Winds of Havana (2016)

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

I am always on the lookout for good crime / detective shows and since I understand Spanish, I figured this was worth a try. Well I must say that this series is an excellent choice for a Netflix and chill evening. The acting is top notch and the stories are very believable due to the well written scripts. The two episodes I have seen so far intertwine the cases with personal lives that are very interesting and almost better than the cases. They actually shoot the episodes in Cuba, mostly Havana, and it takes place in 1997-98. The decadence of the old Havana is shown throughout the series by showing those beautiful building and architecture as they fall apart from a lack of maintenance and tender loving care (probably based on the embargo). I highly recommend this series and would have scored it higher except for the occasional lapses in continuity in story telling. But it is still a very worthwhile show that makes you want to continue watching other episodes. I hope more episodes are in the making.

I've been watching Four Seasons in Havana on Netflix. Very high production values and good sound quality. I love to read and watch thrillers and crime fiction. Maybe it's my many years of the solitary life of reading court records and writing legal opinions, many of them criminal. I am loving Four Seasons in Havana, although I suspect they use the same visual clichés I always see in films about New Orleans - the presumption that everyone is always sweating and hot all the time - not true you snow-bound directors! Another interesting visual is the contrast between the decaying structures where everyone lives and the immaculate groomed tourism areas. The protagonist is the clichéd divorced alcoholic policeman who does a great job of solving cases while he rebelliously doesn't obey the rules - a guy who in real life in any type of organization would have been out the door before anyone got the chance to be impressed with his "skills". But actor Jorge Perugorria does a great job of pulling it off without making it look clichéd. I don't speak Spanish, but the English subtitles really work with the nuanced performances of all of the older actors, especially Enrique Molina who pays Major Rangle. The pervasive attitude of paranoia among the civilians - as if they could arbitrarily disappear at any time for no reason added another dimension into this very different world. The struggle for food emphasizes the plight of the majority of people in this society. By episode 2, I had a craving for Coffee Cubano. Here is how I made mine this morning. Brewed pour-over DARK ROAST coffee with chicory. Warmed 1/2 c milk at heat level 2 out of 10 per serving in another pot. In a third saucepan or pot, put 1 Tablespoon of real refined sugar for each serving, spread thinly across entire bottom of pot. Put the pot on an electric stove at heat level 5 out of 10, watching all the time. Sugar melts to a liquid and then gets caramel colored. Remove sugar from heat and quickly add hot milk to sugar. Watch it foam up. Quickly stir in any caramelized sugar stuck to the side of the pot. Immediately pour hot milk and hot coffee together in glass in 50/50 proportions. Put liquid soap in hot sugar pot and clean immediately with hot water or you will have a permanently dedicated pot!