Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Capital Punishment: 6 Little Known Facts About Big Pun's Debut Album



Big Punisher and his debut album, Capital Punishment, arrived just when Latino Americans were feeling removed from the rap scene. Much to Hip-Hop's amazement, the man born Christopher Rios kicked in the door with a lyrical aptitude as heavy as his silhouette.
Pun is considered to be the first Latino rapper to boast serious tongue-tactics along with impeccable breath control and bar after bar of dope lyrics.

His 1998 inaugural LP Capital Punishment came equipped with a number of songs that helped shape the record into a classic (i.e. "Still Not a Player," "Beware," "You Ain't a Killer"). And its impact? Bittersweetly it far exceeded Pun's tenure in the rap game. As such, we take time to honor the timelessness of Capital Punishment by sharing a six little known facts about Pun's debut album, which turns 16-years old today.
  1. The RZA producer "Tres Leches," and Fat Joe had to pay The Abbot in cash. Don't tell the IRS.
  2. Not only did the album reach platinum status, but it did so in under three months, thanks to its standout single, "Still Not A Player."
  3. Big Pun's debut LP was largely recorded at Mystic Recording Studios in Staten Island during late 1997 and early 1998.
  4. Capital Punishment was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 1999 Grammy Awards, but lost to Jay Z's Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life.
  5. Despite that the album was –– and still is –– a Hip-Hop classic, Capital Punishment peaked at No.5 on the Billboard 200 charts and No. 1 on the Top R&B Albums, which lends example to Pun's genius and ability to steer into the mainstream.
  6. Pun's debut album was the first Latin Hip-Hop record to be certified Platinum.
Rest In Peace.

Monday, April 14, 2014

Latin American Films at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival


LATIN AMERICAN FILMS
AT THE 2014 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL
April 16 - 27


PELO MALO 
Directed by Mariana Rondón
Venezuela/Germany/Argentina/Peru, 2013, 93 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
Co-Presented by Cinema Tropical 
Buy tickets

Junior is a precocious 9-year-old boy living in the housing projects of Caracas who wants nothing more than to straighten his head of tight curls for his yearbook photo. A desire that borders on obsession, it stirs homophobic panic in his mother, Marta, who is overtaxed from losing her husband, raising two children, and attempting to find a job. As she sharply recoils at Junior’s self-expression and abrasively acts to correct his behavior, Junior manages to find acceptance (and straight hair) in the company of his loving grandmother. From Venezuelan writer-director Mariana Rondon and featuring newcomer Samuel Lange in a beautifully standout performance, Bad Hair is a painfully tender coming-of-age drama about a boy caught in a maelstrom of identity and intolerance.


MARAVILLA
Directed by Juan Pablo Cadaveira
(Argentina, 2013, 82 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
Co-Presented by Cinema Tropical 
Buy tickets

Sergio 'Maravilla’ Martinez’s fearlessness and tenacity has earned him both adulation and disdain in the world of boxing. Emerging from rural Argentina, his career has been marred by injury, finances, and political favoritism within the World Boxing Council. A true underdog story, Maravilla follows Martinez as he sets out to reclaim the Middleweight title that was taken from him in 2011 by the more popular Julio Chavez, Jr. amid a cloud of controversy. With stunning access, director Juan Cadaveira follows Martinez through endless hurdles, exposing the overtly political nature of boxing. Focusing on the rise of Martinez from penniless amateur to world champion, Maravilla offers an intimate and unflinching look at the business of boxing and celebrity, unwavering in its hope for true sportsmanship.



GÜEROS
Directed by Alvaro Ruizpalacios
(Mexico, 2014, 108 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
Buy Tickets

A months-long student strike at the National University throws roommates Sombra and Santos into a droll sort of limbo in their shabby apartment in Mexico City, whiling away the hours pining for the girl from the pirate radio show and tricking their neighbor’s daughter into helping them steal electricity. Their idiosyncratic routine is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Sombra’s teenage brother, Tomás, who has been exiled from his home by their mother following an incident involving a baby and a water balloon. The trio sets out on a road trip in search of Tomás’s hero, fabled folk-rock star Epigmenio Cruz, traversing across the city through perilous slums and the rebellious halls of the university to the ritzy nightlife downtown. Director Alonso Ruizpalacios arrives as a bold new voice in Mexican cinema with his energetic and imaginative feature debut—a cool, retro, black-and-white portrait of Mexico City and of three restless young men searching for a purpose and identity in a city of millions.



