Que Patza, CineLocos... Father Geek here along with ol' Coffin Joe Jr. and the Latin-AICN Column for this week. We've got cine news from throughout the Western Hemisphere this Tuesday, soooooo make sure to check it all out. But before we get to Joe's parte de the report here are some contribuciones from a couple of cuates nuevas para ustedes...

El Mayimbe aqui y en the Hollywood Reporter in regards to Sundance, for the 1st time, 5 new films from Latino Filmmakers will be presented at the festival.

"Empire" the film that I scooped to you last week is one of the films in the American Showcase. The article also goes on to mention that the organizers at Sundance are trying to put together a panel on Latino Filmmaking. Definitely a boost in the arm to Latino Filmmaking and a wake up call to the other Latino Festivals to get their act together.

Read the full article at this location By Clicking Aqui Right Now!

El Mayimbe

Muy Saberrrrrrrrrr... now here's a review from una nueva critica for this column...

Beware there may be SPOILERS for some of you ahead...

'THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE.'

Guillermo Del Toro has made it clear that he doesn't consider 'The Devil's Backbone' a ghost story. To be sure, it is a story filled to the brim with thematic elements: loss of innocence, war, hidden treasure, just to name a few. But first and foremost, I think, is the ghost story. And it is a good one.

The story takes place during the Spanish Civil War. It is told through the eyes of Carlos (Fernando Tielve), a young boy who at the beginning of the film is left at an orphanage in the desert, unware that his father has been killed in the rebel cause.

The orphanage is a melancholy place, its pent up sadness represented in the striking image of a massive bomb that is embedded in the courtyard, having never exploded. The place is run by an old doctor and his one-legged wife. They can barely afford to feed their young charges, surviving only on a secret stash of gold hidden in the kitchen. The boys, most of them under the age of ten, deal with their unahppy lot with admirable optimism. When Carlos arrives with a suitcase full of comic books and toys, they treat him with a mixture of wariness and excitement; they put him through a bit of hazing, but for the most part they seem excited to have a new friend.

Carlos quickly learns the ropes; he learns not to leave his room at night, or to cross the path of the caretaker, a bitter young man who grew up at the orphanage but never left (and is caretaker of more than just the school, it turns out); he learns that a boy named Santi disappeared the night the bomb fell; and he learns firsthand about The One Who Sighs, a ghost who first appeared soon after that fateful night. All the boys have heard him, but Carlos is the first to see him.

The scenes with the ghost are done so well that they almost overshadow the rest of the film. They are scary, sometimes terrifying; they'd be fun as well, if the ghost wasn't so sad. We see him pretty early on, and he is a tribute to the power of subtle makeup and digital effects. I don't want to spoil him; I will say, though, that the director of '13 Ghosts' would do well to watch this movie.

The ghost tells Carlos that "many of you will die." The culimination of this cryptic prophecy ties into the may other threads that spin together towards a denoument that is hard and cruel, but true. The tone of the story is reminiscent of both 'Tom Sawyer' and 'Lord Of The Flies,' but, as a whole, it reminds me most of the magical realism of Gabrie Garcia Marquez, where the occasional supernatural happenings are hardly blinked at in the harsh light of reality.

My sole fault with the film is that I think it falls short, that it is missing once crucial beat at the end. Maybe it was too obvious a conclusion, or maybe there is a subtext that I am missing. But one of the themes of the film is that things which appear to be dead are not always so, and this could have been driven home with great power and emotion in just a few seconds before the credits roll; but it doesn't, and we are left with a sad and wonderful story that is still nearly perfect.

--Ghostboy

Annnnnd here's another review, this one from SPAIN...

I've sent other reviews and news before from Spain, so here I go again with my review of a good spanish film called "Intacto" (Harmless). Some spoilers around, so be forewarned.

Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo became famous in Spain by being nominated for the Oscar for best short subject with his short "Esposados", which I found refreshing but somewhat overrated. Anyways... he went to Hollywood, knowing that he didn't have a chance of winning and wanting to take his chances of selling the rights for distribution of three films to Miramax. The first of these films is called "Intacto", starring argentinian Leonardo Sbaraglia, spaniard Eusebio Poncela and swedish Max von Sydow (yes, "The Exorcist" in person).

The plot: The film starts at a casino in the middle of a desert. We know there two characters: Federico (Poncela) and Sam (Sydow). The first one is the protegee of the second, the master of luck... a man who has the power to get other people's luck (by touching - even hugging - them, and by getting photos of them)... well... Federico was the sole survivor of an earthquake, and Sam was also the sole survivor of a nazi camp... both has high amount of luck, and also Federico at this time is the only person allowed to see Sam's face!

Federico thinks it's high time he got his own way, away from Sam, who has raised him since childhood and that earthquake... so Sam is not going to let Federico go... with his good luck.

A few years later, we meet Federico searching fortunate people that can let him get back to Sam and have revenge... because Federico now has the "power" of give bad luck to the people who touch him... or that he touches. After a failed - another failed we suppose - attempt to find the right person with the right luck, he manages to meet Tomas, a thief that is the sole survivor of a plane crash and is in an hospital, under arrest. He frees Tomas, and offers him to play some games, in which anything but money is can be bet.

Then we know Sara (Monica Lopez), a female cop which wants to catch Tomas again, and has herself her own personal history with luck (good? bad? you can never tell: this is one of the most moving characters in the film)... and the hunt begins.

I won't go too far in details of what happens next, with the sole exception of that another important character is introduced, a bullfighter (Antonio Dechent) who retired without ever being harmed... and also likes to play the games Federico and Tomas NEED to play.

