Father Geek here with Coffin Joe Jr. and our Latin-AICN column for this week. Well, I knew when CTHD won Best Foreign Film that it wouldn't get best picture. I was really hoping AMORES PERROS would get the non-English language film and that would open Best Picture up for CROUCHING TIGER. You see they would never give the two prizes to the same flick. Well at least AMORES PERROS Opens March 30 in New York, expands across the USA starting April 13. See This Film! On another front Father Geek received the following good news over night...
My name is Joel Santillan and I represent Molinar films in Juarez, Mexico. Our company made the latest El Santo adventure called INFRATERRESTRE. El Santo is a mexican wrestler turned actor who made over 50 movies from the 50's to the early 80's. This films are considered classic cult films in the U.S. and have a big following in Japan.
To watch the movie trailer visit our page at cineproduccionesmolinar.com and click the CORTOS option in the Santo section.
Best regards
Joel Santillan
Public Relations Molinar Films
Father Geek back with this bit that our ANIME expert Scott Green sent me...
Spanish Language Patlabor and Digimon Report
From César De la luz:
Just to report that Patlabor the mobile police, finally was premiered last Monday 12th. Opening and closing credits and songs in Japanese (except introduction by a narrator), character names remained original, un-edited, good Spanish dubbing. As the soccer fans says "Es un golazo!!!"" (It's a goal!!). Fox Kids in Spanish comments in their FAQ section comment that will premiere in June new episodes of Digimon, but it seems to be the Digimon 02 series.
And now to Coffin Joe Jr. and his regular report...
Hey guys , Coffin Joe Jr. here , for yet another week of creepy fun from the latin world of filmmaking .
What did you guys think of the Oscars ? Pretty pedestrian ceremony if you ask me . Benicio del Toro winning was cool , Peter Pau for cinematography was a real highlight for me ( loved the dude´s work in " Bride with White Hair " , " Bride of Chucky " and " Dracula 2000 " ) and Soderbergh finally gets some praise ( he directed " The Limey " , " The Underneath " , " Kafka " and a bunch of other unique and exciting films , but always remained sort of a " cult " director . Now , he´ll probably be able to do whatever the fuck he wants , and that´s just awesome . Can´t wait for " Ocean´s Eleven " and " Solaris " . ) . Bjork singing was pretty sweet and Ben Affleck looked just a bit creepy . Ellen Burstyn should have gotten the Best Actress award , but hey , it´s the Oscars , so Julia Roberts got it . " Requiem for a Dream " seemed like a punch in the face , " Erin Brockovich " was more like a pinch . Whatever . Thank God " Chocolat " did not win a damn thing . Ridley Scott looked fuckin´ pissed at the whole thing , don´t know why . " Amores Perros " didn´t win for Best Foreign Language Film , which was expected , but I was still hopeful .
Anyway , enough of me rambling , here´s this week´s news :
BRAZIL
What did you guys think of the Oscars ? Pretty pedestrian ceremony if you ask me . Benicio del Toro winning was cool , Peter Pau for cinematography was a real highlight for me ( loved the dude´s work in " Bride with White Hair " , " Bride of Chucky " and " Dracula 2000 " ) and Soderbergh finally gets some praise ( he directed " The Limey " , " The Underneath " , " Kafka " and a bunch of other unique and exciting films , but always remained sort of a " cult " director . Now , he´ll probably be able to do whatever the fuck he wants , and that´s just awesome . Can´t wait for " Ocean´s Eleven " and " Solaris " . ) . Bjork singing was pretty sweet and Ben Affleck looked just a bit creepy . Ellen Burstyn should have gotten the Best Actress award , but hey , it´s the Oscars , so Julia Roberts got it . " Requiem for a Dream " seemed like a punch in the face , " Erin Brockovich " was more like a pinch . Whatever . Thank God " Chocolat " did not win a damn thing . Ridley Scott looked fuckin´ pissed at the whole thing , don´t know why . " Amores Perros " didn´t win for Best Foreign Language Film , which was expected , but I was still hopeful .