MANOS SUCIAS
Directed by Josef Wladyka
(Colombia/USA, 2014, 82 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
Buy Tickets

Towing a submerged torpedo in the wake of their battered fishing boat, ‘Jacobo,’ a desperate fisherman and Delio, a naive kid, embark on a journey trafficking millions of dollars of cocaine up the Pacific coast of Colombia. While Jacobo is a seasoned trafficker, young Delio is unprepared for the grim reality. Shot entirely on location—in areas that bear the indelible scars of drug trafficking and guerrilla warfare—director Josef Kubota Wladyka establishes a sense of place with meticulous sensitivity, capturing the visceral paradox of incredible vibrancy yet devastating poverty which permeate this war-torn region. Refusing to glamorize the drug trade, Manos Sucias instead offers a rare glimpse of its devastating effects. Executive Produced by Spike Lee.


MALA MALA
Directed by Dan Sickles, Antonio Santini
(Puerto Rico, 2014, 89 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
Buy Tickets

In a celebration of the trans community in Puerto Rico, the fissure between internal and external is an ever-present battle. A unique exploration of self-discovery and activism, featuring a diverse collection of subjects that include LGBTQ advocates, business owners, sex workers, and a boisterous group of drag performers who call themselves The Doll House, Mala Mala portrays a fight for personal and community acceptance paved with triumphant highs and devastating lows. Through riveting cinematography that encapsulates the candy-colored, vivacious personalities as well as their frequently dark personal experiences, directors Antonio Santini and Dan Sickles dynamically present the passion and hardships reflective of this distinctively binary human experience.

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

PITBULL releases 2014 World Cup's Official Song “WE ARE ONE (OLE OLA)”

The official 2014 World Cup song is here.
Pop stars Pitbull and JLo and Brazilian musical artist Claudia Leitte released their collaborative track for this summer’s tournament on Tuesday, and it is titled ”We Are One (Ole Ola).” Pitbull can be heard through the majority of the tune, but JLo and Leitte do have verses of their own.

In addition, FIFA revealed the official World Cup album tracklist on Tuesday. It features songs from Shakira, Ricky Martin, Avicii and more.
The video for the official World Cup track has not yet been released, but is expected to drop shortly. It was filmed in South Florida earlier this year.
“We Are One (Ole Ola)” comes out just a couple weeks after Shakira dropped her World Cup-inspired “La La La” track.

Give “We Are One (Ole Ola)” a listen.

This video is the 2014 WORLD CUP’S OFFICIAL SONG “WE ARE ONE (OLE OLA)”

LGBTQ Latina/o Film Festival in LOS ANGELES April 10-13



The inaugural Latina/o Queer Arts and Film Festival (LQAFF) in collaboration with the Gay and Lesbian Center of LA will showcase the only film festival for latino queers. Latin@ Queer Arts and Film Festival will take place April 10-13 at The Village, located at the Gay and Lesbian Center. This four day celebration of art and film will include a launch party, art gallery, spoken word, feature films, documentaries, short films, mini-workshops/info sessions, food trucks, music, networking opportunities, Q&A’s with filmmakers, and featured cast members.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

SHAKIRA releases new World Cup song

It might not be the official song for this
summer’s World Cup, but Shakira’s new soccer track
is sure to be on repeat throughout the competition.
Shakira released a new World Cup-inspired
tune titled “La La La” on Monday ahead of the start of the prestigious tournament in Brazil in June.
It is an upbeat track and one that comes four years
 after the Colombian pop star had the hit 2010 World Cup single “Waka Waka.”Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez and
Brazilian artist Claudia Leitte have been tasked with this summer’s official FIFA World Cup anthem
(which has not yet been released), but that still
has not stopped Shakira from trying to recapture some of the spotlight with her latest catchy track.

Give Shakira’s song a listen.

 

Ana Tijoux's hip-hop goes back to Chilean roots




Ana Tijoux, whose rap song "La Bala" (The Bullet) became the soundtrack for Chile's student movement, has emerged as one of the most influential voices in Latin America's hip-hop scene.
Now Tijoux, who spent her youth in France after her family was forced into exile during Gen. Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship, says she's eager to discover her roots. Her latest album, "Vengo" (I Come), trades pre-recorded electronic tracks for a live band of traditional Andean instruments to accompany powerful lyrics that tackle everything from social conflicts and indigenous rights to feminism and freedom.
"It's a sort of manifesto," Tijoux told The Associated Press. "I want to learn and look at the world with other eyes."
Tijoux, 36, moved back to Chile as a teenager and discovered her love for hip-hop. Her album "1977," referring to the year she was born, was nominated for a Grammy in 2011 and the song under the album's same name was featured in the popular TV drama series "Breaking Bad." Back home, "La Bala" became the anthem for multitudes of Chilean students demanding education reform and a lessening of the country's huge gap between the rich and poor.
"This new generation of students has been a bucket of cold water, a giant slap in the face for all of us. It's a huge lesson about the ability to unite, and fight over something as basic as the right to study," Tijoux said.
"It was also a tremendous inspiration. The marches have been a high point for the gathering of otherwise invisible artists," she said. "I never saw so many photographers, dancers, musicians as I saw in the marches. It's a boiling pot for artists who are not part of the mainstream."
The student protests began under the 2006-10 presidency of Michelle Bachelet, who appeased some students by naming a commission including several of their leaders, and shuffling her Cabinet. But others were disappointed.
Bachelet was inaugurated for a new presidential term last month. She has vowed an education overhaul in response to the millions of people who have taken part in protests since 2011 demanding deep changes to a system suffering from poor quality public schools, unprepared teachers and expensive private universities.
Luis Andres Henao on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LuisAndresHenao

