Hola, CineLocos... Father Geek here with the Latin-AICN column for this Tuesday. Ol' Coffin Joe Jr. has a damn interesting report for all of you this week... buuuuut 1st this...
Robert Rodriguez has put off his SPY KIDS 2 until after the impending strikes, but never fear the shoot-from-the-hip Director has a project to be filmed in Mexico in the works to fill the gap. He's going to be shooting the 3rd and final(?) installment of his EL MARIACHI trilogy, a sort of present day spagetti western,(in feel) using many of the original actors from that original flick and DESPERADO. Think... ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO, but contemporary times. He's just finished up the script and from what we hear whispered around town in our cuates' cavernous cinephile hangouts, its going to kick ass all over the interior of Mexico. And for you fans of the hit SPY KIDS, never fear, #2 is definately a happening thing, its just been put on hold for a few months.
Well enough of Father Geek... now to Coffin Joe Jr. and his report from the interior of South America...
Hello everybody, Coffin Joe Jr. is in the building, back for yet another week of news and reviews here at Latin-AICN. How you guys doing ?
This last weekend 20TH Century Fox Brazil did something which I´m pretty fuckin´sure pissed a whole lot of people off. You see my dear reader, they released " MonkeyBone ", the new Henry Selick flick, but ALL the copies are DUBBED. Yeah, they don´t gave me a choice, between subtitled or dubbed. They just decided for me. The fuckin´ bastards. " Maybe they did it for the kids " I thought, a common practice here in Brazil when a movie is geared towards younger viewers (Disney cartoons are often dubbed down here, even the songs) . Boy did they screw up big time. I went to see this movie yesterday, and the theater was basically empty with a few ADULTS here and there. Besides that, after I watched the movie I couldn´t figure out why they would think this movie was strictly for kids. The humor and some of the characters in this film are really out there. Some of the stuff is downright disturbing (The look of Chris Kattan´s character just creeped me out, and he was the funniest thing in the movie by the way). The movie itself is good, warped fun . I enjoyed it. No one saw it in U.S. , so when the movie arrives on DVD and VHS , do yourself a favor and pick it up. It´s not amazing, but it´s better than 99% of the crap that is playing in theatres right now (It´s way better than " The Body ", but we´ll get to that in a sec).
Anyway, here´s this week´s news :
U.S.
Well enough of Father Geek... now to Coffin Joe Jr. and his report from the interior of South America...
Hello everybody, Coffin Joe Jr. is in the building, back for yet another week of news and reviews here at Latin-AICN. How you guys doing ?
This last weekend 20TH Century Fox Brazil did something which I´m pretty fuckin´sure pissed a whole lot of people off. You see my dear reader, they released " MonkeyBone ", the new Henry Selick flick, but ALL the copies are DUBBED. Yeah, they don´t gave me a choice, between subtitled or dubbed. They just decided for me. The fuckin´ bastards. " Maybe they did it for the kids " I thought, a common practice here in Brazil when a movie is geared towards younger viewers (Disney cartoons are often dubbed down here, even the songs) . Boy did they screw up big time. I went to see this movie yesterday, and the theater was basically empty with a few ADULTS here and there. Besides that, after I watched the movie I couldn´t figure out why they would think this movie was strictly for kids. The humor and some of the characters in this film are really out there. Some of the stuff is downright disturbing (The look of Chris Kattan´s character just creeped me out, and he was the funniest thing in the movie by the way). The movie itself is good, warped fun . I enjoyed it. No one saw it in U.S. , so when the movie arrives on DVD and VHS , do yourself a favor and pick it up. It´s not amazing, but it´s better than 99% of the crap that is playing in theatres right now (It´s way better than " The Body ", but we´ll get to that in a sec).
Anyway, here´s this week´s news :
U.S.
This last weekend 20TH Century Fox Brazil did something which I´m pretty fuckin´sure pissed a whole lot of people off. You see my dear reader, they released " MonkeyBone ", the new Henry Selick flick, but ALL the copies are DUBBED. Yeah, they don´t gave me a choice, between subtitled or dubbed. They just decided for me. The fuckin´ bastards. " Maybe they did it for the kids " I thought, a common practice here in Brazil when a movie is geared towards younger viewers (Disney cartoons are often dubbed down here, even the songs) . Boy did they screw up big time. I went to see this movie yesterday, and the theater was basically empty with a few ADULTS here and there. Besides that, after I watched the movie I couldn´t figure out why they would think this movie was strictly for kids. The humor and some of the characters in this film are really out there. Some of the stuff is downright disturbing (The look of Chris Kattan´s character just creeped me out, and he was the funniest thing in the movie by the way). The movie itself is good, warped fun . I enjoyed it. No one saw it in U.S. , so when the movie arrives on DVD and VHS , do yourself a favor and pick it up. It´s not amazing, but it´s better than 99% of the crap that is playing in theatres right now (It´s way better than " The Body ", but we´ll get to that in a sec).
Anyway, here´s this week´s news :
U.S.
U.S.
-Carlos gallardo, star of " El Mariachi", has a new movie coming out on DVD named " Bravo ", directed by Lorena David. The plot goes something like this: after being fired from his job, one of Mexico´s top secret agents must return, in order to save the president´s daughter, who has been kidnapped by a drug lord.
The film will be released by Xenon Entertainment on May 15th, and it will include a commentary track by the director, a making of documentary, the trailer, actor profiles, and last the really juicy special feature is an early short film by Carlos Gallardo and Robert Rodriguez.
