Father Geek here with our Latin-AICN crew of editor/reporters and this Tuesday's regular morning column. As usual they've put together a fine report with news bits as well as reviews, but first I've got some info on some Central and South American films being currently showcased in Europe...

* From Screendaily : Portuguese actress Maria de Medeiros’ directorial debut, April Captains (Capitaes De Abril), will inaugurate this year’s 26th annual Iberoamerican Film Festival of Huelva, Spain (Nov 10-18). Medeiros will also sit on the festival’s official jury alongside Spanish director Juan Pinzas, Spanish critic Mirito Torreiro, and Brazilian producer Esdras Rubim, among others. The 12 titles competing in the festival’s official section for the top award, the Colon de Oro, include:

Francisco D’intino’s Los Dias De La Vida (Argentina).

Cecilia Roth-starrer Una Noche Con Sabrina Love, from Alejandro Agresti (Argentina-Spain).

Las Aventuras De Dios, by Eliseo Subiela (Argentina).

Jorge Perugorria-starrer Estorvo, from Ruy Guerra (Brazil).

Zelito Viana’s Villa-Lobos, Una Vida De Pasion (Brazil).

Ciro Duran’s La Toma De La Embajada (Colombia-Venezuela-Mexico).

Coronacion, by Silvio Caiozzi (Chile).

Fernando Huertas’ Terca Vida (Spain).

En Un Claroscuro De La Luna, from Sergio Olhovich (Mexico).

Ciudad De M, by Felipe Bygregori (Peru).

Manoel de Oliveira’s Palabra E Utopia (Portugal).

Oro Diablo, from Jose Ramon Novoa (Venezuela-Spain).

The Colon de Oro comes with a $27,000 (PTS5m) award and $13,500 (PTS2.5m) in distribution assistance for the winning film. Huelva is also preparing sidebars dedicated to the latest in European cinema, the decade of Mexican cinema, Luis Bunuel, Iberoamerican films from the last year (not included in the official section), and Youth and Marginalisation in Iberoamerica. Tributes to veteran actors Federico Luppi of Argentina and Spain’s Sara Montiel are also planned.

That info appeared in yesterday's Euro-AICN column, but Father Geek has reprinted it here because I realize many of you only read the Latin-AICN columns and don't surf the rest of our site on a day to day basis. Actually you should check out the Euro site every Monday morning because they regularly have coverage from Spain and Portugal that strongly effects the film industries in Latin America and as a result YOU.

Well, enough of Father Geek, Here's LOBO and the rest of the Guys... Annnnnnd... Its nice to have Ulysses back healthy and full of fire... We missed him...

LOBO reporting...

Que onda Locos amantes lovers del Cine here I am one more time, me LOBO your camarada bringing you news hopefully cool news for all of you from the Latin Film circle...Let's go then and I hope you enjoy....

QUICKIES / RAPIDINES

*** Well I think that by now some of you already went to see "Meet the Parents", and now guess what .. there is going to be a sequel for this flick, so by right now the writer of the movie Jim Herzfeld is working on the script for the second part but Dreamworks are not sure if they will count with the cast and the Director (Jay Roach) since he is checking the 3rd part for Austin Powers.

*** This is for those Greasers out there..I don't know how you really liked Grease 2 after the cool and only Grease, but maybe this will sound cool for those Grease geeks and NSYNC fans (not for me). NSYNC are going to be part of Grease 3, that so far sounds like will start filming once the whole deal up in Hollywood is over, also Britney Spears might participate on this playing the role of a Pink Ladie..?? ;\

*** There is going to be a documentary of the "Sex Pistols" at the Gijon Film Fest that will take place from Nov. 24 until Dec. 1st. The documentary was made by Julien Temple who did "The great rock'n'doll swindle" in 79 and has being making music videos just like he did for Duran Duran, Whitney Houston and the Rolling stones. The name of the documentary is " The Filth and the Fury"...just to let you know....

CALLE 54...

