their captions and their thought bubbles at the same volume. What they say is always deadpan, sometimes clever, and sometimes made me laugh out loud, as they move through a series of beautifully crafted scenes. Even emotional aspects are handled in a detached and unconventional way (like Jason Scharzman waiting three weeks to inform his children that their mother has died). It was quirky and odd, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, although I couldn’t for the life of me tell you why.

We had a special treat going to see the film in its first week. Landmark Theatres have taken over the Sunset Five cinema and not only done a very nice job renovating it, but they created a full premiere experience for this film including several of the actual sets and costumes in and around the lobby. They had also created special Asteroid City Instagram filters that we were invited to play with while waiting for the film to start. We sorely miss the Arclight, lost to the pandemic, which was a movie-lover’s dream theatre and used to do that sort of thing regularly. We’re delighted to see that Landmark seems to be stepping in to fill that void. Bravo!

STAGE: A Transparent Musical

A Transparent Musical, playing at the Mark Taper through June 25, bills itself as a “timely new musical that’s delightfully queer, unapologetically Jewish, and radically joyful.” I think we’d agree with all of that. It was a fitting part of celebrating Pride month. The story (based on characters from the Amazon Prime series “Transparent”, which we never saw) starts with a father summoning her three adult children to come out to them as transgender woman, and the family dynamics that ensue when she comes out publicly at the Jewish Community Center’s Purim spiel. The play really pops in the second act, when multiple characters reveal secret challenges, uncles are lost, nephews are found, and the ghost of Magnus Hirschfeld is summoned. (Hirschfeld was a German physician/researcher and pioneering advocate for sexual minorities in pre-WWII Germany.) Some uncomfortable parallels between Weimar Germany and our present are drawn, as the story takes some unexpected turns to a more joyful and hopeful end. I really appreciated the illumination of some of the transgender experience, like the songs “I’m Here, But Not In My Body” and “What’s In A Name?”  What really gave the play some great color and power was the array of actual trans and non-binary actors performing in both trans and cisgender roles. The Playbill was a panoply of pronouns and it gave the show an extra dimension that underscored its message. We were very happy to have caught this show before it ends.

FILM: Past Lives

Past Lives is a charming and beautiful film about childhood sweethearts who intermittently reconnect over very long gaps. Na Young / Nora is still a little girl when her family emigrates from Seoul to Toronto, and as an adult she moves on to New York. Hae Sung never forgets her, even as both he and she go on to find other partners. But their encounters are electric when they briefly reconnect twelve years later and twelve more years later. The whole film is a beautiful meditation on love and fate and life choices, and the Korean concept called “in yeon”, which is like a karmic ripple through reincarnations of chance encounters. And only the fate could have them reconnect at ages 12, 24, and 36 in sync with the Korean zodiac calendar. The chemistry between Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) is palpable, and the actors convey so much without words. The film is gorgeously written and directed by Celine Song, somehow fusing impressionism and realism, with cuts of close and long, faces and scenes, like stream of consciousness, letting awkward silences be pregnant and electricity flow. The theme, texture, and time element are reminiscent of Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy, but with an added element of shifting identities with immigration, having to leave things behind for the opportunity to gain new things. This is Song’s directorial debut. I’ll look forward to more from her.

BOOKS: Gender Queer: A Memoir

Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe was the most banned book of the 2021-2022 school year (per PEN America), which seemed to me a great reason to buy it and read it. All the more so because it is a great window into the experience of a non-binary person, something I’ve been eager to learn more about as we have more and more gender-nonconforming people in our lives. Kobabe (who uses the pronouns e/em/eir) is a talented graphic artist, and the book is a graphic memoir, presented in comic book style, so I couldn’t do this one on audio, I had to buy the physical book and read it the old-fashioned way. I found the graphic aspect quite an effective communication style, telling the story through illustrations, captions, dialog, and thought bubbles. Eir story was so interesting as e really struggled to figure out eir identity. (Yes, I had to type that sentence haltingly. This pronoun thing doesn’t come easily to anyone, including the author, who talks about struggling with it and messing up emself. But e also eloquently describes how e felt when eir pronouns weren’t respected, and how much it meant to em when they were.) E tried to find eir place as lesbian, trans, asexual, but nothing was quite right. I appreciate how eir experience was so different to mine, as a cisgender gay man. I started with similar feelings of alienation and not understanding where I fit in the world, but then I had a clear epiphany – I’m not this, I’m that! Kobabe knew e wasn’t “this”, but really struggled to figure out eir “that”. The book is a candid and direct depiction of eir experiences and feelings, told in a simple and accessible way that would be perfectly appropriate for a teenage reader (and incredibly valuable for one who was experiencing similar struggles). Eir story is much more emotional and social than physical, but does include some candid scenes of eir first menstruation, eir first pap smear, and eir first tentative sexual encounter, which is what the book banners will point to. I didn’t find those few parts to be the least bit prurient, erotic, or in any way inappropriate for a teenager. An 8th grader wouldn’t find anything here about sex or anatomy that they hadn’t already seen in health class, but they might learn much about empathy for the variety of human experience.

