list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around Y Tu Mamá También on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/Y_Tu_Mam_Tambi_n/196780/default.aspx Title: Y Tu Mamá También
Year: 2002
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Plot: Mexican-born, New York-based filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón directed this Mexican box-office smash hit about a pair of randy upper-class buddies that sparked some controversy for its frank depiction of drug use and sexual exploration. With their respective girlfriends away in Europe, Julio (Gael García Bernal) and his upper-class friend Tenoch (Diego Luna) are looking forward to a summer full of drink, drugs, and cheap meaningless sex. During a wedding, they meet Luisa (Maribel Verdú) -- the 28-year-old wife of Tenoch's scholarly cousin -- and try to convince her to go on a road trip to Heaven's Mouth, a made-up beach paradise the two claim is on the Oaxacan coast. To their surprise, Luisa -- who is looking to escape her troubled life for a spell -- agrees to go along. Two days into the trip, tension starts to build between the two friends: Luisa has had sex with each, and now both lads are not-so-quietly vying for her affection. Soon simmering jealousies boil over into savage arguments, threatening to completely destroy their friendship. After an enormously successful run in Mexico and Guatemala, this film was screened to much acclaim at the 2001 Venice, Toronto, and New York Film Festivals. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 80
Number of Lists: 47
Number of blog posts: 8
Number of discussion threads: 3
SpoutRating: 4
]]>Mon, 27 Jul 2009 00:31:51 GMTY Tu Mamá También2002Alfonso CuarónMexican-born, New York-based filmmaker <a href="/players/P____86327/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Alfonso Cuarón</a> directed this Mexican box-office smash hit about a pair of randy upper-class buddies that sparked some controversy for its frank depiction of drug use and sexual exploration. With their respective girlfriends away in Europe, Julio (<a href="/players/P___294532/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Gael García Bernal</a>) and his upper-class friend Tenoch (<a href="/players/P___196831/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Diego Luna</a>) are looking forward to a summer full of drink, drugs, and cheap meaningless sex. During a wedding, they meet Luisa (Maribel Verdú) -- the 28-year-old wife of Tenoch's scholarly cousin -- and try to convince her to go on a road trip to Heaven's Mouth, a made-up beach paradise the two claim is on the Oaxacan coast. To their surprise, Luisa -- who is looking to escape her troubled life for a spell -- agrees to go along. Two days into the trip, tension starts to build between the two friends: Luisa has had sex with each, and now both lads are not-so-quietly vying for her affection. Soon simmering jealousies boil over into savage arguments, threatening to completely destroy their friendship. After an enormously successful run in Mexico and Guatemala, this film was screened to much acclaim at the 2001 Venice, Toronto, and New York Film Festivals. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide80Tag Target (>10)47834http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/t23508ch8lv.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/Y_Tu_Mam_Tambi_n/196780/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/blogs/pippin06/archive/2009/7/26/43263.aspx Post By: pippin06
Post To: Reel Thoughts
Post Date: 7/26/2009 8:31:51 PM
Body: What's an Oscar Flashback (tm)? Read here: Next on my Netflix queue was Y Tu Mama Tambien, which was nominated for the Best Original Screenplay Oscar (film year, 2002; awarding year, 2003). The other nominees in this category were: Talk to Her (Winner) Far From HeavenGangs of New YorkMy Big Fat Greek Wedding This film represents the second of two Oscar-nominated Spanish-language foreign language films topping my Netflix queue, just in case you were keeping track. Y Tu Mama Tambien crossed my radar not so much because of the Oscars but because it is one of those films that has garnered so much attention, whether it was because Alfonso Cuaron was the director, because the film is somewhat controversial in its subject matter, or because the film has actually been compared to American Pie (I think unfairly). I liked Cuaron's stylized and visual approach to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (even if I despised the adaptation), so I was also interested in experiencing this director in a more "real" film setting. Also, I am finding that I tend to enjoy Spanish-language foreign films, even though I never took the language. Thus, when Netflix recommended the film during my initial stream of consciousness queuing, I added it with interest in seeing what all of the talk was myself. Y Tu Mama Tambien (And Your Mother Too) tells the story of two horny teenaged boys, Julio (Gael Garcia Bernal) and Tenoch (Diego Luna), who are ready to waste a summer away on drugs, alcohol, and casual sex while their girlfriends are off spending the summer in Europe. Their plans go only slightly awry when they meet an older woman, Luisa (Maribel Verdu), the wife of Tenoch's academic but oafish cousin. The boys tempt her with a road trip to an imaginary beach cove called "Heaven's Mouth," which the boys claim is on the Oaxacan coast, and while Luisa initially refuses them, after learning that her husband has cheated on her yet again, she elects to take the boys up on their offer. What ensues is a road trip fraught with jealousy and facing hard truths: Luisa sleeps with both boys, though she suggests that the real lust they have is for each other. The boys' jealousy of each other, in turn, erupts over Luisa and various past indiscretions and develops into heated and violent arguments that threaten to destroy their friendship and to alienate the young woman who would teach them something about real life. The first word that came to mind while watching Y Tu Mama Tambien was "intense." There is a level of intensity being explored here that is both engaging and hard to watch: the intensity of young testosterone, the intensity of realizing mortality, the intensity of love. This film's hallmark is the potency of this intensity, brought to a forefront by director Cuaron and made even more real by the performances of the three leads. Though young actors, there was a naturality about Bernal, Luna, and Verdu that drew the viewer, particularly me, in and suspended disbelief quite readily. Their story was real and interesting, and Cuaron amplified this intensity with a varied use of the camera, anywhere from a handheld, docu-style method of shooting to a standard point-and-shoot method focused on each lead's intimate expressions. What I didn't particularly enjoy about this film was the fact that there was a narrator, who cuts into the action at odd points to not only provide a third-person omniescient investigation of each of the three primary characters' internal motivations but also to set their story against the backdrop of then-current political turmoil in Mexico. This narration, even though it added some logic to the progression of the storytelling, which I always welcome, proved to be more distracting than not because first, the sound dropped away dramatically, and there would be a pregnant, few seconds' pause before the melodic voice of the narrator offered his thoughts and observations. Second, the political backdrop was inconsequential and really had nothing to do with the story other than to place it in a period context. These three characters were not concerned with the outer workings of the world, and while that may have been the point, to contrast their naivete and selfishness with the larger shift in political landscapes, a few, minimal comments on the world at large would have sufficed to create that context. After all, if the three main characters did not seem to care about their environment, why should the viewer? It felt trite and pedantic to include such commentary, unless Cuaron aimed to have the picture be a social commentary piece. I think the picture was really an intimate, micro-level coming-of-age story, the intimacy of which might also have been emphasized by the larger world scope. Also, there are some graphic sex scenes in this film, and while normally, I don't mind such scenes (after all, we're all only human), the sheer number of them felt a bit too much. On the one hand, the number belied the ultimate lesson that the boys seem to learn, which is not to treat sex merely as a tool or a quick ride on a willing pony but to treat it as an experience. On the other hand, the learning of this lesson and the boys' ultimate path to coming to grips with it felt ultimately unsatisfying, in that their reunion scene during the denoument of the film was given a short-shrift in narration. Indeed, the most compelling story belonged to the character of Luisa, which I can't explain in more detail without spoiling the film entirely. It was her story, and her ending, that gave the film a sense of meaning to me; the boys, therefore, were mere accessories, even if the lessons being learned were theirs to absorb. It was Verdu's performance and Cuaron's deft handling of that performance that rendered the film as engaging as it was, and for that reason, I am inclined to rate the film a 7.5, between shaky/entertaining and minor flaws/very good. As to the test, it does not pass, merely because I cannot see myself engaging in repeat viewings of this film. It was powerful to be sure and more powerful and engaging than Far From Heaven, Gangs of New York, and My Big Fat Greek Wedding (though I have not seen Talk to Her). Still, I think it's worth the watch, and if there are any other Cuaron films to explore, I'm ready to watch them. i think he is a talented director, and I think he handled the material in this film with a true sense of observation, skill, and connection to his characters.
