Agenda

Since Julie has already provided an excellent write-up of the current flamenco exhibit at the Reina Sofía, I thought I'd provide a sampling of some exhibits I'm thinking of checking out:

Avant-nerdismo, when square becomes cool, until 14 February at Espacio García,

Generación 2008, contemporary art by young Spanish artists, until 23 March at La Casa Encendida,

No soy un monstruo, until Spring at Mad is Mad,

Picasso, from the Paris Picasso Museum, until 5 May at the Reina Sofía,

Modigliani until 18 May at the Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Fundación Caja Madrid,

and (maybe) some shows:

Efterklang, Peter Broderick, 20 Feb at Neu! Club

Love of Lesbian, Russian Red, La Bien Querida, Los Guapos, 29 Feb at Joy Eslava

La Casa Azul, 8 March at Joy Eslava

Feist, 8 June at Sala Heineken

or (even) some movies:

My Blueberry Nights, Wong Kar-Wai -- I read a synopsis in an in-flight magazine, and the description made me cringe. The movie features Norah Jones, but it has the WKW stamp, so...

It's A Free World, Ken Loach -- A recently unemployed woman organizes her own home business, employing immigrants. The trailer looked interesting.

Juno, Jason Reitman -- Yes, I'm most definitely buying into the hype. Ellen Page is a versatile actress (see: Hard Candy) and I'm missing some teenage American wit.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Julian Schnabel -- Also the hype. Elle's Jean-Dominique Bauby tells his life story with only the help of one eye.

4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days, Cristian Mungiu -- Communism in decline and abortion still illegal.

If, however, you're in the market for a Spanish-language film, I highly recommend the most excellent XXY, by Lucía Puenzo. It deftly tackles the interrelationships of sex, sexuality, and gender identity without making any judgments, all the while demonstrating how such ideas are not so much fixed as learned.

That said, I'm also quite looking forward to the slew of films at this year's Berlinale, including The Other Boleyn Girl (featuring ravishing Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson as the sisters) and Be Kind, Rewind (the new Michel Gondry), both world premieres and screening out of competition. Just hope my eyes don't tire out.