Father Geek here in Austin, Texas posting the 4th edition of our regular weekly Tuesday morning Latin-AICN column while Harry is winging across the Atlantic on a super secret mission for geeks the world over. This week's column has a little help for Coffin Joe our hard working Sao Paulo editor-reporter. LOBO has agreed to cover Mexican Cinema each week for this column and he can be reached At his cave here in the central highlands.
Just a few minutes ago I received the following E-mail concerning a great long lost Disney Cartoon titled "Saludos Amigos" from 1943. Now while most of the world has not seen this film in its original form for over 50 years Father Geek knew a collector in the 1970's who had an old original 16mm print, so we would borrow it to show on ALL of Harry's early Birthdays along with "Mr. Bug Goes to Town" (Hoppity Goes to Town). It featured Donald Duck and Jose Carioca with the wonderful voice talents of Clarence "Ducky" Nash and the animation skills of Jack Kinny, Ham Luske and other Disney greats. It's set all over South America with live action and animation sequences like Lake Titicaca, El Gaucho Goofy, and Aquarela do Brasil. Well, here's the good news I just received from Thom...
Today while at my local video store I discovered that Disney has actually released the film Saludos Amigos on video. Now to your average Joe Blow this would probably mean just about nothing but for a completist geek like myself this is big news. You always hear Disney proclaiming "Super Toon, the 39th Disney animated Classic." But if you ever try to sit down and think through all the Disney animated films up to that point you always seem to come up a few films short. Its because of films like Saludos Amigos, films that were released only once and then never seen again except when their segements were cut up and aired separately as cartoon shorts. Up till now you could only get this film by buying the $100+ Laser Disc version of The Three Caballeros, the bigger more famous film it inspired. Other than that it hasn't been seen for decades. And not to sound like an ad for Disney but Melody Time, another never released on video feature is due out in June. Again, for most people its "Yeah, who cares," but for people looking to collect ALL the Disney cartoon features, this is pretty cool news.
Thom
This is Father Geek again, this cartoon feature is well worth a look. It was made as "Good Neighbor WW II Propaganda", but pulled down 3 Academy Award Nominations in 1944. By the way this film was actually produced on location throughout South America. It was drawn, the cels were painted, photographed, the music and voices recorded, everything was done in Latin America. That's why I've put this news in this column. This is where it rightly belongs.
Hello amigos, how are you all doing? Coffin Joe here with another
edition of Latin-AICN. Well, despite the fact that the only guy that has really
helped me out on a regular basis is my good Argentinean friend Ulysses, I´ll keep this column going.
Anyone in Mexico alive? Colombia? Chile? Anyone at all? I know there's computers in those counties, and I know there's a film industry in those countries too. Anyway here´s
this week´s movie news:
-ARGENTINA
-ARGENTINA
*The highly anticipated X-MEN movie will hit theaters in Argentina on July 13, one day earlier than in the U.S.
*Mexican director Alfonso Arau´s ( Like Water for Chocolate, A Walk in the Clouds ) latest film titled " Picking Up the Pieces ", originally scheduled for a theatrical release, is now going straight to video. Maybe a brief description of the plot may indicate why it will debut on video. See, the story is about this guy, played by Woody Allen, who axes his wife, played by Sharon Stone, cuts her into tiny pieces and then buries her in the Mexican desert. Then he loses his hand, which is later found by a bunch of poachers and taken to a city, where it is discovered it can perform miracles. Weird is not a strong enough word.
*MEXICO
-The International Voladero Film Festival is accepting entries in the short film category ( less than 30 minutes ), shot on 35, 16 mm and video, finished after January 1, 1999. The festival has four categories: Fiction, Documentary, Animation and Experimental. Check out their website at: www.voladero.com/taller/festival
And now a report from a New Spy working the Mexican Film News for us... he is called LOBO...
" CENTENARIO LUIS BUÑUEL"
THERE IS A CELEBRATION AT THE U.N.A.M. (UNIVERSIDAD AUTONOMA DE MEXICO) DEDICATED TO LUIS BUÑUEL AND HIS FILMS.
LUIS BUÑUEL WAS BORN THE IN 2-22-1900 IN CALANDA,SPAIN AND DIED IN 7-29-83 IN MEXICO CITY , HE WAS FRIENDS WITH SALVADOR DALI AND THE POET FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA. SOME PEOPLE CONSIDER HIM AS THE FATHER OF SURREALISM IN FILM AND WAS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE DIRECTORS OF HIS TIME.
THE CELEBRATION IS CALLED "CENTENARIO LUIS BUÑUEL" (LUIS BUÑUEL CENTURY) AND IS GOING TO TAKE PLACE AT THE "FILMOTECA" ON THE CAMPUS OF THE UNIVERSITY DURING THE ENTIRE MONTH OF MAY. SOME OF THE MOVIES THEY ARE SHOWING ARE:
LOS AMBICIOSOS/LA FIEVRE MONTE A EL PAO (REPUBLIC OF SIN), MEXICO-FRANCE 1959
NAZARIN , MEXICO 1958
VIRIDIANA, MEXICO-SPAIN 1961
EL ANGEL EXTERMINADOR (THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL), MEXICO 1962
LE JOURNAL D'UNE FEMME DE CHAMBRE (DAIRY OF A CHAMBERMAID), FRANCE-ITALY 1964
LE FANTOME DE LA LIBERTE (THE SPECTER OF FREEDOM), FRANCE 1974
AND MANY OTHER OF HIS FILMS.