This film by FERNANDO TRUEBA the Spanish Director who did BELLE EPOQUE one of my favorites of his with Penelope Cruz, is a totally different from all of his previous movies, this time he decided to put together all of the greatest Jazz players of Latin America and becoming the person between the Artists and the public. This movie has some interviews and mostly concerts or special shows from the Latin Jazz gang, I don't know if is right for me to say this but I am going to anyways, "the cast" is formed by Gato Barbie, Cachao, Michel Camilo, Chano Dominguez, Jerry Gonzalez, Chucho Valdes and of course best in the list and my favorite one Tito Puente. This is one of those films that can easily replace the CD player for about 105 minutes full of rythm and the feeling of the Jazz Latino..also I have to mention that this is not like a documentary is more than that but not that much to become a movie..get it ?! got it!?..

POR LA LIBRE - DUST TO DUST

This is the title of a movie that is going to be on theaters this Friday (20th) and has Juan Carlos de Llaca as the Director and the cast is formed by Osvaldo Bonavides, Ana de la Reguera, Rodrigo Cachero and Alexia Witt, this film was produced by Altavista Films and they mentioned that they are proud for helping make the movie because it is an original film and they are sure this movie is actually going to be enjoyed by la chaviza (young folks). The movie has two guys that are always in competition for the who has the best or more, there is a family reunion and the grandfather of the two folks (Rodrigo & Roco) gets a heart attack and he dies in the arms of his best grandsons, later they get to read the testament and they find out that he left the balance of his bank account to one of his friends, he lives a Mercedes Benz to Rodrigo and the pocket watch he always used goes to Roco..this isn't what really the movie is all about but you can get an idea with this bit..here is the link for the trailer..but remember ..just plays on RP.. Click Right Here

Chamacos y Chamacas this time I got 3 reviews from the 36th Chicago Film Fest...our cuate Chupacabras97 send them to me so I can share them with all of you...muchas gracias Chupacabras we thank you for your colaboration....Now let's go to what our cuate wrote and thought about those 3 Films...

Que onda, Lobo!

Soy Chupacabras97 reporting from the 36th Chicago International Film Festival where I saw 3 Mexican films: De ida y vuelya (To and Fro) by Salvador Aguirre, Amores Perros (Love's a Bitch) by Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu, and Cronica de un desayuno (A Breakfast Chronicle) by Benjamin Cann.

All three films were great, but Amores Perros really stood out amongst the three. I will write a short review of each...

De ida y vuelta

This is Salvador Aguirre's first film and he was present after the movie to answer any questions. He had some really interesting things to say about the movie and reiterated the themes that were most prevalent throughout the movie. This movie is not a standard illegal immigrant story--it does not deal with the trip to the United States like El Norte or even My Family). This story deals with the return home to Mexico for an undocumented worker. It starts off with a scene familiar in many of the small towns in Mexico where many of the working age young men have gone away to work "del otro lado." At certain times during the year, the highways going towards these small towns become filled with pickup trucks bearing license plates from California, Colorado, Illinois, Texas and numerour others. These are the trucks of these absent sons, brothers, husbands and lovers who are coming "home". The main character, Filiberto, is one of these lost citizens of the small town of Tzuntzintzan in Michoacan. He is coming home after spending three years in the asparagus fields of California. He is coming home expecting the respect and love he may never have felt before, from his peers, from his mother, from his girlfriend--but three years is a long time. His home town is very different from when he left. And more importantly, HE is very different from when he left. Filiberto begins to struggle with his identity in the context of a place that he used to consider home. This creates an interesting situation because Filiberto wants to be a part of the town, but he does not want to consider himself just an "indian" like the other people in the town. This movie also features the cruel practice of drug barons and wealthy landlords taking the farming land away from the working class farmers. This is often a helpless situation and people are left with no homes and no way to make a living. This is a movie that has a lot to offer and is a great debut for Salvador Aguirre.