FILM: Of An Age

Of An Age is the second feature film from Macedonian-Australian writer-director Goran Stolevski, and won some acclaim at film festivals in Australia. It depicts a fleeting romantic encounter that leaves indelible marks on the two lives even 11 years later. I found it very reminiscent of Richard Linklater’s classic Before Sunset, not only in concept, but in its minimalist, live-stream feel. I’m sure that Stolevski must have seen the Before trilogy and thought to himself, I’ve got to make a gay version of that for a young Macedonian immigrant in Melbourne. The romance is a tantalizingly smoldering build, propelled by the strength of the actors’ performances and their chemistry. Will we see a sequel ten years later?

FILM: Close

The Belgian film Close is a vivid, tender, heartbreaking coming-of-age story of two best boyhood friends whose friendship is tested by the social crucible of starting middle school. It won the Grand Prix at Cannes, and is a contender for Best International Feature Film at the 2023 Oscars. While the coming-of-age genre is well-explored for adolescents and sexual awakening, there are far fewer “coming-of-a-younger-age” films that are presexual and innocent. My friend Alan compared it to Stand By Me, a similar story of childhood friendship at that age, young enough to be innocent, but powerful enough to mark you for life. (Perhaps we have to go back to 1986 to find something so comparable.) And he noted the likeness between Eden Dambrine, the young star of Close, and the young River Phoenix, in their captivating performances. The film is very cinematic, in that much of the story is shown rather than told, and Eden Dambrine’s talent to convey emotion wordlessly is breathtaking. So much just plays across his face as he is attending a concert, or running through a field, or lying in bed. It’s haunting. (Think of Timothée Chalamet looking into the fire at the end of Call Me By Your Name.) The underlying emotions are enhanced by the visually lush film. Scenes of harvesting flowers (the family business of one of the boys) harken paintings of Dutch masters but with impressionist colors.

FILM: A Man Called Otto

If you’re looking for a warm feel-good film, you’ll enjoy A Man Called Otto, in which Tom Hanks portrays a punctilious old curmudgeon whose sole satisfaction in life since his wife died is to patrol his neighborhood for HOA infractions. When a young immigrant family rents a house across the street, Otto’s life is turned around in ways he never expects. It’s apparently a remake of a 2015 Swedish film that I hadn’t known of. To me it was reminiscent of other fine films of the “crusty old man forms unexpected bond with new young neighbors” genre like St. Vincent (Bill Murray) and Gran Torino (Clint Eastwood), though each has its own unique twists. Here we gradually learn about Otto’s past and perhaps what has made him so grumpy. In a grace note of casting, the younger Otto in flashbacks is played by Truman Hanks, Tom’s real life son. Second week in a row we came out of the film smiling through damp eyes.

FILM: Living

In Living, Bill Nighy gives an exquisite performance as Mr. Williams, a dour elder manager in the 1950s British civil service who, when confronted with his own mortality, struggles to find meaning in his life. This is actually a remake of Ikura, an Akiro Kurosawa classic from 1962 but it transplants beautifully from Japanese culture to British with its constrictive social conventions and comic-pathetic depiction of “county hall” bureaucracy. No surprise given this beautifully written adaptation was by Japanese-British author Kazuo Ishiguro (The Remains of the Day, Never Let Me Go). We came out of this film smiling through damp eyes.

New Zealand Itinerary (Nov 2022)

We had a fantastic 18-day trip to New Zealand.

