A Retired Teacher in Mexico City

Wednesday, March 11, 2026

Two Movies

Over the past couple of weeks, we have seen two movies. One of them I liked, the other I detested.

First, the film that I liked... "Nuremberg"

Ever since the movie premiered in the U.S. last December, I had wanted to see it. At that time, the talk was that Russell Crowe was a shoe-in for an Academy Award. (As it turned out, he did not even get a nomination, although I think that he was worthy of one.) I have no idea why it did not appear in the movie theaters here until a couple weeks ago. Usually films from the U.S. premiere in Mexico at about the same time.

The movie is a sold historical film, although not as good as the award-winning "Judgement at Nuremberg" from 1961. The plot centers around an army psychiatrist (Rami Malek) who is assigned to ascertain whether or not the Nazi war criminals, including Hermann Goering (Russell Crowe), are mentally fit to stand trial. The performances were excellent, especially Crowe, who learned to speak what to my ear seemed to be flawless German.

Now the movie which we both hated... "If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You"

The film centers around a therapist, wife and mother whose life is falling apart. Her husband is away at work, and she must deal with a myriad of problems on her own. Her daughter has an unspecified disorder that requires that she be fed through a tube in her stomach. The ceiling of their apartment collapses, and she and her daughter must move into a shabby motel. She turns to alcohol and drugs as an escape. The character does not earn the viewers' sympathy. She is simply too shrill, angry and argumentative.

For some reason the critics raved about this movie, but we just wanted it to be over. One movie goer, however, wrote a review on the internet which encapsulated our feelings perfectly... "too much strife, too much stress, too much shouting, too much whining..."

Sitting through the nearly two hours of the film was torture. We thought that it was the worst movie that we had seen in a long time!

Tuesday, March 10, 2026

Hummingbird Door

I had been thinking about buying some sort of decoration to have on the door of the apartment when it's not the Day of the Dead or Christmas season. On Monday I was at Alejandro's family's house. I had a dentist appointment that evening, and I was walking the few blocks to her office. I passed a store which sells decorative items, and at the entrance was a beautiful metal wreath decorated with flowers and hummingbirds. It looked as if it would be too big for my door. On my way back, I went into the shop to see if that had any similar items in a smaller size. They did indeed. They had a number of decorations, all by the same Mexican artisan, all with a hummingbird motive.

I decided upon this one which is now hanging on my door.

The metal framework is shaped like a hummingbird, and it has hand-painted figures of flowers and smaller hummingbirds made of resin.

It will be on the door until October when I start to decorate for Day of the Dead.

Late Bloomer, Repeat Bloomer

Easter is on its way, but my poinsettia plant is now in full bloom.

Back when I lived in Ohio, I tried several times to keep my Christmas poinsettias and get them to bloom the following winter. They tell you that the plant needs absolute darkness for 12 hours starting in the autumn. I would faithfully put my poinsettia in a closet for the allotted hours, but my efforts were rewarded with only a few small red leaves.

My first Christmas after the move to Mexico, I bought a poinsettia. After it was done blooming, I cut it back and let it sprout new foliage. In the fall I put it in the guest bedroom, but I was not good about closing the blinds or shutting the door each night. Even though it did not get total darkness, by February it had some nice blooms.

This past fall, I did not even bother to give it total darkness. Christmas is long past, but I think that the late blossoms are the best I have ever had!

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I have also written frequently about my attempts to get my orchid to bloom. I bought the plant at Home Depot, and the flowers were beautiful. But then, for over a year, I could not get it to rebloom. July of last year, I took the plant to a nursery, and had a professional repot it. He said that I had been over-watering it. He cut away some rotten roots, and planted it in bark with a time-release fertilizer. He told me to give it no more than one cup of water per week.

In August, just a month after repotting, a flower stalk had sprouted, and by October my orchid was in full-bloom The flowers lasted until January.

A few days ago, I was looking at my orchid. I wondered whether the time-released fertilizer was spent, and if, now that winter has passed, I should begin fertilizing it. I noticed that at its core, a new leaf was emerging. And then, much to my surprise, I saw that a new flower stalk had sprouted.

Only a couple of months have passed since the previous blossoms had fallen, and my orchid is preparing to bloom once again!

Monday, March 9, 2026

TV Watching

When I learned that Alejandro has a subscription to HBO, I found a series that I had wanted to watch... "The Gilded Age". It's already on its third season, but back in Ohio I never had HBO.

