Father Geek here with our regular Tuesday morning Latin-AICN column. I just got in from the Film Festival at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema where Quentin Tarantino is sharing his private collection of motion pictures with a group of a couple of hundred film geeks. It started Friday with Spy Night, then Japanese Monster Night, and then Heist Night on Sunday. Well tonight was Sex Night. All the Trailers, Shorts, and Features had a strong sexual theme.

One of those was SUCCUBUS from 1967 and directed by the award winning Spanish film maker Jesus Franco who writes, directs, composes the music and acts in films. He's done something in around 200 motion pictures, a few of whom are: LA MUERTE SILBA UN BLUES, EL CONDE DRACULA, LA CHICA DE LOS LABIOS ROJOS,and of course his most famous work VAMPYROS LESBOS. The film we saw tonight (Succubus) was a very very strange film about mind control, nightmares, and sexual tension. It felt alot like FANDO & LIS only in color. Most of the exteriors were shot in Portugal and the attention to art direction was very detailed, maybe TOO much so. The story was very difficult to follow. Now if your purpose from the start is to NOT tell a story, just create art then that is OK. Dali and Bunuel's great surrealist film UN CHIEN ANDEAU is a perfect example as is the above FANDO & LIS which is not necessarily story driven, but SUCCUBUS is trying to tell us a linear story and Father Geek feels it fails in that effort unlike EL TOPO which maintains super high ART values, but still gets it's storyline across to the viewers. A basic rule of cinema is that your audience MUST be able to follow your story, if you're telling one. While most of the people at the fest enjoyed the visuals of SUCCUBUS, everyone Father Geek talked to afterward agreed that the basic telling of the story failed.

So here's Father Geek's recommendation: if you get the chance to see this film on the big screen where the art design can best be viewed by all means do it, but since you will probably have problems with the plotline don't expect much more than beautiful and strangely erotic imagery. Remember,its a pretty, phanciful puzzle that's missing pieces, so you may never get it put together to see the whole picture. You probably shouldn't waste the price of buying a DVD of it unless you have a 36" or larger TV with a Theater type sound system.

Now on to LOBO and Coffin Joe and the Latin-AICN report for this week...

LOBO & Mexico

Cinelocos Que pasa !!!

Your friend LOBO is back again con mas news of the Latin cinema, where this time I got cool stuff that I specially like and also guess what ?? Well Father Geek brought me something from my querido country Mexico, a CD that I have tried to get for a long time here in Austin but I had no luck on all of the music stores, but now I have it , the soundtrack of Amores Perros (Love is a bitch) which is cool and full of Rock en Español(mi musica favorita) and also a CD of Musica Folklorica de Mexico which he got in el Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City..... thanks again Father Geek !!

Vamos a lo bueno...

QUICKIES / RAPIDINES

*** The muy known actor Robin Williams is going to star in a movie directed by Phillip Kaufman called "LIBERACE", where he is going to play the role of the famous pianist Wladziu Valentino Liberace.

*** Looks like Salma Hayek is not going to be the only one playing the role of Frida Kahlo (Diego Rivera's wife) because now also Jennifer Lopez is doing Frida in another movie which will be in competition with the one that Salma is making.

*** The movie "Rito terminal" which won an Ariel for best supporting actress this year, finally got a commercial distribution and is now showing in theaters in Mexico. <<-- not many, but something better than nothing.

*** If you are into Rock en Español, don't forget to go to the WATCHATOUR and if you are in Dallas or San Antonio you might see me and Sister Satan with our son in the concert. VIVA EL Rock en Español (bands that are going to be present ; A.N.I.M.A.L. , Molotov , Cafe Tacuba , Resorte and more...)

*** "VANILLA SKY" is the name of a movie directed by CAMERON CROWE and it looks like PENELOPE CRUZ and TOM CRUISE are playing the couple in the movie.

"The Runaway Jury"

That is the title of a movie where ALFONSO CUARON ( another Director "Chilango"... from Mexico City) who previously directed "GREAT EXPECTATIONS", will be the director. The movie is based on a novel written by JOHN GRISHAM(USA), this movie had some difficulties at the beginning of the production and that includes the resignation of the director Phillip Kaufman and the actor Edward Norton, but it seems that all of that is over and that the crew is ready to film. This movie sounds a little bit like "THE INSIDER" only because also has something to do with a tobacco company and a law suit but this one might have more action on it since that is what the writers of the script Mattew Chapman and Gregory Poirier are intended to do, the story is not really similar to "The insider", mainly this has a couple of people trying to manipulate the jury and a totally different subject manner.

ALFONSO CUARON has also another proyect in the works and that is "SPEED RACER" that right now it will be on-hold until he finishes "The Runaway Jury".

