Category: Reviews

Cine Las Americas 17: HABLA WOMEN (WOMEN SPEAKING)

By Mark Saldana Rating: 4 (Out of 4 Stars) This HBO Latino documentary film features a multitude of Hispanic and Latina women from different generations and all walks of life offering insight and perspective as women in their respective careers and cultures. Director Alberto Ferreras keeps it simple, focuses his camera on his individual subjects and… Continue reading Cine Las Americas 17: HABLA WOMEN (WOMEN SPEAKING)

Cine Las Americas 17 Review: JIRAFAS (GIRAFFES)

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3 (Out of 4 Stars) From Cuban director Enrique Alvarez and writer Claudia Muniz, comes this film about three “roommates” connecting, though they don’t verbally communicate often. Tania (Olivia Manrufo) works as a seamstress out of her home, but can barely make ends meet. She has received various eviction notices and… Continue reading Cine Las Americas 17 Review: JIRAFAS (GIRAFFES)

Cine Las Americas 17 Review: SEX, LOVE & SALSA

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Written and directed by Adrian Manzano, this festival entry is very much the epitome of modern filmmaking. Sex, Love, & Salsa is a faux documentary about Julian Suarez (Manzano), a smooth-talking salsa dancer who prides himself as a ladies man and wants to capture his daily… Continue reading Cine Las Americas 17 Review: SEX, LOVE & SALSA

Cine Las Americas 17 Review: MUJER CONEJO (RABBIT WOMAN)

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3 (Out of 4 Stars) I found this film to be the most stylistically interesting film of the festival.  Written and directed by Veronica Chen, a talented filmmaker of Chinese ethnicity, but born in Argentina and raised in Texas, Mujer Conejo shows the influences of Chinese, Argentine, and American cultures in… Continue reading Cine Las Americas 17 Review: MUJER CONEJO (RABBIT WOMAN)

Review: BRICK MANSIONS

By Renee’ Collins Rating: 1 (Out of 5 Reels) Being a fan of Luc Besson’s previous work I thought this film might be worth a look.  An undercover Detroit cop navigates a dangerous neighborhood that’s surrounded by a containment wall with the help of an ex-con in order to bring down a crime lord and… Continue reading Review: BRICK MANSIONS

Cine Las Americas 17 Review: LOS INSOLITOS PECES GATO (THE AMAZING CATFISH)

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Another import from Mexico, this film is a beautiful celebration of life, love and family, and how the heart and familial bond prevails in the face of distress.  Los Insolitos Peces Gato tells the story of a young lonely woman named Claudia (Ximena Ayala) who gets taken in… Continue reading Cine Las Americas 17 Review: LOS INSOLITOS PECES GATO (THE AMAZING CATFISH)

Cine Las Americas 17 Review: TERCERA LLAMADA (LAST CALL)

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) The annual Cine Las Americas International Film Festival kicked off its seventeenth year with a doozy of a comedy which both celebrates and lampoons the theater. Tercera Llamada focuses on a theater production of Caligula where the director’s (Carina Gidi) personal crises affect her creative juices,… Continue reading Cine Las Americas 17 Review: TERCERA LLAMADA (LAST CALL)

Review: DOM HEMINGWAY

By Mark Saldana Rating: 2 (Out of 4 Stars) As a fan of the roguish films of Guy Ritchie (Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels), Martin McDonagh (In Bruges) and Danny Boyle (Trainspotting), this movie looked quite promising as a similarly styled comedy about the criminal underworld. Even though the title character could possibly head… Continue reading Review: DOM HEMINGWAY