Father Geek here with Coffin Joe Jr's Latin AICN for this week. We've been having mucho troble with our Road runner mail system for almost 2 weeks now, but it cleared a little today and I got the following for you. I've caught some fine Spanish language films at SXSW so I have reviews of them up for you next week...

Hello boys and girls , Coffin Joe Jr. here with your Latin-AICN for this week . It was Carnaval a few weeks ago here , the Brazilian Mardi Gras if you will , almost a whole week of naked people , beer , samba and the works . I´m not that huge of a fan of the whole celebration , but hey , I get a few days of vacation and the country stops for five days so everyone can relax a bit . Not that bad a deal if you ask me .

Well , we dug up some neat info for ya , hope you enjoy it .

MEXICO

-I was reading Jeffrey Wells´ column over at Reel.com ( Hollywood Confidential ) , where he talked about the controversy surrounding " Amores Perros " , and some Academy members who aren´t too happy about the violence against dogs , which is so vividly portaryed in the film . I have to say that the whole thing is being blown way out of proportion . First of all , the dogs weren´t actually hurt , that´s FX folks . Do you actually believe that when Hannibal opened Ray Liotta´s skull , it´s really Ray Liotta´s brain there ? Nope , it is not . Same here amigos . Those dogs are the whole basis of the film , a theme that runs through the entire thing , and which heightens the impact of some of the stories told in the movie . Judge the movie for what it is , a great piece of filmmaking , that deserves to be valued and cherished for its honesty , rawness and sheer impact . " Amores Perros " has balls . Pure and simple . It does not apologize for anything and shows relationships the way they really are . That´s what should evaluated . People , get over the dog thing and enjoy the flick . Ok ? Amores Perros opens March 30th in New York and it goes wide in the U.S. this April 13th .

Visit the movie´s site at : THE OFFICIAL LOCATION HERE!!!

Spanish Language ANIME...

According to Doblaje Latinoamericanohttp://doblaje.go.to/ Emiliano Calemzuk, V.P. of Fox Kids L.A. has told the Argentinean magazine 'Lazer' that they will premier the movie Patlabor 2 in May and that they are in negotiations to acquire 'Akihabara'. (presumably referring to CyberTeam in Akihabara, an overly cute series)

Patlabor the movie, Patlabor 2 and the tv series was dubbed in Mexico by GS from the original Japanese version and is distributed in Latin America by Xystus. The Japanese language in Patlabor is available in SAP mode. Patlabor is a about a police force that regulates labors, robot units used for labor, and military uses. The series and movies are praised for its detailed drama and science fiction.

The second and new season of Detective Conan will be in air Monday March 12th in Chilevision, at 16:00 hrs (Santiago de Chile - 17 hrs Bs.Aires Argentina). The first spanish season of 58 episodes was aired since 1998 in 3 different Chilean TV channels in several re-runs, always until "Holmes Freak Murder Case Part 2" episode.

The series was dubbed into Spanish in Los Angeles from original japanese version, but the names were changed to Latin names, like Bobby Jackson (Shinishi Kudo), Carlos and Claudia Guzmán (Kogoro and Ran Mouri).

BRAZIL

-Remember how I told you last week that the title of Walter Salles latest film was tentative , meaning it could change before its release ? Well our very own spy here in Brazil , Captain Cometo , back from the dead to fill us in on what has changed about this project . Captain Cometo got the new title , which is " Bolandeira " here in Brazil at least . Bolandeira is a name given to the sugar-cane mills here in Brazil , and these mills apparently have an important meaning in the film . The title changed because Salles showed the script and the whole pre-production they did on the film to the author of the book the film is based on , and he was impressed with the look of the actors , their expressions and with these mills in particular . Captain Cometo also said there´s possibly a very controversial death scene in the movie , which lasts five minutes (!?) . Basically it´s Salles talking a bit about how violence has been relegated to something trivial and almost fun , in movies specially .

Thanks to Captain Cometo for the great info .

-I´ll be doing something every week now , called " Unseen Gems " . It´s a part of the column where I talk about a movie that most of you probably haven´t seen , and it´s not that difficult to get a hold of a copy of it , or if it is , it´s worth tracking one down .

