Father Geek here... Salutos, CineLocos! Here's a bit sent to ol' Father Geek from regular talkbacker Indio2...

From today's El Correo: "The staircases of the University of Guanajuato were the scene where the three gunmen mariachis: Antonio Banderas, Marco Leonardi and Enrique Iglesias, filmed diverse scenes of Robert Rodriguez's OUATIM. The trio of gunmen mariachis, interpreted by Antonio Banderas, Enrique Iglesias and Marco Leonardi, has become very popular, especially between the girls that practically jammed the shooting requesting autographs of their favorite stars or a chance to take a picture of them. But the security was on the strong level and people without a special permission were neither allowed to pass nor to use their cameras. The director Robert Rodriguez was pending until he was sure that nothing can ruin the shoot. The scenes began shooting at 12:30, then three actors left the Congress of the State of Guanajuato where they were filming. Soon they were transferred along with all the equipment to the staircases of the University of Guanajuato for some action scenes."

Hope you don't already have this?

Indio2

Father Geek back with this...

From RinconLatino.com: Antonio Banderas and Robert Rodriguez presented Spy Kids in Mexico. Among other things the director pointed out rapt attention the movie captured of his children. "I have three children, of five years, four years, two years, they loved the film and I want another one to show them. When we were on the set of Once Upon a Time in Mexico, they with wide-open eyes saying 'you are filming Spy Kids 2', and I was 'no no, I am only filming another Mariachi, but in months we are going to begin with the other SPY KIDS".

The director of Mexican origin, explained that for him it is important to make the sequel of SPY KIDS. "I love to me to make this type of movies that are big on the screen and really do not cost too much money, but much imagination". In September he is going to release SPY KIDS on video and in August re-release it on the big screen with some new scenes that he had not had time to correct before."

For Rodriguez, the success of SPY KIDS, that in Latin America is titled like Mini Spies, says that the public "is hungry " to see this type of films. "Usually when a studio is going to make a film for the whole family they try to put in Jim Carrey or Tom Hanks, because they know that the children are going to go because the parents are going to take them. But me, I like to make films for the children, to give them that sense of empowering with imagination and creativity. The film was released in March when the children were still in school and it was very strong at box-office, now we are going to do another one and release it the next summer," said Rodriguez.

Here's were you can find some video clips concerning ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO...

3 video clips from the set of OUATIM at www.todito.comš to get them go to Right Here and type "robert rodriguez" in the video search box in the upper right side corner. There are 3 links of interest on the results page titled like:

1. Enrique Iglesias se estrena como actor (Enrique Iglesias debuts as actor): Robert Rodriguez comments on Enrique Iglesias participation in Once Upon a Time in Mexico.

2. Entrevista con Antonio Banderas (Interview with Antonio Banderas): The actor talks of filming Once Upon a Time in mexico and working with Robert Rodriguez and Pedro Almodovar.

3. Banderas y Salma Hayek filmarÂn en San Miguel Allende (Salma Hayek and Antonio Banderas filming in San Miguel): From the set of Once Upon a Time in Mexico also starring Johnny Depp and Willem Dafoe.

!!!BUT!!! You have to be a registered member (registration is very simple) to watch the video clips. And you need RealPlayer to be installed on your PC.

Father Geek back just to say Adios, and here's Coffin Joe Jr...

Once again Coffin Joe Jr. is here to give you guys another installment of Latin-AICN, hope you dig it.

Are you guys as excited about the DVD format as I am? If you´re not, then you´re a bunch of filthy fools! Just take a look at some of the stuff coming, like the "Godfather" DVDs, "Die Hard" I, II and III, "Forrest Gump", "Star Wars - Episode I", "The Fog", "Killer Klowns from Outer Space", the Criterion Collection, all the obscure and cult movies that Anchor Bay releases, the cool DVDs from New Line´s brand new Infinifilm series (a step up from the Platinum Series discs), Disney getting smart and releasing their discs with a decent number of extras, directors embracing the format (even Spielberg and Lucas have finally given up and decided to let the Amblin and Lucasfilm library get the DVD treatment, with discs of "Close Encounters", "Willow", etc.), DVD players are outselling VCRs, prices of players and movies dropping considerably. No complaints from me, DVD rules.

Here´s this week´s news and reviews:

US

-Go to Garth Franklin´s Dark Horizons site Just Click Here for a neat report on Robert Rodriguez´s "Once upon a Time in Mexico". The report came out yesterday (Monday), so check it out.

