Father Geek here with Coffin Joe Jr. and this week's regular Latin-AICN column. I've been turned into babysitter guy this last week, watching my grandson about 12 hours each day while Sister Satan and LOBO (yes, he lives) did massive remodeling to their video store out in South Austin.

That's right they have just opened (Monday) PEDAZO CHUNK a VHS-DVD-CD store at 2101 South First St. here in Austin with alot of Spanish Films and films with Spanish subtitles, but thats not all there are tons of Martial Arts titles as well as Horror and Cult films. Of Course there are those normal available everywhere flicks too. They DO have more English language titles than Spanish, they're catering to both markets. Annnnnnd there is Musica y Peliculas en Espanol. LOBO promises "Tenemos de lo mas nuevo." They are open 7 days aweek from 11am to 10pm. Check them out!

Now for some bad news...

This is my first post, so I'm a bit nervous... I'll do my best. These are bad news, because ass-kicking director Alex de la Iglesia ("The day of the beast", "Perdita Durango") has recently quitted the direction of "Fu-Manchu", the $20 million film to be shot in New York, Hong-Kong, Shangai, the Vatican... with Antonio Banderas in the leading role (Dustin Hoffman and Robert de Niro were also in touch with the director). The problem? Money, only money. Producer Andres Vicente Gomez has decided to reduce the budget to $10 million, an insufficient amount for the director, who has been working in this for three and a half years. The script, written by Alex de la Iglesia, Jorge Guerricaechevarria (co-writer of all previous de la Iglesia's films) and David Newman (yeah, the one who wrote "Superman", "What's Up, Doc?" and "Bonnie and Clyde"), is now owned by Lolafilms, property of Agustin Almodovar (the brother of the man you all know).

His new film will be called "800 bullets" ("800 balas"), and will be about present-time life of spanish stunts of 60's and 70's spaghetti-westerns shot in Spain. Self-produced (he has just created "Panico Films"), this one seems to be a new local-humour comedy, which is a letdown for all his action films fans. We'll see. In de la Iglesia we trust.

See you. I'm Weird.

Father Geek back, here's Joe's report from Sao Paulo...

Hello my creepy little friends, Coffin Joe Jr. is here to damn your soul for all eternity!

Just kidding, I´m not going to damn your soul, I was just messing with ya. No I wasn´t, you shall die, and I´ll possess your rotting corpse! Sorry, that was just a joke, really, no need to worry, I´m ok now. While I feel fine, let´s take a look at this week´s news and reviews, ok? Ok.

NORTE AMERICA

-Here´s a scoop sent by A.Jimenez, a new spy from Mexico:

"Hey, I saw a program here in Mexico similar to ET that showed some scenes from Once Upon A Time In Mexico (Pistolero 2). They showed a pic of Johnny Depp that had him crying tears of blood (or something like it). This may sound weird but its true, he had blood running down his cheeks and it looked wicked cool. I tried to snap some pics of it but I got my camera too late. I got only 2 dull pics of Banderas and a dead guy."

Father Geek note: "Tears of Blood", huh? You people are sooooooooo unprepared for Johnny Depp's role in this motion picture. It's going to kick your asses the entire length of Mexico. He's NEVER had a role like this in his life, and probably won't ever again. COOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!

-Here´s another e-mail I got this week, this one from the fine folks over at Fright Flix:

"Hello. Great site!! My name is Nick Palumbo. I am a filmmaker out of Las Vegas, NV. Fright Flix Productions out of Las Vegas, NV has just released their new unrated horror film: "Nutbag"-10 days in the life of a serial killer. The most brutal slasher film in years. A Wicked look inside the mind of a madman. Contains Graphic Violence and Graphic Nudity. Look for Porn Star Davia Ardell in her first non-porn role and Renee Sloan from Cameron's "Titanic"...although we get her to do things James could only dream of...and watch the nutbag slice his way thru the gorgeous teen-age prostitutes of Sin City... The film is getting rave reviews from around the world. If you are tired of the Trash that Hollywood calls "Horror Films", then you are in for a treat. We are not-politically correct and were are not for the"Scream" crowd.

Nutbag"-is being called "The most intense horror film since "Henry". Look for our reviews in Fangoria,and our up-coming spread in England's The Dark Side. We are featured this month (may/june) in Canada'a Rue-Morgue Magazine.

Check out our website and watch the Trailer for yourself at www.frightflix.com and check out some of our reviews.... www.south-over.demon.co.uk/Hysteria/reviews_1985_on.html.....or www.buried.com/reviews/......... or www.b-independent.com/reviews.htm......or check out our website and look under reviews for many, many more....and look out for the sequel later this year which will feature 2 horror icons...thanks for checking us out.....cheers my friends...

Nick Palumbo"

Always good to hear news about horror flicks. Visit their website at: www.frightflix.com

VENEZUELA

-The Latin version of the E! Entertainment Television channel aired, in one of its programs called Top E! News, an interview with director Fernando Venturini about his movie, the thriller "3 Noches", which had a great audience response at the Mar del Plata Film Fest earlier this year. Venturini talked about the look of the film, its locations (including many bars and night clubs), and his intentions, while some exciting footage, including a shootout and lots of running around, was shown. If any there are any Latin-AICN readers in Venezuela reading this, please send us a review, we would really appreciate it.

