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Gael García Bernal Archives - Page 2 of 2 - ShowBizCafe.com

Gael García Bernal Archives - Page 2 of 2 - ShowBizCafe.com

Mack Chico

By

2009/12/01 at 12:00am

‘Sin Nombre’, nominated for the Spirit Awards 2010!

12.1.2009 | By |

'Sin Nombre', nominated for the Spirit Awards 2010!

“The Last Station,” a drama about the last year in the life of Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy, and “Precious,” a harrowing tale about a pregnant African American teenager with an abusive mother, dominated Tuesday’s nominations for the 25th Film Independent Spirit Awards, with both films earning five nominations each.

“The Last Station,” which opens in theaters Friday, was nominated for best film, best director and screenplay for Michael Hoffman, best female lead for Helen Mirren and supporting actor for Christopher Plummer. “Precious” was also nominated for best film, best director for Lee Daniels, best first screenplay for Gregory Fletcher, best female lead for Gabourey Sidibe and supporting actress for Mo’Nique.

Notably missing for the list of nominees was the acclaimed Iraq war drama, “The Hurt Locker,” which won the Gotham Independent Film award for best picture and ensemble Monday night, because it was nominated by the Spirits last year after it played at several film festivals in 2008. The film was released in theaters in 2009.

Rounding out the best picture nominees are the romantic comedy “(500) Days of Summer,” “Amreeka,” a drama about a single immigrant mother and son living in a small Illinois town, and the Spanish-language thriller “Sin Nombre.”

Joining Hoffman and Daniels in the best director category are Ethan and Joel Coen for “A Serious Man,” Cary Joji Fukunaga for “Sin Nombre” and James Gray for “Two Lovers.”

“A Single Man,” “Crazy Heart,” “Easier With Practice,” Paranormal Activity” and “The Messenger” earned nominations for best first feature. Joining Fletcher in the best first screenplay category are Sophie Barthes for “Cold Souls,” Scott Cooper for “Crazy Heart,” Cherien Dabis for “Amreeka” and Tom Ford and David Scearce for “A Single Man.”

Rounding out the best female lead nominees are Mario Bello for “Downloading Nancy,” Nisreen Faour for “Amreeka” and Gwyneth Paltrow for “Two Lovers.”

Vying for best male lead are Jeff Bridges for “Crazy Heart,” Colin Firth for “A Single Man,” Joseph Gordon-Levitt for “(500) Days of Summer,” Souleymane Sy Savane for “Goodbye Solo” and Adam Scott for “The Vicious Kind.”

Joining Mo’Nique in the best supporting actress category are Dina Korzun for “Cold Souls,” Samantha Morton for “The Messenger,” Natalie Press for “Fifty Dead Men Walking” and Mia Wasikowska for “That Evening Sun.”

In addition to Plummer, supporting actor nominations went to Jemaine Clement for “Gentlemen Broncos,” Woody Harrelson for “The Messenger,” Christan McKay for “Me and Orson Welles” and Raymond McKinnon for “That Evening Sun.”

Competing with Hoffman in the best screenplay category are Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman for “The Messenger,” Lee Toland Krieger for “The Vicious Kind,” Greg Mottola for “Adventureland” and Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber for “(500) Days of Summer.”

 “A Serious Man” is this year’s recipient of the Robert Altman Award, which is given to the film’s director(s), casting director and ensemble cast.

To be eligible for a Sprits consideration, a feature films must be 70 minutes in length and the cost of a completed project must be under $20 million. A film also must have either screened at a major film festival including Sundance, Toronto or Film Independent’s own Los Angeles Film Festival or had a one-week engagement at a commercial theater.

 Over the past quarter-century, several winners of the Spirit Award have gone on to earn an Academy Award including Penelope Cruz for “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” and “Juno” screenwriter Diablo Cody last year.

The laid-back awards’ ceremony traditionally takes place the Saturday afternoon before the Academy Awards in a massive tent on the beach in Santa Monica. But this year, the ceremony is moving to Friday evening March 5 in a tent on the event deck at L.A. Live downtown. The awards will air live and uncut on cable’s IFC.

