Saturday, March 21, 2015
Weekend Discussion and Writing Assignment for the Brave; to be continued next week
Since
most of us are tired of remakes but the networks keep doing them,
let's give our networks something to really think
about. Continued from last week.
Labels: weekend
Friday, March 06, 2015
Weekend Discussion: Karmageddon Awaits on Mi Corazón es Tuyo
OK,
amigos, the finale will air on 3/27 and we have work to do! Our
moral and mortal minds need to decide what is going to happen to the
villains of our modern fairy tale. Since this is not standard
(melo)drama, part of this will be a challenge. Rap sheets are updated as of Capitulo 161.
As usual, we have two
decisions to make:
- What would you want to see happen to these villains and
- What do you think the writers will do to them?
Labels: Karmageddon, mcet, weekend
Sunday, March 01, 2015
Weekend Discussion: Premios TVyNovelas 2015
I have to admit due to my tech issues I haven't seen most of these and there were two I bailed on during the first week, one of which has me scratching my head. What are your picks this year?
Read more »
Labels: telenovelas, weekend
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Weekend Discussion: Music
What music do you love? Are you into classical, jazz, Latin, World, etc? Do you go to live performances or do you just listen online or to recordings?
Enquiring minds want to know.
Labels: weekend
Friday, January 30, 2015
Weekend Discussion: Videos for those who aren't into football
If you aren't into football and don't care who wins the Super Bowl, here are some excellent items to choose from for weekend viewing. Open a bottle of your favorite wine, get some nice cheese, crusty bread, and fresh fruit and enjoy the finest drama -- or comedy -- to be found online.
Read more »
Read more »
Labels: weekend
Friday, January 23, 2015
Weekend Discussion: Cross-Cultural Infusions and the Future
Still working on the photo gallery, but a new topic emerged yesterday in the midst of discussing the Christmas episodes of Mi Corazon es Tuyo. It's been going on since the age of cinema and picked up speed after the emergence of television. How much faster is this happening now?
Read more »
Saturday, January 17, 2015
Weekend Discussion: Food for the "Big Game"
It's off-topic, but I've been a little too busy lately to compile the photos I want for the next gallery.
Who is hosting or contributing to a Super Bowl party? I'm attending one for the first time and hope that my pasta and veggie and my bean salads will go over well. They were always a hit on St Patrick's Day.
What will you all be up to on Feb 1?
Labels: weekend
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Weekend Discussion: Photo Gallery; Family Album, Volume 1
Don't you just love it when casting directors get it right? I love how novela producers often match up actors who look like they could share DNA as family members. This can't pretend to be a whole archive, but merely a first installment.
Read more »
Labels: Fuego, malquerida, robo, telemundo, telenovelas, triunfo, weekend
Friday, December 12, 2014
Weekend Discussion: 2014 Novela Faves
What are some of the 2014 faves of my Caray Mates? Some things like Lo Que La Vida Me Robo or Que Pobres Tan Ricos may come to mind. I will remind you guys about Mentir Para Vivir before it frayed haywire for the last few capitulos. My favorites were Por Siempre Mi Amor, De Que Te Quiero, Te Quiero, Quiero Amarte so far, Amorcito Corazon, Pasion and Las Vias del Amor during their repeticiones.
Labels: telenovelas, weekend
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Weekend Discussion: Black Friday and Retail Creep
By now most of us will have eaten our turkey, stuffing, etc., and are thinking about the next episodes of our favorite series or hanging with family or friends. How many of you are heading out to shop tonight?
About ten years ago when the early morning madness started a friend commented "In a few years we'll all be finishing our pumpkin pie and heading to the mall." And this year Target opened at 6PM and Walmart at 5. None of us at that table shops on Black Friday; I personally vowed ages ago to finish my holiday shopping before that and haven't broken that promise to myself. Anything purchased after that date is bought online.
This article sums up how I feel about this.
BTW, according to Wikipedia's article on this subject, Latin American also observes it.
Your thoughts, por favor!
Labels: weekend
Saturday, November 08, 2014
Weekend Discussion: Do Things In Novelas Change Your Life?
Has your taste changed in anything since you became a regular novela viewer? Did you find you love Latin music, did you want to try more Latin foods? Do you think nothing of shopping in the international aisle of your supermarket? Are La Costena and Goya products on your shelves or your shopping list?
