Latino movie news, reviews, trailers, and festival coverage

Namreta Kumar

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2009/10/13 at 12:00am

New York, I Love You (Movie Review)

10.13.2009 | By |

With a film that has so many names attached to it there are so many places where it can succeed and just as many places where it can fail. New York, I Love You startles on this double-edged sword for so many reasons. Read More

Pau Brunet

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2009/10/05 at 12:00am

‘Zombieland’ is No. 1 at the Box Office

10.5.2009 | By |

‘Zombieland’ is No. 1 at the Box Office

Sony’s marketing machine marches on: “Zombieland” opened No. 1 at the weekend box office, giving the studio its sixth first-place debut of the year. The horror-comedy hybrid sold an estimated $25 million in tickets at North American theaters, according to tracking services. The entry to watch, however, was Disney’s experiment in using 3-D to repackage the Pixar classics “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2.” The films, re-rendered in 3-D and released as a double feature, sold an estimated $12.5 million, placed third — behind a three-week-old animated entry from Sony, “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.” (That movie sold another $16.7 million for a cumulative total of $82.4 million.)

So Disney did a successful job priming the market for “Toy Story 3,” set for release in June, but so far failed to prove any points about the goldmine potential of re-releasing old hits in 3-D. The Ricky Gervais comedy “The Invention of Lying” (Warner Brothers) was fourth with about $7.4 million, while “Surrogates” (Disney) limped into fifth place with $7.3 million ($26.4 million total). The only other wide release, “Whip It,” fared poorly in sixth place. The Fox Searchlight comedy, backed by a months-long marketing campaign and featuring the talents of Drew Barrymore and Ellen Page, sold about $4.9 million.

Alex Florez

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2009/10/02 at 12:00am

Zombieland (Movie Review)

10.2.2009 | By |

With a jaunty title like Zombieland, you know you’re in for a senseless horror comedy. Now that’s just fine, but the surprise here is that it’s more of a buddy road movie with a teen romance sandwiched in between. Come to think of it, this film attempts to do the nearly impossible – get loyal zombie fans and mainstream folk to share the same theater. Read More

Ted Faraone

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2009/10/02 at 12:00am

A Serious Man (Movie Review)

10.2.2009 | By |

Rated: R for language, some sexuality/nudity and brief violence.
Release Date: 2009-10-02
Starring: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country: USA
Official Website: NULL

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A Serious Man

The brothers Joel and Ethan Coen, a filmmaker duo who have brought to the screen an amazing variety of pics, from the over-the-top “chainsaw massacre-style†“Blood Simple†of 1984 through the extraordinarily annoying “Fargo†to the superbly funny “Burn After Reading,†have at last decided to make a serous pic.  That it opened the inaugural Friars Club Comedy Film Festival in New York does not make it a comedy.  The Friars chose it for the marquee value of the Coens, which was a good move.  “A Serious Man,†for which the duo share director, writer, and producer credit (Ethan is also production designer and editor, credited as Roderick James), is a drama in disguise, a drama performed by comedic actors. That doesn’t make it a bad picture.  It just makes it difficult to review.  That every other notice your critic has read seems to follow the press notes is testimony to that.
 
The Coens have been making feature films for 25 years.  Working for them is almost a right of passage for top-tier Hollywood thesps.  “A Serious Man†is an anomaly in that there are only two publicly recognizable names in the cast:  Fyvush Finkel (who appears only in the opening reel) and (Richard Kind, who ably carries about a fourth of the film).  Remainder of cast turn in excellent, if annoying performances and it is a credit to the Coens that they were able to find such excellent, inexpensive talent – Pic has a reported budget of $7 million.
 
Performances are annoying because of pic’s nature.  It’s about annoying people.  Set, except for opening reel which may or may not be connected to pic’s central action (a device used by Jean-Luc Goddard in the 1985 “Hail Mary†[Je Vous Salue, Marieâ€]), in a suburban Midwestern Conservative Jewish community in 1967, pic centers on college professor Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg), pic’s schlemiel (the fellow on whom the soup is spilled).  Gopnick is surrounded by schlimazels (folks who spill the soup).  They include his wife (Sari Lennick), who leaves him for passive-aggressive neighbor Sy Abelman (Fred Melamed), his kids, Danny, a Bar-Mitzvah boy, and Sarah (Aaron Wolf and Jessica McManus), and brother Arthur (Richard Kind), a mathematical genius with tendencies to moral turpitude.  Gopnick’s quest, if one could call it that, is to find out why his luck stinks.  A real answer to such a question could function on interminable levels and still leave the questioner dizzy.  At least give Gopnik credit for making the best of things between moments of despair. Instead, “A Serious Man†takes the route well travelled by Woody Allen (“Crimes and Misdemeanorsâ€) and author Isaac Bashevis Singer.  The twist is that it is loaded with comedic moments.  It is almost as if the filmmakers were winking at the audience.
 