Complete list of nominees for the 25th Film Independent Spirit Awards, from Film Independent:

Best feature: “(500) Days of Summer,” “Amreeka,” “Precious,” “Sin Nombre,” “The Last Station”

Best director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, “A Serious Man”; Lee Daniels, “Precious”; Cary Joji Fukunaga, “Sin Nombre”; James Gray, “Two Lovers;” Michael Hoffman, “The Last Station”

Best screenplay: Alessandro Camon, Oren Moverman, “The Messenger”; Michael Hoffman, “The Last Station”; Lee Toland Krieger, “The Vicious Kind”; Greg Mottola, “Adventureland”; Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber, “(500) Days of Summer”

Best first feature: “A Single Man,” “Crazy Heart,” “Easier With Practice,” “Paranormal Activity,” “The Messenger”

Best first screenplay: Sophie Barthes, “Cold Souls”; Scott Cooper, “Crazy Heart”; Cherien Dabis, “Amreeka”; Geoffrey Fletcher, “Precious”; Tom Ford, David Scearce, “A Single Man”

John Cassavetes Award: “Big Fan,” “Humpday,” “The New Year Parade,” “Treeless Mountain,” “Zero Bridge”

Best female lead: Maria Bello, “Downloading Nancy”; Nisreen Faour, “Amreeka”; Helen Mirren, “The Last Station”; Gwyneth Paltrow, “Two Lovers”‘ Gabourey Sidibe, “Precious”

Best male lead: Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”; Colin Firth, “A Single Man”; Joseph Gordon-Levitt, “(500) Days of Summer”; Souleymane Sy Savane, “Goodbye Solo”; Adam Scott, “The Vicious Kind”

Best supporting female: Dina Korzun, “Cold Souls”; Mo’Nique, “Precious”; Samantha Morton, “The Messenger”; Natalie Press, “Fifty Dead Men Walking”; Mia Wasikowska, “That Evening Sun”

Best supporting male: Jemaine Clement, “Gentlemen Broncos”; Woody Harrelson, “The Messenger”; Christian McKay, “Me and Orson Welles”; Raymond McKinnon, “That Evening Sun”; Christopher Plummer, “The Last Station”

Best cinematography: Roger Deakins, “A Serious Man”; Adriano Goldman, “Sin Nombre”; Anne Misawa, “Treeless Mountain”; Andrij Parekh, “Cold Souls”; Peter Zeitlinger, “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans”

Best documentary: “Anvil! The Story of Anvil,” “Food, Inc.,” “More Than a Game,” “October Country,” “Which Way Home”

Best foreign film: “A Prophet,” “An Education,” “Everlasting Moments,” “Mother,” “The Maid”

Acura Someone to Watch Award: Kyle Patrick Alvarez, “Easier With Practice”; Asiel Norton, “Redland”; Tariq Tapa, “Zero Bridge”

Truer Than Fiction Award: Natalia Almada, “El General”; Jessica Oreck, “Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo”; Bill Ross, Turner Ross, “45365”

Piaget Producers Award: Karin Chien, (“The Exploding Girl,” “Santa Mesa”); Larry Fessenden, (“I Sell the Dead,” “The House of the Devil”); Dia Sokol, (“Beeswax,” “Nights & Weekends”)

Mack Chico

By

2009/04/28 at 12:00am

Jim Jarmusch’s explores Spain in ‘The Limits of Control’

04.28.2009 | By |

Jim Jarmusch's explores Spain in 'The Limits of Control'

Woody Allen isn’t the only American filmmaker to have set up shop in Spain recently.

Jim Jarmusch surveys the striking architecture in “The Limits of Control,” an existential travelogue of a crime thriller (minus the thrills) taking its inspiration from, among other things, a William S. Burroughs essay , a Rimbaud poem and vintage crime films , particularly John Boorman ‘s 1967 classic ” Point Blank .”

Unfortunately, the whole seldom adds up to the sum of its illustrious parts, and Jarmusch’s trademark deadpan quirks seem to have gotten lost in the translation.

The resulting riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma won’t do anything to broaden the filmmaker’s loyal fan base when Focus Features releases the film Friday (May 1); as it is, many of his loyal followers will be left feeling as alienated as his central character.

That would be Isaach De Bankole’s Lone Man, an intensely focused, almost robotic man on a mission of some sort who is dispatched to various Spanish locations, where he meets up with a succession of oddball individuals who inevitably exchange little matchboxes with him.

They include a number of familiar Jarmusch faces — John Hurt (Guitar), Youki Kudoh (Molecules), Tilda Swinton (Blonde) and a Dick Cheney -channeling Bill Murray (American) — and new arrivals Gael Garcia Bernal (Mexican) and Paz de la Huerta (Nude), who definitely lives up to her character’s name.

But while the always effective De Bankole remains a captivating presence, and masterful Christopher Doyle’s cinematography is undeniably arresting, Jarmusch’s meandering musings on language as a control mechanism, as filtered through the impressionistic lens of an Antonioni or Jacques Rivette , fail to make any kind of lasting impression.