The ending of course will take place at the casino, with the five main characters being involved... it is no spoiler, since from the first minutes of the film it is clear that the casino is for Federico what Itaca was for Ulysses. The difference is that instead of Penelope's love, he's looking for revenge.

The acting: range from very good (Lopez, Dechent) to great (Sydow, Sbaraglia and Poncela). I foresee a best actor nod at the Goyas (Spanish Oscars) for Eusebio Poncela.

The flaws of the film... a few. The most important for me was that in a couple of times the director remarked too much some aspects (I think too much explanation is bad). And also it is maybe a little slow for the average thriller viewer, but this is more like "Unbreakable"... Yeah, it has many shares with "Unbreakable", but it is really different. To compare both films is just as dumb as to do so with "The Sixth Sense" with "The Others". Needless to say that "Unbreakable" and "Intacto" doesn't share endings at all... don't expect a twist ending in this one (and that is the first of the strenghts of the film is that one: FINALLY A THRILLER WITHOUT TWIST ENDING!).

The strenghts: Fresnadillo's direction is strong. When I saw the film, I somehow KNEW this one is going to go to America and success. Believe me. Another Fincher? I don't think so, but he's good enough. The landscapes (the movie was shot at the Canary Islands) and the game scenes are great!

How I rate this film? 8 points. 4 stars out of five. Could have been a masterpiece, but it delivers the goods. And it is fairly better than most of the thrillers I've seen in a long time.

Nothing else to say by now. Just wait and see it.

As always, I Was A Teenaged Film Maker

Well, that's all por Padre Geek's parte pobre... Here's Coffin Joe...

Hey there, Coffin Joe Jr. is here for another edition of our weekly Latin-AICN column, coming to ya every Tuesday.

I´m going to take a little detour right now, and give you guys a musical tip. I got my CD of the latest musical enterprise of mad genius Mike Patton, formerly of Faith No More, called "Tomahawk". It is the most conservative stuff he´s been involved with lately, and those folks who can´t stand his weirder ventures, Mr.Bungle and Fantomas, should check it out. All you Faith No More orphans have reason to celebrate. Film score fans should get Fantomas´ "Director´s Cut" album, a really bizarre and interesting collection of cult and classic film tunes, done by Patton and his crew of lunatics. Highly recommended.

Anyway, here´s this week´s column, a bit short, but very diverse:

USA

-Jennifer Lopez is attached to Wayne Wang´s next movie, written by John Hughes ("Home Alone"), titled "The Chambermaid". The movie is more or less a modern day Cinderella story, that takes place in Chicago.

-"Piñero", a film about the life of poet/writer/actor Miguel Piñero which premiered at the Montreal Film Fest, has its official trailer up at Apple´s site, courtesy of Miramax. Check it out right here: http://www.apple.com/trailers/miramax/pinero/

CHILE

-Martin Scorsese´s "The Last Temptation of Christ", is still a banned movie in Chile, even though the Interamerican Court of Human Rights has issued a statement suggesting the end of censorship in the country, regarding films, giving Chile´s authorities six months as of February, to end such practices. This last Friday, local activists have accused the Chilean government of disrespecting the order, since nine months have gone by and the movie hasn´t been cleared for distribution by the government.

COSTA RICA

-The International Film Festival of Costa Rica, which begins on November 29th, will have the local debut of Orson Welles´ unfinished take on Cervantes´ most famous character, Don Quixote. "Don Quixote", which Welles began shooting in 1955, and didn´t wrap, was picked up by Spanish filmmakers Jesus Franco and "Patxi" Irigoyen, who finished the project in 1992. The movie was first screened in 1992 at Expo Sevilla ´92. Orson Welles not only directed the movie, but is also the narrator in the original version of the film. Besides "Don Quixote", 32 movies from 15 different countries will be screened at the festival, with films from Latin America, Asia and Europe.

MEXICO

-Mexican director of photography Emmanuel Lubezki ("Sleepy Hollow"), has two high profile projects set to released, the Michael Mann drama "Ali" and the Salma Hayek vehicle "Frida". Check out this month´s American Cinematographer magazine for an extensive article on Lubezki´s photography for "Ali".

BRAZIL

-The movie "Me, You, Them", directed by Andrucha Waddington, which is already available in the U.S., on both DVD and VHS from Sony Pictures Classics, will have its release in France on December 4th, being distributed by ID distribution over there.

-Director Walter Salles ("Central Station") has quietly started auditions for his next film, "The Motorcycle Diaries", based on revolutionary Che Guevara´s memoirs of a bike trip he and his friend Alberto Granado embarked on when Guevara was just a med student, at the age of 23. The movie will be shot in Argentina, Chile and Peru. The Buenos Aires newspaper "El Clarín" published an article regarding Salles´ tests with local actors in Argentina. The article also states that Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal ("Amores Perros") is the leading contender for the part of Che Guevara. Robert Redford is one of the producers on the project.

URUGUAY

-The movie "En la Puta Vida", directed Beatriz Flores Silva, won the jury Golden Colombo award at the 27th Huelva Ibero-American Film Festival, this last Saturday. The movie is co-production between Uruguay, Belgium and Spain, and tells the story of Elisa, a very poor woman with two kids, who dreams of becoming a hairdresser and having her own business, but ends up a prostitute in Barcelona. The audience Golden Colombo award was given to "Una Casa con Vistas al Mar" from Venezuela, directed by Alberto Arvelo, based on the novel "Vicenzino Guerrero" by author Freddy Sosa, which takes place in the Andes during the forties. Twelve movies were up for the Golden Colombo.

I´m done for this week.

Coffin Joe Jr. says: bye