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
Category: Reviews
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
Cine Las Americas 16 Review: 3
By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) From Uruguay, this film by director Pablo Stoll, tells the story of a true modern, nuclear family. Dentist Rodolfo’s (Humberto De Vargas) most recent relationship has fallen apart and in his loneliness, he attempts to reconnect with his daughter Ana (Anaclara Ferreya Palfy) and his ex-wife… Continue reading Cine Las Americas 16 Review: 3
Cine Las Americas 16 Review: BLANCANIEVES
By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) It is a fairy tale that has been told and retold countless times, but never like this. Opening the 16th Annual Cine Las Americas International Film Festival, writer/director Pablo Berger’s version of the Brothers Grimm tale, has a darker, more realistic take than other incarnations and… Continue reading Cine Las Americas 16 Review: BLANCANIEVES
Review: STARBUCK
By Renee’ Collins Rating: 5 (Out of 5 Reels) As his lover announces her pregnancy, David Wozniak/Starbuck (Patrick Huard), a fortysomething slacker receives other life-changing news: 142 people, all of them the result of artificial insemination, have filed a class action lawsuit against him, their biological father (IMDB). This plotline is definitely unique which is… Continue reading Review: STARBUCK