]]>Mon, 27 Jul 2009 00:31:51 GMTpippin06Reel Thoughts7/26/2009 8:31:51 PM What's an Oscar Flashback (tm)? Read here: Next on my Netflix queue was Y Tu Mama Tambien, which was nominated for the Best Original Screenplay Oscar (film year, 2002; awarding year, 2003). The other nominees in this category were: Talk to Her (Winner) Far From HeavenGangs of New YorkMy Big Fat Greek Wedding This film represents the second of two Oscar-nominated Spanish-language foreign language films topping my Netflix queue, just in case you were keeping track. Y Tu Mama Tambien crossed my radar not so much because of the Oscars but because it is one of those films that has garnered so much attention, whether it was because Alfonso Cuaron was the director, because the film is somewhat controversial in its subject matter, or because the film has actually been compared to American Pie (I think unfairly). I liked Cuaron's stylized and visual approach to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (even if I despised the adaptation), so I was also interested in experiencing this director in a more "real" film setting. Also, I am finding that I tend to enjoy Spanish-language foreign films, even though I never took the language. Thus, when Netflix recommended the film during my initial stream of consciousness queuing, I added it with interest in seeing what all of the talk was myself. Y Tu Mama Tambien (And Your Mother Too) tells the story of two horny teenaged boys, Julio (Gael Garcia Bernal) and Tenoch (Diego Luna), who are ready to waste a summer away on drugs, alcohol, and casual sex while their girlfriends are off spending the summer in Europe. Their plans go only slightly awry when they meet an older woman, Luisa (Maribel Verdu), the wife of Tenoch's academic but oafish cousin. The boys tempt her with a road trip to an imaginary beach cove called "Heaven's Mouth," which the boys claim is on the Oaxacan coast, and while Luisa initially refuses them, after learning that her husband has cheated on her yet again, she elects to take the boys up on their offer. What ensues is a road trip fraught with jealousy and facing hard truths: Luisa sleeps with both boys, though she suggests that the real lust they have is for each other. The boys' jealousy of each other, in turn, erupts over Luisa and various past indiscretions and develops into heated and violent arguments that threaten to destroy their friendship and to alienate the young woman who would teach them something about real life. The first word that came to mind while watching Y Tu Mama Tambien was "intense." There is a level of intensity being explored here that is both engaging and hard to watch: the intensity of young testosterone, the intensity of realizing mortality, the intensity of love. This film's hallmark is the potency of this intensity, brought to a forefront by director Cuaron and made even more real by the performances of the three leads. Though young actors, there was a naturality about Bernal, Luna, and Verdu that drew the viewer, particularly me, in and suspended disbelief quite readily. Their story was real and interesting, and Cuaron amplified this intensity with a varied use of the camera, anywhere from a handheld, docu-style method of shooting to a standard point-and-shoot method focused on each lead's intimate expressions. What I didn't particularly enjoy about this film was the fact that there was a narrator, who cuts into the action at odd points to not only provide a third-person omniescient investigation of each of the three primary characters' internal motivations but also to set their story against the backdrop of then-current political turmoil in Mexico. This narration, even though it added some logic to the progression of the storytelling, which I always welcome, proved to be more distracting than not because first, the sound dropped away dramatically, and there would be a pregnant, few seconds' pause before the melodic voice of the narrator offered his thoughts and observations. Second, the political backdrop was inconsequential and really had nothing to do with the story other than to place it in a period context. These three characters were not concerned with the outer workings of the world, and while that may have been the point, to contrast their naivete and selfishness with the larger shift in political landscapes, a few, minimal comments on the world at large would have sufficed to create that context. After all, if the three main characters did not seem to care about their environment, why should the viewer? It felt trite and pedantic to include such commentary, unless Cuaron aimed to have the picture be a social commentary piece. I think the picture was really an intimate, micro-level coming-of-age story, the intimacy of which might also have been emphasized by the larger world scope. Also, there are some graphic sex scenes in this film, and while normally, I don't mind such scenes (after all, we're all only human), the sheer number of them felt a bit too much. On the one hand, the number belied the ultimate lesson that the boys seem to learn, which is not to treat sex merely as a tool or a quick ride on a willing pony but to treat it as an experience. On the other hand, the learning of this lesson and the boys' ultimate path to coming to grips with it felt ultimately unsatisfying, in that their reunion scene during the denoument of the film was given a short-shrift in narration. Indeed, the most compelling story belonged to the character of Luisa, which I can't explain in more detail without spoiling the film entirely. It was her story, and her ending, that gave the film a sense of meaning to me; the boys, therefore, were mere accessories, even if the lessons being learned were theirs to absorb. It was Verdu's performance and Cuaron's deft handling of that performance that rendered the film as engaging as it was, and for that reason, I am inclined to rate the film a 7.5, between shaky/entertaining and minor flaws/very good. As to the test, it does not pass, merely because I cannot see myself engaging in repeat viewings of this film. It was powerful to be sure and more powerful and engaging than Far From Heaven, Gangs of New York, and My Big Fat Greek Wedding (though I have not seen Talk to Her). Still, I think it's worth the watch, and if there are any other Cuaron films to explore, I'm ready to watch them. i think he is a talented director, and I think he handled the material in this film with a true sense of observation, skill, and connection to his characters. http://www.spout.com/groups/Weekly_Theme/Re_Weekly_Theme_for_May_18_Headin_Down_South/625/42312/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: mercurial
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 5/18/2009 3:22:16 PM
Body: I remember how paranoid Traffic made me about driving down to Mexico. Don't do anything stupid, don't trust anyone, and always keep at least a hundred bucks in your shoe to pay off anyone. Little did I know that it was all booze and great food. Losin't It is a great film with Shelley Long, Tom Cruise and Jackie Earle Haley about a group of guys going down to Mexico to lose their virginity and see a donkey show. Y Tu Mama Tambien was a beautifully filmed road trip through the unseen (to most Americans) parts of Mexico. Apocalypto was an incredible period film. Mel Gibson might be crazy but he sure makes a great movie. The Ruins was just blah. College kids falling prey to ancient curse which ruins their debaucherous vacation. Man on Fire was an alright little flick that once again reassured paranoid Americans that yes, if you go to Mexico you will be kidnapped and lose at least one finger . . . or ear.
]]>Mon, 18 May 2009 19:22:16 GMTmercurialWeekly Theme5/18/2009 3:22:16 PMI remember how paranoid Traffic made me about driving down to Mexico. Don't do anything stupid, don't trust anyone, and always keep at least a hundred bucks in your shoe to pay off anyone. Little did I know that it was all booze and great food. Losin't It is a great film with Shelley Long, Tom Cruise and Jackie Earle Haley about a group of guys going down to Mexico to lose their virginity and see a donkey show. Y Tu Mama Tambien was a beautifully filmed road trip through the unseen (to most Americans) parts of Mexico. Apocalypto was an incredible period film. Mel Gibson might be crazy but he sure makes a great movie. The Ruins was just blah. College kids falling prey to ancient curse which ruins their debaucherous vacation. Man on Fire was an alright little flick that once again reassured paranoid Americans that yes, if you go to Mexico you will be kidnapped and lose at least one finger . . . or ear. http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/10/17/36453.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 10/17/2008 2:00:43 PM
Body: As far as Hollywood is concerned, the best way to lose one’s virginity is on the road. Whether driving cross-country for a sure thing or making a weekend trip to the state university in an attempt to get laid, teens are always taking sex-seeking trips in the movies. Already this year, there was College, which featured some high school kids having sex on a campus far from home, and now this week sees the release of Sex Drive, a movie about a guy traveling 500 miles in order to hook up a girl he met online, just so he doesn’t begin college a virgin. Though it may be wrong to celebrate movies that could possibly be encouragement for online predators and purveyors of sex tourism, we present some of our favorite cinematic virgins who lost it on a road trip: (Warning: potential spoilers ahead.) Kyle Edwards (DJ Qualls) in Road Trip (2000) This movie has to be the first on anyone’s mind when thinking about virginity loss on a road trip. Not necessarily because of the title, either. Kyle’s first time is simply one of the most memorable sexual initiations ever put on film. With all due respect to the large ladies out there, seeing Kyle shyly get it on with big girl Rhonda (Mia Amber Davis) is hilarious. Of course, much of the humor of the scene also comes from how scrawny, pale and dorky Kyle is. Lucy Wagner (Britney Spears) in Crossroads (2002) After deciding not to lose her virginity in the boring setting of home-territory, Lucy embarks on a trip that will see her meet her mother for the first time, enter a singing contest, and have her first sexual experience with a guy she’s just recently met. It’s a little more romantic than it sounds, though, as her chosen partner has just co-written a song with her, and he’s made sure to initiate the encounter near an open window providing a view of the ocean. Even if this guy turns out to be a jerk later on, it has to be worth it, because there’s no way a girl could have a more special first time than that. Sherry (Ellen Page) in Mouth to Mouth (2005) Before she became an icon of teen pregnancy, future Oscar-nominee Ellen Page appeared in this indie, which featured the following plot synopsis: “How Sherry loses her virginity, her illusions and her lip ring in one trippy road trip across Europe.” As you can see in the video above, it’s not quite as special a first time as Britney got. William Miller (Patrick Fugit) in Almost Famous (2000) One of the benefits of being a band on tour is all the road sex from groupies galore. But do tag-along journalists usually get such perks, too? They do if they’re virginal teenagers, and the groupies are as gracious as the typically non-intercourse-having “Band-Aides.” Based on director Cameron Crowe’s own first time while on the road with rock bands in the 1970s, young Rolling Stone reporter William manages the perfect teen male fantasy by being deflowered by three hot female rock fans. Jeremiah ‘Jam’ Bruce (Sam Huntington) in Detroit Rock City (1999) Another reason to believe that teens of the ’70s commonly lost their virginity while en route to rock concerts. In this movie, the experience isn’t as much a fantasy as the one in Almost Famous, though it is nearly as unbelievable. Jam and his buddies travel from Cleveland to Detroit for a Kiss show, and it just so happens that the kid’s crush, Beth, has apparently also made the trip and followed him into a church, where they do it in a confessional booth. And after Jam officially