Day 1 - Arrive in Auckland

The 13-hour direct flight from LAX to Auckland was not as bad as expected. We left at 9pm, arrived at 6am, and slept on the flight, so weren't too out of synch. And in terms of "body clock" hours, New Zealand is a day ahead but only three hours earlier than California, so it's kind of the same as going to Hawaii. We pick up a rental car at the airport, and settle into the Cordis Hotel, a high-end business class hotel that will be our home for the next two nights (US$235/night). After getting settled, we wander down to the Sky Tower to familiarize ourselves with this city by surveying it from 700 feet up. From there, we wander down to Viaduct Harbor, the Commercial Business District, and to the charming Albert Park, before circling back to the harbor front for dinner.

Day 2 - Explore Waiheke Island

We had no set agenda for our first couple days in New Zealand, intentionally leaving things open to be as lazy or ambitious as we felt while we got adjusted to the timezone. We chose to take the ferry out to Waiheke Island and spend most of the day there, exploring Oneroa beach and the cute little town with some nice galleries, restaurants, and shops. We took the bus in to town, but did the 30-minute walk back through the Atawhai Whenua nature reserve, a lovely walk through fern-filled and bird-filled forest. The 40-minute ferry ride from Auckland to Waiheke is nice in itself to give you a good sense of Auckland Harbor and its several islands. Dinner we had booked ahead for Ahi, one of Auckland's top restaurants with lovely views over the Ferry Building.

Day 3 - Hobbiton en route to Rotorua

In the morning, on the way out of Auckland, we did the short walk up to Maungawhau Mt Eden, an ancient volcanic crater with lovely views over greater Auckland. We then headed to Hobbiton to spend an afternoon being utterly charmed by the Lord of the Rings movie set. Even the one in our group who didn't care a bit about LoTR was delighted by this magical fairy tale setting. From there we continued to Rotorua, where we would spend the next four nights at the Novotel Rotorua Lakeside, an excellent base for the area (US$229/night). We had a little time to wander up to the lakefront and walk a bit along the nice newly built walkways there. (Driving time: 2 hours from Auckland to Hobbiton, then another hour to Rotorua.)

Day 4 - Rotorua: Canopy Tour and Glow Worms

This packed day started with a morning walk over to Ohinemutu, a Māori settlement, where we checked out the Te Papaiouru marae (a Māori meeting house) with its intricate carvings, and the historic St Faith Church with its Māori interior craftwork. We also gawked at all the fumaroles, places where steam just comes up out of the ground or bubbles up in the water, in this geothermally active area. In the afternoon, we embarked on the Ultimate Canopy Tour, an amazing adventure exploring the forest canopy of a nature reserve by way of ziplines, suspension swing bridges, and catwalks. In the evening, we set out for a naturalist-led nocturnal glow worm tour forest walk.

Day 5 - Rotorua: Government Gardens and Maori Encounter

We took this as a low-key day, just wandered the town, did some souvenir shopping. We also wandered the Government Gardens, and admired the Rotorua Museum (currently closed for renovations) which is a splendid example of Elizabethan Revival architecture. In the evening, we attended Te Pā Tū a Māori cultural experience and feast.

Day 6 - Rotorua: Te Puia and Waimangu

In the morning, we headed to Te Puia for different Māori experience. We had a guided tour of the Māori natural reserve near Rotorua, which included watching the Pohutu geyser in one of its regular eruptions, visiting a kiwi conservation habitat (so cool to see these iconic birds in real life), and touring the institute of traditional M&amcr;ori crafts of wood carving, stone carving, and weaving. In the afternoon, it was raining but we drove around the nearby countryside to see the some of the geothermal features like Waimangu Volcanic Valley and the Orakei Korako Geothermal Park, and headed to Lake Taupō for dinner, taking in Huka Falls on the way.

Day 7 - Fly Rotorua to Christchurch

A noon flight from Rotorua to Christchurch allowed us a leisurely departure from the North Island and arrival in the South in plenty of time to get settled in our extraordinary hotel for the next three nights, The Observatory, a boutique hotel built into the historic neo-Gothic former campus of Canterbury College now repurposed as an arts centre, cinema, and wine bar. Like staying at Hogwarts, but with a modern interior makeover (US$185/night for basic room, $277 for suite). We had time in the afternoon for a stroll along the Avon River and a peek into the botanical gardens across the street, before heading to a tasting menu dinner at Inati.