Amores Perros

This movie is a masterwork. It is also a first film for Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu and it is beautifully filmed and directed featuring a killer soundtrack and an amazingly filmed car chase/crash scene that is featured from a few different points of view. I am extremely excited that this movie is coming out of Mexico because I hope it pushes the envelope of what is expected/possible in Mexican cinema. Then the plot. It is definitely depressing and dense and throws so much stuff at you that by the end, I found myself thinking about it well into the rest of the night. It is a movie about loss, love, reality, fantasy. It is about the journey everyone takes in life and the choices they make. The plot is organized in three interlocking vignettes (many people compare it to Pulp Fiction, but I would compare it more to Jackie Brown or Go). The first vignette is about a character named Octavio who is in love with Susana, his sister in law who is constantly being abused by his asshole brother. He dreams of being able to run away with Susana, but the only way he will be able to do it is through his dog, Cofi, who shows ability in dog fighting. This dog becomes the symbol for his fantasy life with Susana. Poor Octavio lives such a deluded fantasy that he is not at all prepared for what actually happens. It is a brutal story.

The second vignette serves as sort of comic relief, although it is also very brutal. It features a model named Valeria who is having an affair with a married man. He has finally left his wife and has bought Valeria a beautiful apartment where they can live together in bliss. Despite a great view of Valeria's billboard outside of the apartment window, there are some problems with it as one of the floorboards gives way and produces a sizeable hole in the floor where one day Valeria's dog, Ritchie, gets lost. This search for the dog become the only thing that can distract her from the reality of dealing with a situation that has quickly become hopeless, and depressing. But where is that damn dog? It has not emerged in days! Despite the laughter that ensues, it is truly tragic, as these people have no clue about what they really want. Their search for love has detroyed more than they will even know.The final story is also very heavy, but it is also somewhat hopeful. It features the story of El Chivo, a homeless man who is also a contract killer. Throughout his life, he has lost so much--he used to be happily married and a college professor, but he has lost everything--his wife, his daughter, his happiness and it has been because of the life choice that he has made. He chose to leave his family to become a guerrilla. This has been an obvious mistake and the scenes where he gazes upon his daughter are extremely touching. The pack of stray dogs that follows him around have become thee objects of his love, although he still harbors the hope that his daughter will one day acknowledge him outside of her window. What a sorrowful depressing existence, until suddenly, he has to deal with his loss. It is a truly great movie.

Cronica de un desayuno

Benjamin Cann's theater directing background definitely comes through in this adaptation from a play of the same name. Despite the comparison's that have been made with Almodovar (Shocking scene in the first 5 minutes of the film, transvestites, dysfunctional families, color schemes) Cann has a long way to go in terms of reaching that level of storytelling. Regardless, I was more impressed with him in the question and answer session that followd the film because of the thought and foresight that he had put into the details of the film. The film itself takes place one morning in a Mexico City neighborhood where an absent father has come back one night to "try to make things work". This return causes the daughter to want to run away from home with an older man who has his own problems, the older son to want to become Oedipus, and the youngest son to want to become some beautiful yellow bird and fly to a world far away. This is another case where people who are in a difficult situation create alternate realities for themselves instead of facing these problems. They live in a fantasy world where things seem better, but as much as they try, they cannot and will not be able to escape from them. It was thoroughly depressing, and I would hate to see what the Cronica de una cena would look like. Bottom line: the content was so depressing that I did not know why the movie was made, but it was extremely well acted and directed. Cann said that you will either love it, or hate it, there is n o in between. I think I am in between.

>>LOBO's bit more on "Cronica de un Desayuno" ; this film will be in theaters en Mexico on November 2nd..

Xtras...

Premios ERES..

Last night I was watching the # 10 ERES awards..for those who don't know what this is , this is something like the Grammys or like the MTV awards..with the difference that ERES is a magazine and there is different categories like Best singer, Best song, Best TV show, Best music video, Best telenovela etc... they almost cover every single area in the entertainment industry, but this time I am just going to give you the results on Best movie, actress and actor. This time the movie Sexo, Pudor y Lagrimas got'em all..this film got the award for Best movie, Susana Zabaleta got the award for best actress and she got it after being in the nominations next to Salma Hayek..Go Susana !!! and Jorge Salinas got the award for best actor, so this ads 3 more awards to the many which this film has gotten this year.