becomes a man, he has the strength to finally stand up to his mom. Seaman Larry Meadows (Randy Quaid) in The Last Detail (1973) It’s one thing for a guy to want to lose his virginity before he goes to college; it’s another for a guy to need to lose it before beginning an 8-year sentence behind bars. While being escorted by two fellow sailors (Jack Nicholson and Otis Young) to Portsmouth Naval Prison, Meadows is shown a good time on the road, and while he doesn’t manage to experience “the big one” in the sequence above, he finally does the deed courtesy of his buddies and a young prostitute played by Carol Kane. The girl who does it in a shark tank in Cherry Hill High (1977) While on a post-graduation long-distance bicycle trip, a group of girls hold a contest to see who can lose her virginity in the most creative way. If the prize went to the most dangerous deflowering, certainly the first girl to get it on would have sealed the deal, because her first time is with a shark wrangler in a shark tank. (to see a slideshow clip of the scene, click on the above still.) Tenoch Iturbide (Diego Luna) and Julio Zapata (Gael Garcia Bernal) in Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001) Best friends Tenoch and Julio are anything but virginal when they embark on a road trip with the beautiful, older Luisa (Maribel Verdu), but by the end of their little vacation, they do end up having an experience that could be technically considered a loss of virginity. Anais Pingot (Anais Reboux) in Fat Girl (2001) In one of the most shocking endings ever, 12-year-old Anais accomplishes her goal of the summer while traveling from her vacation home back to Paris. If you’ve never seen it before, I don’t want to spoil it (the above video is merely the film’s trailer), but I’ll say one thing: it may be the most startling intentional loss of virginity ever put on film. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:00:43 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com10/17/2008 2:00:43 PMAs far as Hollywood is concerned, the best way to lose one’s virginity is on the road. Whether driving cross-country for a sure thing or making a weekend trip to the state university in an attempt to get laid, teens are always taking sex-seeking trips in the movies. Already this year, there was College, which featured some high school kids having sex on a campus far from home, and now this week sees the release of Sex Drive, a movie about a guy traveling 500 miles in order to hook up a girl he met online, just so he doesn’t begin college a virgin. Though it may be wrong to celebrate movies that could possibly be encouragement for online predators and purveyors of sex tourism, we present some of our favorite cinematic virgins who lost it on a road trip: (Warning: potential spoilers ahead.) Kyle Edwards (DJ Qualls) in Road Trip (2000) This movie has to be the first on anyone’s mind when thinking about virginity loss on a road trip. Not necessarily because of the title, either. Kyle’s first time is simply one of the most memorable sexual initiations ever put on film. With all due respect to the large ladies out there, seeing Kyle shyly get it on with big girl Rhonda (Mia Amber Davis) is hilarious. Of course, much of the humor of the scene also comes from how scrawny, pale and dorky Kyle is. Lucy Wagner (Britney Spears) in Crossroads (2002) After deciding not to lose her virginity in the boring setting of home-territory, Lucy embarks on a trip that will see her meet her mother for the first time, enter a singing contest, and have her first sexual experience with a guy she’s just recently met. It’s a little more romantic than it sounds, though, as her chosen partner has just co-written a song with her, and he’s made sure to initiate the encounter near an open window providing a view of the ocean. Even if this guy turns out to be a jerk later on, it has to be worth it, because there’s no way a girl could have a more special first time than that. Sherry (Ellen Page) in Mouth to Mouth (2005) Before she became an icon of teen pregnancy, future Oscar-nominee Ellen Page appeared in this indie, which featured the following plot synopsis: “How Sherry loses her virginity, her illusions and her lip ring in one trippy road trip across Europe.” As you can see in the video above, it’s not quite as special a first time as Britney got. William Miller (Patrick Fugit) in Almost Famous (2000) One of the benefits of being a band on tour is all the road sex from groupies galore. But do tag-along journalists usually get such perks, too? They do if they’re virginal teenagers, and the groupies are as gracious as the typically non-intercourse-having “Band-Aides.” Based on director Cameron Crowe’s own first time while on the road with rock bands in the 1970s, young Rolling Stone reporter William manages the perfect teen male fantasy by being deflowered by three hot female rock fans. Jeremiah ‘Jam’ Bruce (Sam Huntington) in Detroit Rock City (1999) Another reason to believe that teens of the ’70s commonly lost their virginity while en route to rock concerts. In this movie, the experience isn’t as much a fantasy as the one in Almost Famous, though it is nearly as unbelievable. Jam and his buddies travel from Cleveland to Detroit for a Kiss show, and it just so happens that the kid’s crush, Beth, has apparently also made the trip and followed him into a church, where they do it in a confessional booth. And after Jam officially becomes a man, he has the strength to finally stand up to his mom. Seaman Larry Meadows (Randy Quaid) in The Last Detail (1973) It’s one thing for a guy to want to lose his virginity before he goes to college; it’s another for a guy to need to lose it before beginning an 8-year sentence behind bars. While being escorted by two fellow sailors (Jack Nicholson and Otis Young) to Portsmouth Naval Prison, Meadows is shown a good time on the road, and while he doesn’t manage to experience “the big one” in the sequence above, he finally does the deed courtesy of his buddies and a young prostitute played by Carol Kane. The girl who does it in a shark tank in Cherry Hill High (1977) While on a post-graduation long-distance bicycle trip, a group of girls hold a contest to see who can lose her virginity in the most creative way. If the prize went to the most dangerous deflowering, certainly the first girl to get it on would have sealed the deal, because her first time is with a shark wrangler in a shark tank. (to see a slideshow clip of the scene, click on the above still.) Tenoch Iturbide (Diego Luna) and Julio Zapata (Gael Garcia Bernal) in Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001) Best friends Tenoch and Julio are anything but virginal when they embark on a road trip with the beautiful, older Luisa (Maribel Verdu), but by the end of their little vacation, they do end up having an experience that could be technically considered a loss of virginity. Anais Pingot (Anais Reboux) in Fat Girl (2001) In one of the most shocking endings ever, 12-year-old Anais accomplishes her goal of the summer while traveling from her vacation home back to Paris. If you’ve never seen it before, I don’t want to spoil it (the above video is merely the film’s trailer), but I’ll say one thing: it may be the most startling intentional loss of virginity ever put on film. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/groups/Weekly_Theme/Re_Weekly_Theme_for_August_4_Let_s_Talk_About_Sex/625/33933/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: estela
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 8/12/2008 8:38:01 PM
Body: Bit late but want to contribite to this discussion Movies that sex was part of them film making the moviegoer almost voyerstic Henry and JuneHenry & June (1990) from the opening scene when Anais Nin confesses she addicted to sexual encounters to her thearpist and then continues sexually engage with her thearpist you know it will be a central theme to the story. Basic Instinct went it came was an event everyone was going to see it Basic Instinct (1992) Scandal the biopic based on the real Profumo Affair Scandal (1989) Swinging Sixties sex scandal that shook the british government bringing down prominent ministers. Angels and Insects is a period piece unlike any you are likely to see now or in the foreseeable future.Set in consevetive Victorian era where Darwinism social class and forbidden secret keeps you entranced Controversy The film caused some scandal in America because of a scene in which an actor (Douglas Henshall) leaves the bed of a woman and gets dressed while his penis is erect, something almost non-existent in mainstream American film. Angels & Insects Theatrical release poster I also agree Y tu mama tambien it was a great film for me as a femal to gain an insight of how young men relate to sex loved this film. Y Tu Mamá También (2001)
]]>Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:38:01 GMTestelaWeekly Theme8/12/2008 8:38:01 PMBit late but want to contribite to this discussion Movies that sex was part of them film making the moviegoer almost voyerstic Henry and JuneHenry &amp; June (1990) from the opening scene when Anais Nin confesses she addicted to sexual encounters to her thearpist and then continues sexually engage with her thearpist you know it will be a central theme to the story. Basic Instinct went it came was an event everyone was going to see it Basic Instinct (1992) Scandal the biopic based on the real Profumo Affair Scandal (1989) Swinging Sixties sex scandal that shook the british government bringing down prominent ministers. Angels and Insects is a period piece unlike any you are likely to see now or in the foreseeable future.Set in consevetive Victorian era where Darwinism social class and forbidden secret keeps you entranced Controversy The film caused some scandal in America because of a scene in which an actor (Douglas Henshall) leaves the bed of a woman and gets dressed while his penis is erect, something almost non-existent in mainstream American film. Angels &amp; Insects Theatrical release poster I also agree Y tu mama tambien it was a great film for me as a femal to gain an insight of how young men relate to sex loved this film. Y Tu Mam&aacute; Tambi&eacute;n (2001) http://www.spout.com/groups/Weekly_Theme/Weekly_Theme_for_August_4_Let_s_Talk_About_Sex/625/33586/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: mercurial
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 8/5/2008 6:02:41 PM
Body: Without going into the pornographic, let's get down and dirty and discuss all those films that explore what goes on behind closed doors. I will admit that I do like American Pie and it's gross out portrayal of a group of high schoolers making a pact to lose their virginity before they graduate high school. Equally, I'm willing to also admit that I found myself liking The Sweetest Thing and it's portrayal of sexually liberated (without any negative connotations) woman being stupid and having fun with their sexual experiences. Venturing to the more dismal views of sex, The Rules of Attraction will make any incoming college freshman fear leaving the comfort of their parents homes and begin seeing nothing but rapists, STD's and psychopaths around every turn. Y Tu Mamá También is incredible with it's twisted threesome road trip sexual free-for-all. Catherine Breillat has made countless interesting films about women and sex: Fat Girl being a pubescent girl becoming curious about her body and sex; Anatomy of Hell about an older woman tired of the typical and her journey into some pretty insane depths of sexual experience. Lastly, my favorite two films with S-E-X as the primary theme are Shortbus and A Dirty Shame. Warning for those that might be tempted to see Shortbus: it is extremely graphic. EXTREMELY. From John Cameron Mitchell, Shortbus is one of the few movies about sex that keeps nothing hidden (literally) and attempts to deconstruct various aspects of the act and what compels us in our various ways. A Dirty Shame is just stupid fun from that master of stupid fun John Waters and centers around a group of sexual liberated fetishists trying to uncover a new unheard of sex act. So without further ado and double entendres, let's talk about sex!