ANGEL EYES

This is the name of the movie that will be released on the year 2001 probably by the end of the Summer , this one in particular for me looks full of surprises, sounds really good and I really like the cast and crew on this one. First let's mention JENNIFER LOPEZ (my favorite to win on playing Frida) who I think is a really good actress ( the only good thing in THE CELL) and perfect for the character she will play in this movie, then let's mention a director/actor ALFONSO ARAU also from Mexico city, who directed the magnificent movies "Como Agua para Chocolate" , "A Walk in the Clouds" and acted in "El Topo" , "The Wild Bunch" and "El Aguila Deslalza" this is cool .. muy bueno and I can't wait to see him on the big screen again, another piece of the cast is SONIA BRAGA from Brazil who worked in one of my favorite movies "The Burning Season" next to RAUL JULIA (en paz descanse), the crew has GERALD DI PEGO as a writer who worked in the movie "Instinct" and just to end this thing what about LUIS MANDOKI from Mexico city as the director who has directed movies like "Message in a Bottle", "Mundo Magico", "When a man loves a woman" etc.. I mean this movie has to be great or has to be excellent because I would not accept any excuse. <<--- Ageles guardianes y un gran equipo ...>>

VIVIR MATA

Esta ( << that by the way I liked a lot >> working next to Alex de la Iglesia and Rosie Perez. The cast still unknown since NICOLAS y SALVADOR are trying to get the right actors for this film and they are looking for them in Mexico and Spain, so it seems that the filming is going to be stretch to October and they might be done in December by having as the location Mexico City.

Well I hope you liked what I got this time for you, and I know I mentioned Mexico city a lot this time but I can't help it because that is where I was born and I just love to know that there is a lot of people from down there that are talented and successful, without forgetting to say that is also a beautiful city full of magic.

LOBO signing out...

Coffin Joe & Brazil

Hello everyone , Coffin Joe here , and this week is " Me , You , Them " week , with my review of the pic and the other Brazilian flick which opened here this last weekend in two screens , the period piece drama/comedy " Amelia " . Read on .

-" ME , YOU , THEM " , is the tale of a woman , Darlene , who lives with three other men under the same roof , one of them is her husband , and the other two are just sort of there ( don´t ask ) . Two kids live with them in the house , neither one from her husband ( if you know what I mean , and I think you do ) . She works with the youngest of the three men , while the other " guy " cooks and take care of the kids , and her husband just spends his days listening to the radio and sleeping . Believe it or not this scenario is based on a true story , which inspired the movie .

This film is director Andrucha Waddington´s second feature , after his good debut with the twisted " Gêmeas " , starring Fernanda Montenegro´s daughter and Andrucha´s wife Fernanda Torres . He matured a great deal as a filmmaker in a short amount of time . This movie has less of the extravagant visual style shown in " Gêmeas " and his music videos , but he lets the story flow better , at a pace that maintains a steady and never boring course .

The drama is spread throughout the picture wisely , in order to break the overall fun , happy , comedic atmosphere that is otherwise the main focus of the movie . The stylistic flourishes that he felt so deeply about in previous works is here , but it´s more subtle , with the sunny landscapes beautifully portrayed by DP Breno Silveira´s work and the actors who seem to be under a wise guiding hand . The cast is amazing , in particular Lima Duarte as her husband and Regina Casé who plays Darlene with a saucy , hot charm , that is truly irresistible . Her warmth and good spirit can win not only the hearts of the three men but also the audience´s , who hope she can keep managing all three , juggling all these things so capably . It´s a good character-driven comedy/drama , that´s all I can say .

Sony Pictures Classics is handling the distribution rights in the U.S. , so expect this as an Oscar contender for best foreign film next year . Highly recommended . Check out more info on this one at : www.sonyclassics.com / www.eutueles.com.br .

-The other local release this weekend was the period drama " Amelia " , directed by director Ana Carolina , who hadn´t filmed a movie before this one since 1988´s " Sonho de Valsa " . Béatrice Agenin plays French diva of the 19th century Sarah Bernhardt , who had an accident here in Brazil in 1905 ( yeah , I know , big fuckin´deal ) .

Legend says that while performing the play " Tosca " she had to throw herself from a tower in the end , as her character died . Well she jumped from the stage of the Teatro Lírico in Rio de Janeiro and instead of falling on the mattresses on the floor , she hit the floor itself . Apparently she banged up her knee pretty bad and had to ( get this ) amputate her leg in 1915 from complications of this accident . She cursed the day she set her foot here from then on .

The movie is basically a narration of the events that happened before and after the mishap , during her time over here . Great production design , nice costumes , and a good movie for those who enjoy a costumed Merchant-Ivory type movie with a bit of wit thrown in for good measure .

Have a good week and sweet dreams my creepy little AICN friends .

Coffin Joe says : bye .