COFFIN JOE JR. MOVIE REVIEWS

-"Brother" Director: Takeshi Kitano

I can safely say that I know Kitano´s work. I´ve seen all of his movies, and I consider myself a fan of his odd humor, stylish sequences of violence, and slow pace. He´s one of the few auteurs left in the world of film, so I admire the fact that he has a unique "voice". If you´ve seen any of his movies you know, more or less, what you´re in for, so I sort of had an idea of what I was going to get. The amazing thing is that Kitano takes those same situations we´ve seen in countless movies (even in his previous efforts) and gives them a new twist, a different, fresh one. Yes, it´s another gangster picture by Takeshi Kitano, starring him and some familiar faces from his other movies, but he manages to make it seem like it´s something completely new.

One thing I noticed, right from the start, is that the violence level is really amped up on this one. It´s bloodier than either "Sonatine" or "Fireworks". Yup, it´s that intense. Some of the shootouts are nasty, Woo/Peckinpah kinda nasty, if you know what I mean. Sometimes Kitano chooses to use a more poetic approach to the mayhem, like one shootout in particular, which happens while the camera stays on the face of a man who has just been killed inside a car, but even when he doesn´t show you the actual shootout, he does give you a glance of corpses left behind. The moments of silence disrupted by sudden acts of extreme violence are as effective as they have ever been in Kitano´s other pics, with some truly shocking stuff. If anyone thought that because of "Kikujiro" Kitano was going in a different, more friendly and warm, direction, well, that´s just not the case. I think that "Brother" is probably one of the goriest flicks I´ve seen in quite a while.

This movie is also a step up for Takeshi Kitano as a director, being bigger in scope than his other films. Imagine one of the "Godfather" movies, but done by the crazy japanese fella known as Mr.Kitano.

The war between the crime families, the U.S. setting, the different ethnic groups, makes it a bit of an odd mix, but with pleasant results. The decision to have dialogue in both English and Japanese was really wise, resulting in some truly funny scenes. The clash of cultures, East meets the West, is full of possibilities for interesting interaction between the characters in the movie and Kitano gets it perfectly. The scene where the guys play basketball is absolutely priceless.

One of Kitano´s trademarks are the "quiet" scenes, pure poetry on film. In "Brother" there are a few of those inspiring moments, like one sequence where tha camera follows a paper airplane flying, or a scene where they play football in the beach (Kitano has a thing for beaches: in "Kikujiro" and "Fireworks" there are also "quiet" scenes that take place in beaches).

The performances are great, Omar Epps is given some great dialogue (the ending, in particular, is where he shines), and his character has the most interesting arc, really coming full circle at the end of the film. Kitano, like Woody Allen, plays the same character he plays in every one of his other movies. He has mastered the art of silent acting, with his menacing presence and killer stare. If you´ve never seen Kitano, think of a Japanese version of Clint Eastwood, or "Get Carter"/"The Limey" starring a cool Asian fella. Sony Pictures Classics is handling the American distribution for "Brother", and I hope they do a good job, because this movie deserves all the praise it is receiving. Once again Takeshi Kitano delivers a great movie that showcases his recurring themes, but at the same time with a bit more ambition, trying to stretch his muscles as a filmmaker and challenging his fans. Highly recommended.

-"Bicho de Sete Cabeças" Director: Laís Bodanzky

There are movies that are made which are basically concentrated on one character. It´s all about this one role, an amazing opportunity for any actor to shine and give the performance of their life. Such is the case with movies like "Philadelphia", "Boys don´t Cry" or even "Maniac". "Bicho de Sete Cabeças" is that kind of movie, a film that depends on one performance, in this case the job of pulling it off rests on the shoulders of actor Rodrigo Santoro, making his big screen debut. I´m happy to report that Mr.Santoro does get the job done. He is able to portray a young man, Neto, who is slowly going mad after being sent to a mental institution, in such a convincing manner that you fear for his mental health after doing this movie.

The first part of the movie is the weakest with the issues that are talked about, mainly lack of communication between kids and parents, being handled in a very unrealistic manner, with some dumb dialogue and scenes that don´t feel natural.

Once he is sent to the institution the movie starts to get a lot more interesting. The place where he´s commited is full of peculiar characters, which make the loony bin quite a spooky place. The scenes that take place in the asylum are pretty strong stuff. The fact that the story of the movie, about a teenager who is wrongfully sent to a mental institution by his own parents, just because he smoked pot, is based on real events chronicled in the book "Canto dos Malditos", a sad tale of madness and growth told by the man who went through it all, author Austregésilo Carrano Bueno. The rest of the cast is above average, but not as good as Santoro. Othon Bastos plays the father and he just doesn´t nail it, failing to make the character more than a one note novelty. I guess it´s not entirely his fault, most of the blame lies in the script, but he doesn´t help much either, shouting almost all of his lines. Cássia Kiss plays Neto´s mother, and she barely makes the grade, but in the end she comes through. Like I said this is Santoro´s show, and he doesn´t disappoint, showing a wide range. Santoro is also in Walter Salles´s next flick, "Broken April", so expect more great stuff from him.

Visit the movie´s website at: www.bichodesetecabecas.com.br

I´m sorry, I know I promised a new installment of "Unseen Gems" for this week, with a look at "Thick as Thieves", but I´ll turn it in next week. Ok?

Coffin Joe Jr. says: bye.