]]>Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:02:41 GMTmercurialWeekly Theme8/5/2008 6:02:41 PMWithout going into the pornographic, let's get down and dirty and discuss all those films that explore what goes on behind closed doors. I will admit that I do like American Pie and it's gross out portrayal of a group of high schoolers making a pact to lose their virginity before they graduate high school. Equally, I'm willing to also admit that I found myself liking The Sweetest Thing and it's portrayal of sexually liberated (without any negative connotations) woman being stupid and having fun with their sexual experiences. Venturing to the more dismal views of sex, The Rules of Attraction will make any incoming college freshman fear leaving the comfort of their parents homes and begin seeing nothing but rapists, STD's and psychopaths around every turn. Y Tu Mam&aacute; Tambi&eacute;n is incredible with it's twisted threesome road trip sexual free-for-all. Catherine Breillat has made countless interesting films about women and sex: Fat Girl being a pubescent girl becoming curious about her body and sex; Anatomy of Hell about an older woman tired of the typical and her journey into some pretty insane depths of sexual experience. Lastly, my favorite two films with S-E-X as the primary theme are Shortbus and A Dirty Shame. Warning for those that might be tempted to see Shortbus: it is extremely graphic. EXTREMELY. From John Cameron Mitchell, Shortbus is one of the few movies about sex that keeps nothing hidden (literally) and attempts to deconstruct various aspects of the act and what compels us in our various ways. A Dirty Shame is just stupid fun from that master of stupid fun John Waters and centers around a group of sexual liberated fetishists trying to uncover a new unheard of sex act. So without further ado and double entendres, let's talk about sex! http://www.spout.com/blogs/thefilmpanelnotetaker/archive/2008/7/27/33148.aspx Post By: thefilmpanelnotetaker
Post To: thefilmpanelnotetaker Blog
Post Date: 7/27/2008 8:01:15 PM
Body: New York International Latino Film FestivalNickel N’ Diming Financing – Find the Right DealJuly 24, 2008On Thursday, I attended for the very first time the New York International Latino Film Festival, which presented over 100 films throughout the week. Earlier in the day after picking up my press badge from the Roger Smith Hotel, I hopped over to the Directors Guild Theater to see the film Mancora from Peru (the filmmakers were not present for that, so unfortunately, I have no Q&A notes, other than to say that I thought it was a fairly good film, which sort of reminded me of Y Tu Mama Tambien, which is the much better of the two.) Then I went over to Showbiz Software for a panel discussion on film financing, coordinated by Edwin Pagan, who made a brief introduction. The panelists touched on a number of topics ranging from ways to go about finding funding for your first films to finding a universal appeal for a broader audience, and a brief case study on how the indie film Quinceañera was funded by a community. Here are highlights from the discussion:Moderator:Bienvenida Matías – Executive Director, Association of Hispanic ArtsPanelists:Pooja Kohli Taneja – Founder, FilmKaravan – Curator, Filmmaker, ProducerFernando Ramírez, Esq. – Entertainment AttorneyPhil Bertelsen – Filmmaker, ProducerNicholas Levis – Ovie Entertainment, ProducerSlava Rubin – IndieGoGo, Co-FounderMike Sergeant – Filmmaker, ProducerMatías: How do you get your first money to make your film?Bertelsen: The first money is the hardest. I’m sure that’s not a newsflash. Typically it comes from well-established relationships including friends and family. Ultimately, the first money comes when you can demonstrate the reliability of your project. The trick is to get around the whole catch 22 when they say, what have you done before? If there was kind of a magic formula to that, I would have bottled it by now and sold it and paying for the rest of my career.Kohli: I think before you get into the game, you need very little money to actually build alliances…people who get on board early, which can be organizations or grants…that align with your project.Rubin: IndieGoGo is an online marketplace to connect filmmakers to fans. We’re giving the tools to filmmakers for fundraising. The filmmakers have already raised tens of thousands of dollars on IndieGoGo. Some of them have already had established films in their prior careers and their building their audiences online to turn that into money for their next films. Many of the filmmakers for the first time are raising between $500 to $10,000.Bertelsen: Your first money can be a very strategic proposition. It doesn’t require everything up front. It’s about building partnerships, whether it be with established filmmakers, production companies, websites, etc. A lot of times, the early work of getting the first money is just a matter of forming relationships who can give you credibility as a filmmaker and give your story the legitimacy you know that it has.Matías: Many filmmakers here are everything…we produce, direct, hand out the coffee, edit. How do you feel about that?Levis: Start with a package that ultimately you want to get to an investor. These partnerships are intended to tell a sophisticated investor what you’re looking for and that the return for them is there. My belief is that you strengthen yourself by delegating to individuals that will strengthen your project. You may be an amazing director, but you find a producer who is better at producing. Just because you’re a great producer, doesn’t mean you’re a great distributor. Finding your alliances and building a team…the bigger the team is that you trust, the further you’ll go.Matías: When should filmmakers think of getting an attorney as part of the team?Ramírez: Let me first say that I tend to think of funding as falling into two broad categories:Obtain secure funding from grants and foundations (ie. The Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation). That tends to be for the most part for social-themed documentaries. It takes a long time however. They usually want to see a body of work and someone with experience. It’s also an investment that’s going to pay off on their part.Private equity…trying to get money from sophisticated investors. That tends to be a significantly more complicated process because you’re dealing with securities. You have to go through processes like registering with the SEC or blue sky agencies or coming up with documents that will have enough information for sophisticated investors to make an informed decision regarding their investment, because it is a really risky business.Levis: The earlier you bring in council (and accounting), the better. Building that team is such an imperative aspect. At times, it may seem a little overwhelming, but there’s a lot of individuals out there that realize that risk. A great filmmaker or producer does not make a good lawyer or account, so asking as many questions as you can and getting free advice, so that way when you are approaching grants or private equity, you’ve got your numbers down. You have all those answers that are so important to them.Rubin: One of the things that’s important to ask yourself is what are your goals for your movie? It can be just an artistic expression. It can be because you want to change your career and do this for a living…whether it’s a success or not. Be realistic. Christopher Nolan (director of The Dark Knight) is obviously now a rich man. His first movie cost $11,000.Matías: When thinking about how to raise money, how do you divvy up the budget so you can understand who you’re going to approach?Bertelsen: I think it starts much like Slava was saying by asking what your goals are. Ask yourself, who is the audience for this film? When you start to examine your project, you make decisions on who would be appropriate person to bring this to. For example, you’re not going to bring a low-budget indie horror film to a structurally themed documentary production company. It goes without saying, but you’d be surprised at how many first-time filmmakers don’t read the guidelines and don’t pay attention to what’s being asked of them when it comes to how to prerequisite their projects. You want to be very targeted. You’ve got to do your homework and know what it is they’re looking for. Tailor your projects to those interests the best that you can.Kohli: I think it’s very important to do that homework he mentioned. Who are the players in the market and what they do? Exactly the way you have goals for your films, they have goals for their money. You need to be ready to understand who is most interested in your project. Be realistic. Who was the last you? Who did exactly what you’re trying to do? Learn from their mistakes.Sergeant: Be creative and you have to be willing to really go that extra mile. I was going to do a narrative film depending on what it would cost. When you’re doing a narrative film, anybody who’s an investor or wherever you raise money, they want to know, ‘how can I get this back?’ A movie is one of the quickest ways to lose millions of dollars really fast.Ramírez: All that information on how prepared you are should be a in a business plan. There’s a series of books out there, one that I’ve talked about on panels before is by Louise Levinson, Business Plans for Filmmakers. You’re going to have to do the research on what the market is and projections. What type of films like yours have made money? You also have to be honest for instance, these films like mine, have not made money, but most have. I was watching Quinceañera…I was so shocked in the interviews…I think they had an idea for a movie. They went to somebody. They had the money before they even had scripts. I had to rewind that. I don’t think that really happensLevis: With the packaging and everything’s in place, there are so many key elements where things can go awry. It must be frustrating even after you’ve made a few films to locate the money. The global market is such a changing one. Last tear investors on Wall Street were really aggressive, but with the economy changing so much since last year, the opportunities are not there. Europe is looking to us now, because their money is so much stronger. Right now the pound is two-to-one. That means if you can start to talk to individuals there now that for instance say they’d like to shoot in New York City…what would cost 500,000 pounds here, I can easily get $1 million American. Things kind of equal the same. The day rate here, the day rate there. That’s true with a lot of European money. They’re really looking to the U.S. because everyone wants that U.S. affiliation. The opportunity to present yourself with a co-production company out of Spain or France or London…what you’re doing ultimately is giving them the opportunity to send their money and it goes further. Your business plan should also think about what happens outside the U.S.Rubin: The Hollywood system has a term called pre-selling of foreign territories.Matías: Historically, it has been difficult for us as Latinos and Latinas to be able to break into making these films and finding this money. Have things changed? Is it easier? Do we have topics that people want? Are our own communities willing to support what might not be mainstream, even by indie definitions?Bertelsen: It is an increasingly global marketplace. I think that only adds value to our stories as Latinos, as people of color, and women in a world where we have to make up the majority. I think the goal is to find a way to reach that audience.Ramírez: I often hear that a film has to have a universal appeal. How as a filmmaker of color and you want to make a film that portrays the experience of your community in a way that’s appealing? How can we make films that can get picked up by distributors?Kohli: From a South Asian angle, filmmakers like Mira Nair and Deepa Mehta tell South Asian stories, but these are not stories for the South Asian market. These are stories that people all over the world want to hear. I think a good film from any angle, the simplest way for you to have a barometer is if people can somehow relate to it. A story we can feel, we can be a part of. That in the simplest form is a success. If you can take what is in your film to an audience that is not you…you don’t want people like you sitting in the audience watching this film, but you want people who are not like you to be able to see like you. Vanaja that went to over 100 festivals and won about 30 awards was released by Emerging Pictures, it did numbers that were less than 10% in South Asian markets. Be able to convince someone who’s not you about the story. I think people want not to educated the audience with every film. Try not to beat them on the head with it. You can get the story across in a way that delivers the message, but if you’re going for an audience that’s not your core audience, you need to make it slightly easy for them.Bertelsen: The onus on us as filmmakers of color is to prove those economics. In addition to all the things to get in the room, be prepared to make the argument with the market research.Matías: To get back to the issue of Quinceañera, the film did not have a script when they got the money. They had an idea. They had lived in the neighborhood. They had been involved with the whole ceremony of the quinceañeras. They were connected to a whole group of people who had money. It was the group of people who gave them the money, and they said, now I have to go out and make a script. They made the script in a very short amount of time. The reason that film works is they worked with the community. They found the Madrina, the woman in the community who really knew how to teach everyone how to participate in a quinceañera ceremony. That’s really what gave the film its authenticity of a right of passage for a young woman. Originally posted on:The Film Panel Notetaker - Miss a panel discussion? Don't worry! We took notes for you.
