Eye for detail

Continuing my efforts with the Year With My Camera homework, and it's flower Friday, so here's a daisy in my habitual style. As opposed to Arachne-style daisies. Extra: a poppy.

Yesterday evening, we went to see Pedro Almodóvar's new film, Julieta. Perhaps surprisingly it's (very loosely) based on a trio of Alice Munro stories. If you haven't seen any Almodóvar recently, it might sound incongruous, but this is in the line of his gentle, sentimental films like Volver, All About My Mother and Talk to Her. Also surprising is the absence of any of his habitual actresses, except for a bit-part from a barely recognisable Rossy de Palma -- afterwards I suggested she had a contract for this film stipulating that she would never be filmed in profile, showing off her glorious nose, because she was always (poker) face-on to the camera. Wonderfully witchy though! Pedro did stick to some of his recent tropes -- comas, morgues, and hospitals all featured.

Anyway, the film wasn't bad, and certainly better than the dreadful airplane farce that was his last effort, but you'd expect better from a master like Almodóvar. It was a bit sentimental, and the twist in the middle, after the argument between Julieta and Xoan, was utterly predictable. Music throughout was uncharacteristic dreamy strings, and I thought we weren't going to get any trademark kitsch songs -- until the credits rolled when we got a massive helping of treacly Si no te vas. Delicious!