Tag: peru

  • The 65 Foreign Submissions are in + Documentary shorts

    I can feel it in the air. Award season is approaching. I think Indie Spirit Awards are also done with submissions, and their nominations should arrive come early December.

    In the meantime, the Academy Awards has released the list of the 65 countries (or not-countries… Greenland?) that will be competing for 5 spots as “Best Foreign” nominees, as well as their 8 short documentaries.

    Here are some of the reviews of the ones I’ve seen.

    Let’s talk wild guess predictions in here. Which countries will be the 5 chosen ones?

    Mexico’s Biutiful seems like an easy assumption.

    China’s Aftershocks seems to be a good candidate for several reasons besides “film”. Whatever your thoughts on melodrama are, I mean… you really need to be a sour grape not to feel something for the family in that film. Either that, or you’ve never been in a natural disaster. Having said that, it is because it’s a melodrama that it’s perfect for Oscar. Moving family drama that deals with catastrophe with a really powerful and magnificently handled Earthquake scene that was a box office hit in China. It’s just good business.

    Also, China being nominated is controversial. Anything to do with China since 2008 is controversial. Controversial always brings ratings. Also nominating China is just plain good business. If China gets nominated – I dunno, what are the chances of some state channel broadcasting the Oscar? Just imaging 2/3 of China’s internet population watches the Oscar that night. That’s 200 million viewers. Anything in China is big.

    If there’s no China, it must be another cheese movie… like South Korea’s A Barefoot Dream. An underdog story of a kiddie football team and a coach. It shall make you feel happy xD

    Canada’s Incendies?

    and… I dunno what else. Peru’s chances? From what I have seen, and what I’ve heard. It could very well get into the nine before they select the final five. I’ll have a better grasp once the 9 are out xD

  • The Town is Exciting Fun

    … but the Spanish title sucks balls. Atracción Peligrosa – meaning: Dangerous Attraction. Pure cheese. First, a couple of fun pop culture differences. When the credits rolled, and the people began discussing the film. They started talking about “the prostitute” – “the junkie.” Then came another guy that said, “that Rebecca Hall is good, huh. She’s something.” And then we talked politics. LOL

    -note: the paragraph was edited to not spoil the film-

    So anyway, while people refer to Rebecca Hall – who’s only been on Vicky Cristina Barcelona in films here, people talk about Blake Lively’s character as “the prostitute” or “the junkie” while her show Gossip Girl plays on TV every single day of the week. Not even a “the Gossip Girl girl is something.” Just saying. It was interesting to see.

    Adapted from the novel Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan, The Town tells the story of a group of bank robbers from the city of Charlestown in Boston. Passed from father to son as if it were traditional work, there’s Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck), and his fellows Jim (Jeremy Renner), “Gloansy” and “Dez” – they’re about to rob a bank, and successfully take the money without leaving any evidence, except for the bank manager Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall). They take her hostage, only to set her free and to keep an eye for anything she might know.

    As Doug befriends Claire and gets info on what she knows and is or not telling FBI agent Adam Frawley (Jon Hamm), Doug and his “buddies” get going on their next targets, because the money is never enough… not for Fergie (Pete Postlethwaite) anyway.

    Actually, I’m making it sound so very complicated, when it’s not. The Town is a very straightforward film, that gets you going from the minute the film begins. It seems Ben Affleck’s talent for directing wasn’t mere luck when Gone Baby Gone was done. If you had any doubt, The Town just proved he’s good for real. In here, he does it bigger, faster and better – it’s a bigger production, it’s a faster-paced film, and it turns out better. The film’s engaging in terms of action for those who need adrenaline in what they watch, and it terms of performances for those who need “more than a mindless action flick”. It also has drama, romance… and even humor. My mom watches a lot of CSI, too.

    Best, and craziest, performance goes to Jeremy Renner who, after this and The Hurt Locker, might be turning into an adrenaline junkie for real. The highest moment of tension, for me, it’s possibly the scene in which Renner’s Jim runs into Affleck’s Doug while he’s having a lunch date with Hall’s Claire. You don’t really know what’s going to happen, but it grips you in a way none of the car chasing and shooting got to you. Maybe it’s because we’re Claire… or we’re Doug. We think she knows, but we don’t want her to know?

    The frailty of Claire’s character – she’s new in town… a yuppie? No friends in town, no family. She was just kidnapped, it’s easy to understand why she might have befriended Doug – her friends said so, kidnap rebound. Did I want the bad guys to succeed? I think many in the theater did. Maybe that’s why no one liked Blake Lively’s character. She’s a junkie prostitute with a kid… in the end, she’s still a junkie prostitute with a kid. Did not love or hate her.

    Anyway, film’s good fun. Very exciting, and very recommended. Women and men, FYI. xD

    4/5

  • Peruvians are so very Chinese

    Ahh… Peruvians and Chinese, Peru and China – countries so far away, but with so many links. Almost a year ago I read a book called 1434 by some guy Menzies. He also wrote 1421 where he says China arrived to America first. It’s an interesting thought considering how similar our cultures can be.

    I mean, sure – Peru has the biggest Chinese colony in Latin America. Many of us may not speak Mandarin or Cantonese, but it sure has caught on everyday life. I mean, not only do we have a dish called Lomo Saltado (Sautee Sirloin?) that’s made with soy sauce, and that’s now a landmark dish.

    lomo saltado

    Obviously, we don’t call soy sauce “soy sauce,” Peruvians call it “sillao” [si yau in Cantonese]. Everyone in Latin America doesn’t — just saw some Colombian “chef” doing some ceviche with lime and “soy sauce” and “ginger”. As well as an Argentinean doing “Chinese noodles” with “soy sauce”.