]]>Mon, 28 Jul 2008 00:01:15 GMTthefilmpanelnotetakerthefilmpanelnotetaker Blog7/27/2008 8:01:15 PMNew York International Latino Film FestivalNickel N’ Diming Financing – Find the Right DealJuly 24, 2008On Thursday, I attended for the very first time the New York International Latino Film Festival, which presented over 100 films throughout the week. Earlier in the day after picking up my press badge from the Roger Smith Hotel, I hopped over to the Directors Guild Theater to see the film Mancora from Peru (the filmmakers were not present for that, so unfortunately, I have no Q&A notes, other than to say that I thought it was a fairly good film, which sort of reminded me of Y Tu Mama Tambien, which is the much better of the two.) Then I went over to Showbiz Software for a panel discussion on film financing, coordinated by Edwin Pagan, who made a brief introduction. The panelists touched on a number of topics ranging from ways to go about finding funding for your first films to finding a universal appeal for a broader audience, and a brief case study on how the indie film Quinceañera was funded by a community. Here are highlights from the discussion:Moderator:Bienvenida Matías – Executive Director, Association of Hispanic ArtsPanelists:Pooja Kohli Taneja – Founder, FilmKaravan – Curator, Filmmaker, ProducerFernando Ramírez, Esq. – Entertainment AttorneyPhil Bertelsen – Filmmaker, ProducerNicholas Levis – Ovie Entertainment, ProducerSlava Rubin – IndieGoGo, Co-FounderMike Sergeant – Filmmaker, ProducerMatías: How do you get your first money to make your film?Bertelsen: The first money is the hardest. I’m sure that’s not a newsflash. Typically it comes from well-established relationships including friends and family. Ultimately, the first money comes when you can demonstrate the reliability of your project. The trick is to get around the whole catch 22 when they say, what have you done before? If there was kind of a magic formula to that, I would have bottled it by now and sold it and paying for the rest of my career.Kohli: I think before you get into the game, you need very little money to actually build alliances…people who get on board early, which can be organizations or grants…that align with your project.Rubin: IndieGoGo is an online marketplace to connect filmmakers to fans. We’re giving the tools to filmmakers for fundraising. The filmmakers have already raised tens of thousands of dollars on IndieGoGo. Some of them have already had established films in their prior careers and their building their audiences online to turn that into money for their next films. Many of the filmmakers for the first time are raising between $500 to $10,000.Bertelsen: Your first money can be a very strategic proposition. It doesn’t require everything up front. It’s about building partnerships, whether it be with established filmmakers, production companies, websites, etc. A lot of times, the early work of getting the first money is just a matter of forming relationships who can give you credibility as a filmmaker and give your story the legitimacy you know that it has.Matías: Many filmmakers here are everything…we produce, direct, hand out the coffee, edit. How do you feel about that?Levis: Start with a package that ultimately you want to get to an investor. These partnerships are intended to tell a sophisticated investor what you’re looking for and that the return for them is there. My belief is that you strengthen yourself by delegating to individuals that will strengthen your project. You may be an amazing director, but you find a producer who is better at producing. Just because you’re a great producer, doesn’t mean you’re a great distributor. Finding your alliances and building a team…the bigger the team is that you trust, the further you’ll go.Matías: When should filmmakers think of getting an attorney as part of the team?Ramírez: Let me first say that I tend to think of funding as falling into two broad categories:Obtain secure funding from grants and foundations (ie. The Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation). That tends to be for the most part for social-themed documentaries. It takes a long time however. They usually want to see a body of work and someone with experience. It’s also an investment that’s going to pay off on their part.Private equity…trying to get money from sophisticated investors. That tends to be a significantly more complicated process because you’re dealing with securities. You have to go through processes like registering with the SEC or blue sky agencies or coming up with documents that will have enough information for sophisticated investors to make an informed decision regarding their investment, because it is a really risky business.Levis: The earlier you bring in council (and accounting), the better. Building that team is such an imperative aspect. At times, it may seem a little overwhelming, but there’s a lot of individuals out there that realize that risk. A great filmmaker or producer does not make a good lawyer or account, so asking as many questions as you can and getting free advice, so that way when you are approaching grants or private equity, you’ve got your numbers down. You have all those answers that are so important to them.Rubin: One of the things that’s important to ask yourself is what are your goals for your movie? It can be just an artistic expression. It can be because you want to change your career and do this for a living…whether it’s a success or not. Be realistic. Christopher Nolan (director of The Dark Knight) is obviously now a rich man. His first movie cost $11,000.Matías: When thinking about how to raise money, how do you divvy up the budget so you can understand who you’re going to approach?Bertelsen: I think it starts much like Slava was saying by asking what your goals are. Ask yourself, who is the audience for this film? When you start to examine your project, you make decisions on who would be appropriate person to bring this to. For example, you’re not going to bring a low-budget indie horror film to a structurally themed documentary production company. It goes without saying, but you’d be surprised at how many first-time filmmakers don’t read the guidelines and don’t pay attention to what’s being asked of them when it comes to how to prerequisite their projects. You want to be very targeted. You’ve got to do your homework and know what it is they’re looking for. Tailor your projects to those interests the best that you can.Kohli: I think it’s very important to do that homework he mentioned. Who are the players in the market and what they do? Exactly the way you have goals for your films, they have goals for their money. You need to be ready to understand who is most interested in your project. Be realistic. Who was the last you? Who did exactly what you’re trying to do? Learn from their mistakes.Sergeant: Be creative and you have to be willing to really go that extra mile. I was going to do a narrative film depending on what it would cost. When you’re doing a narrative film, anybody who’s an investor or wherever you raise money, they want to know, ‘how can I get this back?’ A movie is one of the quickest ways to lose millions of dollars really fast.Ramírez: All that information on how prepared you are should be a in a business plan. There’s a series of books out there, one that I’ve talked about on panels before is by Louise Levinson, Business Plans for Filmmakers. You’re going to have to do the research on what the market is and projections. What type of films like yours have made money? You also have to be honest for instance, these films like mine, have not made money, but most have. I was watching Quinceañera…I was so shocked in the interviews…I think they had an idea for a movie. They went to somebody. They had the money before they even had scripts. I had to rewind that. I don’t think that really happensLevis: With the packaging and everything’s in place, there are so many key elements where things can go awry. It must be frustrating even after you’ve made a few films to locate the money. The global market is such a changing one. Last tear investors on Wall Street were really aggressive, but with the economy changing so much since last year, the opportunities are not there. Europe is looking to us now, because their money is so much stronger. Right now the pound is two-to-one. That means if you can start to talk to individuals there now that for instance say they’d like to shoot in New York City…what would cost 500,000 pounds here, I can easily get $1 million American. Things kind of equal the same. The day rate here, the day rate there. That’s true with a lot of European money. They’re really looking to the U.S. because everyone wants that U.S. affiliation. The opportunity to present yourself with a co-production company out of Spain or France or London…what you’re doing ultimately is giving them the opportunity to send their money and it goes further. Your business plan should also think about what happens outside the U.S.Rubin: The Hollywood system has a term called pre-selling of foreign territories.Matías: Historically, it has been difficult for us as Latinos and Latinas to be able to break into making these films and finding this money. Have things changed? Is it easier? Do we have topics that people want? Are our own communities willing to support what might not be mainstream, even by indie definitions?Bertelsen: It is an increasingly global marketplace. I think that only adds value to our stories as Latinos, as people of color, and women in a world where we have to make up the majority. I think the goal is to find a way to reach that audience.Ramírez: I often hear that a film has to have a universal appeal. How as a filmmaker of color and you want to make a film that portrays the experience of your community in a way that’s appealing? How can we make films that can get picked up by distributors?Kohli: From a South Asian angle, filmmakers like Mira Nair and Deepa Mehta tell South Asian stories, but these are not stories for the South Asian market. These are stories that people all over the world want to hear. I think a good film from any angle, the simplest way for you to have a barometer is if people can somehow relate to it. A story we can feel, we can be a part of. That in the simplest form is a success. If you can take what is in your film to an audience that is not you…you don’t want people like you sitting in the audience watching this film, but you want people who are not like you to be able to see like you. Vanaja that went to over 100 festivals and won about 30 awards was released by Emerging Pictures, it did numbers that were less than 10% in South Asian markets. Be able to convince someone who’s not you about the story. I think people want not to educated the audience with every film. Try not to beat them on the head with it. You can get the story across in a way that delivers the message, but if you’re going for an audience that’s not your core audience, you need to make it slightly easy for them.Bertelsen: The onus on us as filmmakers of color is to prove those economics. In addition to all the things to get in the room, be prepared to make the argument with the market research.Matías: To get back to the issue of Quinceañera, the film did not have a script when they got the money. They had an idea. They had lived in the neighborhood. They had been involved with the whole ceremony of the quinceañeras. They were connected to a whole group of people who had money. It was the group of people who gave them the money, and they said, now I have to go out and make a script. They made the script in a very short amount of time. The reason that film works is they worked with the community. They found the Madrina, the woman in the community who really knew how to teach everyone how to participate in a quinceañera ceremony. That’s really what gave the film its authenticity of a right of passage for a young woman. Originally posted on:The Film Panel Notetaker - Miss a panel discussion? Don't worry! We took notes for you. http://www.spout.com/blogs/cinemarian/archive/2008/5/12/28675.aspx Post By: CinemaRian