Rodriguez: Si Se Puede (Yes We Can)

The Latino community is abuzz over rumors that Century Cinemas is bringing the long-awaited movie biopic “Cesar Chavez” to Burley. If so, kudos to the cinema owners for recognizing that Latinos are members of the community, and we, too, have a history.
The last Latino-themed movie shown in the Mini-Cassia area was “Selena.” We lined up and paid to see this movie more than once. We Latinos knew Selena, and many of us had seen her in concert. The film made $15 million its first weekend, and in 100 days, it earned $35 million nationwide.
The Latino community hoped this would start a trend. It didn’t. Other Latino movies — such as “Instructions not Included” with Mexican film star Eugenio Derbez and “Pulling Strings” — did not make it to Burley. These were American-made movies financed by American producers.
“Instructions not Included” was the highest-grossing Spanish-language movie of all time, making $44 million. The Oscar-winning movie “12 years a Slave” grossed $56 million. Latinos bought 25 percent of domestic tickets despite comprising only 17 percent of the population.
I hope Century Cinema owners realize they are sending a positive message. Latinos are not the only moviegoers who will benefit from seeing a film about the life of a Mexican-American labor leader. This is American history. Our children should know their history. Cesar Chavez spoke English, the movie is in English with, of course, some subtitles.
If the rumors are true, then the theater owners are celebrating our commonalities, not our differences. Latinos are teachers, principals, lawyers, counselors, nurses, doctors and other hard-working members of this community. And we support our local theaters.
Thank you, Century Cinema, for not following other Idaho moviehouses, such as Boise theaters that have declined to show the Cesar Chavez biopic in Ada County. Instead, Canyon County showed the film. Perhaps someone thinks only a place with more Latinos will support this movie. Not true. Latinos from Boise and Meridian traveled to Caldwell to see the movie, and they’re still talking about it. Somebody lost out.
Such actions prevent Latinos from being regarded as community members, instead treating them as outsiders whose movies would only be seen by them. So those who aren’t Latino don’t get the chance to see this movie either. This is a missed opportunity. This is sad. We watch movies about African-Americans, such as “Mandela,” “Malcolm X” and “Ali.” I can count the African-Americans in the Mini-Cassia area on one hand, but still these movies come to Burley.
For Century Cinema, bringing in this movie would be good business. Cesar Chavez was the Latino version of Nelson Mandela, the Rev. Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi — all of whom practiced non-violence to make positive changes and lived through violent times to make peace. Latino history has a different perspective than the ones others may know.
Damian D. Rodriguez is a DJ and talk show host for the Spanish language radio station, La Voz Latina 91.9 FM, in Burley.

Monday, April 7, 2014

Dance the 15th HFFNY away with Cucu Diamantes and Kelvis Ochoa! Live @ SOB's April 10

15th HFFNY SPECIAL EVENTS
 
SOB's - 204 Varick St. at W. Houston St.
 
  
 
HFFNY Hotline: 212.946.1839
 

 
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El Rey Network’s “Matador” TV Series Begins Production in Los Angeles






















By Latin Heat

El Rey Network began production in Los Angeles last week on the cable channel’s second scripted original, Matador, and announced additional cast members including Tanc Sade (The Mentalist, Gilmore Girls) in the lead role of Alec Holester.  The new action series, from executive producers Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman (the coveted writing/producing team behind Sleepy Hollow, Fringe, Star Trek andTransformers franchises) is set to debut this July on Robert Rodriguez’s new cable network and is comprised of 13 hour-long episodes.