Day 8 - Akaroa Day Trip (Dolphins and Penguins)

We drove out to the historic harbor town of Akaroa on the Banks peninsula, a beautiful scenic drive up, over, and into the ancient volcanic caldera that forms the harbor. In the afternoon we took a harbor cruise where we got to see the Hector's dolphins, an endangered species of dolphin endemic to this area. In the evening, we did a naturalist-led tour to see the Pohatu penguins on the sea, coming ashore, and in their nests. (The drive from Christchurch to Akaroa is about 90 minutes each way.)

Day 9 - Christchurch (Punting, Cathedrals)

We explored Christchurch, delving deeper into the amazing botanic gardens, checking out the Canterbury Museum, going punting on the Avon (an iconic Christchurch activity), lunching at the Riverside Markets, and visiting the reconstruction site of the classic Christchurch cathedral (destroyed in a 2011 earthquake) and the "transitional" cathedral built of cardboard and shipping containers that has temporarily replaced it.

Day 10 - Drive to Lake Tekapo

We drove from Christchurch to Lake Tekapo, with a lovely lunch stop at Barker's in Geraldine. Our home for the next couple of nights in this area was Hazel's House, a 4-bedroom, 2.5-bath rental home (US$186/night split across 2 couples). (This lake town is like a New Zealand version of Lake Arrowhead, not very many hotels, more rental homes catering to weekend vacationers from Christchurch as well as international travelers.) We had time to wander down by the vivid blue lake (the striking color is caused by "glacial dust" from the glacier runoff that feeds tha lake), to see the charming chapel and sheepdog statue, and the glorious profusion of lupines that were in bloom all around the lake. In the evening, we drove to Lake Pukaki (35 minutes) to the exclusive Mt Cook Lakeside Retreat where we enjoyed a very memorable dinner in a gorgeous setting.

Day 11 - Aoraki Mt Cook Air Safari and Glacier Tour

In the morning, we did the Grand Traverse with Air Safaris, an hour long aerial tour up and around the dramatic snow-covered mountain peaks of Aoraki Mt Cook National Park (the "southern Alps") and a good look at the Tasman and Franz Josef glaciers. In the afternoon, we drove up to Mt Cook Village and its historic Hermitage Hotel, where we took the Glacier Explorers tour combining a beautiful hike through alpine terrain to Tasman Lake, where a small pontoon boat took us out to see (and touch and taste) some icebergs and to get a good look at the Tasman Glacier. (Drive from Lake Tekapo to Mt Cook Village about 1:10 each way.)

Day 12 - Drive to Wanaka

In the morning, we drove out to the Omerama Clay Cliffs, a lovely hike amidst more profusions of lupine and other wild flowers to a striking clay rock formation. In Omarama, we had a lovely lunch at the Pink Glider Cafe, at the glider airport (a major site for glider planes). We then continued on to our next destination, Lake Wanaka, another beautiful lake in the foothills of the southern Alps, this one the gateway to Mount Aspiring National Park. We had time for a little walk along the lakeshore and to see the Instagram-famous #thatwanakatree before taking a lovely dinner at the Wineglass Cafe in the Edgewater Hotel. Our home for the night in Lake Wanaka was the , a motel on the outside (very convenient car parking in front of each room) with unexpectedly high-end furnishings on the inside (US$145/night). (Total drive time today was 2:20)

Day 13 - Drive to Te Anau

In the morning heading out of Lake Wanaka, we took a fascinating tour and tasting at The Cardrona Disillery who are just now bringing out their first aged batches of whisky in the finest Scottish tradition, along with excellent gin and vodka. We stopped for a well-recommended lunch at Provisions of Arrowtown and took some time to walk the main street of that charming town, before driving on to our next destination, Te Anau, the lakeside gateway to the Fiordlands. Our rooms for the next two nights were the Lakefront Lodge in the heart of Te Anau (US$171/night). We enjoyed an evening stroll along the shore of the beautiful lake, watching the birds and the boats, and a visit to the Te Anau Bird Sanctuary to see some rare endemic birds like the takahē. (Total drive time today was 2:50)

Day 14 - Milford Sound Piopiotahi

This day was devoted to driving out to the famous Milford Sound Piopiotahi, where we had booked a boat on Cruise Milford. Milford Sound is a stunning place, often compared to the Norwegian fjords, though the more familiar resemblance for me was Yosemite Valley (if it were half-filled with sea water). The drive from Te Anau is about two hours, but it is a spectacular drive in itself, mostly within Fiordland National Park, and you'll want to allow for stops to look at waterfalls and take short hikes in the magical beech forests. We got back in time for a very nice dinner at the Redcliff Cafe.

