alatriste Tagged Articles at Cinematical

People all over the world are unhappy with Hollywood's domination of foreign box office. It gives audiences worse movies, which must appeal to all of the world. It influences a number of cultures to be more like American. And, most devastatingly, it ruins the production and the identity of national cinemas. Last year we saw a major protest in South Korea because the government was eliminating a quota that mandated theaters to show a certain amount of domestic product per year. This week there was another protest, this one in Spain, but it had an opposite demand. The Federation of Spanish Cinemas (like our own National Association of Theatre Owners) is upset with a proposed "Cinema Law", which is currently moving through the Spanish parliament, mandating that theaters must show one Spanish film for every three imports they show. As a sign of protest and criticism of the law, the Federation shut down 93% of the nation's cinemas Monday, though just for the one day.

Because there are about 230 theaters that aren't a part of the Federation, some people in Spain were able to find a movie if they really tried, but with around 3770 cinemas closed, I feel bad for anybody doing the trying. It wouldn't be surprising if representatives from Hollywood head over to Spain to support the protest, and maybe even bully convince the government, as they have a lot to lose from the law. The Federation apparently has a lot to lose, too, because Spanish films don't perform nearly as well at the box office as Hollywood fare. But last year the nation's top15 highest grossing films included three titles that were at least Spanish co-productions, with Alatriste being all the way up at number 4 (it does star Viggo Mortensen). In 2005, the same position held a Spanish film, Torrente 3: El Protector. Of course, this isn't that great considering most of the other titles are from Hollywood, and so Hollywood is where most of moviegoer's money is going. Plus, so far this year, the highest grossing Spanish film of 2007 (El Ekipo Ja) is all the way down at number 40.

Award ceremonies are in love with Pedro Almodóvar this year. Almodóvar's Volver has snagged two Golden Globe nominations, two wins out of three nominations at Cannes Film Festival, and five wins out of seven nominations at the European Film Awards. Now Almodóvar has been honored with fourteen nominations for Volver at his homeland's version of the Academy Awards, the Goyas.

The incredible amount of nominations comes as no surprise. Volver -- about a deceased mother coming back to her homeland to resolve issues that she was unable to rectify during her life -- is yet another masterpiece by Almodóvar. The man really has a way with portraying humanity that I, as an audience member, eat up every time.

The competition at the Goyas is a stiff one. Almodóvar definitely isn't a shoe in for any particular win. One Spanish filmmaker -- Agustíne Díaz Yanes -- has received one more nomination than Almodóvar at the Goyas for his film Alatriste. This film is particularly important in Spain due to the production's extravagance. Pic is a portrayal of a former soldier who became a mercenary during Spain's 17th century imperial wars. Sounds interesting ... but I'm still dreaming for some wins for Almodóvar!

It certainly has been a great year for Almodóvar and the people involved in his film -- Penelope Cruz in particular. Her work in her native films is always exceptional and I'm glad people are finally taking notice. We'll find out in January how Almodóvar fares -- but win or lose, fourteen nominations is still a great honor to me.

The people behind the Toronto International Film Festival have released yet another list of titles that will be featured at this year's event, the great majority of which are world premieres, added to the slate to increase TIFF's profile as a film market. Festival co-director Noah Cowan believes the fact that filmmakers are choosing to debut in Toronto rather than at major European festivals is a sign of TIFF's rising status, and says that he's fielded calls from major American distributors about nearly every film on this list.

Among the most interesting films on this latest list are: Werner Herzog's Rescue Dawn, a fictional version of the story told in his 1997 documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly; Fay Grim, Hal Hartley's long-awaited follow up to Henry Fool; Scott Caan's second directorial effort debut, The Dog Problem; This Is England, Shane Meadows' story of a boy who becomes a skinhead in 1980s England; the rather frightening-titled Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show, a documentary that "chronicles the personal and professional journeys of four rising comedians as they traverse the country on a tour bus with Vaughn"; Alatriste, the Viggo Mortensen-speaking-Spanish flick we told you about last year.

This year's TIFF runs September 7-16.

I'm not exactly sure what it is, but there's something special about male bonding. Some of the greatest times of my life have been spent sharing a pitcher of beer with my best buddies, telling stories and poking fun at one another's stupidity. Unlike women, while guys are extremely competitive in nature, they rarely let it get too personal. If a man is upset with another man, they tend to confront one another and lay all the cards out on the table, instead of pretending and whispering behind each others' back. But that's guys. And that's what guys do.

This is not to say that male bonding is better or more fulfilling than female bonding. The two are just different. Probably because men are less emotional than women. They don't need as much. Guys tend to connect through their history together and not over a similar taste in shoes. Heck, I wouldn't even wear shoes if the ground weren't so dirty.

The following films all feature the different ways in which men bond -- whether on the battlefield or the playing field, inside the home or outside at the bar. The characters here are all men being men, sharing their hopes, their dreams and bonding just like one of the guys. Welcome to this week's Trailer Park: 

Wow - where did this thing come from? It appears that Viggo Mortensen, while no longer hanging out with hobbits, isn't done with wearing unbelievably cool, period-y clothes and wielding groovy weaponry: he's starring in Alatriste, a Spanish flick about soldier-turned-mercenary, set in the 17th century. The movie is based on a novel by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, whose work was also the source for The Ninth Gate.

According to the comments at IMDb, this is not as weird that it may seem - the film is a joint US/French/Spanish production, and Mortensen speaks prefect Spanish (!), albeit with an Argentinean accent. The trailer, though it has no sound (if you find one that does, let us know - all the sites I've found have the same one), looks amazing - warfare, dueling, rapiers, and lots of Viggo close-ups for the ladies. Plus, the first sentence of the book's summary at Amazon contains the word "swashbuckler," which is very promising indeed. Frustratingly, Alatriste isn't scheduled for a US release until next December - I sure as hell hope we can at least get a trailer with some audio before that.

[via Twitch]