As previously announced Gabriel Luna heads the series cast as Tony “Matador” Bravo, Alfred Molina plays Andrés Galan, Nicky Whelan as Annie Mason and Neil Hopkins as Noah Peacott. Robert Rodriguez, El Rey Network’s chairman and founder, is set to direct the first episode which will be penned by showrunners, co-creators and executive producers Dan Dworkin & Jay Beattie.
Irreverent and action-packed, Matador chronicles the unlikely rise of Tony “Matador” Bravo, a popular soccer star who comes to be known as much for his playboy antics off the field as his dynamic moves on it. But what his fans and family don’t realize is that it’s all a cover—in truth, he is a skilled covert operative executing missions for a little-known branch of the CIA.
Roberto Orci (rt) with writing partner Alex  Kurtzman
Roberto Orci (Rt) with writing partner Alex Kurtzman

“This is a project that I have wanted to do for as long as I can remember and when I asked Robert if El Rey Network could be our home for ‘Matador,’ he embraced the idea immediately,” Orci said at a recent press event in New York. “And that’s what is special about El Rey Network-it is a place where creatives can create and where success is measured by your ability to tell a story well-and that is incredibly appealing on many levels.”
Sade’s character, Holester, is an English striker for the soccer team the LA Riot who is past his prime, but still very skilled.  Scoring eight goals for Team England in the last World Cup, he’s been on top of the sports world for years and is wryly amused by his own talent for living in the limelight with a girl on each arm.

In addition to Sade, recurring cast includes: Yvette Monreal (Off The Grid, Awkward) as Senna Galan, a celebutante and daughter of LA Riot team owner Andrés Galan, who relishes her every opportunity to play rough off the field and get the players in trouble; Elizabeth Peña (Tortilla Soup, Modern Family) as Maritza Sandoval, proud mother of Tony, Ricky and Cristina; Julio Oscar Mechoso (Machete Kills, Little Miss Sunshine) as Javi Sandoval, a notario and a sturdy family man with a stable, routinized life who is married to Maritza, Tony’s mother; Louis Ozawa Changchien (The Bourne Legacy, Predators) as Samuel, the intimidating, creepy 20-something who is a criminal errand boy for Galan; Sammi Rotibi (Django Unchained, Lord of Ward) as Didi Akinyele, the wise Assistant Head Coach for the LA Riot; Jonny Cruz (Small Timers, Cool Wheels) as Ricky Sandoval, Tony’s younger half-brother who is currently in prison; Isabella Gomez as Cristina Sandoval, Tony’s energetic teenage half-sister; and Peter Gadiot as Caesar, a baby-faced former dancer who is the sole proponent of the “art” of soccer.

Matador is created by Roberto Orci, Dan Dworkin, Jay Beattie and Andrew Orci. Executive producers are Dworkin & Beattie, also showrunners, alongside executive producers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman and consulting producer Andrew Orci. Also joining as executive producers are Heather Kadin of K/O Paper Products; El Rey Network co-founder Robert Rodriguez; and FactoryMade Ventures and El Rey Network co-founders John Fogelman and Cristina Patwa.
Entertainment One Television (eOne) exclusively represents worldwide distribution rights (with the exception of U.S. broadcast network rights) for El Rey Network’s Matador and other original scripted series created for the U.S based cable network, to be announced.

LatinHeat Media Institute Inaugural Indie Film Screening Series Presents ‘Amorous Pancho Villa’


















By Latin Heat
Los Angeles, CA  - The LatinHeat Media Institute (LHMI), the newly formed non-profit organization, whose mission is to empower Latinos in the entertainment industry through multiple platforms, has announced the screening of Amorous Pancho Villa on Thursday, April 10, 2014 at the Arenas Group screening room in Los Angeles, CA at its inaugural event the Latino Indie Film Screening Series.

LHMI, was co-founded in 2013 by Bel Hernandez, President/CEO of Latin Heat Media, LLC; Elia Esparza, PR/marketing/communications professional; Actor/writer/director Enrique Castillo; and Fernando Antonio Gomez, marketing executive in broadcast, cable television and new media. The mission of LHMI is to serve as a cohesive industry-leading organization that through multiple platforms and strategic alliances informs, educates, connects, and empowers Latinos in the entertainment industry.

“Our objective is for LHMI to complement other Latino entertainment organizations in areas still not fulfilling the many needs of Latinos seeking opportunities in film, television and new media,” said Bel Hernandez, Chairperson Hernandez.
“With the recent success of Instructions Not Included and its marketing campaign, it is obvious that the captivating Amorous Pancho Villa has the appeal to U.S. Latino audiences and global markets,” said LHMI Executive Director of LHMI. “It is such a privilege that this is the first film screening to launch our new organization. The film is beautifully shot and totally captivates the heart and soul of an international icon like we’ve never seen before.”
Amorous.PV.490
Filmmakers Juan Andres Bueno and Lourdes Deschamps’ Amorous Pancho Villa, a Spanish-language film with English subtitles, has already a proven to be favorite on the film festival circuit both in Mexico, the U.S. and Europe. Amorous Pancho Villa took home three top honor at the St. Tropez Film Festival: “Best Foreign Language Feature,” Best Costume,” and “Best Film of Festival”. At the Madrid International Film Festival the film won for “Best Foreign Film”.

