Film Review: Sin Nombre

I went to see the brilliant 'Sin Nombre' the other night, at the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton, and had to write about it.

Sin Nombre, a directorial debut for Cary Fukunaga, is a Spanish language film, mostly set in Mexico but also in Honduras, and centres on two storylines which come together in a beautiful, touching and tragic way. There are some outstanding performances, particulalry from the young lead actors in the film.


The film, part gangster movie part road trip, is a grim reminder of the poverty and destitution in the region, little seen from the Disney like resorts of Cancun. The film zooms in on those those who turn to gang life as a way of finding purpose and gaining respect; and the heartbreaking plight of those seeking to make a better life for themselves by escaping.

When her father is deported back to Honduras from New Jersey, Sayra (Paulina Gaitan) finds herself with little choice but to go with her father, who she hardly knows, on the long trip via Mexico on a freight train to try and get back to New Jersey, where her father's new family still lives.


Meanwhile, in Mexico, El Casper (played by Edgar Flores) is a member of the infamous Mara Salvatrucha. The Mara is a brutal, criminal and far reaching gang which has members across Mexico and the US. After recruiting the young Smiley (Kristyan Ferrer) into the gang, El Casper starts to become disillusioned with gang life, preferring to spend his time with his secret girfriend Martha Marlene (Diana Garcia). The leader of this particular branch of the gang Lil' Mago (Huerta Mejia) become suspicious of El Casper's absences and questions his loyalty.

Ultimately it is his love for Martha Marlene, and the tragedy and events that follow, that causes El Casper to meet with Sayra and her father and uncle at the US bound freight train boarding point. Lil' Mago, Smiley and Casper are determined to rob the stowaways of their money and an altercation between Sayra and Lil' Mago ends with El Casper taking the life changing actions that sees him become a marked man on the run from his gang.


It is from here onwards that the stories merge and a beautiful friendship between Sayra and El Casper develops, as they make their way across Mexico to try and get to the US.

This film is certainly not a feel good film and the characters and story stayed with me for a long while after seeing it. Cary Fukunaga has captured beautifully, if shockingly the plight of those whose lives he sought to portray. Using real migrants making that hopeful journey on a real train and a mixture of professional actors and street kids the film really hits home. This is an acomplished debut from Fukunaga, which once again shows the talent for film making in Latin America.

Man Bag Yourself One Of These: The Best Man Bags

The average man now carries an astonishing range of gadgets and gizmo's around with them - from i-pods, mobile phones and blackberries; to the more traditional items such as keys, wallet, a pen, notebook and glasses. With the Britsh weather being as unpreditcable as ever you can also throw into the mix an umbrella and sunglasses. Oh and we haven't even mentioned grooming products yet - a quick spray of aftershave before that date after work?


So it really surprises me that so many men are still against the idea of a man bag. I mean, where does a man put all of these things if he doesn't have a bag to carry them in, because lets face it bulging trouser or jacket pockets are not attractive? Particularly if you have splashed out on some decent threads. Or if you are wearing skinny jeans!


There are now so many good men's bags around ranging from sporty to classic, masculine to camp, edgy to the frankly ridiculous that it must be impossible not to find one that suits your style.


Since getting my first Man Bag (A black Mulberry Seth, pictured below) I could never live without one. I do have a thing for Mulberry bags. They are classy, timeless and long lasting; getting better with age particularly once they have been bashed about a bit. I soon followed up the Seth with a brown Mulberry Barnaby (also pictured), which has slightly more room for those days where I need to take more out with me.

For work, I like my bag to match my shoes and belt (sad I know) and so at the momnet I am looking for a bag in a lighter brown but not another Mulberry - I want something different. In my search I came across this lovely Vivienne Westwood satchel (below) which is reduced from £418 to £214 on triads.co.uk. This is an absolute bargain! I am not sure which season this bag is from but to be honest I think with good quality bags, as long as they aren't too fashion forward it doesn't really matter.

Personally I steer well clear of the shopper. For me it is just too feminine but I have seen some nice ones. I suppose it depends on your individual style and whether you think you can pull one off. On the right person they can look great.


Anyway I thought I would pull together some of my favourite man bags of the moment:


BEST SPORTY - This green, white and red tennis bag from Lacoste has to be one of the best sports bags I have seen. Smart and masculine this is the bag to get you to the gym in style or dazzle your opponent on the tennis court. The bad news is I have never actually found it!

BEST HIGH STREET - This All Saints grey messenger is classy without being too smart, a great bag to wear casually with jeans. All saints do a great range of men's bags.

