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 Local Profiles 
Writing Keeps Me Healthy and Happy
 a profile of local writer, Alex Gomez
My name is Alex Gomez; I was born in Mexico but moved to Canada when I was eight. Throughout my life I made frequent trips to Puerto Vallarta to visit my family here, until I finished university and moved here permanently.
I've been writing in English since I first learnt to speak and read it. Since I arrived in Vallarta in 1997, I've been writing articles for bilingual as well as English-only papers almost full time. I won an award for my writing from In & Out magazine in 1999. Writing keeps me healthy and happy.
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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Reviewed
 Alex Gomez
'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' is the second bestseller I've read this year to come out of Sweden. The first was the fascinating tale of a child vampire, 'Let the Right One In,' by John Lindqvist. I loved both the book and movie version, released respectively in 2004 and 2008.
 Robert Rodriguez' Machete Reviewed
 Alex Gomez - PVNN
September 13, 2010
Robert Rodriguez' movie, 'Machete' received a 73% from Rotten Tomatoes, which aggregates the votes of critics across the US. One reviewer, with whom I wholeheartedly agree, called the movie 'A top-notch B-movie homage.'
The Spice Girls in Puerto Vallarta?
 Alex Gomez
I wouldn't have believed it, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. The Spice Girls, otherwise known as the Fab Five, performed at Paco's Ranch last Tuesday. They reunited for a special fund-raiser for SETAC, Vallarta's first ever - nay, Mexico's first ever - Community Centre for LGBT people.
Mary Renault's 'The Charioteer' Reviewed
 Alex Gomez
This is not only my favourite book of all time; it's also one of the best written I've ever read, to the extent that when I first read it at seventeen, I thought Renault had written it for me. Not only as an example of exceptional writing, but also as something I could believe in...
Mary Renault's 'The Last of the Wine' Reviewed
 Alex Gomez
I've always seen 'The Last of the Wine' as the natural sequel to Renault's 'The Charioteer', because of the three male protagonists and would-be lovers in the first, two of them trying to live their lives according to Plato's (by means of Socrates) treatise on love, The Phaedrus.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist Reviewed
 Alex Gomez
'The Reluctant Fundamentalist' is a brief but very dense and intense read, which I recommend to anyone with suspicions about American foreign policy and an open mind. Or even someone closed off, that it might open his/her mind.
Entre Pancho Villa y Una Mujer Desnuda - Reviewed
 Alex Gomez
If you want to learn more about one of Mexico's most beloved historical figure, be sure to catch 'Entre Pancho Villa y Una Mujer Desnuda' (Between Pancho Villa and a Naked Woman) now playing at the Cecatur Auditorium in downtown Puerto Vallarta on June 17, 19, 21, 24 and 26th at 8:30 pm.
Entre Pancho Villa y La Mujer Desnuda at Cecatur
Alex Gomez
If you want to do something cultural this month, check out 'Entre Pancho Villa y La Mujer Desnuda' at the Cecatur Auditorium in downtown Puerto Vallarta on June 12, 14, 17, 19, 21, 24 and 26th at 8:30 pm. 50% of all tickets sold at the GLBT Center will be donated to the SETAC Community Center.
Broken Embraces (Abrazos Rotos) Reviewed
 Alex Gomez
If, after all the time you've lived here, you haven't bothered to learn Spanish, and if you like your movies Hollywood, then 'Abrazos Rotos' will probably be lost on you. No amount of subtitling can ever hope to convey the subtle irony of Almodovar's scripts, or their implicit satire.
Clash of the Titans 2010 Version Reviewed
 Alex Gomez
I enjoyed this film for its action, scenery and fearsome monsters, but my favourite thing about the movie is the honour that Perseus lives by. Hopefully kids will learn something about honour from Clash of the Titans (2010), something they are evidently not taught in school.
 SETAC's Duckaton FUNdraiser
 Alex Gomez
On February 24th, hundreds of yellow rubber duckies were cast into the pool at Torre Malibu, whereupon go-go boys in bikinis collected them in order to award prizes to the hundreds of supporters who attended a FUNdraiser for the SETAC GLBT Community Center in Puerto Vallarta.