Gopnick is stymied at every turn.  Not even the elderly senior rabbi at his synagogue will advise him.  Everyone else in pic either talks over him or at him intending either to manipulate (Sy Abelman) or cover their ignorance (his lawyer, ably played by Adam Arkin, and the two younger rabbis).  His kids have their own agenda, and brother (Richard Kind) is a millstone.  Nobody communicates, with the possible exception of neighbor Mrs. Samsky (the smoking hot Amy Landecker) and near the end, the elderly Rabbi Marshak (Alan Mandell).
 
A subplot involving the pothead Bar Mitzvah boy who owes his connection $20, the Hebrew school teacher, and the elderly rabbi, is pic’s Rosetta Stone.  The boy tucks $20 into his transistor radio case in Hebrew school and tries to pass it on to the connection, seated a row ahead of him.  Teacher catches him and confiscates radio.  Boy lives in fear of connection for rest of pic until his Bar Mitzvah, in which his performance and the lensing make one of the funniest stoned-out-of-one’s-mind Bar Mitzvah scenes in filmdom, owing a bit to the wedding in “The Graduate†for the guest reaction shots.  After ceremony, boy is invited to meet privately with Rabbi Marshak.  The old man quotes a Jefferson Airplane tune asking the boy what he’s going to do when everything goes wrong and there’s no hope.  There’s no answer.  He then hands him his transistor radio with the $20 bill still tucked in the leather case.  It’s pic’s most honest moment – a bit like the moment in “Husbands and Wives†where Allen’s documentarian encounters the existential thought of Prof. Louis Levy (Martin S. Bergmann).
 
“A Serious Man†excels in performance, cinematography, set design (they nailed a period piece) and dialogue, if one can call it that.  Editing and direction are economical, except for the opening reel, which begs the question, “Is this family cursed or has the opening reel nothing to do with anything else?â€Â  It’s one of pic’s many loose ends.  Said loose ends both serve a point and annoy.  One learns from “A Serious Man†the idea that life happens and one has to roll with it. One also learns that schlimazels are not immune to bad luck.  One would wish that Hollywood vets the Coens could have tied it up in a tighter package.  One may also wish that the Coens had a slightly lighter touch – the feather duster instead of the hammer – but perfection is a lot to ask.
 
One last note:  There has been criticism of pic’s seemingly negative focus on a Jewish community.  It is unwarranted.  The Jewish community is simply context.  Moreover, it is context the Coens know.  Pic’s message, if there is one, is better told through the intellectually Jewish prism through which both Singer and Allen have worked so well.  It could equally have been told through the French existentialist prism, but that might not go down so well with American auds.  At least viewers reared on sitcoms can understand it.  At 105 minutes this Focus Features release is not rated, but due to nudity, language, and adult situations, it is probably unsuitable for children.

Alex Florez

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2009/10/01 at 12:00am

More Than A Game (Movie Review)

10.1.2009 | By |

For ‘Sportcenter’ junkies like myself, More Than a Game will feel like one of those pre-game packages leading up to the final game of a championship series. Read More

Jack Rico

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2009/10/01 at 12:00am

Capitalism: A Love Story (Movie Review)

10.1.2009 | By |

Rated: R for some language.
Release Date: 2009-10-02
Starring: Michael Moore
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country: USA
Official Website: http://www.capitalismalovestory.com/

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Capitalism: A Love Story

‘Capitalism: A Love Story’ is like a Sylvester Stallone ‘Rocky’ film – it leaves you wanting to kick some ass, in this case, Corporate America’s ass. Documentarian and funny man Michael Moore is up to his old tricks as he combats the evil forces in the USA in an entertaining and factual manner, including revelations that might twitch your spine. Capitalism isn’t as good as ‘Sicko’, but it manages to deliver a punch right in the patriotic gut.