Amorous Pancho Villa stars Alejandro Navarette in the role of Villa and some of Mexico’s finest actors including Joaquin Cosio and some of the most prestigious leading ladies of Mexico, Gabriela Canudas, Diana Bracho, Venonica Jaspeado, Paola Núñez, Dominica Paleta, Rocio Verdejo, y Tere Ruiz.
Future films screening in the LHMI Indie Film Screening Series include Oscar Torre’s directorial debut film Pretty Rosebud, a coming of age of a woman who struggles with being true to her culture or embracing her true ambitions.

For information the LHMI Indie Film Screening Series, or LHMI, contact Elia Esparza, eesparza@latinheat.com.
For information about Amorous Pancho Villaeesparza@latinheat.com.
http://www.latinheat.com/everything-related-to-film/film/amorous-pancho-villa-romance-amidst-a-revolution/

http://www.AmorousPanchoVilla.com 
Follow Amorous Pancho Villa on social media:
Twitter: @AmorousPancho
Facebook: facebook.com/AmorousPanchoVilla
Amorous Pancho Villa
Genre:
 Epic Adventure, Romance
Runtime: 
125 Mins.
Sound Mix: 
Dolby Digital, DTS
Filmed: Red One
Language: Spanish with English Subtitles
Producers/Directors: Juan Andres Bueno, Lourdes Deschamps
Executive Producer:
 Jorge Rubio
Writers: Juan Andres Bueno, Lourdes Deschamps, Elias Godoy Ortiz Mario Hernandez, Mayra Mendoza Villa, Rafael Carlos Moreno Garcia, Arturo Tekayuenhuatzin Perez, Antonella Sanmaniego
Cinematographer: 
Arturo de la Rosa
Original Music:
 Poncho Toledo
Cast: Alejandro Navarette, Gabriela Canudas, Diana Bracho, Joaquin Cosio, Venonica Jaspeado, Paola Núñez, Dominica Paleta, Rocio Verdejo, y Tere Ruiz
About LatinHeat Media Institute (LHMI)

The LatinHeat Media Institute (LHMI) was co-founded in 2013 by Latin Heat Media President & CEO Bel Hernandez; PR/marketing/communications professional, Elia Esparza, who served as editor-in-chief for Latin Heat Magazine for over 15 years; Actor/writer/director Enrique Castillo; and Fernando Antonio Gomez, Marketing Executive in Broadcast, Cable Television and New Media. The mission of LHMI is to be a cohesive and industry-leading organization that through multiple platforms and strategic alliances informs, educates, connects, and empowers Latinos and relevant issues in the entertainment industry.

Saturday, April 5, 2014

The New Scarface and the Rise of Hispanic Hollywood

 
By Gabe Toro
 
With the hiring of Pablo Larraín as director for the next Scarface remake, a growing trend is evident: Hollywood talent is going Hispanic.
The ethnic makeup of the modern blockbuster is changing. No longer are we in the age of tokenism, where studios could boast “multi-ethnic” casts by simply dotting the background with an assortment of skin colors and orientations. The international box office makes up a massive percentage of American studio releases, and non-English language-speaking audiences are placed at a premium. It's not enough to load your movie with recognizable white faces any more. Ocean's Eleven with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon would probably still get made today. But not without much debate.

The one surprise is that the diversity is coming from a new place: behind the camera. The new Scarface is a case study of sorts. Recently, it was announced that Warner Bros. was moving ahead with the third big-screen rendition of the story of an immigrant named Tony who works his way up the ladder of organized crime. Whispers had persisted that the studio was pursuing a vision of the film with a more “ethnic” slant. But no one was prepared for the announcement that Pablo Larraín would be selected for the director's chair.

In 2013, Larraín’s No was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. This seemed simple enough: No featured global superstar Gael Bernal, and it focused on the story of how dictator Augusto Pinochet was pushed out of office. The title refers to the deceptively complex campaign in which citizens were called upon to cast a vote to oust the unruly despot with Bernal as an ad exec charged with creating the most important campaign in Chile's history. Though it's a period piece about a tremendous political victory, No is not a sentimental film; in fact, the decision to shoot the picture with low-quality digital film heavily utilized during the late 1980s places you in an era that manufactures the regional claustrophobia and constant level of threat that the Chilean protestors and anti-Pinochet forces lived underneath.