UNSEEN GEMS

" Safe Men " (1998)

Director/Writer : John Hamburg

Getting a copy of this puppy for sale is really tough right now in the U.S. , and it´s not out on DVD yet , but I think that you can rent it at most video stores . It´s a comedy , in the same tradition of Wes Anderson´s " Bottle Rocket " : quirky , oddball , silly and fun . It´s good nature is infectious . The story of a couple of really , really bad musicians ( or " singer/songwriters " as they call themselves ) who get in a lot of trouble with a jewish mafioso ( who wears colorful sports clothes all the time ) , when they are mistaken for the best duo of safe crackers in town ( who , by the way , are almost as clueless as our main heros ) . The two musicians , Sam and Eddie , are played by Steve Zahn and Sam Rockwell . These guys shine in this movie , with a perfect mix of pure juvenile behavior and the ability to deliver the most stupid dialogue with a straight face .

It resembles " Bottle Rocket " not only because of its style of Gen-X , loser comedy , but also because of the fact that these two guys truly believe in whatever is it that they are doing , no matter how stupid it sounds ( Dignan was just as big a moron in " Bottle Rocket " or even the Max Fischer character in " Rushmore " ) . The thing is , they are so passionate and true about their what they do , that you just got to love these idiots . Other notable presences in the cast include Michael Lerner as the jewish mob boss , Big Fat Bernie Gayle . He and his little fat son are so funny , they almost steal the movie . The Bar Mitzvah sequence is pure genius . Funny stuff . Paul Giamatti , who you may remember from " Private Parts " , plays Big Fat Bernie Gayle´s henchman , Veal Chop , and his performance is another highlight , making a secondary character one of the most pivotal roles in the movie , thanks to his strange affection for Big Fat Bernie Gayle and Bernie Jr. .

There´s a plot , which I won´t spoil , involving the whole hiring of the safe men and Bernie Jr´s Bar Mitzvah , and also a romantic subplot involving one of the real safe crackers and one of the fake ones , both trying to win the heart of a girl . Great characters , great script , great performances , just dandy folks . If you like what you heard , go out right now and rent or try to get a copy of it at e-bay or something . Have fun .

That´s it for me , hope to see you all next week . Coffin Joe Jr. says : bye .

Father Geek here. Amores Perros is showing at SXSW and we are beginning to get some E-reviews from festival attendees. Here's a brief one...

I'm writing about AMORES PERROS the stunning directorial debut of Mexico's Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu. Have you seen the film? As Bumble says "This film is like Tarantino on acid." It is a major triumph for Mexican cinema.

Kristin

Father Geek back with another, longer comment on AMORES PERROS...

I'm a longtime AICN viewer, but this is the first time I've ever sent anything in. I was at the Butt-Numb-a-Thon in December and I was going to send you a piece about my experience, but I never got around to it. But now I've just moved to Austin, just in time for SXSW, thank God. So maybe I'll be a regular contributor. Anyway, last night I saw two films, one which was excellent and one which was strange and bizarre, but still pretty enjoyable. Here's what I have to say:

Amores Perros (Love's a Bitch)

This is a Spanish movie which was nominated for the Academy Award for best foreign language film. I think it definitely deserves the nomination, but it won't beat CTHD. The Austin Chronicle compared the storytelling in this movie to Pulp Fiction, and I would agree that there are some similarities. There are three separate stories, all centering around a car crash. The first story involves two brothers, one of which is a wife-beating convenience store robber. The other loves the wife and is making money in dog fights so he can run away with her. In the second story, a model deals with being injured and having her dog stuck under her floorboards. In the third story, a homeless hitman learns about the value of life and longs to be reunited with his daughter, who he hasn't seen in 20 years and thinks he is dead. The stories all work very well and intertwine wonderfully. The characters are all well- rounded and three-dimensional, although I would have to say I didn't care as much about the characters in the middle story about the model as much as I did in the other two stories. I would definitely recommend this movie to any filmgoer who isn't afraid of subtitles. Captivating and emotional. If you're at SXSW, try to see it.

Warren Peace

And here's a final word from Coffin Joe Jr...

ONE LAST THING : Look at this e-mail I got today from one of the fine folks at Fantoma ( who released the amazing " Fando & Lis " DVD ) and cream your pants

" Hey Coffin Joe,

Thought that you might like a sneak peek at the whole package of the Coffin Joe DVDs that are coming out on April 3rd. Included with each DVD is a 36 page reproduction of an original Zé do Caixão comic book.

Each disc has a digital widescreen transfer, a new exclusive interview with Mojica and all three trailers.

Enjoy!

Best, Ian Fantoma "

YEAH BABY !