Anyway , enough of me rambling , here´s this week´s news :
BRAZIL
BRAZIL
-Italian beauty Ornella Muti is currently in Brazil , shooting a movie made for TV ( Brazilian TV station Globo ) called " O Filho Predileto " , under the helm of veteran director Walter Lima Jr. ( " The Oyster and the Wind " ) . " O Filho Predileto " is the story of a French woman who lived in Brazil and one day woke up and found a baby left by a stranger at her door . Claudia ( played by Ornella Muti ) , the French lady , takes the kid to Rome , but six years later , because she took the child away without the proper papers and government permits , she has to come back , so that the child can be adopted by new parents .
The movie´s budget is around 1 million reais ( US$ 500.000 ) and it will air sometime in the next semester . Even though it´s TV material , the companies behind the project are pretty big : Columbia/TriStar Brazil , Globo Filmes , Total Filmes and Italian TV giant RAI . RAI´s interest came up because of Ornella´s involvement in the project , and the film will be aired in Italy as well . After its solo TV broadcast , the movie will hit video stores and then cable .
Just in case you were wondering , Ornella delivers her dialogue in Italian , and will be dubbed for the Brazilian version .
-Coffin Joe news ! " Awakening of the Beast " , one of his weirdest ( and that´s saying a lot if you know his oeuvre ) and most bizarre films , is set to be released in theatres here in Brazil , completely uncut and restored for the first time ever baby ! Also , Joe recently did a short film for a TV show down here , called " Parto Nervoso " ( *Nervous Delivery ) , which aired two weeks ago , which was basically a twisted little variation on the whole " father waiting for his wife to give birth in the hospital " genre . Joe has another movie already shot , but not finished , titled " A Praga " ( *The Plague ) , which was shot in 1983 , and is still waiting to edited . He plans to shoot the end of the Coffin Joe trilogy which started with " At Midnight I´ll take your Soul " and " This Night I´ll Possess your Corpse " . The third , and final , flick is called " Encarnação do Demônio " and he plans to shoot it in the second semester after he finishes a short called " Pós-Morte " . YEAH BABY !
Finally , Joe is set to make his radio comeback , hosting a show on the 89.1 FM radio station here in São Paulo .
-Director Mara Mourão ( " Alô " ) is shooting her second flick , " Avassaladoras " , with a cast that includes Reynaldo Gianecchini , Paula Cohen , Ingrid Guimarães and Giovanna Antonelli ( " Bossa Nova " ) . The movie is a romantic comedy , where a young web designer is in love with her hunky co-worker , who is quite the ladies´man , a fact that upsets her a great deal . 20th Century Fox Films Brazil is set to distribute the film down here and Total Filmes is producing it for about 1 million reais ( US$ 500.000 ) .
MEXICO
-The German short film " Quiero Ser " , directed by Florian Gallenberger , which was shot in Mexico City , won the best live action-short film award at the Oscars . It deals with two kids who want to sell balloons for a living in the streets of Mexico City .
UNSEEN GEMS
Suture
Directors : Scott McGehee and David Siegel
Ok , so as far as neo-noir films go , this one is pretty crazy . People look at two twins who look nothing like each other ( one is a big black man , the other one is a skinny white fella ) and say that they look exactly like each other . Does that strike you as odd ? Well it is . So is this movie . It´s shot in black & white , with a very retro feel , ( including the architeture of the main character´s house ) , yet there are outbursts of modern music here and there . Forget Tarantine wannabes , and the glut of " Pulp Fiction " copies we saw around 95 , 96 , this is the most original of the bunch . Besides that , it´s just plain cool . Stylistically speaking , there are some fancy camera moves , which combined with the striking B&W look , give the movie a very unique identity .
It´s not just a noir piece either , there are some existential issues going on , people´s identities being questioned , in the most fundamental sense of the word . The casting novelty works just fine and offers the viewer the chance to question a lot of stuff , while leaving them kinda confused at the same time . The evil twin faking his own death plot device is just another element that further adds complexity to the very , very kooky story . Some will hate this with passion . It´s definitely not for everyone . Those who enjoy something a bit more challenging and that requires patience will find the movie a rewarding experience . I know I did . Suture is available in DVD , with only a trailer as an extra feature , through MGM .
Trivia note : Steven Soderbergh is an executive producer in this movie .