Mack Chico

By

2009/02/27 at 12:00am

Jim Jarmusch, Gael García Bernal team up in ‘Limits’

02.27.2009 | By |

Jim Jarmusch, Gael García Bernal team up in 'Limits'

If you don’t know who Jim Jarmusch is, you better do some research. Not only has Darren Aronofsky mentioned him as an inspiration, but he was referred to as the savior of independent film in the 1980s. His latest project is called The Limits of Control and is about “the story of a mysterious loner, a stranger in the process of completing a criminal job.” We haven’t even heard of this until now, but it sounds like it could be great, and it’s exciting to see Jarmusch again, since he last directed Broken Flowers in 2005.

The Limits of Control stars Isaach De Bankolé (seen at the top), Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, John Hurt, Gael García Bernal, and Paz de la Huerta. The photo of the white haired beauty directly below this is apparently Tilda Swinton. Additionally, there are some shots of Bill Murray, John Hurt, and Gael García Bernal scattered throughout this arrangement.

The reason why all of these photos look so gorgeous is because the cinematographer on The Limits of Control is none other than Christopher Doyle, the same guy behind all of Wong Kar Wai‘s beautiful films. It’s very likely that this will be premiering at the Cannes Film Festival later this year. Focus Features already has the distribution rights in the US and they’ve tentatively scheduled it for a late May theatrical debut.

Mack Chico

By

2008/09/23 at 12:00am

Top 5 scenes from Julianne Moore’s "Blindness"

09.23.2008 | By |

Top 5 scenes from Julianne Moore's "Blindness"

Here are the top 5 scenes from ‘Blindness’, directed by brazilian director Fernando Mereilles. The film stars Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Alice Braga, Danny Glover and Gael Garcia Bernal.

In essence, the story is a psychological thriller about the fragility of mankind. Adapted from Nobel Laureate José Saramago’s masterwork, the film revolves around a plague of blindness devastates a city, a small group of the afflicted band together to triumphantly overcome the horrific conditions of their imposed quarantine.

This week we’ll bring you the film review and our recommendation on whether you should see it or not. If you can’t wait any longer and you want to see video from the premiere, interviews with the cast, stills from the film and more, click here.

Mack Chico

By

2008/09/03 at 12:00am

Gael García Bernal’s brother debuts on film

09.3.2008 | By |

Gael García Bernal's brother debuts on film

Alameda Films, Mexico’s oldest and most prolific film production company, marks its 60th year with a turn toward edgier fare. The producer of various Arturo Ripstein classics and 2003 Oscar-nommed “The Crime of Father Amaro,” the highest-grossing local pic in Mexican film history, started shooting “Daniel & Ana” last week. Drama tracks two siblings whose joint kidnapping takes its toll on their relationship and their family.

Budgeted at $1.5 million, somber tale is the directorial feature debut of Michel Franco and stars newcomers Dario Yazbek Bernal, the younger brother of “Father Amaro” lead Gael Garcia Bernal, and Marimar Vega, daughter of veteran thesp Gonzalo Vega.

Cinematographer Chuy Chavez‘s credits include the visually arresting “Me and You and Everyone We Know.” Spain’s Morena Films co- produces pic.

Under the stewardship of Daniel Birman Ripstein, who took over full reins of the company when partner/ grandfather Alfredo Ripstein (and father of helmer Arturo) died in January 2007, Alameda Films has a lined up a couple of ambitious projects.

Shingle moves into uncharted territory with its first animated pic, “El Santos,” based on the wildly popular ’80s comic strip by illustrators Jis and Trino. Development has been under way the past three years, according to Birman who, chafing at the sluggish pace of animation filmmaking, says the pic should be finished by 2010.

“El Santos” could bring Alameda box office gold, just as it did the makers of 2006 toon “Una pelicula de huevos” (A Movie With Eggs), which now ranks as the second all-time grossing Mexican pic. Alameda is also developing an adaptation of Arthur Machen’s short story, “The Islington Mystery” which inspired the darkly comic 1960 pic “El esqueleto de la Senora Morales” (The Skeleton of Mrs. Morales).

Meanwhile, company is prepping digitally restored collections of the more than 100 pics produced by Alfredo Ripstein/Alameda since 1948, among them Jorge Pons“Midaq Alley,” which launched Salma Hayek.

Shingle produced a couple of docus in the past years, among them Carrera’s “The Red Queen: A Mayan Mystery” for the Discovery Channel. Birman is co-producing the Mexican adaptation of Broadway show “Avenue Q.” He also heads sister distrib Film House, which has released a number of pics.

“There just weren’t that many good projects out there,” says Birman of the shingle’s five year hiatus from fiction pics. But once he read Franco’s screenplay, Birman jumped at the chance to produce it. “I know that this has been well worth the wait.”

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