Tag: peru

  • Heads up!

    The post I wrote for Cinencuentro was published today, talking about the recent Peruvian film posters, it’s in Spanish but I’m thinking of translating… after all, I think I’m snarkier in English.

    Give it a go, would you?

    Google Translate.

  • La Nueva Yma Sumac by La Casa Azul

    Just ran into this very cute music video – alert! Yma Sumac pop culture reference xD – really, I never thought I would have seen Yma Sumac named alongside Superman, but alas~~~ La Casa Azul (the blue house) has come up with the song (the new Yma Sumac) and this cute Cartoon Network-esque music video.

    And they’ve made the original Spanish version, and a Japanese version! Though sounds wayyyyy cuter in Japanese. It’s the whole electro-cutesy pop vibe, you know? It just fits better with the voice.

    you can check the Spanish version here, and
    visit Cocoe Studios who were in charge of the animation~~~

  • Cartelera en Lima: Máncora

    Mancora PosterMáncora (2008)

    Genre: Drama with a road trip
    Starring: Jason Day, Elsa Pataky, Enrique Murciano, Anahi de Cardenas, Angela Alegria, Phellipe Haagensen, Liz Gallardo
    Directed by: Ricardo de Montreuil

    Mancora tells the story of Santiago, a 21-year-old Limeño who parties a lot and just doesn’t care about life at all. One early morning, his dad commits suicide, so Santiago is forced to re-evaluate his life.

    First things first, I really admire de Montreuil for his visual style which is present in the music videos he’s directed [Andrea Echeverri’s Baby Blues from the La Mujer de mi Hermano OST] and his debut film. So just as the aforementioned, Mancora doesn’t disappoint visually (though I’d wish the poster were different).

    Technically, Mancora is great. Cinematography, color treatment… the underwater scene is beautiful to watch. However, if we need to get into the story – there’s nothing for me to chew on. According to them, the film is marketed at 20-somethings to nearly 30-year-olds who will “relate” to the story. So that means me. Either I’m 23 going on 32, or the film is better suited for 16-year-olds with existential crisis.

    The main character never truly develops, while the supporting characters never leave the page as real people, and just play the part like the grim cartoon version of what could have been~ Yes, we could have told this story in a year, we could have had more time to develop the character, but we only had 100 minutes. It doesn’t matter, this whole “you can’t develop a story in this amount of time” means nothing when there are films that have the protagonist meet a bunch of people, and the bunch of people can still leave a mark on you. Case and point, Into the Wild. – 2/5

  • When you ask me to fangirl…

    I’ll fangirl, but I doubt Isabelle Huppert would appreciate that fangirling. In fact, when I fangirl – I don’t gush. I do the opposite. I will not bother you. It’s a very fine line for me from ignoring someone because I don’t really care, to try to ignore someone because I know they don’t want to be disturbed.

    Blame my mom for it. LOL

    Anyway, I got to see Isabelle Huppert pretty up close.

    The whole “people don’t shove your camera onto her face” thing didn’t work out here. Everyone was flashing her(with their cameras, not the other type of flashing… though that’d be hilarious),
    but I was at bay.

    So here is a photo-chronic LOL

    (more…)

  • A post on Film Festivals

    I normally don’t post much about Film Festivals, mainly because I don’t get to see many of the films during festivals. However, I thought that I should talk about the Toronto International Film Festival, which seems like a big industry thing. I decided to do this mainly because over at theauteurs.com they’ve recently updated their menu bar options with a “festival” section, and the TIFF section (at least for this year’s edition) seems pretty complete with almost 150 film links.

    Cannes presence in the site isn’t bad either. Or the San Francisco International Film Festival…

    Here goes~

    Starting with the Venice Film Festival on September 2nd until September 12th.

    TIFF starting on September 10th until September 19th.

    and the San Sebastian International Film Festival (Spanish) on September 17th until September 26th.

    That’s some pretty heavy Film Festival posting month. Add to that the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) that starts on October 1st until October 16th – but the line-up will be announced on September 12th.

    —

    The Lima Film Festival closes tomorrow (Saturday 15th).

  • Weekend Shorts

    Reuters is reporting that Jay Chou has been cast as Kato (previously played by Bruce Lee on the series) on the new movie adaptation of the Green Hornet written and played by none other than Seth Rogen (Pineapple Express, Funny People) – really? LOL

    I said it! Asian invasion!!! xD

    —

    The Lima Film Festival began today!
    —

    VMA Nominees Announced!
    Normally, I would’ve done a different post for this, but I’ve lost my interest on MTV.
    Can’t blame me, can you?

    Womanizer… video of the year? – oh the sadness. Alongside Spears~~~ Eminem with We Made You, Beyonce with Single Ladies, Kanye and Lady Gaga. – REALLY??? I should really make a Look Back on 2008 Videos, I mean… there should be better, MUCH BETTER music videos than those.

    Lady Gaga for the win, even though I didn’t really dig any of it. <- that’s a prediction.