Larraín’s body of work becomes more intimidating when one realizes that No is part of a whole. Larraín’s life's work thus far has been a trilogy of films loosely connected by the time period in which they take place. Post Mortem is about as bleak as it sounds, a stark counterpoint to No's ultimate victory. And Tony Manero, named after the protagonist of Saturday Night Fever played by John Travolta, is ultimately a dark narrative about a man who dives head-first into denial when he begins to obsess over disco and John Badham's legendary music film as a response to the social upheaval and oppression of the era. Larraín, in essence, is not someone accustomed to the world of blockbusters.

While Paul Muni was the original Scarface, a suit-wearing Italian named Tony Camonte, most fans associate the character with his 1983 incarnation, played by Al Pacino in a pidgin-Cuban accent. It's not the most delicate re-creation of a Hispanic personality, but Spanish-speaking audiences (not to mention English-speaking ones) have long celebrated the rise of Pacino's Tony Montana in Brian De Palma's hallucinatory masterpiece. He may be a murderer and adulterer, but Tony Montana was a man of principles, and that's the sort of thing audiences can appreciate. It can be argued that his downfall is either because he violates his own principles, or because others violate them. Most fans prefer the latter.

That last bit also seems to be magnified by this new version of the story, which follows a Mexican character who has to work with the cartels. The hot button issues here are deadly ones, focusing on the serious conflict of attitudes occurring in America regarding immigration, and the ugly, lawless scourge of the cartels across the border. There's a lot of potential not only for violence, but for ideological conflict. There's also a lot regarding the issue of identity.

Scarface has always been about “The American Dream,” and a Mexican character emerging from the world of drug cartels to become a major criminal force raises questions about Mexico's cultural identity and its ties to the cartels. It also raises questions as to the truth about America today, and what it means to thrive in a world (in this case, crime) where others alongside you perish. Is it American to survive? Is it American to eliminate any and all potential competition? Or is it American to work with others in building empires? Probably not that last one, given that this is a blockbuster, where the default is either blind optimism or blind cynicism.

It is a little disheartening that Larraín’s chief competition for the job was Harry Potter helmer David Yates. As complex and morally knotty as Larraín’s films are, that's how broad and scrubbed-of-identity Yates' Potter films tended to be. Yates came up from television, where he presided over the original version of State of Play, but his basic Potter work marked him as a go-along studio hand who would follow orders. In the case of Potter that meant directing a handful of films that served one continuous story without violating the universe established by Chris Columbus in the first two Potter entries. There's a depressing inevitability to watching those final Potter films: it feels as if every five minutes is a pause to allow for special effects theatrics to take hold of the story, cheap parlor tricks meant to remind the audience to keep paying attention. You couldn't possibly pit two dissimilar filmmakers against each other quite like WB did with Larrain and Yates.

Still, the selection of Larraín opens up intriguing new possibilities in regards to the Hollywood studio model, while confirming a sea change. Larraín is just the latest in a line of Spanish-language helmers to take Hollywood by storm, and it very much looks like the future of moviemaking is en Espanol. Hispanics make up 32 percent of all moviegoers; contrast that with a population of 17 percent. Alfonso Cuarón just became the first Hispanic filmmaker to take home the Best Director Oscar. That's not a statistic, that's a beginning.

Of course, with this onslaught of Hispanic filmmakers comes a forceful, often political viewpoint. The question is, are studios pursuing these filmmakers because of their socio-political insight, or because they think a foreign filmmaker outside of the studio system is simply going to do what they're told? It's unclear what the situation was regarding José Padilha and Robocop. The Brazilian behind the Elite Squad movies seemed like the ideal choice for the relaunch of the popular sci-fi franchise, jumping onboard after Darren Aronofsky completed a lengthy flirtation with the property.

The Elite Squad series was violent, aggressive, and provocative, centering on the corrupt BOPE officers that run the slums. Detailing the failings of compromised organizations and the shaky line between cops and criminals, they're tense and upsetting films with a dark sense of humor, making Padilha an apt choice for the job.

As much as he labored, however, the end result was an intermittently-interesting studio product, one that has very little political or social insight. Padilha was never going to get his way on a film that was (ridiculously) aimed for a PG-13 rating even before shooting began. But during a candid interview, fellow director Alejandro González Iñárritu claimed that Padilha told him making the movie was “hell” and that “nine out of every ten” of his ideas were being shot down. Was Padilha hired for his insight in the law enforcement/industrial complex? Or was he just hired because he was hot and of-the-moment?

