A long weekend tends to throw me off – in that – the confusion of having that extra day to do whatever, makes it very difficult the day after to continue the norm. But here we are, and there’s lots to talk about this week.

As I said here, that I planned to watch ROMA last night, which I did and I have to first say, the film won two Golden Globe awards out of three a few weeks ago

and is up for a few Oscar nominations – coming our way February 24, 2019:

The movie is over two hours long and filmed in black and white to perfectly depict the period the events took place (1970-71). With much detail, Cuarón chronicles the day-to-day life of a maid living with a middle-class family in Roma, Mexico.  Although, the family has its own set of troubles, and the country is in the middle of a revolution about the gaps between those living in the slums and those that are wealthy, the main focus is the maid and her heart-wrenching story. The key to the buzz, is that director Alfonso Cuarón relied upon his childhood realities to create such a powerful tale.

The sad bit was, that at times, it felt that there was no end to the story – which unfortunately is something all of us moviegoers want, whether happy or sad, the end should result perfectly paced. With ROMA, be prepared to sit through lengthy scenes panned from right to left, then left to right, and conversations perhaps a little difficult to hear and dangling scenes. So the best way to appreciate the film is to first read up about the background, or why Cuarón chose to make the film the way he did, perhaps even read up on Mexico’s history in 1971, and then set aside 2+ hours uninterrupted to really focus so that you can get the most out of experiencing such a unique, near documentary-style film.

I do recommend the film. Best performance in the film, Yalitza Aparicio as maid Cleo