    (more…)

  • Lima Film Festival: Gigante

    Gigante PosterGigante (2009)
    Genre: Subtle Drama with Romantic Comedy Moments
    Starring: Horacio Camandule & Leonor Svarcas
    Directed by: Adrian Biniez

    Gigante (Giant – literal translation) tells the story of Jara, a big security guard that works night shifts at a supermarket, who begins having feelings – maybe a bit of stalkery feelings – for the pretty floor cleaner.

    This is the thing about films, your characters can do anything and you can feel whatever you want~ In the real world, having someone secretly following you around would totally freak you out, but it doesn’t happen in Gigante.

    Jara sees the floor cleaner through the security cameras, and as days go by he checks on her without her ever knowing. One day he decides to see where she goes when she’s not working only to find out she goes to the Internet cabins, after that he sort of makes a habit out of following her and “watching out” for her, in the process knowing about her likes. He even saves her a couple of times at work, and even defends her honor when some cab driver shouts obscenities/pick-up lines at her – It’s cute in the film, but I don’t recommend anyone trying his moves in the real world. Moreover, I don’t know~ I didn’t feel her. Especially at work, she was absent-minded, and a bit clumsy… actually she exasperated me a bit during her supermarket scenes.

    The film has its good moments, even though I saw people sleeping, don’t get me wrong. However, if I wanted to feel good about stalking someone, I’d watch Faye Wong on Wong Kar-Wai’s Chungking Express stalking Tony Leung. LOL – 3/5

  • Lima Film Festival: Huacho

    Huacho PosterHuacho (2009)

    Genre: Drama
    Starring: Manuel Hernandez, Alejandra Yañez,
    Clemira Aguayo & Cornelio Villagran
    Directed by: Alejandro Fernandez Almendras

    Huacho tells the story of a low-income family in central Chile, following the point of view of each member – grandparents Clemira and Cornelio, daughter Alejandra, and her pre-teenager boy Manuel – for a period of 24 hours, as they deal with the overlap of modern and rural life.

    The film starts off early one morning, as everyone gets ready for a new day, and have breakfast, when suddenly the lights go out. Manuel checks if the fuses blew off, but they didn’t, so Clemira asks her daughter if she remembered to pay the electricity bill – Alejandra says she did, but of course she didn’t.

    The story breaks off as Clemira leaves for work selling cheese on the side of the highway, Alejandra goes to work at a touristic hacienda, Manuel goes to school, and Cornelio goes to the field he is fencing. It all paints a realistic description of a family that is trapped between a modern society where you need to pay your bills, but still find yourself getting a new dress or wanting a brand new video game, and a rural lifestyle where you struggle for the price of milk to make your own cheese to make ends meet.

    The film has a lot of scenes that are devoid from any dialog, and has characters wandering around or just standing there, which either makes you wonder what they’re thinking or gets you to feel gloomy. My favorite segment was probably grandmother Clemira’s as she struggles to sell the fresh cheese she’s made, and all her seller “friends” begin leaving one by one. In the end, Clemira is at the bus stop alone waiting for Manuel to pick her up.

    No big climactic big bang booms, Huacho will slowly show you a seemingly average day of a normal family trying to cope with the changing times. It actually reminded me of some slow-paced Japanese films, and those pawn! – 3.75/5

  • Lima Film Festival: Excursiones + Feliz Natal

    This will be a double-review post. The Lima Film Festival begins this Friday, and I will be reviewing a couple of films this week… and maybe even next week.

    On this post, we will review the Argentinean film Excursiones (Hikes – literal translation) released this past March (Buenos Aires Film Festival), and the Brasilean film Feliz Natal (December, or literally Merry Christmas) released October last year (Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival).

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  • Feliz 28 Playlist!

    More than half the day gone by, but still time!

    Feliz 28~ xD

    I made a YouTube playlist for everyone, with a sort of international flavor. ^^
    I hope you listen to all of the tracks, because… well,
    that’s the way it’s supposed to be, right?

    Also… don’t mind the actual music videos, just focus on the music. LOL
    trust me.

    [iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PLF1FD4B5D155873C4&amp;hl=en_US” ]

    What’s so awesome about this 10-track list?
    It’s got 3 different renditions of the famous El Condor Pasa,
    lots of international flavor right there!

    1. Miki Gonzales – Tusuy Puquio
    2. 12 Girl Band (女子十二乐坊) – El Condor Pasa
    3. Gianmarco – Hoy
    4. Pedro Suarez Vertiz – Cuando Pienses en Volver
    5. Jean Paul Strauss – Matarina y Mambo de Machaguay
    6. PAPA SARA (パパ・サラ)- CONDORU wa Tondeiku (コンドルは飛んで行く)
    7. Gianmarco – Volvere
    8. Eva Ayllon – Y se Llama Peru/Contigo Peru/Esta es mi Tierra
    9. CantoAndino – El Condor Pasa
    10. Los Nosequien y los Nosecuantos – Tributo al Rock Peruano