BEST DESIGNER - For this one I am going back to Vivienne Westwood. There are two reasons for this. Firstly it is a classic bag that will never date, it looks strong and masculine and hardwearing, with some nice details that sets it apart from other similar bags. Secondly it's the price - £209 for a Vivienne Westwood bag is a bargain. Bring on payday I say!

BEST LUXURY - this Mulberry Balthazar bag is beautiful and at £995 does not come cheap, but I think it is worth every penny. It's beautiful soft luxurious leather means that this will add real touch of class to whatever you are wearing and it's simple, classic design will never be out of fashion. This is a bag for life.

BEST BARGAIN - This Topman red check holdall, at £35 is the way to go if you are looking for something more bright and colourful. It's bargain price means that you won't have splashed out when you eventually tire of it.

Shameful Treatment of South African Athlete Caster Semenya

I am sitting here watching the World Athletics Championships and am really outraged at the way the whole Caster Semenya - is she a man or a woman? - thing is being handled? The South African 800 metre runner has been the talk of the championships today.

Granted, she does look rather masculine, but she is also a human being and innocent until proven guilty! All the speculation over her gender must be so upsetting for her.

If she was suspected of being a drugs cheat, she would be tested in private and nothing would be made public until both the A and B samples had been analysed. However, in this case the whole world seems to know that she is due to be tested. Why was this information released? I think it is really unfair.

She also had to go out and run, with all that media speculation too, which must have been horrible, particularly if it turns out that she is in fact a woman. She won by the way!

Even if she does turn out to be a man, it still could have been handled in a much better way because at this stage we still don't know for sure.

Who Will Have The X Factor In 2009?

X Factor returns to our (UK) screens this Saturday evening (ITV1 7:00pm) and I personally CANNOT WAIT!!! I absolutely love this show. Cheryl Cole, Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue and Louis Walsh will once again battle it out to find the next UK pop star.


After a pretty strong batch of hopefuls in 2008 in which the amazing Alexandra Burke won, I just hope this year offers as much talent, excitement and drama.

Who will wear the best outfits - Cheryl or Dannii?....Who will have the biggest diva strop - Simon or Louis?....

Who will be the winner? Another soultastic female a la Leona and Alexandra? Another bland male (yes that's you Leon Jackson), or maybe it is the time for a boy or girl band to finally take the title? Although with JLS still riding high in the UK charts and Girls Aloud, the Sugababes and the Saturdays around maybe there isn't enough room for a new band?

We haven't even heard any of Alexandra Burke's new songs yet, although I expect we will get to see the first track from her debut Album and the follow up to last year's Christmas Number 1 - Hallelujah on the show. I really hope it's good, it has been such a long wait.


Anyway back to this year...


This year promises to be a great year for celebrity masterclasses and appearances - with Madonna rumoured to be on the show. There will of course be the obligatory Michael Jackson episode - where the majority of the contestants will murder his songs. A lovely way to remember him don't you think?


And I haven't even mentioned the freaks yet! What can I say? Words don't even begin to describe how deluded some of these people are to even think they can sing. Obviously some of them just want to be on the show and that's fine. But the really hiarious ones are those who actually believe that they have the X factor and are horrified, outraged even that the judges dare to say they can't sing.


I would like to take this opportunity to say goodbye to Saturday nights out for the next 15 or so weeks, because I will be sitting comfortably on the sofa - Cringing, Laughing, Screaming and probably towards the end Crying!

Celebrating or Cashing in? Agyness Deyn in Harpers Bazaar Style Tribute to Michael Jackson

Now I am not saying that this kind of thing isn't happening all over the world, but the pictures of British model Agyness Deyn in a range of Michael Jackson style outfits, posing with a Bubbles lookalike, have been plastered all over the newspapers here in the UK; so I am using it as an example.


My question is, is Harper's Bazaar really celebtrating the style of Michael Jackson or is it just a plot to sell magazines? Maybe it's both and maybe I am just cynical, but I don't ever remmber them 'celebrating' his style when he was alive? I wasn't born yesterday, I know magazines will often put anything on the cover to generate sales - I saw the 'tornado girl' episode of Ugly Betty!

There is no denying the photos are great and Agyness wears the outfits well but I think this was about using a hot right now model in a shoot about a hot right now topic and less about the style influence of MJ, which is a shame.


Admittedly I haven't seen the edition yet, so maybe I am being presumptious, but I will be interested to see if there is much editorial content of note in the 6 page spread; which acutally celebtrates his style. Or whether it will just be a bunch of photographs? I may be proved wrong! In which case I will eat my Fedora.