U.S. Trip: San Francisco - Day 2.

For the second day, I spent the whole day with my good friend, Yini, whom I met while I was working at Walt Disney World. She was accompanied by her boyfriend, Mario - a deputy at the San Ramon Police Department, and we first set out for JapanTown.

JapanTown itself was impressive, filled with authentic Japanese restaurants, bars, stores, etc. It was as though I was stepping into a little city, and being an admirer of Japanese culture from afar, it was the ideal place for me to experience Japanese culture that I would experience back at home.

After our fun in JapanTown, we made our way down to the Marina District of San Francisco. There we explored the beach and the Palace of Fine Arts.

For those who are not familiar, the Palace of Fine Arts is a monumental structure originally constructed for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in order to exhibit works of art presented there. One of only a few surviving structures from the Exposition, it is still situated on its original site. It was rebuilt in 1965, and renovation of the lagoon, walkways, and a seismic retrofit were completed in early 2009. In addition to hosting art exhibitions, it remains a popular attraction for tourists and locals and is a favorite location for weddings and wedding party photographs for couples throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

When we were done with the palace, unfortunately due to time and San Francisco's atrocious traffic flow, Yini and Mario had to return home and so they dropped me off back to my hostel at 5pm. Though our time was short and scarce, I was happy to see a familiar face and have her take me around.

See Day 3 at http://ss-film.blogspot.ca/2016/11/us-trip-san-francisco-day-3.html

U.S. Trip: San Francisco - Day 1.

I started off my time in San Francisco by not touring around the city itself. Rather I started off by venturing into the student city of Berkeley and its campus. I was accompanied by two ladies whom I met at the hostel was staying in, Ellen and Valentina. 

Ellen was from Holland, and was making her North American trip for the first time. So we pretty much become fast friends due to being on the same page in terms of travelling in the U.S. But I made my start in San Fran, where as she had already made way around the country, which included New York, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. 

Valentina, Chilean, was had been in San Fran for a little while. Interestingly, she had partly financed her trip and had managed to secure he hostel due to her job at a weed farm. Yes, she and most of the occupants at the hostel had jobs on weed farms and largely practiced smoking weed at the hostel. However, Valentina was a nice girl whom never gave the impression of having a job such as hers. She behaved as if she was a normal person with a totally normal job.

So if you are visiting the city and would to stay at a place where weed is encouraged enormously, then the appropriately titled Amsterdam Hostel is the place for you. If otherwise, I would advise looking for somewhere else.

So Ellen, Valentina and I spent the whole day roaming around the student city and its campus. The campus itself was a student's dream town. A hipster town with discounted student restaurants, bars and stores as far as the eye can see. The thought that ran through my mind was that I would enjoy the town if I were a student there. All three of us enjoyed the scenery that lay all around us.

See Day 2 at http://ss-film.blogspot.ca/2016/11/us-trip-san-francisco-day-2.html

Series Review: "From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series" (2014-16).

From director Robert Rodriguez comes From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series. This horror television series developed by Rodriguez. It forms part of the franchise. Bank-robbing brothers encounter vengeful lawmen and demons south of the border in this original series based on Rodriguez's cult horror film.

The series is the first scripted original series on Rodriguez's El Rey network. Rodriguez, who also directed the pilot and other episodes, stated the original film is "one of the favorite movies that I did in the past with Quentin Tarantino and one that people still ask us about today." He added, "There was so much I wanted to explore in that movie that I didn't get to. And I delved a little deeper into Mesoamerican mythologies and Aztec and Mayan mythologies and where a vampire culture could have existed back then and found fascinating stuff." The series expands on the chronicles of the Gecko Brothers, Seth and Richie; The Fuller family; and Santanico Pandemonium. The series adds to the tone of the film, with new characters and backstories, while expanding the snake creatures' Mesoamerican mythology. The series also references the Popol Vuh, drawing on its rich, mythological history and, in particular, on the legend of the Hero Twins Hunahpú and Xbalanqué to add greater depth to the backstories and to fully flush out the characters of the show's protagonists, the Gecko Brothers, Seth and Richie. The series premiered on March 11, 2014, on Rodriguez's newly launched El Rey Network. Outside the United States and Latin America, the series is marketed as a Netflix original. In late October 2015, it was renewed for a third season. While the series is currently unconfirmed as cancelled, Deadline Hollywood reported that the actors were released from their contracts as of October 31, 2016.

The series stars D. J. Cotrona, Zane Holtz, Eiza González, Madison Davenport, Brandon Soo Hoo, Robert Patrick, Wilmer Valderrama, Jake Busey, Esai Morales, Danny Trejo, Don Johnson, Demi Lovato, Jeff Fahey, Emily Rios, Ana de la Reguera, Tom Savini, Joanna Going, James Remar, William Sadler, Adrianne Palicki, Jesse Borrego, Gary Busey, Natalie Martinez, Robert Knepper, and Geno Segers. Despite a talented cast, the show doesn't it feature any stars as magnetic as George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Selma Hayek, Harvey Keitel, and Tom Savini.

The show's allure is not in the familiar premise, but in the promise of things beyond the edges of Rodriguez's vision - and a reminder that while film reboots may have limited tools to work with, serialized television is another matter entirely. Each season offered plenty of spectacle and a mix of the familiar of what fans love with the new flavour of the transformed situation, and overall it was a successful offering. The show is indeed binge-worthy, delivering horror thrills, surprising plot twists, and hours of epic storytelling that cement the show as the jewel in El Rey's crown. From the word go, the show pulls no punches. However, it lacks the original film's weirdo imagination and textured scruffiness.

Simon says From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series receives:

Also, see my review for Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.