Late yesterday afternoon (Tues) we set out from Santa Olaya for a day of film viewing. First on our list was a 5:45pm showing of Quentin Tarantino's latest, Once Upon a Time in ... Hollywood. Screening now at the old-school movie house CINE METRO in Santurce the film is presented on their 40 x 100 foot screen in an old-fashioned large auditorium with cushioned reclining seats.
This scene from early in Once Upon a Time in ... Hollywood shows actor Rick (Leonardo DiCaprio), Rick's stunt double Cliff (Brad Pitt) and film producer Marvin (Al Pacino) taking a meeting at the old Hollywood restaurant Musso & Frank. (photo: Andrew Cooper/Columbia Pictures)
Our one word review of Tarentino's Once Upon a Time in ... Hollywood (which clocks in at 2 hours and 40 minutes) : FLAWLESS.
The second film our our self-styled double bill was showing further down avenue Ponce de Leon at the Fine Arts Miramar cinema as part of the Festival de Cine Internacional de San Juan. Scheduled at 9:15pm, Long Day's Journey into Night by Chinese director Gan Bi, is not based on the Eugene ONeill's play, but as the Chinese title (Di qui zui hou de ye wan / translation: Last Evenings on Earth) suggests, it is based on the novel of the same name by Roberto Bolaño.
We were attracted to this film by one line in the written preview blurb: "notable for the final 59 minutes of its 2 hour and 17 minutes running time, which consists of one unbroken long take shot in 3D". Unfortunately we were not provided with 3D glasses for this viewing, although they would not have helped us as we both lack natural 3D vision.
In a word, critics have called this film: MESMERIZING.
Our take on this Long Day's Journey into Night : endlessly beautiful.
Total viewing time for the day (not including snack break): 4 hours 57 minutes. By the time we got back to Santa Olaya it was 1:23 am on Wednesday.
Lillian Mulero & Jan Galligan
Santa Olaya, PR
photo by: German Roque