(image taken from the internet)

The series takes place in New York City in the late 19th century... an era of rapid industrial growth in the United States when the "robber barons" amassed enormous fortunes. The focus is on two fictitious families... the van Rhijn family, "old money" that traced their ancestry back to the Dutch colonists of New Amsterdam, and the Russells, a "new money" family loosely based on the Vanderbilts. There was great rivalry between the "old money" and the "new", and much of the story revolves around Mrs. Russell's attempts to be accepted in New York society. There are also story lines dealing with the "downstairs" servants of both households, as well as Peggy, a young African-American women trying to establish a career as a journalist and novelist. Numerous historical characters pop in and out, such as Clara Barton and President Chester Arthur. Mrs. Astor, who was the arbiter of whom was accepted into the top level of New York society, is a frequent character.

The series was created and written by Julian Fellowes, the producer who brought us the popular "Downton Abbey" series and movies, and it bears many resemblances to the British series. Both of them are "soap operas" disguised as costume dramas. However, they are very high quality "soap operas". I do think that "Downton" is the better of the two. What attracts me to "The Gilded Age" are the performances of two actresses that I like very much... Christine Baranski and Cynthia Nixon. Baranski plays the widowed Agnes von Rhijn, and Nixon is her meek, spinster sister Ada. Barnaski's role could be compared to Maggie Smith's role as the Dowager Countess. She is a snob who looks down her nose at those flashy "nouveau riche", especially her neighbors, the Russells. But just like the Dowager Countess, Agnes has a good-hearted side as well.

I am hooked on "The Gilded Age", and I am already well into the third season. I look forward to the fourth season which is expected to premiere in August of this year.

Sunday, March 8, 2026

More from the Museum of Modern Art

There are many paintings in the museum by artists who are not as well known outside of Mexico. However, I have been to so many art exhibits down here that many of the names have become familiar to me. And perhaps, if you have been reading my blog long enough, they might be familiar to you too.

"The Butcher Shop"

by Alfredo Zalce

1943

"The Little Mule"

by Abraham Angel

1923

"Birds in Dialogue"

by Carlos Mérida

1981

"In the School"

by Agustín Lazo

1943

"Skull Rack"

by José Chávez Morado

1961

"Seated Girl"

by Manuel Rodríguez Lozano

1929

"Green Fire in Paricutín"

by Gerardo Murillo

undated

Murillo is better known by his pseudonym, Dr. Atl, and he was obsessed with painting volcanoes.

A number of women painters are represented. I think it is a shame that all the international attention is on Frida Kahlo, and other talented painters have remained in her shadow, largely unknown outside of Mexico.

"Landscape with Pineapple"

by María Izquierdo

1953

"Reflection of the Oracle"

by Leonora Carrington

1959

Surrealist Carrington was born in England, but spent most of her life in Mexico.

Remedios Varo was also a noted Mexican surrealist.

"Roulette"

by Remedios Varo

1955

"The Flautist"

by Remedios Varo

1955

"Masks and Dolls"

by Angelina Beloff

1955

Russian-born Beloff was Diego Rivera's first wife. Although they divorced after ten years of marriage, she spent most of her life, until her death at the age of 90, in Mexico.

"Woman from Tehuantepec"

by Lola Cueto

1924

There is only one painting on display by Frida Kahlo, although it is one of her most famous works.

"The Two Fridas"

by Frida Kahlo

1939

The double self-portrait represents her dual identities. The Frida in European-style attire represents her German heritage from her father, while the Frida in traditional Mexican dress represents her indigenous Mexican ancestry from her mother's side of the family.

Saturday, March 7, 2026

Mexican Masters

The last time I was at the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City, I was quite upset. Most of the museum's galleries were being used for temporary exhibits. There was just one small space for a dozen or two paintings from their permanent collection. I thought that any tourist coming to the museum to see the richness of Mexican art would have been sorely disappointed.

When I went to the museum last week to see the Gelman exhibit (see my previous two entries), I found that a much larger portion of their permanent collection was on display. It's probably a fraction of their holdings. (Most museums have only a portion of their collections on exhibit.) However, it definitely gives visitors a much better overview of 20th century Mexican art, especially with the Gelman collection to supplement it.

The so-called "Big Three" of Mexican muralism... David Alfaro Siqueiros, Diego Rivera, and José Clemente Orozco... were well represented with smaller format works.