Do you treat your family or friends differently? Do you dress differently?
Enquiring minds want to know!
Labels: telenovelas, weekend
Friday, October 10, 2014
Weekend Discussion: Past vs Present Telenovela Conventions: What's the best combination?
What would you rather see again vs what's happening now? What do you miss about novelas of 20 years ago?
Let's not get into discussions about series length; we have done that to death.
I personally would prefer scenes to be longer. Sometimes when watching novelas now I get whiplash from the quick scene changes after two or three lines of dialogue. It gives the illusion of more action happening when in reality no more information is communicated in that episode than in an episode shot 20 years ago.
Let's have fewer situations about pregnancy entrapment or at least demonstrate that it mostly doesn't work, We have all witnessed at least one example of this in real life and all know that the consequences aren't pretty. The Isabelas of this world don't usually get what they want.
Force producers to make up their minds about the period of the story. It really annoys me when they can't make up their minds and we have no idea whether it's 1950 or 2010.
Add yours, my friends.
Labels: telenovelas, weekend
Saturday, October 04, 2014
Weekend Discussion: Sob Stories and Snob Stories
The snobbery expressed in telenovelas reminds me of a lot of things I've witnessed in life. I've previously explained some of them, but the baby gift incident in Mi Corazon es Tuyo last night made me remember the following story:
My college buddy recently became a grandfather for the first time (I think he's freaking out about it). I remember when his older daughter was born his now-ex bought her a Laura Ashley nightgown in a thrift shop for $3. It looked absolutely brand new; I'm sure its previous owner barely wore it a handful of times before outgrowing it. She showed it to me and another woman and we commended her on her practicality (which in this case she had learned with their firstborn). She begged us not to tell her husband, who had an issue with thrift shopping. This is the same man who wouldn't have made it to the IBM boardroom for not having attended an Ivy League university.
For a while they drove leased cars (Lexus and Mercedes) until they couldn't afford to continue to do so. It was all downhill from there and he is still recovering. Much of that was her fault 20 years ago but I won't bore you with the details. Interestingly she came from a family with a lot of reverse snobbery.
Tell your tales, amigos, and you can change the names to protect the guilty.
My college buddy recently became a grandfather for the first time (I think he's freaking out about it). I remember when his older daughter was born his now-ex bought her a Laura Ashley nightgown in a thrift shop for $3. It looked absolutely brand new; I'm sure its previous owner barely wore it a handful of times before outgrowing it. She showed it to me and another woman and we commended her on her practicality (which in this case she had learned with their firstborn). She begged us not to tell her husband, who had an issue with thrift shopping. This is the same man who wouldn't have made it to the IBM boardroom for not having attended an Ivy League university.
For a while they drove leased cars (Lexus and Mercedes) until they couldn't afford to continue to do so. It was all downhill from there and he is still recovering. Much of that was her fault 20 years ago but I won't bore you with the details. Interestingly she came from a family with a lot of reverse snobbery.
Tell your tales, amigos, and you can change the names to protect the guilty.
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Weekend Discussion: The Galans of Opera
I'm always comparing telenovelas and opera and they have more in common every day. And there are tons of great videos online to prove it.
It is no longer necessary just to be able to sing well; opera stars are now expected to be good actors and also to be hot. Today I will present a line-up of tenors. If there is adequate response, I'll do a sequel featuring baritones and basses.
Read more »
It is no longer necessary just to be able to sing well; opera stars are now expected to be good actors and also to be hot. Today I will present a line-up of tenors. If there is adequate response, I'll do a sequel featuring baritones and basses.
Read more »
Labels: weekend
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Weekend Discussion: Taboos
Telenovelas have been breaking a few taboos in recent times and the comments in this blog indicate that people's buttons are being pushed by some of these. What does it for you? What would you rather see?
Labels: telenovelas, weekend
Saturday, September 06, 2014
Weekend Discussion: What Are Novelas Teaching Viewers?
Some recent discussions are provoking this question. What are viewers learning from novelas and what are they meant to learn instead?
La Malquerida is treading into some dangerous territory regarding misogyny and incest, La Gata is perhaps more heavily into class-consciousness than any of the others, and Mi Corazon es Tuyo shows us a large family about to explode over a marriage contracted for the wrong reasons which will have a domino effect on everyone in the entire household. Since that series is popular in Mexico we can anticipate a long period during which a wicked stepmother will reign supreme over a previously controlling (but loving) father. Nothing new, but this will be the largest-scale example to date.