Also regarding "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" I got the following e-mail:

"I read an article on another Enrique Iglesias message board in which they interviewed the director (Robert Rodriguez) of the movie. He said that Enrique has a small part (only 8 lines) and that he specifically asked Enrique to take the part because he needed someone who could sing (Enrique's character fights better only when he's singing). That sounds pretty strange, but I think it's supposed to be a funny movie, and it would be pretty funny to see Enrique sing and fighting at the same time. On another note, Antonio Banderas has proven that he can sing in several of his movies, and I hear now that he wants to make an album and become a successful singer.

"NAN"

Thanks to our spy NAN for the scoop.

Tears of blood, singing hitmen, knife throwing babes, what´s next Mr.Rodriguez? Armored Columns Vs. Strumming Guitars?

COFFIN JOE JR. MOVIE REVIEW

"Copacabana"; Director: Carla Camurati

I have to begin this review talking about the director of the movie, the amazing Carla Camurati. I have to give credit to her, because if anyone is responsible for the rebirth of the Brazilian film industry it´s her. Her first film, "Carlota Joaquina", came out in the early nineties there were no movies being made in Brazil. She managed to do what most folks thought was impossible: make a movie that actually got people in theatres, entertained, and made its money back. More importantly it got tons of attention from the local media, good reviews, decent box-office, which opened a lot of doors for new directors who had a really difficult time getting any money down here .

Well the whole "Carlota Joaquina" phenomenom happened a few years ago, and before "Copacabana" Camurati only helmed one movie, the opera/drama "Serva Padrona", a peculiar little film that wasn´t made for wide audiences, and ended up disappearing rather quickly from screens here. Now, she´s back with "Copacabana", a movie that deserves a lot of praise for its charm and humor.

Making a movie about the elderly, and turning it into something interesting for today´s predominantly young audiences, isn´t an easy task. This movie pulls it off. The old folks are quite unique, strange individuals, who have a lot to tell, and in a movie that consists more or less of a series of flashbacks, having people who got lots of stories to tell is always a good thing. The main character, played by actor Marco Nanini, is Alberto, an old man who has lived his entire life in the neighborhood of Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro. The movie deals, mostly, with Alberto´s life and as his 90th birthday is approaching, he remembers memorable times of his existence. As Alberto goes back in time, so do we, the audience, through the beautiful flashbacks that transport us to each period in his life, from a kid during one of the military revolutions that happened in Rio, to a young man meeting the love of his life on Copacabana beach. It´s amazing to see such a detailed reproduction of each era depicted in the movie. The costumes, the vintage cars, the film stock, everything comes together to achieve a stunning results. Really beautiful stuff, the ballroom dancing sequence in particular is truly magical. I won´t spoil the surprise ending, but it´s worth the wait, showing how destiny, and life for that matter, can be such cruel pranksters.

"Copacabana" is distributed by Columbia/Tri Star Brazil here, and hopefully you freaks get to see it in the U.S. or anywhere else, even if it´s only in a festival.

Highly recommended by your pal Coffin Joe Jr. Take your grandma and grandpa to see it with you if you can, they´ll get an extra kick out of this one.

UNSEEN GEMS

"Thick as Thieves"; Director: Scott Sanders

This is yet another movie that got no attention at all when it was released. That is quite odd because there are a bunch of household names in it, like Alec Baldwin, Bruce Greenwood, Rebecca de Mornay, Michael Jay White, Janeane Garofalo and the magnificent Andre Braugher. The movie had its at the Sundance Film Festival and then it seems that it disappeared. That is a shame, because this is one funny caper with quirky characters, some very inspired performances, snappy direction and a groovy soundtrack. What more could you ask for?

Alec Baldwin is the real surprise here, playing quite a bizarre criminal, a man who takes care of his dog, listens to old jazz and bossa nova records, and likes to live a quiet life when he isn´t robbing or stealing. Baldwin is really funny, sometimes reminding Owen Wilson´s character in "Bottle Rocket", Dignan. They are similar in their warped ways and unique behavior. Rebecca de Mornay is not sexy at all in this flick, which was quite a disappointment, playing a tough cop trying to make some sense out of the situation that brews between the criminals in the movie, mainly the problems that Michael Jai White´s character has with Baldwin´s and vice versa. Janeane Garofalo has only a few scenes, but her part is priceless and her scenes with Baldwin had me laughing my butt off. The direction by Mr.Sanders is pretty good, with some cool transitions, and glimpses of style. Pretty promising debut as a writer/director.

Another movie I recommend. Check it out, the DVD is cheap and it has a decent transfer.

I´m done for this week. Don´t forget if you have any news from the Latin world of filmmaking, send it to me at My Sao Paulo Offices and I'll see to it that the world gets a look at it.

Creepy Coffin Joe Jr. says: bye.