Post To: CinemaRian Blog
Post Date: 5/12/2008 4:13:10 PM
Body: Alfonso Cuaron's And Your Mom Too is a movie about two teenage assholes who go on a road trip with an older woman for the express purpose of having sex with her. What keeps the movie from being 80's John Hughes film is are the facts that: A) the movie is aware the teenagers are obnoxious, B) it knows that one will one day they will mature and not be obnoxious, C) their actions have realistic consequences and D) the woman is a complete character herself and not a fantasy figure. The two teenagers are best friends named Tenoch (Diago Luna) and Julio (Gael Garcia Bernal). Both are fairly ordinary except for one thing- Tenoch was born into a very powerful and wealthy family (so powerful a family wedding is attended by the President of Mexico). This means the two have unlimited access to money, and therefore drugs and alcohol. They find it amusing to yell parts of the female body loudly in public and are often rude to others. They are not malevolent, but the drugs and alcohol combined with arrogance of youth is a bad combination. On the summer of their senior year of high school their girlfriends study abroad in Italy, leaving them open to "explore". Enter Luisa (Maribel Verdu), an attractive woman in her late twenties who has just been dumped by her boyfriend. Julio and Tenoch half jokingly ask her to go on a road trip with them, and are shocked when she accepts. It will not take a PhD in screenwriting to figure out they will be changed by the trip, but what I liked was that they did not so much learn a Very Important Lesson as much as basic facts about the world, such as that it does not revolve around them. Take their attitude towards sex, which might be summed up as the more, the better. They succeed in their effort to have a lot of it, but find that ideas that sex can truly be casual is changed when they find out their girlfriends cheated on them. They feel no remorse when they sleep around, but are deeply hurt when they are on the opposite end of the spectrum. There is no romance, no passion, nor even much fun in their sexual encounters- it's the fulfillment of a biological need and not much more. They are also oblivious to the plight of the many poor people they pass along the way, as well as the political upheaval spreading through Mexico. At one point, a blue collar family allows them to stay with in their hotel cheaply and access to their boat, and no one even bothers a thank you. Of course, lots and lots of teenagers are like this. I knew many. The fact that I never was one doesn't mean that I can't tell that Cuaron is dead on in his portrayal of the male hedonism mindset. At the end, they also learn something startling about their attitudes towards women- if they only see them as sex objects, love must come from somewhere else. The DVD I rented is missing four minuets of a key scene towards the end that was cut to give the film an "R" rating. Unlike the cuts in Requiem for a Dream, these actually affect the movie's theme and the story itself. My group did not fully understand what happened until I read a summary after the film was movie. This kind of censorship is ridiculous- this movie should only exist in its original version. It is not sensationalistic, exploitive or aside from a brief scene where Luisa sunbathes naked, erotic. The presents sex as its characters see it, cold and empty. The movie sends a message that is deeply needed in today's instant gratification culture. At the very end of the film, after the epilogue, the friends have come to a conclusion that perhaps responsibility and sensitively are actually good things that can actually make you happier, and perhaps sex is more meaningful if is motivated by something other than testosterone. Y Tu Mamá También (2001)
]]>Mon, 12 May 2008 20:13:10 GMTCinemaRianCinemaRian Blog5/12/2008 4:13:10 PMAlfonso Cuaron's And Your Mom Too is a movie about two teenage assholes who go on a road trip with an older woman for the express purpose of having sex with her. What keeps the movie from being 80's John Hughes film is are the facts that: A) the movie is aware the teenagers are obnoxious, B) it knows that one will one day they will mature and not be obnoxious, C) their actions have realistic consequences and D) the woman is a complete character herself and not a fantasy figure. The two teenagers are best friends named Tenoch (Diago Luna) and Julio (Gael Garcia Bernal). Both are fairly ordinary except for one thing- Tenoch was born into a very powerful and wealthy family (so powerful a family wedding is attended by the President of Mexico). This means the two have unlimited access to money, and therefore drugs and alcohol. They find it amusing to yell parts of the female body loudly in public and are often rude to others. They are not malevolent, but the drugs and alcohol combined with arrogance of youth is a bad combination. On the summer of their senior year of high school their girlfriends study abroad in Italy, leaving them open to "explore". Enter Luisa (Maribel Verdu), an attractive woman in her late twenties who has just been dumped by her boyfriend. Julio and Tenoch half jokingly ask her to go on a road trip with them, and are shocked when she accepts. It will not take a PhD in screenwriting to figure out they will be changed by the trip, but what I liked was that they did not so much learn a Very Important Lesson as much as basic facts about the world, such as that it does not revolve around them. Take their attitude towards sex, which might be summed up as the more, the better. They succeed in their effort to have a lot of it, but find that ideas that sex can truly be casual is changed when they find out their girlfriends cheated on them. They feel no remorse when they sleep around, but are deeply hurt when they are on the opposite end of the spectrum. There is no romance, no passion, nor even much fun in their sexual encounters- it's the fulfillment of a biological need and not much more. They are also oblivious to the plight of the many poor people they pass along the way, as well as the political upheaval spreading through Mexico. At one point, a blue collar family allows them to stay with in their hotel cheaply and access to their boat, and no one even bothers a thank you. Of course, lots and lots of teenagers are like this. I knew many. The fact that I never was one doesn't mean that I can't tell that Cuaron is dead on in his portrayal of the male hedonism mindset. At the end, they also learn something startling about their attitudes towards women- if they only see them as sex objects, love must come from somewhere else. The DVD I rented is missing four minuets of a key scene towards the end that was cut to give the film an "R" rating. Unlike the cuts in Requiem for a Dream, these actually affect the movie's theme and the story itself. My group did not fully understand what happened until I read a summary after the film was movie. This kind of censorship is ridiculous- this movie should only exist in its original version. It is not sensationalistic, exploitive or aside from a brief scene where Luisa sunbathes naked, erotic. The presents sex as its characters see it, cold and empty. The movie sends a message that is deeply needed in today's instant gratification culture. At the very end of the film, after the epilogue, the friends have come to a conclusion that perhaps responsibility and sensitively are actually good things that can actually make you happier, and perhaps sex is more meaningful if is motivated by something other than testosterone. Y Tu Mam&aacute; Tambi&eacute;n (2001) http://www.spout.com/blogs/lopezdash/archive/2008/3/11/26112.aspx Post By: lopezdash
Post To: The Movie Blog
Post Date: 3/11/2008 8:32:07 PM
Body: March 10, 2008By Laura Tillman Along with films and music, Austin's annual South by Southwest festival offers pass-holders the chance to attend intimate panel discussions with experts and some of their favorite artists. Monday, three of the festival's Latin American born filmmakers joined moderator Charles Ramirez Berg, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, to discuss "New Trends in Latino Cinema." About 30 seconds into the talk, however, they realized they might not have much to say on the given subject."I think there is a change in that Latino filmmakers are getting away from being so easily identified or grouped together and I think that's good," said Berg, who initially organized the event as a conversation between himself and producer Elizabeth Avellan. Avellan, who worked with her husband Robert Rodriguez on films like "El Mariachi," "Desperado," and "Sin City," recommended that Peruvian director Ricardo de Montreuil, who brought his film "Mancora" to the festival, join the conversation. Then, when they discovered that Mexican director Jonas Cuaron, the 26-year-old son of "Y Tu Mama Tambien" director Alfonso Cuaron, was bringing his first film "Ano Una" to the festival, they invited him to join in. Berg welcomed the panelists to discuss whether each of them recognized any trends in Latino cinema, and Cuaron, the youngest of the group, quickly questioned the term itself. "I think talking in general about Latin American cinema becomes restrictive," he said. "I have Mexican cinema influences, but I also love Iranian and European cinema." The other filmmakers underscored this sentiment. It's limiting to categorize Hispanic filmmakers as Hispanic, they said. Filmmakers are filmmakers and the movies they make are as diverse as the Americas themselves. "Some films in neighboring Latin American countries are never even screened in those other countries," said Montreuil, pointing out that while the nations are close together, their respective artistic communities might be more foreign than most people realize. The panelists own films prove this point. Montreuil's film "Mancora" brings viewers to Peru and takes its 22-year-old protagonist on a story of dark self-discovery and redemption following his father's suicide. Cuaron's film on the other hand is an often comedic, experimental collection of photographs documenting an actual year of the filmmaker's life. Cuaron then set a fictional narrative over the photographs, offering an un-stereotypical look at an American tourist's experience in Mexico City. Ultimately, the filmmakers said they appreciated the evolution of filmmaking in Latin American countries, but they were eager to move on. "I believe that the world wants to hear new voices, new forms even in mainstream cinema," said Avellan. "I think we're ready for new stories told a different way." Source: The Brownsville Herald