What effect do you think this has and what should be instead? Sound off, amigos.
La Malquerida is treading into some dangerous territory regarding misogyny and incest, La Gata is perhaps more heavily into class-consciousness than any of the others, and Mi Corazon es Tuyo shows us a large family about to explode over a marriage contracted for the wrong reasons which will have a domino effect on everyone in the entire household. Since that series is popular in Mexico we can anticipate a long period during which a wicked stepmother will reign supreme over a previously controlling (but loving) father. Nothing new, but this will be the largest-scale example to date.
What effect do you think this has and what should be instead? Sound off, amigos.
Labels: gata, malquerida, mcet, telenovelas, weekend
Friday, August 22, 2014
Weekend Discussion: To the Manor Born -- How Much Does That Really Matter?
The class distinction that happens in telenovelas obviously fuels more than a couple of plot points per series. In the Americas there are no titles like those in Europe such as Sir or Dame for KBEs; Baron, Count, etc., in other countries, and there are equivalents in the Middle East. Here in the Americas it's usually about money or where you went to school.
In all our stories these things are used by those who choose to ignore that all human beings are the same in all important things. But so do people do this in life and it extends beyond how much gold is in your parents' coffers when you're born.
A college buddy of mine worked for a major global corporation for a number of years. He was smarter and more articulate than many of his colleagues. However, he didn't attend an Ivy League university and isn't a WASP; he's a first-generation American of Irish Catholic parents. That alone was going to keep him out of the board room. He didn't care about that once he got to the advertising department of his company where creativity was valued.
Do you think this is outdated or have you witnessed this in your own lives? Have you beaten it on occasion?
Be articulate, amigos.
Labels: weekend
Friday, August 01, 2014
Weekend Discussion: Ultimos Capitulos and What Drives Us Loco Now
Getting
the Right Balance
I
had a thought just as I got up yesterday morning about how in past
Ultimas Semanas discussions people have ranted about how ridiculous
it was to finish off all the villains in the last two or three
episodes. I agree, but now that we have a series where it's
happening across the last three weeks it feels like the pain is just
drawn out, like a prolonged attack of sciatica.
The
explanation for this phenomenon seems all about the writers' need to
maintain a high level of suspense to keep viewers tuned in. We know
that's because cost-cutting is creating longer and fewer series to
make up the standard number of original hours. Nothing about that is
going to change anytime soon, so we need to stop complaining about
it.
In
view of this situation I think it's time that the writers give
themselves a reality check on two things:
Labels: robo, siempre, telenovelas, weekend
Friday, July 25, 2014
Weekend Discussion: Novela Genres; What is your preference?
Some people seem to be bailing out on Lo Que la Vida Me Robo because of the turn the story has taken. As long as Televisa (and other production companies) are in cost-cutting mode we can expect story extensions that do things like this one. I certainly will agree that doing this to a series that begins as a comedy without an advance set-up (such as we are probably getting in Mi Corazon es Tuyo) is completely wrong, but when novelas depend on suspense, we need to deal. I'd much rather have this than filler scenes that just attempt to inflate the original story.
Personally, I'd like to see more mystery-oriented novelas if we're looking for more male or younger viewers. The gratuitous violence and gore in narco stories is something I find as unappealing as the glorification of their lifestyles.
I mourn the absence of a good novela de epoca, but I guess the networks think they're too expensive a risk against the bleeding of younger and male viewers. Que lastima.
Be verbose, my friends.
Labels: mcet, robo, telenovelas, weekend
Friday, July 11, 2014
Weekend Discussion: Karmageddon in Aguazul (Lo Que la Vida Me Robo)
It's
that time again, amigos! Although this is a little early, the number
of bad guys in this tale is such that we already see the villains
turning on each other. Let's cut loose now and dish about what
should happen to the evil ones in our story. As previously, we
should think about it both ways:
- What do you think the writers will do to them?
- What do you think should happen to them?
Let's start with their queen and work our way down:
Labels: Karmageddon, robo, weekend
© Caray, Caray! 2006-2022. Duplication of this material for use on any other site is strictly prohibited.