Day 15 - Kepler Track and Drive to Queenstown

In the morning, just outside of Te Anau, we stopped at the Rainbow Reach along the Waiau River, where we could sample a short bit of the famous Kepler Track (one of New Zealand's famous "great walks", multi-day hikes with huts along the way). The river and forest are beautiful, and you can see why this was one of the many Lord of the Rings film locations. From there, we made the 2-hour drive from Te Anau to Queenstown, much of that scenic along the vast Lake Wakatipu. We checked in to our lodgings for the next two nights, a splurge luxury 2-bedroom apartment at The Rees Hotel with a deck with breathtaking views over the lake and across to The Remarkables mountain range (US$293/couple/night). We enjoyed an extraordinary dinner in the hotel's True South dining room.

Day 16 - Explore Queenstown

We enjoyed a leisurely day exploring Queenstown, starting with the gondola ride up to the top of Bob's Peak, where we had spectacular views over Lake Wakatipu and the surrounding mountains, and we tried the luge course. From both above and below, we watched people parasailing off the top of the mountain and landing down in town, but we weren't quite brave enough to try it ourselves. For dinner, we shared the famous roast lamb at Pedro's By The Lake.

Day 17 - Queenstown Bonus Day

We had time before our late afternoon flight home, so in the morning we took a scenic (if rainy) drive up the lake to Glenorchy, before returning to Queenstown to see why people waited in such long lines for Fergburger (they are good!), and then packing up and heading to the airport. Alas, we discovered at the airport that our Queenstown-Auckland leg was canceled, and Air New Zealand had rebooked us to fly home on the same flights the next day. They very graciously put us up for another night at the Sofitel Queenstown, right in the heart of town. Once resettled, we spent the rest of that day wandering through the expansive and beautiful Queenstown Gardens, and enjoying our "bonus day".

Day 18 - Fly Home

We once again had time before we had to get to the airport, so we walked over the Kiwi Park bird sanctuary, where we got to see not only the iconic kiwis, but a number of other endemic birds and reptiles, including the fascinating tuatara. This time our flights did come off as planned, and we had smooth flights from Queenstown to Auckland (1:45 flight time) and then Auckland direct home to LAX (12 hours).

Notes on the itinerary

Overall, we were extremely happy with this itinerary. We'd recommend all of the hotels and experiences. None of the driving times were onerous. November (late spring in NZ) was a good time, not quite the busy summer season, flowers in bloom, and lots of baby lambs and birdlings. Pro tip: Since we arrived in Auckland at 6am, we intentionally booked the hotel for the previous night just so we could arrive early in the morning and have immediate access to our room, rather than having to wait until the afternoon to check in. That's a trade-off of cost for comfort that we've made before for early arrivals, and never regretted it. A nap if you need it and a hot shower makes that arrival so much better.

Regrets and Things We Might Do Differently

No regrets, this worked out great. Things I'd do different would just be extensions: would have loved to have got down to Tongariro National Park for a night or two in the Chateau Tongariro and hiking in the park's dramatic volcanoes (this would be a spur trip out of Rotorua). Could have spent another night in Lake Wanaka, getting into Mount Aspiring National Park and Rob Roy Glacier. Wouldn't have minded another night in Te Anau to explore that lovely area. And we missed getting to see the Dark Sky Project in Lake Tekapo because we were there on the days it was closed (though it wouldn't have mattered because it was cloudy). Weather note: it will rain at some point during your trip, so pack accordingly, be willing to do stuff anyway if it's not raining too hard, and just be flexible in your plans.