-A newspaper here in São Paulo called " Jornal da Tarde " ran a story about a project that Cuba Gooding Jr. may do, an indie to be shot here in Brazil, starting May 9th. The movie is " Boat Trip ", the directorial debut of writer/producer Mort Nathan (I checked the IMDB and he has a list of credits that include the TV show " The Golden Girls " and the Farrelly bros.´ movie " Kingpin "). The story deals with two straight guys who go on a cruise to the Caribbean , and find out, a bit too late of course, that it is a gay cruise. All sorts of fun and hilarious madness ensues.
-Miramax has purchased the world distribution rights of a movie based on the life of latino poet/playwright Miguel Piñero, who died in 1988. The movie, directed by Leon Ichaso, stars Benjamin Bratt as Miguel Piñero, Talisa Soto, Giancarlo Esposito, Rita Moreno, Tara Wilson and Mandy Patinkin.
BRAZIL
-Veteran soap opera actress Maria Zilda Bethlem makes her debut as a producer in the movie " Minha Vida em Suas Mãos "(" My Life in your Hands "), directed by José Antônio Garcia, and written by Yoya Wursch(COFFIN JOE JR NOTE: what kind of a name is Yoya?). The plot revolves around a woman who falls madly in love with the criminal who kidnaps her. The cast include Caco Ciocler, Eduardo Galvão, Cláudia Mauro, Stepan Nercessian, Cláudio Mamberti and Cissa Guimarães. This movie was screened at the Rio, and the São Paulo, film festivals, and also in Italy, in the Trieste film fest. The release date here in Brazil is May 11th, expect a review, right here in Latin-AICN, in the coming weeks. Visit the official site at : This Location they're alot of cool things there.
COFFIN JOE JR. MOVIE REVIEWS
" Ginger Snaps "
Director : John Fawcett
Director : John Fawcett
WOW.
That´s how I can sum up this movie for ya. Outstanding horror flick that starts out a bit slow, but kicks in with mucho power until its shocking ending. I thought I was gonna get another 90´s self-referential, smart ass, teen horror flick. Nope. This is much more in the 80´s tradition of werewolf flicks, like " The Howling " or " An American Werewolf in London ". You have the gory FX, the funny characters, the bloody,messy murder scenes, you know, the works. What´s different about this one is that it uses the werewolf myth as a metaphor, or more precisely, as a way to talk about a number of issues, making the movie not only fun, but also relevant. It is a horror film that explores serious themes, with a refreshingly dark tone. It´s not winking at you every two seconds. There´s even drama in it, and it works! This is the type of horror flick we, real horror fans who read Fangoria and bought " Crocodile " just because Tobe Hooper directed it, wait years to come along. This has to get a theatrical release in the U.S.. It went straight to video here in Brazil, which is just a shame. This movie deserves a large audience. If anyone at Lion´s Gate is reading this I beg you, do this movie justice. It´s flat out one of the best genre stuff I´ve seen in years(and I watch a lot of genre films). This is one of those rare cases where everything came together: acting, directing, photography, FX, production design, etc.
The two young female leads,Emily Perkins and Katharine Isabelle , who play sisters Brigitte and Ginger respectively, have a wonderful growth during the movie, showing their initial detachment and complete fixation with death, all the way until the sad final showdown between them in their home. These two gals give powerful performances, congrats to both. Katharine is sexy and spooky as Ginger, and Emily portrays her shy character in a quiet, but commanding way. Once again, nothing but praise to these ladies. Mimi Rogers as their mom turns in a hilarious performance, which surprised me quite a bit.
The direction by Mr.Fawcett reminded me of Roman Polanski, with subtle camera moves, that always enhanced the menace or suspense in each scene. A cool, artsy, photo montage during the title sequence is also very stylish. Keep an eye on this guy, he is going places.
Can´t recommend this enough, even for non-horror fans.
" The Body "
Director : Jonas McCord
Yup, got to see this one over the weekend, it has just opened in theatres down here.
You want to know why Lion´s Gate is giving this one a " limited " release in the U.S.? Oh, my good friend I´ll tell ya why. IT SUCKS. Straight to the point my man. Simply put, IT SUCKS. It´s pedestrian, uninspired, clichéd, boring, I could go on and on. The premise is interesting, the whole concept of the movie lends itself to decent discussion and promising material, but it never comes together. It´s one of those movies that you come out of the theater mad at the people who did it.
Think the exact opposite of everything I said about " Ginger Snaps ". NOTHING WORKS here. Apparently, Banderas got US$12 Million to play this part. That gives me some comfort, to know he didn´t accept this role because he thought the material was good, he did it for money. That´s a relief, ain´t it? Yeah. The plot, involving the discovery of the body of Christ, gets really silly and FUCKIN´ BORING. Oh, a priest questioning his fate, that´s new.Yeah, right . It´s a political thriller, then it´s an action movie, then it´s a drama, then it´s a forbidden love romance, then it´s a kidnapping flick, then............who the fuck cares, it´s all so poorly done you wish you had stayed home. You want me to close the deal on this one, really rip it apart? Here ya go: " End of Days " and " Stigmata " are superior movies. Even " Lost Souls " is more interesting. OUCH, that was mean. I´m sorry, that last remark was totally uncalled-for. Well, not really, although it was a bit rude. In the last act a lot of shit blows up. Then more shit blows up, flaming motorcycles fall on top of cars, shootouts, people run around, scream. Are we supposed to give a damn? They probably thought they were making a really important movie, filled with current themes that need to be discussed. Sorry, didn´t quite get there.
Stay away, that´s all I have to say.