Well folks this was it from me (LOBO) and my cuate, so see you all later and as you already know and as I almost always type, if you have any scoops, reviews, stuff, info or whatever it is about Latin Films, be cool and just if you feel like it.. E-Write Me ..okay..peace!

Ulysses in Argentina...

Hey central¦Ulysses reporting

You guys over there must have been thinking these last two weeks about what a schmuck I am for not sending in my reports. But I have an alibi. In a mail I sent to Lobo I explained the reasons for my absence.

First of all, I made a trip to some really out-of-the-way regions of the country. Then, on my return, a fucking bug sieged my somewhat slow immune system and I ended up in bed for two weeks, trying to get rid of it. It wasn´t anything serious, just a cold, but it was a crash course on patience. The good news is that that´s all gone now. Of course, it is positive for me, but you poor innocent fellas who have to bear this boring and cranky old fart of a Greek must be cursing the high heavens. I´m sort of like dirt, you can find me everywhere and you can never get rid of me. Well, probably just the last part of that saying is true. Anyway, enough on me.

With all the sweet wine and juicy meat I have ingested in sun-drenched beaches of Ithaca and all the valuable objects I have collected in these last few days, well, let´s say I´m a new man. Not to mention my palace, which is getting remodeled under the careful eye of Penelope. And yes, the movies. I have seen some, mainly on Homevid given my condition. But yesterday, I had a double feature at the multiplex. First of all, I saw The Hollow Man., which is a particularly horrid experience I don´t want to retell. But there was a much happier story afterwards. At last I got to see the much-buzzed about argentine film " Nine Queens " and yes, everything is true. The movie is absolutely brilliant. Mr. Weinstein please note down this title. I can assure you it will deliver.

Here is my review.

NINE QUEENS

The Plot

I won´t get into the plot too much, because it´s something you should discover on your own. It should unfold in all its glory to your virgin eyes. And if Mr. Weinstein or whoever notes down this title, arranges a private screening and gets a glimpse at this gem, youâ€Tll be in total and pure cinematic bliss. If this doesn´t happen, it will be a great injustice towards all of you lovers of film.

All you should know about the plot is this: It´s a story about two conmen. One of them is the pro, who knows every trick in the business and would even sell his mother for a strong offer. His attitude is cynical in extreme and some of his lines are instant classics that will form part of our culture. In a certain way, they reminded me of the writings of Oscar Wilde, so known for his ironic remarks ( " A cynic is a person who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing " ). The other one is the young, inexperienced young guy who is trying to save seventy grand to help his father. Both meet by chance and they will join forces for a day to pull off some small scams. But fate has something different prepared for them. A unique opportunity will fall into their hands. Something that will expose all of their weaknesses and will engender all types of complications, pacts and basically a wide variety of surprising, exciting and nail-biting plot twists.

The results.

The word classic doesn´t appear in my word processor very frequently and I´m not fond of spitting it out of my mouth. I reserve it for those special films that work in so many levels that you feel dizzy as you walk out of the theatre and you just can´t wait to stand in line again and have another filling. I reserve it for those films that make you laugh out of pleasure when you watch them. I reserve it for those films that just keep bugging in your head weeks after you saw them. I reserve it for those films that have a new, fresh and at the same time, revealing look at the tired world we see and live every day. Great films can be very different in their effect. Some of them find unseen beauty or neglected jewels in daily life. Others expose what our minds think, but won´t allow us to say. But other times, great movies are extraordinary because of their perfectly drawn characters, clever and lasting dialogue and an original and refreshing plot. Well, " Nine Queens " is exactly that. It´s not a deep reflection of the human soul and its interactions and contradictions. It doesn´t mean to be. But it´s a movie that paints a hidden reality and is a total success in showing us the real people that exist behind the characters. There is no villain in this story and there is no hero. Everybody is drawn out of a varying canvas of grey. They all have their share of corruption and greed and they all have some very human and real emotions and motifs behind it all. Of course, there are some that are a darker grey than others. As I said, Marcos, the experienced one, is a guy that would sell his own mother if the offer was good enough. But¦he is not a villain. Day by day, his lifestyle has carved him into a more unscrupulous fellow, but there are scenes in the film that clearly indicate some minimal but still noticeable state of remorse. Though he quickly shakes conscience off, because it kills his business, and goes back to work.