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  • What Are Good Lyrics?

    Ah… English, such a direct language. I often have discussions with people about the nuances of the different languages. Friends tell me that French and Italian are great for flirting, and my mom keeps telling me that different dialects in Chinese have so many words to describe food flavors, impossible to describe in Spanish or English.

    The Beautiful Language.

    However, what about songs?

    My favorite songs, my favorite artists in English — 99% of the time, I try not to find the lyrics any longer. Whenever I have enjoyed the songs, looked for the lyrics, 90% of the time I’ve ended up disappointed.

    My first language is Spanish, however, I often find myself thinking in English – so, whenever I listen to music in Spanish, my brain begins translating lyrics into English. The repertoire of songs that I actually like in Spanish tend to be songs that are hard to translate literally into English.

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  • Foreign Submissions Update

    Some very exciting news – First, it seems I’ve seen more than TWO of the Foreign submissions this year LOL. Of course that’s without considering the 9 films that will go through the other stage, and the 5 that will be chosen. I’ll probably get a 1/5 ratio at the most.

    Second of all… China chose Xiaogang Feng’s earthquake drama Aftershocks to represent them. *jumpy claps* Now, this is my weakness. I love tear-jerking dramas. Anyone who’s lived through an earthquake should and will be affected by the story, anyone who’s lived through a hurricane, typhoon, any catastrophic natural disaster. Aftershocks is for you. But this is not to say that Aftershocks is exploitative of the tragedy, because this “earthquake” film is little about the earthquake and all about the people affected by it.

    Considering the technical achievement this is, and how human and audience-friendly this drama is, I think this might have high chances of passing to the “chosen 9”. *crosses fingers*

    Here are some of the submissions I’ve seen and reviewed:

    The updated titles via Indie Wire!

  • Top10 Recent East Asian Films that Should Be Released in Peru

    Bam! I’m into making lists now. xD

    To push distributors, and tickle their curiosity, as well as showing them it can also be good business to bring Asian flicks. Plus, cinephiles would love a little more variety in their local theaters, and I bet regular moviegoers wouldn’t mind one or two non-Hollywood blockbusters… after all, we already watch everything subtitled! We don’t have an issue with them like some… other… people.

    If Americans (and Canadians) complain about the little variety of Asian films outside martial arts, or auteur cinema – well, really. Stop complaining. It’s even worse down here. If you got 5 releases a year (just an assumption), then we get one… if we’re lucky. Sorry, I’m not so campy with J-horror… I’m a little tired. I must be too old for it now. LOL

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  • Polvos Azules: A Cinephile’s Paradise?

    I read a post about Polvos Azules in Spanish, that I thought I should translate into English and share. Titled Una Visita a Polvos Azules, by Edmundo Paz Soldan from ElBoomeran.com.

    What is Polvos Azules, you say? Meaning Blue Dusts (as in numbers of types of dust). I’ll let Edmundo explain his experience here in Lima. Also, pointing out… it’s not like I endorse paying for counterfeit merchandise. LOL Just saying, and covering my basis.

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  • Ahh… Red Global

    Way back back… back in the day – a little bit before I started using Napster xD this was my shame, and you can NOT hold me accountable for it. Circle of shame, girlfriend~~~

    https://youtu.be/B7La6vwvEy8

  • Contracorriente: Melodramatic Magic Realism

    Now I understand why Undertow has been winning audience awards everywhere, it plays with your bobito (heart). And comparisons with Brokeback Mountain seem to be inevitable, since they are both dealing with a “gay” thematic in a setting not usually linked to “gay behavior” and they both have to deal with extramarital affairs, but they are little alike.

    In Undertow, Miguel (Cristian Mercado) is a fisherman in the small town of Cabo Blanco, Peru, where he is having a baby with his wife Mariela (Tatiana Astengo). The model citizen, a good husband, and well-liked by everyone in town, no one knows that Miguel is having an extramarital affair with Santiago (Manolo Cardona), an artist who’s visited the place since he can remember.

    As the melodrama unfolds, writer/director Javier Fuentes Leon doesn’t really take us nowhere we’ve never seen before — if you’ve seen many LGBT-themed films that is, except with that bit with Santiago’s destiny, where the Magic Realism finally kicks in. Ultimately, the film is just a love story, which on one side makes you wonder how well the story would be received if it didn’t have a gay relationship at its core, and on the other side you’re presented with a gay relationship that’s as normal as any heterosexual one.

    Undertow will probably get placed next to other LGBT favorites in the following years — once more people get to watch it — right next to crowd’s faves like Brokeback Mountain, Shelter, Where the World Mine, Imagine Me & You, and Show Me Love.

    The acting is strong by the three lead actors, being able to carry the whole film in its 100 minutes of running time. The strongest moment in the film was perhaps better condensed in the song by Celso Piña featuring Cafe Tacuba, Aunque No Sea Conmigo, used in the trailer and the film for the line of “Quiero que seas feliz, aunque no se conmigo” (I want you to be happy, even if it’s not with me).

    Visually, the film delivers some hunting scenes — I still believe Ricardo de Montreuil (La Mujer de mi Hermano, Mancora) is visually better in his work with his advantage work on some very high profile music videos in Latin America… so how about a collaboration, guys?

    3.5/5

    Here’s some reading material ;P

  • YAM011 is READYYY!!!

    I just spent nearly 2hrs. posting this somewhere else, and I still need to email everyone. LOL

    Without further ado,

    YAM011.