Apparently the situation wasn't bad enough to prevent Iñárritu, a former Best Director Oscar nominee, from signing onto an adaptation of The Jungle Book. He eventually fled that project before shooting, but it's indicative of the fact that several Latin American filmmakers are being hired for movies that don't seem to have any Latin roots. There's a very good chance they're all following Guillermo del Toro, the Mexican wunderkind that came to America on the back of Spanish language genre efforts, only to end up using most of his goodwill on Pacific Rim, a sci-fi action film that owed more to Japanese culture than a American or Mexican background.

Also intrigued by Japanese culture is Jaume Collet-Serra, who has directed Liam Neeson in three straight action pictures, Unknown, Non-Stop and the upcoming Run All Night. He's had his eye on the big fish for the longest time: Akira, Kazuhiro Otomo's long-thought unfilmable tome that has been bandied about by WB for years. An American Akira largely misses the point of the material, as one cannot simply transfer one tragedy for another: the graphic novel takes its eerie inspiration from the disaster at Hiroshima, while an American adaptation was said to occur in “Neo-Manhattan,” with echoes of 9/11.

Collet-Serra has traveled considerably in his career. Unknown largely takes place in Germany, and he also helmed the globe-trotting soccer epic Goal 2. While not a personal filmmaker, it would be interesting to see the mark he leaves on the material.
Also intriguing is a reboot of the Mummy series by director Andrés Muschetti. Having been given his big break by producer del Toro, Muschetti's only other film is Mama, which draws its inspiration from his own Spanish-language short film. While the material was very thin, both the short and extended versions of Mama seem suffused with the notion of a matriarchal family, something that isn't specifically Hispanic, but stems from a Latino upbringing. The Mummy ostensibly deals with Egyptian folklore, but it's just as much about the early days of moviemaking and the classic Universal monsters.

What will Muschetti bring to the material?
And what of Gerardo Naranjo's Death Wish? The Miss Bala director clearly knows his way around violence, but what's he going to do with an American franchise that focuses specifically on the very American idea of the lawless vigilante? Charles Bronson did five of these films. What can Naranjo bring to the table? MGM's remake of the title has been through several permutations: for a brief moment Sylvester Stallone was going to star in it, and reportedly director Joe Carnahan fled the project because the studio sought Bruce Willis. So they're transparently going for iconic. Can Naranjo, who made a suffocating, relentlessly bleak film about the relationship between cartels and beauty pageants, properly create the sort of iconography MGM is looking for?

Maybe, like del Toro and Muschetti, these filmmakers are best suited for monsters. Fede Alvarez came out of seemingly nowhere to make his directorial debut on Sam Raimi's Evil Dead reboot, showing a serious dedication to letting blood spill. It's one of the most gruesome films to ever pass through the system with only an R-rating. And Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, who previously helmed the British 28 Weeks Later, is due to get down with the dead once again in a World War Z sequel. Working in genre is maybe the best step towards longevity in this career: just ask Robert Rodriguez, whose latest, Sin City: A Dame To Kill For his theaters at the tail-end of this summer.

Rodriguez himself has stumbled on a potential goldmine. In launching his channel El Rey, he's aiming for the audience that the studios could be targeting with these latest films, specifically Latino males who have grown up watching primarily English-language movies. In between original programming like From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series the channel also shows popular fare like Escape From New York, movies that, not coincidentally, are up for a (likely) multi-culti remake in the coming years. Rodriguez, as always, seems ahead of the curve. Who could have guessed that the guy who remade his debut, the Spanish-language El Mariachi, into the star-packed English-language Desperado, would be where he was ten years later? Rodriguez argues that today's movie fan speaks one language and one language alone: the language of cinema. What he and filmmakers like him are doing are creating fully-realized roles and positions for Hispanics to fit in the mainstream media. There might not be anything in Escape From New York or Total Recall that seems Hispanic, Rodriguez argues, but when they are programmed on El Rey, it establishes that they now belong to those people.

These Hispanic directors also seem to be part of a growing trend in American film, as studios shy away from American-born directors completely. Baltasar Kormakur was plucked from obscurity to remake his own film into the Mark Wahlberg actioner Contraband; now he's handling an all-star cast in the 3D film Everest. Daniel Espinosa rose from the European crime film scene with Snabba Cash to make Safe House and the upcoming WWII drama Child 44. Even franchises are in the hands of foreigners. Russian journeyman Sergei Bodrov was the choice to introduce filmgoers to the world of The Seventh Son, while the Norwegian Harald Zwart was entrusted with the Mortal Instruments series. Earlier this month, Blood Ties was released, within the most American genre to exist, the 1970s cop film. Except that the cast was almost primarily European, and the director was the French Guillaume Canet.