Notes on Cost

The total cost of this trip was about $9600 per couple (two couples traveling together, including coach airfare out of LAX), including about $1500/person airfare, $4000/couple on lodging (average room cost $240/night for mostly higher end hotels), $2460 for rental cars and gas (we rented oversize 7-passenger vehicles to accommodate 4 people with large luggage), and $1400/couple for "experiences" (ziplining, boat cruises, etc). Not included in that was $2100/couple for food, about $115/day. Prices for everything were much lower than at home. The NZ$ was about US$0.60, and posted prices looked pretty normal, so it's like everything was on sale 40% off. We dined at some very high-end restaurants, and even those were about $100/person all in. (Note that in New Zealand, tipping is not a thing. They pay their staff a living wage and don't expect tips.)

FILM: Everything Everywhere All At Once

Everything Everywhere All At Once was fun, funny, and heartfelt. From the trailer, the film looks like some strange mix of The Matrix and Kung Fu Panda, not the sort of thing we’d usually go for, but from reading some reviews (and seeing that this got really high scores on both critic and popular ratings), we decided to give it a try. It turns out that it’s really a mix of The Matrix, Kung Fu Panda, and It’s A Wonderful Life, and if you can’t imagine what that creative blend would be like, that just attests to the unique creativity of this film. On one level, it’s a story about an immigrant family with a small business struggling to make ends meet, and questioning some of their life choices. On another level, it raises questions about how humanity can rise above the nihilism that ought to be inherent in contemplating what a small speck in a vast universe we are. And on another level, it’s the story of an overburdened laundromat owner (Michelle Yeoh) as being the unlikely superhero the multiverse needs to counter the ultimate evil in the form of an everything bagel, while avoiding the menace of an IRS tax auditor (hilariously portrayed by Jamie Lee Curtis). I'm glad that we made the choice (at least in this universe) to see it.

FILM: Cyrano

Friday afternoon movie - we both really enjoyed Cyrano, which just opened this weekend, with Peter Dinklage in the title role. We'd heard a less than lukewarm review of it on NPR, so went in with lowered expectations, but just looking for a little escape and romance. We were delighted and transported. Dinklage, as any Game of Thrones fan knows, is capable of greatness, and he is superb in this role - charming, full of panache, and so passionate. Haley Bennett as Roxanne is every bit his match, and Kelvin Harrison Jr is a sweet Christian to complete this triangle. The costuming and cinematography is absolutely gorgeous (filmed in Sicily, which we recognized from our recent trip), making it a feast for the eyes as the story works your heart and tears. The songs and the singing were lovely and moving. Bennett has a beautiful voice, and while Dinklage certainly doesn't have a Broadway voice, he definitely wasn't Pierce Brosnan either, and the authenticity of his voice didn't offend my ear. Definitely recommend.

FILM: The Power of the Dog

Last night we watched The Power of the Dog, which has a lot of Oscar hype. It did indeed have some great performances, fine direction (Jane Campion), gorgeous cinematography, and an excellent score. The film is set in Montana 1923, following two brothers who run a prosperous cattle ranch, one of whom, George (an understated performance by Jesse Plemons), marries a widow with a young adult son. The single brother, Phil (exquisitely performed by Benedict Cumberbatch), is a study in repression and tortured masculinity, with strong ideas of what it means to be a man, and an ever-present reverence for a long-gone mentor named Bronco Henry (visually represented by Henry’s empty saddle). Phil is intimidating to George’s new wife Rose (evocatively portrayed by Kirsten Dunst) and to her effeminate son Peter, and drives Rose to drink. The film follows this character tension amidst beautiful scenes of cowboy / ranch life in the very photogenic Montana hills. It’s a shame we saw this at home, as it really deserves the big screen. It is vividly filmed, and you almost feel the wind, taste the dust, and smell the cattle. The time, place, and feel are reminiscent of Brokeback Mountain (and geographically these characters could well have run into Jack and Ennis), but there’s little romance to be found here. If you were looking for an action-packed western, this is not your film, but if you appreciate tight character studies, this is more that. As far as action, relatively little actually happens in this slow-developing story, which is carried by the great performances, beautiful scenery, and score. To be honest, even three-quarters of the way through, I could have easily turned it off. And yet I am glad that I stuck with it to the unexpected end, and it stayed with me, making me think about it.