]]>Wed, 12 Mar 2008 00:32:07 GMTlopezdashThe Movie Blog3/11/2008 8:32:07 PMMarch 10, 2008By Laura Tillman Along with films and music, Austin&#39;s annual South by Southwest festival offers pass-holders the chance to attend intimate panel discussions with experts and some of their favorite artists. Monday, three of the festival&#39;s Latin American born filmmakers joined moderator Charles Ramirez Berg, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, to discuss &quot;New Trends in Latino Cinema.&quot; About 30 seconds into the talk, however, they realized they might not have much to say on the given subject.&quot;I think there is a change in that Latino filmmakers are getting away from being so easily identified or grouped together and I think that&#39;s good,&quot; said Berg, who initially organized the event as a conversation between himself and producer Elizabeth Avellan. Avellan, who worked with her husband Robert Rodriguez on films like &quot;El Mariachi,&quot; &quot;Desperado,&quot; and &quot;Sin City,&quot; recommended that Peruvian director Ricardo de Montreuil, who brought his film &quot;Mancora&quot; to the festival, join the conversation. Then, when they discovered that Mexican director Jonas Cuaron, the 26-year-old son of &quot;Y Tu Mama Tambien&quot; director Alfonso Cuaron, was bringing his first film &quot;Ano Una&quot; to the festival, they invited him to join in. Berg welcomed the panelists to discuss whether each of them recognized any trends in Latino cinema, and Cuaron, the youngest of the group, quickly questioned the term itself. &quot;I think talking in general about Latin American cinema becomes restrictive,&quot; he said. &quot;I have Mexican cinema influences, but I also love Iranian and European cinema.&quot; The other filmmakers underscored this sentiment. It&#39;s limiting to categorize Hispanic filmmakers as Hispanic, they said. Filmmakers are filmmakers and the movies they make are as diverse as the Americas themselves. &quot;Some films in neighboring Latin American countries are never even screened in those other countries,&quot; said Montreuil, pointing out that while the nations are close together, their respective artistic communities might be more foreign than most people realize. The panelists own films prove this point. Montreuil&#39;s film &quot;Mancora&quot; brings viewers to Peru and takes its 22-year-old protagonist on a story of dark self-discovery and redemption following his father&#39;s suicide. Cuaron&#39;s film on the other hand is an often comedic, experimental collection of photographs documenting an actual year of the filmmaker&#39;s life. Cuaron then set a fictional narrative over the photographs, offering an un-stereotypical look at an American tourist&#39;s experience in Mexico City. Ultimately, the filmmakers said they appreciated the evolution of filmmaking in Latin American countries, but they were eager to move on. &quot;I believe that the world wants to hear new voices, new forms even in mainstream cinema,&quot; said Avellan. &quot;I think we&#39;re ready for new stories told a different way.&quot; Source: The Brownsville Herald http://www.spout.com/blogs/jlgdrd/archive/2007/8/14/18031.aspx Post By: jlgdrd
Post To: Wicked Fun
Post Date: 8/14/2007 2:51:00 AM
Body: Just what is it about J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series that makes it so irresistible? That drives thousands to wait in costume for midnight releases of the next book, the newest film incarnation? To hold marathon gatherings where the entire text of the increasingly longer novels are read from start to finish in one sitting? Perhaps because so many of us can relate to Harry’s plight: an orphan raised by ignorant and abusive muggles who is whisked away to a community where he is welcomed and revered for the very attributes that branded him a freak. Don’t we all secretly long to be cherished for what makes us different? Perhaps it is Rowling’s gift for making sorcery and everything that implies, the fantastic and enchanting and astonishing world of extraordinary humans (and other marvelous, terrible beings) plausible. She intertwines just enough of the commonplace with the wizarding world to make it feel feasible, genuine. Wizards and witches have their schools, too, their trains, postal system and shops down Diagon Alley. They have their hierarchy, their government, their regulations, and sadly, their own biases, politics and petty grievances. Most impressive is Rowling’s skill at balancing plot and character. development. Her ability to keep us involved in the emotional lives of the principals, with their eccentricities and torments and foibles, while the action propels us like a perpetual motion device.It is this interdependent relationship between the psyches of Rowling’s extensive cast of “players” and what happens to them that his been most challenging in bringing Harry Potter to the screen. Christopher Columbus (who directed the first two films) recruited Alfonso Cuaron to direct Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban, too exhausted to move on to the next installment and highly impressed with Cuaron’s previous work. I won’t pretend familiarity with Cuaron’s work to date, but can tell you that Y Tu Mama Tambien (a very different, albeit impressive, film) in no way prepared me for the grace and finesse of Azkaban. Y Tu Mama is practically all character and very little plot while Azkaban is nearly the opposite. All the information vital to advancing the narrative is supplied and little else. And for this reason, the film doesn’t seem to get quite as bogged down as the first two. The movie hums and pops and soars and crackles and has some of the most bracing chills you’re likely to experience in a theater. There is kind of a failsafe built into filming the Rowling novels. So many folks are so deeply and passionately invested in the text (including Columbus and Cuaron) that there is keen motivation to get it right. To do justice to the phenomenal reading experience. Cuaron has been extremely vigilant in preserving the key aspects of Harry’s third year at Hogwarts. As Harry approaches adolescence his desire to find his identity and direction his life will take becomes stronger and more urgent. So naturally he tries to bond with the wizards who were closest to his deceased parents. As with all the novels so far, his first catastrophic (and triumphant ) confrontation with Lord Valdemort, too early for him to remember, will continue to steer his destiny. Cuaron covers all this, sometimes with dialogue, sometimes in less obvious ways, by implication or situation. Where Columbus was grappling with Rowling’s complexity and depth, Cuaron goes for movement and impact.There is a vibrant, credible feel to the milieu in Azkaban. The forest, Professor Lupin’s study, the dining hall, the village where the students spend their outings, engulf us in shadow and torchlight, they submerge us in the moment. Cuaron hovers at the edges of hallucination, teasing the normal into the subtly surreal. The shape-shifters and specters he constructs are chilling and unsettling. In the crucial episodes, the special effects are spot on, not calling attention to themselves, but making our hearts bounce. Our nape hair tingle. It is a rule of thumb that most films are imagistically savvier than their scripts. The story may be one thing, the dialogue another. But is the manipulation of the images fluttering before our eyes that separates the brilliant directors from the ones who are just trying to make sure the camera winds up in the right place. Cuaron has a visual sophistication that is dazzling and spectacular and serves the material well. It may sound like I’m casting aspersions on Columbus but please understand, I’m not. Both he and Cuaron have their strengths, neither one has gotten it just right, and as I suggested earlier, Columbus had the acumen to pass the torch to someone who could handle this daunting task with eclat’. Further credit should be given Columbus in his casting of the three key characters, Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, Emma Watson as Hermione Granger and Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley. Grint has great comic instincts and often serves as the reality check for Radcliffe and Watson, whose characters are loftier or more introspective. It’s as if Hermione were the Super-Ego, Harry the Ego and Ron the Id. Ron never hesitates to say what his friends are too tentative or guarded to reveal. When everything’s going to hell, he’s not afraid to be terrified. He just is. Watson makes Hermione formidable, her anger, her pride, her outrage at injustice. Her impatience with stupidity. But she also makes her sympathetic, helping us understand what drives Hermione. The injuries she can’t brush aside. Radcliffe has the most demanding role. Harry Potter is a boy who lives inside his head. Years of degradation and antagonism have forced him to use detachment as a means of survival. He is repeatedly subjected to ordeals and derision but is never the object of pity. So then it falls to Radcliffe to let just enough of Potter’s spirit and anguish come through to make those subtle changes in his face. The camera makes this kind of understatement possible; often our clues to Harry’s state of mind are in reaction shots and Radcliffe is meticulous in these. There are a few quibbles I have with Azkaban. One of the reasons that J. K. Rowling’s novels work so well is that she resists the temptation to continuously confront us with the supernatural. The Harry Potter series has reached the crossover audience of readers who would never otherwise have picked up a novel that dealt in sorcery and enchantment. The magic happens, and it’s never dull, but she weaves it organically into the character’s lives. We don’t need constant reminders that Hogwarts is a school for sorcery. It didn’t spoil the movie for me by any means, but I think Cuaron might have pulled back a bit from this compulsive need to distract us. A great deal of Azkaban is agreeably funny, it breaks up the looming sense of menace, but in the end, I think for Cuaron it’s all about momentum. Movement and trajectory. Sometimes expediency is highly effective, other times it comes off as shorthand or shtick. I cringe when I see broad strokes like a cloud in the shape of a dog or Snape calling Hermione an insufferable “Know-it-all” or Dumbledore speaking in homilies. Or a choir singing the Weird Sisters’ incantation from Macbeth ! (How many times we heard that?) But by and large Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban is a glorious, sumptuous plunge. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Starring: Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) Michael Gambon (Albus Dumbledore) Gary Oldman (Sirius Black) David Thewlis (Professor Remus Lupin) Robbie Coltrane (Rubeus Hagrid) Directed by Alfonso Cuarón