The premise has Mr. Moore exploring the price that America pays for its love of capitalism, but the principal appeal of the film is Moore’s quest to uncover the why’s and who’s of the economic collapse, and even though he does this with human affection and charm, he doesn’t necessarily tell us what to do with the information. Consequently, we’re left asking questions with no right or wrong answers. I almost wish he would’ve tread a little further and had someone arrested – caught on film! No such luck, but I can’t say he didn’t try. To most proletariats, Moore is their champion and so with each documentary, the expectations for him to do something about his findings become more demanding.

At the end, Moore is in the business of informing and entertaining us with his topical stories on our governments fallacies, but he wants us to do something about. He feels he started it, we should finish it. Will we? Stay tuned.

Karen Posada

By

2009/09/29 at 12:00am

Whip It (Movie Review)

09.29.2009 | By |

“Whip It” has got to be one of the most enjoyable movies I’ve seen in a while. It was fun and very entertaining. It may make you want to go out and join a roller derby team or at least give yourself a cool and tough pseudo name. Read More

Namreta Kumar

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2009/09/25 at 12:00am

Coco Before Chanel (Movie Review)

09.25.2009 | By |

“Coco Before Chanel” is a visual treat that captures the essence of its subject, Gabriel “Coco” Chanel, in a way that is both elegant and authentic. Anne Fontaine has crafted a period piece that mirrors the timeless nature of Chanel herself. Read More

Jack Rico

By

2009/09/22 at 12:00am

The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

09.22.2009 | By |

Rating: 2.5

Rated: PG-13 for sexual content throughout, some language and a drug reference.
Release Date: 2009-05-01
Starring: Jon Lucas, Scott Moore
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.ghostsofgirlfriendspastmovie.com/

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‘Ghosts of Girlfriends Past’ isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Screenwriters Jon Lucas and Scott Moore somehow manage to salvage the film by developing two well written romantic moments into the overdone cornball premise. The film doesn’t work as a comedy, but it gets the job done in the romance department.

Celebrity photographer Connor Mead (Matthew McConaughey) is a free loving bachelor  who is the ultimate ‘playa’. Unfortunately, his childhood friend Jenny (Jennifer Garner) is the one woman in his life who has always seemed immune to his considerable charm. It all comes to a climax when three ghosts, yes a la Dickens, take him on a revealing odyssey through a lifetime of failed relationships. The purpose of this exam is to get him to redeem himself in front of his one true love – Jenny.

There is no doubts about this film being targeted to female viewers, Unfortunately, they’ll have to deal with some negatives. Most of the damage of the film exists in its overused storyline – Charles Dickens’ ‘The Christmas Carol’. That on its own should scare most moviegoers away. Adding to the barrage of detriments is the myriad of lame and unamusing gags that never go over. I don’t really remember laughing once. But halfway through the film, when Michael Douglas appears as Uncle Wayne, is when we finally experience the first engaging moment. Douglas’s detailed in-depth tutorial on picking up women to a young Connor possesses a real candor absent from similar movies of the genre. I’m sure female viewers will find it amusing if not absurd. We once again are treated to another memorable moment at the film’s climax when McConaughey himself dishes out some love wisdom of his own. These scenes mixed in with a gooey score and sufficient teary close ups will debilitate even some of the most stoic of men.

 

Apart from those likable sequences, the supporting cast is simply irrelevant and insipid. Their charms and levels of interest are nonexistent. Futhermore, McConaughey’s performance matches those of his previous uninspired works (Fools Gold, Failure to Launch, The Wedding Planner). Nevertheless, if you can get past the Dickens homage, ‘Ghosts of Girlfriends Past’ is better than most romantic fare out in theaters right now. Female viewers will enjoy a good insight into the male psyche and have a chance to see a man go from player to prince. Isn’t that what all women want?

Jack Rico

By

2009/09/19 at 12:00am

The Burning Plain (Movie Review)

09.19.2009 | By |

*Updated December 2025

The Burning Plain is a bleak film that is heavy on visceral drama and light on substance. The script is not compelling, nor are the characters, and last I heard, the idea behind creating a movie is to entertain audiences to some degree, not make one miserable and despondent.

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