Spain... On The Road Again
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Movie Reviews of Spain... On The Road Again
Movie Review: I am a celebrity and I love Spain almost as much as myself!
Summary: 2 Stars
Prior reviews have amply covered the "self-absorbed, inane banter" that goes on in this series: hours of "GP" talking very proudly in Spanish and gifting us with her childhood memories of Spain before she jets back to the UK for her kids' Halloween. Who cares? Is this a cooking show or what?
The best of these scenes is in Barcelona when Claudia Bassols tries to verbalize some script about how Michael Stipe from REM (who they have pseudo-spontaneously picked up as a "hitchhiker") is such a big star in Spain. On cue, a friend of Claudia's appears and greets her as she is puffing up Stipe. The friend doesn't recognize Michael Stipe or Mario Batali as he is introduced by Cladia to each of them. They glumly receive the introductions and then Claudia says adios to her friend and continues on about what a huge, household name Michael Stipe is. Hilarious!!!
This series is a big celebrity ego stroke that, distilled down like a fine rich sauce, would have made a decent travelogue with some cooking elements. As it is, even with the ability to continuously Fast Forward through the non-sense, this show is very distracted in personalities and the fabulous lives of "star chefs" and their celebrity friends.
Weird and shallow.
Jose Andres and Made in Spain is a much better show if you are interested in Spain, festivals and cooking.
Movie Review: Not quite what I expected
Summary: 2 Stars
Like previous reviewers, I was under-whelmed by the program. There were aspects of the show I enjoyed, such as beautiful images of the countryside and some interesting food. Although this is not a "follow these steps/America's test kitchen" type of show, one can gain an insight into the cuisine of various regions of Spain. I also like Mark Bitman, who is one of the more intelligent and thoughtful commentators on food working today in the US. Claudia Bassols does not come across as the brightest bulb in the box, but she is at least decorative.
What pretty much ruined the experience for me were Paltrow and Batali. There are hours and hours of inane and self-absorbed conversation between these two. Paltrow makes comments such as "if it's progressing it's art" and harps on about her beliefs about food, in particular her opposition to commercially produced food. These are the inanities of someone too rich and self-absorbed to realize how much poverty and hunger there is an in the world. I also personally found the sight of the enormously overweight Batali, in pink shorts and shoes, stuffing yet more food into himself unappetizing.
Movie Review: Seriously?
Summary: 2 Stars
In the New York school of culinary hobnobbing, making unfunny and self-referential commentary about oneself and one's self-indulgent foodie experiences passes for polite behavior. When it's done under the guise of a "road trip" (in a Mercedes no less) it curiously fans the unrequited travel fantasies of homebound and monolingual Americans. I won't argue that the glitterati here don't know their stuff--they certainly do, and for that they get an extra star--but the blatant supplication to a demographic who doesn't bat an eye at dropping $8,000 on an international eating tour is nausea-inducing.
I am immensely relieved however that the majority of Spain's culinary treasures--including about 90% of the best wine on earth--will remain in Spain due to draconian import taxes levied by the US. All the better for those of us who live here and get it for a fraction of what these guys paid.
Movie Review: A huge letdown
Summary: 2 Stars
I had such high hopes for this series. The ingredients looked wonderful. I've really liked previous TV work by Batali and Bittman. Spain is one of my all-time favorite destinations, so I even bought a new DVR just so that I could catch every episode when it ran on PBS. Well, the DVR came in handy as I ended up doing some fast-forwarding once I got used to the episode structure. Holy cow it was dull! The banter between the four was irritating and appeared forced. I guess Mercedes Benz expected a lot of camera time, having provided a couple of high end cars for the show. We ended up with extended shots of the cars being driven around Spain at really slow speeds.
Anthony Bourdain is the king of food travel TV, and if you caught his Spain episode, you will get far more out of his one hour show than you will get out of the 13 hours of this hugely disappointing durge.
Movie Review: Spain on the road again book and cd set from TV show
Summary: 2 Stars
Not much in the book, a few recipes and a little dialog. Redundant to the TV series. CD,s were good but Mario and group seemed to miss the whole Spanish mentality which is eating as a social occasion and shouldn't be rushed. They ate fast like typical Americans and treated tapas like fast food.