]]>Tue, 14 Aug 2007 06:51:00 GMTjlgdrdWicked Fun8/14/2007 2:51:00 AM Just what is it about J.K. Rowling&rsquo;s Harry Potter series that makes it so irresistible? That drives thousands to wait in costume for midnight releases of the next book, the newest film incarnation? To hold marathon gatherings where the entire text of the increasingly longer novels are read from start to finish in one sitting? Perhaps because so many of us can relate to Harry&rsquo;s plight: an orphan raised by ignorant and abusive muggles who is whisked away to a community where he is welcomed and revered for the very attributes that branded him a freak. Don&rsquo;t we all secretly long to be cherished for what makes us different? Perhaps it is Rowling&rsquo;s gift for making sorcery and everything that implies, the fantastic and enchanting and astonishing world of extraordinary humans (and other marvelous, terrible beings) plausible. She intertwines just enough of the commonplace with the wizarding world to make it feel feasible, genuine. Wizards and witches have their schools, too, their trains, postal system and shops down Diagon Alley. They have their hierarchy, their government, their regulations, and sadly, their own biases, politics and petty grievances. Most impressive is Rowling&rsquo;s skill at balancing plot and character. development. Her ability to keep us involved in the emotional lives of the principals, with their eccentricities and torments and foibles, while the action propels us like a perpetual motion device.It is this interdependent relationship between the psyches of Rowling&rsquo;s extensive cast of &ldquo;players&rdquo; and what happens to them that his been most challenging in bringing Harry Potter to the screen. Christopher Columbus (who directed the first two films) recruited Alfonso Cuaron to direct Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban, too exhausted to move on to the next installment and highly impressed with Cuaron&rsquo;s previous work. I won&rsquo;t pretend familiarity with Cuaron&rsquo;s work to date, but can tell you that Y Tu Mama Tambien (a very different, albeit impressive, film) in no way prepared me for the grace and finesse of Azkaban. Y Tu Mama is practically all character and very little plot while Azkaban is nearly the opposite. All the information vital to advancing the narrative is supplied and little else. And for this reason, the film doesn&rsquo;t seem to get quite as bogged down as the first two. The movie hums and pops and soars and crackles and has some of the most bracing chills you&rsquo;re likely to experience in a theater. There is kind of a failsafe built into filming the Rowling novels. So many folks are so deeply and passionately invested in the text (including Columbus and Cuaron) that there is keen motivation to get it right. To do justice to the phenomenal reading experience. Cuaron has been extremely vigilant in preserving the key aspects of Harry&rsquo;s third year at Hogwarts. As Harry approaches adolescence his desire to find his identity and direction his life will take becomes stronger and more urgent. So naturally he tries to bond with the wizards who were closest to his deceased parents. As with all the novels so far, his first catastrophic (and triumphant ) confrontation with Lord Valdemort, too early for him to remember, will continue to steer his destiny. Cuaron covers all this, sometimes with dialogue, sometimes in less obvious ways, by implication or situation. Where Columbus was grappling with Rowling&rsquo;s complexity and depth, Cuaron goes for movement and impact.There is a vibrant, credible feel to the milieu in Azkaban. The forest, Professor Lupin&rsquo;s study, the dining hall, the village where the students spend their outings, engulf us in shadow and torchlight, they submerge us in the moment. Cuaron hovers at the edges of hallucination, teasing the normal into the subtly surreal. The shape-shifters and specters he constructs are chilling and unsettling. In the crucial episodes, the special effects are spot on, not calling attention to themselves, but making our hearts bounce. Our nape hair tingle. It is a rule of thumb that most films are imagistically savvier than their scripts. The story may be one thing, the dialogue another. But is the manipulation of the images fluttering before our eyes that separates the brilliant directors from the ones who are just trying to make sure the camera winds up in the right place. Cuaron has a visual sophistication that is dazzling and spectacular and serves the material well. It may sound like I&rsquo;m casting aspersions on Columbus but please understand, I&rsquo;m not. Both he and Cuaron have their strengths, neither one has gotten it just right, and as I suggested earlier, Columbus had the acumen to pass the torch to someone who could handle this daunting task with eclat&rsquo;. Further credit should be given Columbus in his casting of the three key characters, Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, Emma Watson as Hermione Granger and Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley. Grint has great comic instincts and often serves as the reality check for Radcliffe and Watson, whose characters are loftier or more introspective. It&rsquo;s as if Hermione were the Super-Ego, Harry the Ego and Ron the Id. Ron never hesitates to say what his friends are too tentative or guarded to reveal. When everything&rsquo;s going to hell, he&rsquo;s not afraid to be terrified. He just is. Watson makes Hermione formidable, her anger, her pride, her outrage at injustice. Her impatience with stupidity. But she also makes her sympathetic, helping us understand what drives Hermione. The injuries she can&rsquo;t brush aside. Radcliffe has the most demanding role. Harry Potter is a boy who lives inside his head. Years of degradation and antagonism have forced him to use detachment as a means of survival. He is repeatedly subjected to ordeals and derision but is never the object of pity. So then it falls to Radcliffe to let just enough of Potter&rsquo;s spirit and anguish come through to make those subtle changes in his face. The camera makes this kind of understatement possible; often our clues to Harry&rsquo;s state of mind are in reaction shots and Radcliffe is meticulous in these. There are a few quibbles I have with Azkaban. One of the reasons that J. K. Rowling&rsquo;s novels work so well is that she resists the temptation to continuously confront us with the supernatural. The Harry Potter series has reached the crossover audience of readers who would never otherwise have picked up a novel that dealt in sorcery and enchantment. The magic happens, and it&rsquo;s never dull, but she weaves it organically into the character&rsquo;s lives. We don&rsquo;t need constant reminders that Hogwarts is a school for sorcery. It didn&rsquo;t spoil the movie for me by any means, but I think Cuaron might have pulled back a bit from this compulsive need to distract us. A great deal of Azkaban is agreeably funny, it breaks up the looming sense of menace, but in the end, I think for Cuaron it&rsquo;s all about momentum. Movement and trajectory. Sometimes expediency is highly effective, other times it comes off as shorthand or shtick. I cringe when I see broad strokes like a cloud in the shape of a dog or Snape calling Hermione an insufferable &ldquo;Know-it-all&rdquo; or Dumbledore speaking in homilies. Or a choir singing the Weird Sisters&rsquo; incantation from Macbeth ! (How many times we heard that?) But by and large Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban is a glorious, sumptuous plunge. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Starring: Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) Michael Gambon (Albus Dumbledore) Gary Oldman (Sirius Black) David Thewlis (Professor Remus Lupin) Robbie Coltrane (Rubeus Hagrid) Directed by Alfonso Cuar&oacute;n http://www.spout.com/blogs/circuitsnake/archive/2007/6/27/12393.aspx Post By: circuitsnake
Post To: circuitsnake Blog
Post Date: 6/27/2007 8:09:51 PM
Body: While watching Wild Strawberries the other night I began to come to a realization. I was watching a road trip movie. But like most Bergman movies, there is so much more to it. I'll admit it, I'm not the biggest fan of Persona, I think it has some excellent moments (hottest sex scene in a film has no sex at all), but as an overall film I found it lacking. Wild Strawberries is fantastic.The film starts off slow, at first I found the opening narration filled with exposition, I understood the man was lonely, I get it. Let's move on. You do not really get how misunderstood this man is until we start his journey. How he is haunted by dreams and memories of the past, which I never really understood until he visited his 94-year-old mother. I truly enjoyed watching this character's immense amount of history. That being said, it is a road-trip movie and I've always had something against road-trip movies. Perhaps it is because the concept is simple "a character or a number of characters get from one place to another and change." Now, one could argue that all films are like that, but that's another argument entirely. What I am saying is the true genius of this film that only a handful of road-trip movies get right (see Y Tu Mama Tambien) and millions get wrong (see Little Miss Sunshine) is how deep the character is. This film cannot be talked about without mention of the ingenious dream sequences, something that Bergman mastered. This film isn't just about a character changing, but about the audience coming to realize how they can change. Which is why this film is so important.
]]>Thu, 28 Jun 2007 00:09:51 GMTcircuitsnakecircuitsnake Blog6/27/2007 8:09:51 PMWhile watching Wild Strawberries the other night I began to come to a realization. I was watching a road trip movie. But like most Bergman movies, there is so much more to it. I&#39;ll admit it, I&#39;m not the biggest fan of Persona, I think it has some excellent moments (hottest sex scene in a film has no sex at all), but as an overall film I found it lacking. Wild Strawberries is fantastic.The film starts off slow, at first I found the opening narration filled with exposition, I understood the man was lonely, I get it. Let&#39;s move on. You do not really get how misunderstood this man is until we start his journey. How he is haunted by dreams and memories of the past, which I never really understood until he visited his 94-year-old mother. I truly enjoyed watching this character&#39;s immense amount of history. That being said, it is a road-trip movie and I&#39;ve always had something against road-trip movies. Perhaps it is because the concept is simple &quot;a character or a number of characters get from one place to another and change.&quot; Now, one could argue that all films are like that, but that&#39;s another argument entirely. What I am saying is the true genius of this film that only a handful of road-trip movies get right (see Y Tu Mama Tambien) and millions get wrong (see Little Miss Sunshine) is how deep the character is. This film cannot be talked about without mention of the ingenious dream sequences, something that Bergman mastered. This film isn&#39;t just about a character changing, but about the audience coming to realize how they can change. Which is why this film is so important. http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/Classic/MemberTagFilms.aspxClassic
Number of films tagged: 816

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]]>Fri, 04 Dec 2009 01:36:00 GMT1643130488Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/sex/MemberTagFilms.aspxsex
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]]>Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:04:41 GMT524102623Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/teenagers/MemberTagFilms.aspxteenagers
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]]>Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:13:43 GMT302597398Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/sexy/MemberTagFilms.aspxsexy
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]]>Fri, 20 Feb 2009 20:16:48 GMT11782157Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/comingofage/MemberTagFilms.aspxcomingofage
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]]>Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:51:56 GMT118672219Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/moving/MemberTagFilms.aspxmoving
Number of films tagged: 286

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]]>Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:15:30 GMT28668160Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/roadtrip/MemberTagFilms.aspxroadtrip
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]]>Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:02:59 GMT3155988Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/mexico/MemberTagFilms.aspxmexico
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]]>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:32:32 GMT6774074Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/jealousy/MemberTagFilms.aspxjealousy
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]]>Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:13:05 GMT129539120Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/lovetriangle/MemberTagFilms.aspxlovetriangle
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