Category: Reviews

Cine Las Americas 16 Review: 7 CAJAS/7 BOXES

By Mark Saldana  Rating: 4 (Out of 4 Stars) For the piece de resistance, Jean Laurer and her programmers picked an awesome gem of a film to close out the festival. This import from Paraguay had me thoroughly engaged and invested in its story and characters from start to finish. Of all the films I… Continue reading Cine Las Americas 16 Review: 7 CAJAS/7 BOXES

Cine Las Americas 16 Review: Panorama Double Feature

By Mark Saldana As part of their Panorama Short Films line up, this year’s Cine Las Americas festival had a double feature of two, hour long, short films on Saturday night (April 20th).  The Panorama section celebrates Narrative and Documentary films which “represent innovative and independent filmmakers in complement to the rest of the program;… Continue reading Cine Las Americas 16 Review: Panorama Double Feature

Cine Las Americas 16: NOS VEMOS, PAPA/SEE YOU, DAD

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) From Mexico, writer/director Lucia Carreras tells an affecting and even disturbing tale of a young woman’s painful struggles in coping with the loss of her father. Pilar (Cecilia Suarez) has remained very close to her father and has taken care of him up until his death.… Continue reading Cine Las Americas 16: NOS VEMOS, PAPA/SEE YOU, DAD

Cine Las Americas 16 Review: PATH OF SOULS

By Mark Saldana  Rating: 3 (Out of 4 Stars) Every year, Cine Las Americas has maintained a commitment not only to promoting Hispanic/Latino themed and Spanish/Portuguese language films, but also to films dedicated to indigenous and Native American peoples. This year, CLAIFF had two Native American films in their lineup which I had the pleasure… Continue reading Cine Las Americas 16 Review: PATH OF SOULS

Cine Las Americas 16 Review: HASTA NUNCA/SEE YOU NEVER

By Mark Saldana  Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Exactly twenty four hours after watching The Last Time I Saw Macao, I watched another ambitious film which has a similar approach to storytelling.  Only this time, the experimental technique pays off.  Director Mark Street tells the story of Uruguayan talk radio host Mario Ligetti (Rufo… Continue reading Cine Las Americas 16 Review: HASTA NUNCA/SEE YOU NEVER

Cine Las Americas 16 Review: THE LAST TIME I SAW MACAO

By Mark Saldana  Rating: 2.5  (Out of Four Stars) This experimental film by Joao Pedro Rodriguez and Joao Rui Guerra de Mata ambitiously attempts to combine seemingly random film footage of the city of Macao with a highly imaginative narrative, but doesn’t quite succeed in its execution. The narrative involves the return of an unnamed,… Continue reading Cine Las Americas 16 Review: THE LAST TIME I SAW MACAO

Cine Las Americas 16 Review: DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR

By Mark Saldana  Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 4) Writer/director Iris Almaraz along with guest writer/director Gustavo Ramos deliver a sweet, hilarious and heart warming portrait of a late blooming, young lady pursuing an adult life on her own. Lulu (Leana Daly), a twenty-something year old woman still lives with her father and stepfamily and… Continue reading Cine Las Americas 16 Review: DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR

Review: OBLIVION

By Laurie Coker Rating: B+ Some films try too hard to be monumental productions and others not hard enough, so when I first saw the poster for Tom Cruise’s newest film Oblivion (I avoid trailers), my first thought was “oh no, this will be Cruise’s Waterworld,” but I was wrong. Director Joseph Kosinski, who gave… Continue reading Review: OBLIVION

Review: STARBUCK

By Laurie Coker Rating: B+ Before the theatre went dark for the screening of Starbuck, someone told me that Vince Vaughn just wrapped up the American version of the French-Canadian film about a man who donated sperm multiple times in his youth and who discovers that of the 560 plus children conceived, nearly 150 are… Continue reading Review: STARBUCK