**** ONE OF MY FAVORITE FILMS OF HIS THAT ISN'T SHOWING AT THE FEST IS "LOS OLVIDADOS" (THE YOUNG AND THE DAMNED) FROM 1950. IF YOU SEE THIS FLICK YOU WILL HATE " EL JAIBO" . ****
" THE ARIEL AWARDS"
THIS NAME " ARIEL" IS THE MEXICAN VERSION OF THE OSCAR , IN THIS REPORT I'M JUST GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE HISTORY OF IT, AND NEXT TIME I WILL HAVE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE CEREMONIES AND WINNERS THIS YEAR.
THIS AWARD WAS SCULPTED BY IGNACIO ASUNSOLO (1890-1965). HE PARTICIPATED IN THE MEXICAN REVOLUCION NEXT TO "MADERO" (A MEXICAN PRESIDENT BACK THEN). THIS AWARD IS GIVEN TO RECOGNIZE THE MOST VALUABLE AND APRECIATED LATIN FILMS SHOWN WITHIN MEXICO. THE FIRST CEREMONY WAS HELD IN 1946 AND THE AWARD FOR BEST PICTURE WAS GIVEN TO "LA BARRACA" DIRECTED BY ROBERTO GAVALDON.
NEXT WEEK I WILL TALK ABOUT THE AWARD WINNERS THIS YEAR AND THE FILMS THAT GOT NOMINATIONS ALSO... LOBO
*BRAZIL
-Director Tata Amaral ( Starry Sky ) will be giving a lecture at my college tonight. She will be talking about her new film called " Através da Janela ". I´ll tell you guys all about in next week´s column.
-The biopic frenzy is upon us! Just joking. Well after Antônio Fagundes ( Bossa Nova ) playing composer Villa-Lobos, now another Bossa Nova cast member will play a character that existed in real life . Alexandre Borges, who plays the soccer player Acacio in Bossa Nova , will portray the late Brazilian singer Nelson Gonçalves in a film about Gonçalves´ life.
-Director Carlos " Cacá " Diegues ( Tieta, Bye, Bye Brazil ) is turning sixty this week , and he is doing pre-production work a new movie called " Deus é Brasileiro ", besides working on a new website, a soundtrack album with music from all of his films, two documentaries ( one about Carnaval and the other one about New Years´s Eve ) , as well as overseeing the restoration and preservation of his 14 features. A busy, busy man.
-Director Andrucha Waddington´s second movie " Eu, Tu, Eles " ( titled " Moi, Toi, et Eux " in French ) is just one of the films being screened at the " Un Certain Regard " showcase in Cannes. I was lucky enough to watch his first movie yesterday called " Gêmeas " ( " Twins " ), about twin sisters who play games with their lovers , switching identities and fooling everyone. It´s all fun and games until one of them falls in love, and the other one gets disturbingly jealous of her sister´s relationship with this man . Well , if Mr.Waddington can maintain the level of quality he shows in this movie throughout his carrer, he´s going places. Already an established music video director, I had certain restrictions towards him in terms of wether or not he was also a decent storyteller, because I knew he could handle the visual aspect of it. Surprise , surprise he can hold his own, keeping the audience glued to the screen for the entire movie, using a very Hitchcock like atmosphere for the whole movie. Fernanda Torres, daughter of Oscar nominee Fernanda Montenegro, plays both twins and gives a brilliant performance. Pretty sick and twisted. Fernanda Montenegro herself has a cameo the twins´ dying mom. Great movie, I hope Mr.Waddington can keep it up with the upcoming " Eu, Tu, Eles ".
-" Estorvo " ( Embrouille " in French ) was screened yesterday at the Théâtre Grand Lumiére in Cannes, and received a lukewarm welcome from the crowd. The film´s difficult and challenging narrative didn´t excite the crowd, and the movie had a modest praise as well as a small amount of boos at the end of the screening.
Now for another report from here in Brazil... This was sent to Father Geek in Austin and found its way from him back to me and the Latin-AICN column...
My name is Pablo Villaça and I'm the webmaster of Cinema em Cena (www.cinema.art.br), one of the biggest movie news site of Brasil (yes, we spell it with "s"). Today, I was surprised to see the "EURO-AICN", which is an extraordinary concept. Well, as you probably know, our country is releasing a lot of new flicks nowadays - and in the last years, we were nominated for an Academy Award for three times: "O Quatrilho", "Four Days in September" (or "O Que É Isso, Companheiro?") and for "Central Station" (or "Central do Brasil"). The lattest is, by the way, the only one who really deserved the nomination, in my humble opinion.
I'm writing to you because we receive a lot of scoops from our readers, just like you do (well, considering the proportions, of course). Movies like "O Xangô de Baker Street" (in which Sherlock Holmes comes to Brasil to capture the first serial killer of history and finds out about samba and marijuana), "Uma Rádio na Favela" and a lot of others are in our site. And even more: we're expanding our site, since we just signed with a huge company which will throw some money at us (finally, after two years of hard labor!!!). Now our plans include the neighbor countries, like Argentina, Colômbia, Venezuela, Chile, Uruguai, BolÃvia e even Mexico (although Mexico is an USA neighbour...).
I sincerely hope that this e-mail finds you in peace and healthy. Compliments to Harry and Moriarty.
Abraços;
Pablo Villaça
"Cinema em Cena" (www.cinema.art.br)
Check out his site, we are hoping that Pablo becomes a regular writer here on our Latin-AICN column...
*OTHER STUFF
-One last bit of news, check out this very cool site: www.sonambulo.com See the site, and if you like it spread the word about it, it has shots of becoming a TV show, or staying on the net at other larger entertainment sites.
Ok?