Most of these creative choices did not pan out, however, with some directors presiding over bombs. If the industry is having a great big Director-Off, Latin America looks like they could very well be the winner. Animation already has its champion with Rio director Carlos Saldanha. And great new voices are emerging in that world: Bernal is one of the world's leading producers, while Y Tu Mama Tambien pal Diego Luna just helmed his first movie, Cesar Chavez. And Cuarón's co-writer on Gravity, his son Jonás, is already prepping his directorial debut. Jonás is a part of this younger generation, an expanding Hispanic demographic that is eager to hear new stories, see new movie stars, feel new sensations. The landscape is changing dramatically.

As for Scarface, we'll see. The project has had several writers and directors attached over the years, and it's ultimate a candidate to undergo several other revisions over the years. Larraín is an exciting choice, but an obscure one: it's nothing lost for the studio if they eventually get him to hit the road, or if a lack of creative freedom allows him to flee. What's so exciting is that Larraín didn't earn his way doing shampoo commercials, or making scuzzy genre pics. He wasn't hired by the studio because he has a reputation for cranking out product. He was hired for his work, which is decidedly Chilean in nature. The WB made a decision, and it's a decision based on films that have a strong Latin American identity, films that speak greatly to one small demographic's way of life.

Scarface could end up being expensive junk: as good as Larraín is, no one in Hollywood is above taking a paycheck to pay for a new backyard. But his hiring means that we're a long way from the 1983 version, starring “noted Hispanics” like Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer and F. Murray Abraham, written by Oliver Stone and directed by Brian De Palma. We still haven't solved a diversity issue in filmmaking: women continue to be dramatically under-represented, with only two wide release live action films directed by women to be seen this year. But it appears that Hispanics are slowly, and confidently, taking over the industry.

Latinos are the biggest moviegoers


















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Latinos are the biggest moviegoers compared to other ethnic groups, according to a recent report.

In their annual report, the Motion Picture Association of America found that while Latinos made up 17 percent of the U.S. population, they accounted for 32 percent of frequent moviegoers in 2013. By definition, frequent moviegoers are people who went to watch a movie once a month or more.

Meanwhile, blacks accounted for 12 percent of the population and made up 12 percent of moviegoers last year. As for whites, they made up 63 percent of the overall population and made up 49 percent of moviegoers in 2013.

“In 2013, Hispanics continued the trend of oversampling as frequent moviegoers relative to their proportion of the population and the total number of frequent Hispanic moviegoers (11.6 million) continues to grow,” the report reads.

SEE ALSO: Bilingual Latino movies are Hollywood’s new darlings

The report also shows that while Latinos are more likely than any other ethnic group to go to the movies, they purchased fewer tickets in 2013 than they did in 2012. Latinos purchased 25 percent of the tickets sold in 2013, compared to 26 percent in 2012.

Why are Latinos big moviegoers? A study by the Nielsen National Research Group seeks to answer that question. The study, which also identifies Latinos as the biggest moviegoers, finds that for Latinos going to the movies “seems to carry a particularly positive cultural significance.”
“They were considerably more likely than non-Hispanics to view going to a theater as a way to spend time with their family and friends (86% vs. 77%),” the study reads. “They also were more likely to spend time discussing the movies after seeing them (66% vs. 53%).”
The study also shows that on average, Latinos attended 9.5 movies in 2012, more than any other ethnic group.

Another study by Nielsen shows that while family and action adventure films are popular among Latinos, they “command the highest share of audience in the horror/thriller and romantic comedy genres.”

But even though Latinos are big moviegoers, they are the most under-represented group onscreen. A study by the University of Southern California shows that Latinos only play about 4 percent of the roles on the big screen.

SEE ALSO: New year, new films for 2014: Latino edition

Latinos who do land a major role on a film often face one big obstacle: getting stuck with stereotypical roles. Cuban America actor Manny Alfaro, who’s the executive director of Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA), previously told VOXXI that many talented Latino actors are still being assigned stereotypical roles of housekeepers or criminals, ignoring the fact that there are many Latinos who have blue color jobs.
“It’s very hard for an actor to break the mold of a stereotype until he starts making a name for himself,” Alfaro said. “But even then, when he makes a name for himself, he is in a stereotype mold for a while until he breaks away.”
He added that the good news is that Hollywood producers and directors are starting to provide Latino actors with better acting opportunities.“There are improvements simply because they recognize the rather voluminous purchasing power that Latino audiences have,” he said.

SEE ALSO: Hollywood targets Latinos with ‘The Marked Ones’