mexican cinema Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Fan Rant: Latin American Cinema's New Classics
Filed under: Foreign Language », Fandom », Lists », Cinematical Indie », Fan Rant »
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.
Review: Duck Season
Filed under: Comedy », Foreign Language », Gay & Lesbian », Warner Independent Pictures », Theatrical Reviews », Cinematical Indie »
Fernando Eimbcke's Duck Season is on the surface such a simple film that I keep forgetting how much of it I enjoyed. There are some personally relative morsels that remain vividly in my consciousness, but above all it plays out with such a soothing, leisurely calm, its resonating effects easily go unnoticed. Though filled with ideas, it hardly sparks reflection let alone discussion. Instead it affects a negligibly warm sensation, not like a feel-good movie does, but like an afternoon with friends or a piece of candy taken for granted in their accessibility.
Yet it appears to be significant to some, enough to sweep Mexico's Ariel Awards (their equivalent to our Oscars),
win the Grand Jury Prize at The AFI Fest, contend for the best foreign film at this year's Independent Spirit Awards,
and find a gracious fan in director Alfonso Cuarón (Harry
Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), who secured its American distribution by presenting it under his new
Esperanto Filmoj banner. Not bad for a glorified student film, black and white and all, about two pals in an apartment
with nothing to do. With its inordinately stylish direction Duck Season would work best as a calling card, but
surprisingly it has served Eimbcke as an all-out initiation into the club.
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