amores perros Tagged Articles at Cinematical

In case you don't read Entertainment Weekly and didn't see this week's double issue on "The New Classics," or you didn't see my post last week about their list of the best movies from the last 25 years, here's a sad fact: only six foreign-language films made the list. They are: Wings of Desire (#28); Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (#49); The Lives of Others (#56); All About My Mother (#69); Y Tu Mamá También (#86); and In the Mood for Love (#95). OK, so 6% is not terrible for a mainstream entertainment magazine, but EW had to add insult to injury with an accompanying map labeled "Movies: Breaking Down the List," which points to a number of locations around the globe in which some of these new classics are set. The only continent on the map without any love is South America (Antarctica was not included in the visual aid).

Now, before I get into my love letter to new Latin American cinema, I have to note that no film produced in Africa made the list either. However, on the map the continent was at least given some minuscule bit of love via the filming locations for Casino Royale and Gladiator. Yet despite the fact that South America was definitely used as a location in a few of the 100 films, it's shown no respect. And on top of that, Central America isn't even included on the map. For some strange reason there's just a gap between Mexico and South America. Meanwhile, Latin America's sole representative on EW's list, Mexico's Y Tu Mamá También, is left off the map so that no location from this area of the world, from the Mexican-U.S. border to Cape Horn, receives any recognition.

It is interesting to learn that filmmaker Jieho Lee has a fondness for the ending of Fellini's Nights of Cabiria. However, it is not so interesting to realize that he can't let go of this fondness enough to create a genuine film moment of his own. For instance, there is one significant scene in Lee's The Air I Breathe that plays so much like an homage to the final shot of Cabiria that it takes away from the actual film it is a part of. The scene involves a major character's death, so it's hard to go into detail without spoiling it for you, but I can say that recognizing the blatant tribute may cause you to feel less for that character than you should otherwise during that scene. After all, it is difficult to care about a character that comes off as simply a tool for Lee's unnecessary acknowledgment, or re-creation, of a part of a favorite film.

Maybe I just shouldn't read a film's press notes prior to watching it (I don't usually), as I might not have caught the homage without noting Lee's mention of Cabiria in his director's statement. And perhaps I wouldn't have been thinking about Lee's other influences, from The Wizard of Oz to Samuel Fuller's The Naked Kiss, and unfairly comparing The Air I Breathe to them. But it doesn't matter, because The Air I Breathe would still feel completely derivative without knowledge of the exact works that inspired Lee. To me, despite what I learned from the press notes, the film was mostly reminiscent of Inarritu's Amores Perros, and not only because of where it was filmed, how it interconnects multiple stories or the fact that it features a bank robbery, a female celebrity confined to an apartment and an obligatory car accident of some kind.

Dang, there sure are a lot of hitman characters in the movies. And what's the difference between a hitman and an assassin, anyway? Does Jason Bourne count, or is he no longer a hitman/assassin by the time his cinematic story begins? Are Pulp Fiction's Vincent and Jules really hitmen or are they technically bagmen? Yeah, it's a difficult task to make a list of prominent hitmen in film. So, I'll let someone else make a "25 Greatest Hitmen" list; here, I present my seven favorites.

Feel free to mention your own preferences. With so many characters, whether easily falling within definition or not, I'm certainly leaving out a lot of good ones. But, as I said, these are my favorites. The cool, the funny, the interesting, they're the ones I enjoy watching over and over again, despite their lethal nature.


Martin Q. Blank in Grosse Pointe Blank (1997, George Armitage)

There is no better hitman than John Cusack's Martin Blank. He's good at his job, and he's funny, and he's willing to give it all up for love. Of course, he's bored enough by the occupation that he'd probably give it up for any good reason. It doesn't seem to matter to him that it's morally wrong; he's just another normal guy, dissatisfied with his job. And while it does seem to be a gag that's stretched thin, his issues do make him more entertaining than the usual silent-yet-conflicted hitmen. Plus, it's enjoyable to think that this is what really happened to Lloyd Dobbler, or Lane Meyer, or any other Cusack character from the '80s.

Signature line: "I was hired to kill you, but I'm not going to do it. It's either because I'm in love with your daughter or because I have a new found respect for life."

After penning Alejandro González Iñárritu's three most popular films (Amores perros, 21 Grams, Babel), screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga has decided to go at it alone. Variety reports Arriaga will make his feature directorial debut on The Burning Plain, with Charlize Theron coming onboard to star and exec produce. Mark Cuban's 2929 Productions will finance the film, while Cuban, Marc Butan, Todd Wagner and Beth Kono will also produce. Known for his complex, intertwining stories, Arriaga will once again return to that format for this film -- focusing mainly on "very intense love stories that take place in different places and times, with characters trying to find the healing powers of love, forgiveness and redemption." Isn't that what all his films are about? Theron will play a woman named Sylvia who attempts to reconcile with her parents after a turbulent childhood.

The film, which will cost under $20 million, currently has no distribution plan in place. Although 2929 Productions has gone day-and-date before, I can't seem them going that route here. Then again, I could be wrong. It was fairly obvious that Arriaga would go solo following the war of words he and Iñárritu found themselves in last year. At one point things became so bitter that Iñárritu banned Arriaga from attending the Babel premiere at Cannes. Since that whole snafu pretty much solidified the fact that their relationship was all but over, it was only a matter of time before Arriaga did his own thing. I guess it will be interesting to see how one does without the other; Arriaga's script for The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (directed by Tommy Lee Jones) was good, but I thought the film was just too damn slow ... and long. Is Iñárritu overrated? Is Arriaga really the mastermind behind all that great work? I guess we'll see ...