Father Geek Here, Oue Patza, CineLocos? Harry and I just returned from a press screening of BLACKHAWK DOWN one of the best Action/War flicks in quite some time in my "juicio imparcial", and we'll be leaving soon for a simular free screening of THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS at the same theater just a short drive from the Geek Headquarters Compound in North Central Austin. Soooo with that in mind I'll turn you over to ol' Coffin Joe, Jr...

Hello you bastards, Coffin Joe Jr. is here for yet another edition of our beloved Latin-AICN.

While you guys wait for "Lord of the Rings", read the column, get your mind off the damn thing for a few minutes, try to relax, Peter Jackson won`t disappoint us. I know it, the guy rules. If George Lucas was the guy in charge of the whole thing, then I´d be worried. (TalkBack backlash is expected because of this last joke/remark, so fire away Lucas` lovers).

USA

-The biopic "Frida", directed by Julie Taymor ("Titus") and starring Salma Hayek, is one of the films rumoured to be opening the Cannes Film Festival next year. Miramax certainly has the power to make it happen, so let`s wait and see. Meanwhile, Salma Hayek is in talks to star in director Raoul Ruiz´s next movie, titled "The Ground Beneath her Feet". Famous novelist Salman Rushdie is credited as one of the writers on the project, with director Ruiz.

-The craziest, goriest fright flick since "Dead Alive", director Mike Mendez`s "The Convent" is finally available on VHS and special edition DVD, courtesy of Trimark, with two commentary tracks (one of them is a hoot, with characters from the flick), cast and crew interviews, deleted scenes, trailer, and other stuff, plus it is in BEAUTIFUL widescreen, so no more grainy bootlegs. Do yourself a favor and pick it up.

I was reading the last edition of Fangoria magazine, the one with "Lord of the Rings" on the cover, and there`s an interview with Mendez, which is really good. He even talks about his next projects, and a DVD compilation he`s doing with pal Dave Parker, director of "The Dead Hate the Living", for the same company that did the "Boogeymen" disc, FlixMix. Yes, more cool stuff on the horizon.

If you`re reading this Mr. Mendez, I beg you to put together a "Killers" DVD too, with extras and a good transfer. Please dude.

-Check out an interview with actor Benjamin Bratt and writer/director Leon Ichaso, about their upcoming film "Piñero", at the Latino Review website, here´s the link: Just Click Here Now

-The official website of Guillermo del Toro`s "Blade 2" is active www.blade2.com , even though there`s next to nothing in it. You can see the movie`s logo, and some artwork. We`ll be keeping an eye on it, and if there`s any activity, we will let you guys know.

CUBA

-More than 400 movies were screened during this year´s XXIII Havana Film Festival, which took thirteen days. Here are the winner´s, that were announced last week:

Coral Awards (feature films):

1 - "La Ciénaga", directed by Lucrecia Martel (Argentina)

2 - "Perfume de Violetas", directed by Maryse Sistach (Mexico)

3 - "Taxi para Tres", directed by Orlando Lubbert (Chile)

Special Jury Award: "Lavoura Arcaica", directed by Luiz Fernando Carvalho (Brazil)

Special Mention: "Miel para Ochún", directed by Humberto Solas (Cuba)

Best Debut: "25 Watts", directed by Juan Pablo Rebella and Pablo Stoll (Uruguay), shared with "Nada", directed by Juan Carlos Cremata (Cuba)

Best Director: Lucrecia Martel (Argentina), for "La Ciénaga"

Best Screenplay: Orlando Lubbert (Chile), for "Taxi para Tres"

Best Cinematography: Walter Carvalho (Brazil), for "Lavoura Arcaica"

Best Actor: Selton Mello (Brazil), for "Lavoura Arcaica"

Best Actress: Graciela Borges (Argentina), for "La Ciénaga"

Breakthrough Performance: Ximena Ayala (Mexico), for "Perfume de Violetas"

Best Music: Marco Antônio Guimarães (Brazil), for "Lavoura Arcaica"

Best Editing: José Buil, Humberto Hernández (Mexico), for "Perfume de Violetas"

Best Sound: Herve Guyader, Emmanuel Croset, Guido Beremblum and Adrian de Michele, for "La Ciénaga" (Argentina)

Best Short Film: "Video de Familia" (Cuba), directed by Humberto Padrón

Best Documentary Awards:

1 - "90 millas", directed by Juan Carlos Zaldívar (USA)

2 - "Yo, sor Alice", directed by Alberto Marquardt (Argentina/France)

3 - "Bonanza", directed by Ulises Rosell (Argentina)

Best Animated Shorts:

1- "Hasta los huesos", directed by René Castillo (Mexico)

2- "Navidad caribeña", directed by Walter Tournier (Uruguay)

3- "Roubada", directed by Mauricio Vidal, Renan de Moraes and Sergio Yamasaki (Brazil)

Best one sheet poster: "La Libertad" (Argentina)

Congrats to all the winners.

I`m done for this week.

Coffin Joe Jr. says: bye.