The STAR WARS EPISODE 2 poster that Father Geek thought he had was in fact a FAKE, NOT REAL, It will not be being posted... Sorry!

Hola! CineLocos... Father Geek esta aqui... along with our editor Coffin Joe Jr. in Sao Paulo, Brasil and a nueva critica from Mexico for this week's regular Tuesday edition of the Latin-AICN Column...

Father Geek back with un otra contribucion pobre de mi parte... Later today we will have several KILLER shots of Salma Hayek in her new flick called "IN THE TIME OF THE BUTTERFLIES" right here soooooo be sure to check back this afternoon...

How is it going freaks and geeks, Coffin Joe Jr. here with this week´s edition of Latin-AICN. Do yourself a favor you miserable bastard and read on. You heard me, read it or the consequences shall be severe! Do not test my patience dear reader, Coffin Joe Jr. is in no mood to play games, my wrath is mightier than my words, I assure you of that.

Just read the damn thing, will ya? God. This week we have an all Mexican edition for your delight. Enjoy.

MEXICO

-You folks in the U.S. can get the Amores Perros DVD now available, it even has a commentary track with the team behind the Mexican opus. Check it out.

-Here´s a review of the movie "De la Calle" sent by a new spy, who hails from Mexico:

"A new Mexican movie with international distribution just opened in Mexico City and I caught it this weekend. It's called "De La Calle" and here's a meandering review.

It seems that the new wave of Mexican cinema is exclusively devoted to show as harshly as possible the realities that young people experience in a country where social, economic and moral contrasts are so extreme that they lean heavily towards parody, farce or tragedy.

The very popular "Y Tu Mamá También" dealt with middle and upper class kids, and now "De La Calle" (I would translate it as "From the Street" or "Of the Street", but the IMDB lists its official international title as "Streeters") deals with homeless boys and girls, trying to survive one more day while searching for some meaning in their unstable way of life. "De La Calle" shows us a couple of days in the life of Rufino (Luis Fernando Peña), a very poor boy who works as a porter in a busy market. He earns very little money, so he moonlights as a messenger for a local drug ring headed by a cop. But Rufino is not happy with that life, and he dreams of moving to Veracruz, a Gulf of Mexico port, to see for the first time the ocean and to work there unloading cargo ships. So, he steals a little cash from a drug dealer to finance his trip, and he asks his girlfriend Xóchitl (Maya Zapata) to move with him to Veracruz and to take her (their, actually) little child. She accepts. Meanwhile, the corrupt cop leading the drug ring learns of Rufino's theft and mounts a half-assed manhunt, fully using Police resources. About this time Rufino learns from a homeless old man, sort of a crazy prophet living among dirty newspapers, that his father is actually alive and not dead, as Rufino was led to believe; this hits him hard and he postpones the trip preparations in order to find his father. This quickly becomes an obsession that will put him and Xóchitl in peril, and as the cop gets near them and Rufino closes in his supposed father, things quickly get out of control and everyone's life changes forever.

This movie is based on a very succesfull play written by Jesús González Dávila. It's not very new and I believe that the reason it was adapted to film now is the international success of such flicks as "Amores Perros", "Scent of Violets" and the mentioned "Y Tu Mamá También". And just like them, "De La Calle" has very nice cinematography and cool music; also the use of real locations is very good and disturbing, as it shows a side of society that we often forget. But, unlike those films, this one does not have strong emotional resonance with the audience. The drama is deep indeed, and the lives of the characters are quite harsh, but they just don't connect with the material. However, that doesn't mean the movie is not interesting; with a few exceptions (like the old homeless man) the actors are very good and with a few strokes they manage to build up their poorly written characters. It's easy to understand their motives and their reactions, even if we don't quite share their emotions.

But anyway, I think that the real value of "De La Calle" is to take it as a quasi-documentary about that forgotten social niche. The use of actual homeless people (mostly teens and pre-teens) and their underground habitats in the sewers is, as I said, disturbing. It clashes hard with the depictions of life "above ground" and makes the satisfaction of basic needs for us all seem like extravagant luxuries for the indigent people. All in all, an interesting movie, not very involving in its narrative, but certainly an eye opener to the daily life of those we see only from the corner of our eyes.

Pablo Jo del Moral

For more half-assed reviews in spanish, visit www.cinencanto.com"

COFFIN JOE JR. MOVIE REVIEWS

"Y Tu Mamá También" Director: Alfonso Cuarón

I got to see this Mexican flick at the very first screening of the São Paulo Film Fest, here in my hometown. Packed theater, lots of artsy-fartsy wannabe pretentious dicks in attendance, not a whole lot of geeks, but later that same day I watched "John Carpenter´s Ghosts of Mars" and the geeks showed for the midnight screening, which made my day. Still the jaded crowd laughed big time during "Y tu Mamá También", because the movie is so damn funny, I don´t think anyone can keep a straight face during the whole thing. The movie deals with the (mis)adventures of two Mexican kids, one who comes from a very wealthy family, Tenoch, played by Diego Luna, and his buddy from a middle class background, Julio, portrayed by Gabriel Garcia Bernal ("Amores Perros"). They meet an unhappily married woman, named Luisa and played by actress Maribel Verdú, during a party. She happens to be married to Tenoch´s cousin, and the boys invite her to go to a beach named "Boca del Cielo". The three end up on the road trip of their lives.

The road trip is basically a great bonding experience for the three, with sex, some funny, truthful conversations about sex and some shocking revelations. The sex scenes are handled in a very comical way, not arousing, just sort of pathetic attempts by the boys, who are clearly not that experienced as far as love making goes. This sort of rite of passage for the boys, the trip, is a much more meaningful journey for Luisa, though I won´t spoil exactly why, there´s one big revelation at the sorrow, bitter and very real ending, that awaits the audience.

One thing that struck me as really odd, was the use of a narrator, who isn´t one of the characters in the movie. This narrator would pop in during certain parts of the movie and give a lot of completely superfluous information about the characters, or a few situations in particular, but in a totally different tone than the rest of the movie, a somber, darker one. The lighthearted feel of the movie was truly disrupted by this narration, which is a bit intrusive sometimes. However there´s one scene where it works wonders, when they are passing by a town, going down the road, and the rich kid sees that it is the home town of his baby-sitter, who raised him since he was a little boy. It is a touching, quiet moment that really elevates that scene.

One funny scene to look forward to is the one of the boys, by the pool, talking about hot ladies to get in the mood for well, you will see it in the movie. They mention the name of one hot Mexican actress, and that got a huge laugh. This movie is a lot of things, on the surface it´s just a silly comedy about horny boys, but Cuarón gives it a bit more meaning, a great theme of self-discovery and trying to find what really matters in life, by stripping human beings to their bare essentials. Isolated the three end up finding a more peaceful, meaningful existence than the ones they have in their respective ordinary lives.

I can´t forget to tell you fellas about the amazing work of DP Emmanuel Lubezki, who worked on Cuarón´s two American movies, and Tim Burton´s "Sleepy Hollow". His work here isn´t the lush, polished stuff you come to expect from him, but a realistic, beautiful documentary style, with some clever use of available natural light and not much else. Stylish stuff that works really well in the movie.

Don´t miss this one when it opens at a theater near you. Recommended by your creepy pal Coffin Joe Jr., so go see it.

I´m done for this week.

Coffin Joe Jr. says: see ya.