We have never gone out to the movies much, but sometimes there is something special I want to see. This time it was Hands of Stone, about the Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán. I really enjoyed the movie! It was very interesting to have a look at the life of a very famous boxer, and a lot of the movie was filmed in Panama with familiar sights and the familiar feel of life here. Here is the trailer of you are interested.
The movie cost us $4! With our retired people discount, admission was only $2 each. Including us, there were only 6 people in the theater so it felt like an almost private showing. The movie was in English with Spanish subtitles, but most of the parts filmed in Panama were in Spanish so I suppose if we had seen it in the US, we also would have had a lot of subtitles. Either way though, it wasn’t hard to follow.
Leaving the movie was funny. The theater is in the Chiriqui Mall. After the movie, you are ushered out the back door behind the mall and it took us a bit to figure out where we were.
The mall is undergoing a serious construction and expansion project, and it looks like it will double in size. It will be very interesting to see how this works out. Right now, the mall doesn’t have much going on. There is a supermarket, some shops, some empty spaces, and the offices for immigration and drivers licenses. Who is going to fill all the new space when the old spaces aren’t even filled? Maybe it will be something popular and the mall will take on a new life which would make sense. Many people from Costa Rica come here to shop for the lower prices, and the mall is right on their way into town. It’s also easy for locals to get to and has plenty of parking. It’s next to Pricesmart, another popular shopping destination.
I don’t seem to be able to stick to one subject, so here are a few other random photos I have accumulated in the last week.
I’ll leave you with a video on the making of Hands of Stone that I found very interesting. Just think, the real Roberto Durán is right here, retired and living in Panama.
The Panama Adventure 
A couple of comments: Roberto Duran was one of the best boxers of ALL TIME, when he was a lightweight. I remember watching his two fights with Kenny Buchanan…the first when he took the title from Buchanan and then when he won the rematch.
As he moved up in weight he lost a lot of his power and his KO ratio plummeted. In one of his last fights he went up agains Rhode Islander Vinnie Pazienza. At the weigh in he told Duran how honored he was to have the bout since Duran had always been a hero of his. Duran literally spit in Pazienza’s face.Vinnie beat him. Twice, in fact.
Champs lose for a lot of different reasons. For three years I ran a yacht owned by the guy who ran Marvelous Marvin Hagler’s training camp for 10 years. Marvin was on the boat three times in the summer of 87. He said the reason he lost his title to Sugar Ray Leonard was because “It’s awfully hard to get up an go do road work at five in the morning when you’ve been sleeping in silk pajamas.”
re: subtitles — Over in France they show movies called VO (Version Original) that means U.S. movies are shown in English with subtitles. My French girlfriend and I had an agreement that we would switch off on movies. That is we’d see a VO and then go see a movie in French. Well, when Dances with Wolves came to Nice it was her turn for a French movie, but I said if we could go to the VO version I’d go to the next THREE movies in French. And we had to go soon because the movie was only going to be showing for two weeks.
Things were going along fine until the Indians showed up. I don’t know if you remember, but the Indians talked in their own language with subtitles. The only problem here was that the subtitles continued to be in French and my grasp of that deplorable language wasn’t good enough for me to be able to read what was going on. I had to wait another three years before I was able to see the movie in the States and catch up on what I’d missed.
Thanks for your forbearance in letting me ramble.
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No problem, that’s what the comment section is for. The movie pointed out via his coach that boxing is very mental, which I imagine is so for any sport.
Glad you got to see and understand all of Dances with Wolves. That’s one of my all time favorite movies.
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Hola Kris,
There was a ESPNS 30 FOR 30 “NO MAS” documentary making the rounds about 3 years ago where Sugar Ray traveled to Panama and spent time visiting Roberto. The two fighters cleared a lot of the myth surrounding the “no mas” comment and both were clearly glad that they had reconnected after many years. Those fights along with Haggler and The Hitman bouts were some of the best years of pro boxing. Panama was justifiably proud of their hometown boy’s accomplishments.
jim
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What did they say about “no mas”?
Panama has every right to be proud of their hometown boy. I am proud too and I’m only a transplant here.
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I found the documentary on youtube. Very interesting, and the best part was the end when Sugar Ray and Roberto talked and reached an understanding and peace between them.
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Me too. Each of them respected the other. Good boxing is about skill and heart.
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Roberto Duran has a restaurant downtown P.C. I just missed him when I ate there on one of my visits
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Oh wow, I didn’t know he had a restaurant but I found it easily on google. Thanks! I would be interested in eating there too, and the possibility of meeting him in person.
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We will have to see it!
Thanks for your report!
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You’re welcome 🙂
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Thanks for more Panamania, Kris, we always enjoy your posts. Good to see you and Joel yesterday, too. I have to wonder, reading about Chiriqui Mall, if it will survive when (if) the new David megamall opens. We’ll see.
Best
M/B
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It was great seeing you too! Congrats on the new home also, looks really nice.
I don’t know what is going to happen with all the building here, but things seem to fill up with tenants. The megamall though, that’s going to be crazy big. It will take a lot of people shopping to keep that and everything else going.
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Kris,
We rarely, if ever, go to a theater to watch a movie either. The last one we saw was The King’s Speech in 2011. Before that it had probably been ten years since we went to the movie theater. It was an excellent film.
I know what you mean about them building new retail space and still having plenty for rent. They do the same thing here. I, too, wonder who will fill all the spaces.
Sunni
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I remember that movie. I enjoyed it a lot too.
There is a new building down the street and so far only Elmec has moved in (they sell very good bathroom fixtures and materials) It has been many months but the other spaces are vacant in spite of the good location. I’ve seen other buildings fill up rather quickly though. Thank goodness it isn’t my problem. I can just observe and not worry.
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