Donna Leon's Dressed for Death - Reviewed
 Alex Gomez
This author was recommended to me by one of the owners of A Page in the Sun, who knows the kind of thing I like to read; as well she should, she’s my sister. Since then, I’ve read four or five of Donna Leon’s mysteries, and I’m amazed at her originality...
Yoga Satisfies My Body, Mind and Soul
 Alex Gomez
I love yoga, which I’ve been doing more or less since I took a class with my friends at the age of seventeen, interspersing it with aerobics, Tae Kwan Do, and weight-training. But nothing satisfies my body, mind and soul quite like yoga.
Sergei Lukyanenko's The Night Watch Reviewed
 Alex Gomez
For once in my life, I agree with Quentin Tarantino: 'The Night Watch is an epic of extraordinary power.' It is also the first book in a tetralogy, comprised of this book, The Day Watch, The Dusk Watch and The Final Watch.
Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones Reviewed
 Alex Gomez
I'll borrow a word from the title of this movie to describe it: LOVELY. And how could the film be otherwise, with someone like Peter Jackson directing it? Who but he could have illustrated the heaven, or 'In-Between,' that Susie Salmon flees to after she's raped and murdered at age fourteen?
Paranormal Activity - Reviewed
 Alex Gomez
Through the ether it came to me that 'Paranormal Activity' was a must-see movie, one of the scariest ever. 'Julie/Julia' was more frightening. The Puerto Vallarta police scare me more. The most frightening thing about 'Paranormal Activity' is that a sequel is in the works...
Oliver Parker's Dorian Gray - Reviewed
 Alex Gomez
I have to say that the film Dorian Gray was born of sheer genius. Everything about it was perfect. I have no doubt that if Oscar Wilde were alive today and able to see it, he would love it. The movie is faithful to the novel, but also faithful to Wilde himself...
Jim Sheridan's The Brothers - Reviewed
 Alex Gomez
I have a friend in Canada who is convinced that Jake Gyllenhall is gay. We banter about this back and forth on email. The last email I sent her about him, which I wrote after watching Jake being interviewed about The Brothers, said that if he was gay, then he had mastered the art of passing.
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian Reviewed
 Alex Gomez
I've read this book twice now; the second time in order to be able to review it. I enjoyed it the first time; the second time was better. As with my reading of Arturo Perez-Reverte's The Queen of the South, the second reading delivered more significant detail than the first.
Transgender/Transsexual People
 Alex Gomez
It must have been about ten years ago that Paco Paco was the 'in' gay bar in Puerto Vallarta. It had a gorgeous bouncer, who was apparently in love with one of the transvestite performers there, Marilyn. I hit on him more than once, but he always insisted that he was straight, not gay...
The Savage Garden by Mark Mills Reviewed
 Alex Gomez
The Savage Garden is Mark Mills' second novel, on the heels of his first international bestseller, Amangansett. It is a literary thriller and mystery, and one that I recommend highly. One reviewer compared Mills to Dan Brown, for the way in which the author peppers his novel with enticing clues.
Puerto Vallarta Artists Open Studios
 Alex Gomez
From December through March, twelve Puerto Vallarta artists are opening up their studios for one weekend each month, allowing the public to meet them in person, step inside their studios and witness first hand the inspiration and motivation which drives them to create their works of art.
Puerto Vallarta Film Festival December 2-6
 Alex Gomez
Don't miss the 6th Annual Vallarta Film Festival! Scheduled to take place December 2nd-6th at Cinemark Theater in Plaza Caracol, the 2009 PV Film Fest will feature five consecutive days of full-length films and documentaries from Hollywood and around the world.
Puerto Vallarta's Got Latin Fever
 Alex Gomez
For the past twelve years, Gilles Belanger (Toronto) and Will Gorges (L.A.) have teamed up to produce Latin Fever, a five-day long party right here in Puerto Vallarta. This year the festivities will commence on Tuesday the 24th and wrap up on Sunday the 29th of November.
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