But apart from the credible characters, the juicy dialogue and the labyrinth-like plot, it´s amazing how much fun it is. It´s a movie that pleases all segments of the audience. It has substance, it has style and is absolutely enjoyable and entertaining. The BO figures speak for themselves. On its first weekend it opened in third place and reached the first spot in its third week, where it clung for many weeks. Apart from that, the opening was very good, but in its sophomore session it increased an eye-popping 55%. And that is not all. The weekend after this gigantic boost it managed to have nearly identical numbers, which were to grow even more in its fourth outing. As you see, it is a very very big audience pleaser and it has delighted every critic in the country. I don´t think there was such a surprising word-of-mouth hit in recent history. So, as I was saying, it has a lot of crossover appeal and it could become a worldwide arthouse hit, in the vein of Run, Lola Run.

So Mr. Weinstein¦you know what to do.

From the southern pampas... Ulysses out.

Coffin Joe in Brasil...

Hello Coffin Joe back , not much news from Brazilian films , so I´ll be talking about cool stuff I stumbled upon this week .

First go get the " Naked Gun " DVDs that just came out , ´cause the commentary tracks they feature are some of the most hilarious stuff I´ve heard , Zucker , producer Robert Weiss and " host " Robert Tilden ( who apparently hadn´t seen any of the movies before the commentary tracks were recorded ) are just funny as hell ; " Rosemary´s Baby " DVD that came out is also great , nice transfer , cool interviews , great movie . Finally a little movie that the amazing folks over at Anchor Bay put out is " Pusher " , cool Danish flick , awesome DVD for such a small release , thank God Anchor Bay takes the genre stuff seriously . Music news for ya too , there´s a new version of " The Last of the Mohicans " soundtrack out there , with additional music not found in the previous version . One last thing you can make your pre-orders for Peter Jackson´s mockumentary! " Forgotten Silver " , which will be released on DVD , ( with a commentary track by the man himself ) ; also DVD pre-orders are already available for Tobe Hooper´s " Crocodile " , Takeshi Kitano´s " Kikujiro " and " Godzilla 2000 " .

All these DVDs are coming out in December . Enjoy . Here´s this week´s bit of news :

-This is an exciting week folks , October 20th begins the 24th São Paulo International film festival , and boy there´s some cool stuff I´ll be reporting about in the next columns , including reviews for : Tsui Hark´s " Time and Tide " ( KICK FUCKIN´ ASS HARDCORE HK ACTION FLICK , or so I´ve heard) , Coen bros´ " O brother where art thou " , Wong Kar-Wai´s " In the Mood for Love " , Maria de Medeiros´ directing debut " Capitães de Abril " , Lars Von Trier´s " Dancer in the Dark " , Neil La Bute´s " Nurse Betty " , Arturo Ripstein´s " Asi es la Vida " , Mathieu Kassovitz´s " The Crimson Rivers " , just to name a few ; plus a lot of new Brazilian films which will be debuting at the festival . The official site for the festival is : Right Here.

-Check out the really cool site By Clicking Here for this short film festival that happens every year here in São Paulo called Festival do Minuto ( *One minute Festival ) , which features short films that last one minute . This year´s theme for the shorts was the millennium . One of my buddies has a short there ( I even saw him editing it ) , called " Parou na Garganta " . You can even watch the shorts at the site .

That´s all from me , wish there was more to report about . See you all next week .

Coffin Joe says : bye .

PS : The Batman Beyond : Return of the Joker movie has been delayed , but the soundtrack is already for sale , so go get it , and keep sending those complaints to WB .