Book: Forward the Foundation by Isaac Asimov (1993)

Isaac Asimov wrote a huge amount of science fiction over the years, and is known for many of his books such as the Empire Series, and most famously for the Foundation Series. The 3 main Foundation books were the 'Foundation', 'Foundation and Empire', and 'Second Foundation'. It was later, in order to try and fill more details, that Asimov wrote more books for the Foundation, that include books that were both prequels and sequels. The last such book that he wrote was called 'Forward the Foundation', and was released in 1993, a year after Asimov died. Forward the Foundation was a sequel to 'Prelude to Foundation', carrying on with the story of Seldon's search for how to develop the story of psycho-history.



Read more at the following location (link)

Classic Movie: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (1966) - A great Spaghetti Western

This is a movie that will certainly not win any major awards, and was a major constituent of what were called the 'spaghetti westerns'. It was a movie directed by Sergio Leone, and starred Clint Eastwood (and Sergio Leone was the master of the art, having made a large number of such movies). What were Spaghetti Westerns ? - These were films that started coming out in the 60's, and continued till they started becoming the butt of jokes in the 70's, after which these died out. The other specialty of these movies is that they were primarily directed and produced by Italians, with a mix of young and upcoming Hollywood actors, and many other members of the cast being a mix of Italian and Spanish actors. A large number of these movies were made with a desert, wild countryside, to resemble the American Southwest (although the shooting of many of them was done in a region of Spain that was similar).



The movie has 3 characters representing each of the 3 terms:
- The Good: Clint Eastwood as Blondie. Also famously known as 'The Man with No Name'. A bounty hunter who is the best of the 3, but who can shoot first if his morals allow it as a case of self-defense. He can also swindle as part of his bounty hunter job in order to make money. Blondie knows the name of the grave stone where confederate money is hidden, but his partner knows the name of the cemetery, and hence they need to work together.
- The Bad. Lee Van Cleef as Angel Eyes. A sociopath, a mercenary also known as 'Angel Eyes', who can kill or shoot anybody in his path. He, as a Sergeant interrogates Tuco, and discovers the name of the cemetery where the gold is hidden, but is unable to get the exact grave stone.
- The Ugly. Eli Wallach as Tuco. More of a lout, wanted by the authorities (and he uses this fact as part of his partnership with Blondie to make money). He finds the name of the cemetery (Sad Hill Cemetery) where the gold is hidden, but Blondie gets to know the name of the grave stone. He is partnering with Blondie, but at some point, they are all in for themselves.

The movie is mainly about these 3, and their quest for finding hidden confederate gold. Blondie and Tuco are on/off partners, but are forced to become good partners when one of them gets to know the name of the cemetery where the gold is hidden, and the other gets to know the name of the grave stone. And then there is the third one, Angel Eyes, who also gets to know about the gold, and will not let anything stand in his way, including making a temporary partnership with Blondie to discover the gold. The movie is about their quest, mixed with scenes of treachery, bitter battles between the Union and Confederate forces (the movie is set in the Civil War timeframe). In the end, the three are standing in the cemetery, guns drawn, in a Mexican stand-off with each other. Who will win ?

Classic Movie: El Cid (1961) - The story of a hero

El Cid, the legendary hero of Spain was a real person named Don Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar ((c. 1040, Vivar, near Burgos – July 10, 1099, Valencia)). He lived around 1035 A.D. Although he spent much of his time fighting on the side of the Moors, he became identified as the best incarnation of the true Castilian Christian spirit. His name came from the Arabic "sayyid" meaning "lord" or "chief." He was a nobleman, who was educated in the royal court of Castile, and was one of the leading warriors of Alfonso VI against the Moors. He is considered the national hero of Spain.
As is expected, a movie made on such a hero is always made more romantic than reality, with acts of heroism and valor magnified, and when the movie has such actors such as Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren, the movie seems much more romanticized than the original. The movie was released in 1961 and earned 3 Oscar nominations, but was unable to win any Oscars.



The movie was directed by Anthony Mann, and was shot primarily on location in Spain (including the historic castles of Belmonte (Cuenca) and Peñíscola (Castellón)), with a smaller number of scenes being shot in Rome. The movie used real swords during the shooting, so you would expect that the action scenes needed a much better control and thorough safety measures.
El Cid was part of an aristocratic family, but not very powerful or high in the Spanish royal court. However, he became famous as a man who was a warrior at the same time as he was a peacemaker, willing to spare enemies if they swore their allegiance to his king. This was a time when there were many royals, with many of these royals fighting for power, and fighting for the throne. And this was also a time when the Moors were fighting for gaining space in Spain, in their quest to introduce the power of Islam inside Spain.
He was to fight back charges of treason, and eventually loses favor at the royal court, becoming a mercenary when his king Alfonso abandons him. He even fights on the side of the Moors, but eventually comes back to support his king when he is called back. He also came to command much more influence among the common people, earning their respect, and forming his own army composed of both Christians and Moors, forming his own fiefdom comprising the city of Valencia and its neighboring regions.
The book had some great scenes, such as the fight between two single warriors to get control of the city, which was a great fight. Shooting on location imparted some incredible majesty and splendor to the movie.