Nacho Libre

Most comedic actors have their own personal style that flows with them into any movie they do.  Jack Black, however, shows surprising acting ability in his role as Ignacio in Nacho Libre, a movie totally original and separate from any of Black’s other films.

Ignacio is an orphan who grew up in a Mexican monastery to be a monk.  Yet none of the other members of the clergy give him any priestly duties, leaving him to be the under-funded cook.  After a new nun arrives (eventually becoming a friend and source of inspiration for Ignacio) he begins moonlighting as a luchador named Nacho.  With a little help from a tag-team partner, he begins to earn a little money to buy fresh ingredients for food for the children.

The premise is nothing new.  Though Ignacio’s objective to become a pro luchador provides a setting virtually untapped by Hollywood, the plot does not astound and is fairly predictable at parts.  Even so, I rarely thought about where the plot was leading thanks to the great comedy.

Black gives a masterful performance and only brought attention to himself as an actor once.  The rest of the time, I thoroughly enjoyed the hilarious facial expressions, silly situations and genuinely funny comments.  Even the luchador fights were great fun to watch.

While not the best movie I have seen, I couldn’t help but love Nacho Libre.  The humor sometimes reminded me of Napoleon Dynamite, but I easily recommend this movie to anyone.  I could find no objectionable material in the whole show, not even any swearing (a rarity nowadays).  If you haven’t seen it yet, seriously consider watching Nacho Libre next time you need a good laugh.

Brick Oven

So I went to Brick Oven for the first time tonight.  A tour guide company called Mountain West Travel was looking for Japanese speakers to hire, and they held a meeting here to entice Japanese students at BYU to attend.  Naturally, they had pizza as well.

First off, I doubt I'm going to apply.  They seemed like a good enough company and the job looked enjoyable, but I just didn't feel like it was a good fit for me.  I did see a few people I know from my mission and Japanese classes, though.

As for Brick Oven itself, it was a pretty good restaurant.  The pizza was good, and the atmosphere was better than what I had anticipated.  It was hotter than I would have liked, but that's not surprising considering how many people we had in the one room.  On the whole, I quite liked it and would love to go again, assuming I've got the money for it.