Bernadette Tinio

El orfanato

El orfanato, película dirigida por Guillermo del Toro, se estrenó en 2007 en el Festival de Cannes.  A los críticos de cine de España y al público español les gustó la película.  El orfanato ganó siete premios Goya.  En América, el público tuvo, en general, las mismas reacciones que en España.  Los actores de esta película son Belén Rueda, que hace el papel de Laura; Fernando Cayo que hace el papel del esposo de Laura, se llama Carlos; y Roger Princíp que hace el papel de Simón, el hijo de Laura y Carlos. Otra actriz importante es Monsterrat Carulla, que hace el papel de Benigna Escobeda, una trabajadora social para la familia de Laura (que es la protagonista de esta película de terror).

El argumento de la película se mueve entre la realidad al surrealismo, yendo constantemente de una a otro. La explicación es que la película utiliza el realismo mágico, un estilo artístico donde hay elementos mágicos y de realidad en combinación.  Este género es popular en la literatura y las películas hispánicas.  A través del realismo mágico, el autor del libro, cuento corto o el guión de película crea una situación normal pero usualmente incluye algo extraño, algo de la imaginación en contra de la realidad.  Éste es el elemento mágico que vive en el surrealismo.  Por ejemplo, en el libro Como agua para chocolate, de Laura Esquivel, la protagonista, Tita, expresa sus sentimientos con la comida que cocina; así que, cuando sus miembros de familia comen sus comidas, se sienten los sentimientos de quien la ha preparado – es decir que cuando Tita está trista, la comida de ella produce las lágrimas de tristeza de los ojos de los miembros de su familia.  Otro ejemplo es en la película El laberinto del fauno.  La película tiene lugar en la Guerra Civil Española, pero hay también otro mundo, un mundo de imaginación con criaturas malas y buenas, que abandonan su mundo mágico y entran en el mundo real de la protagonista para ayudarle.

La acción de la película El orfanato tiene lugar en España.  Laura, Carlos y Simón (que tiene siete años y que tiene VIH) regresan al orfanato, el lugar mismo donde creció Laura con otros huérfanos (sus amigos que ya había muerto en sus niñez).  Laura quiere reformar el orfanato, y transformarlo en un instituto para niños con incapacidades.  Allí, Simón encuentra a un amigo imaginario, se llama Tomás que lleva una máscara para esconder su cara deformada.  Durante una fiesta, Laura y Carlos no pueden encontrar a Simón.  Pasan seis meses sin verle.  Laura busca a su hijo con la ayuda de sus amigos (los huérfanos en la forma de niños) que tuvo cuando ella vivía al orfanato cuando era niña.  Al fin de la película, Laura y Simón están reunidos pero en otra forma.

El vocabulario

Estrenarse – mostrar para la primera vez

Hacer el papel de – representar un  personaje.

Argumento – los eventos o el cuento general de la película.

Incapacidad – una condición donde hay una falta de habilidad.

Guión – el argumento y los diálogos de una película.

Los huérfanos – los niños sin padres.

El orfanato – el instítuto para los huérfanos.

Esconder – no mostrar por una máscara.

La niñez – la parte de la vida de una persona cuando era niño o niña; la infancia

Spain brings one more film into the fray of Horror Month 2009!

Screenplay By: Sergio G. Sánchez
Directed By: Juan Antonio Bayona

As much as I hate doing this, there will be spoilers ahead, so you have been warned.

My grandmother used to tell me that nothing is complete, even if you tie it up. She used that line of thinking about everything and for the longest time I couldn’t figure out why the heck she was bombarding me with it. At some point in my life I began to realize her intent, and it was tied into her favorite past time. Grandma Bullock was, and still is, a literary junkie, she reads more than any person I have ever known. Her outlook on the world was formed through reading and she wanted me to do the same. Nothing is complete, even if you tie it up because you should never stop thinking. The world of fiction is massively interpretive, and the worst thing you can do is make a judgment call and refuse to allow the story to go anywhere else. That’s not to say that when the story is finished you can’t say, “this is what I think happened,” but that you shouldn’t tie yourself to an ending before the end has come about.

By this point I hope you have figured out what my little anecdote has to do with El Orfanato. The ending of El Orfanato is what ties it all together, without the open ended nature of the finale you would be left with a good but pedestrian ghost story. El Orfanato is similar to El Laberinto Del Fauno in that regard, but that is really the only similarity worth mentioning and I am not about to patronize El Orfanato by constantly comparing it to that film. The ending of El Orfanato is mysterious and it can be read two different ways. Similar to a bow on the top of a present, El Orfanato’s finale brings all of its pieces into one neat package. The goodies contained within the package can lead the viewer down either path, there is more than enough evidence for the ghosts to be real, but at the same time there is enough evidence that an accident occurred involving Simón while Laura died from an overdose.

I am a sucker for the open ended finale presented in El Orfanato. I love when a filmmaker trusts his audience enough to present two plausible paths and allow them to take either one with no comeuppance. No matter which path you take, I fall on the side of the ghosts being creations of Laura’s mind, the story is given adequate resolution. If one wants to stop at the simple resolutions provided that would still leave a very good movie. However, you can decide to look back and analyze where El Orfanato goes in its story and how it comes to either conclusion and what that means to all that came previous. If you do this, then you have plenty to chew on and should realize how great of a movie El Orfanato is.

I’m hesitant to label El Orfanato a horror film, because while there are horror elements present it’s much more of a psychological fantasy tale. Be that as it may, the label applied to El Orfanato doesn’t matter. There are moments of genuine suspense and for others I am sure there are moments that do scare. Juan Antonio Bayona uses most of the usual horror tricks to put his movie together, but he adds a wonderful visual eye and an amazingly keen ear for sound. Out of all the technical aspects in El Orfanato I was most impressed by the sound, Bayona understands the value of silence just as much as that of a loud crash. There is a scene early on when Laura goes outside to explore the shed, as she asks if anyone is there the sound cuts off completely. It’s a small thing but it brings that scene alive, and throughout El Orfanato the way sound is used keeps the film constantly alive.

The last ingredient necessary for El Orfanato’s success was a strong lead. Belén Rueda was that strong lead, she brought heart and depth to a role that could have ruined the film if it was played too large or broad. Rueda doesn’t yearn for sympathy, she plays Laura as a mother who is conflicted over the loss of her son and the sympathy naturally flows from there. She also has very expressive eyes and was able to enhance the suspenseful nature of most scenes with a simple eye dart left and right.

What I have loved most about this years Horror Month, don’t worry it’s not over yet, is the horror I have been watching is so different from what mainstream Hollywood horror has turned into. El Orfanato is another example of that difference, there is only one gory scene, and it is very tame, and the horror found in El Orfanato is of a suspenseful nature and not of the pop out variety. El Orfanato asks you to think and refuses to provide the answer, it gives all the evidence to the viewer and allows for individual interpretation to take over. Whether the ghosts are real or not, El Orfanato is a fine film and another sign of the wealth of quality film making being done in Spain. Horror Month 2009 continues it’s great run with yet another film that I highly recommend, but leave the burlap sack look alone, please.

Rating:

****

Cheers,
Bill

Primer trailer oficial de Spanish Movie, la parodia de las películas españolas de los últimos diez años, Los otros, Mar Adentro, Volver, El orfanato, El laberinto del fauno… con el actor americano Leslue Nielsen y actores españoles como Michelle Jenner, Carlos Areces, Joaquin Reyes, Ernesto Sevilla

Spiderman + Aracnofobia

Shrek + Scarface

Taxi driver + Paseando a Miss Daisy

Pulp fiction + Peterpan

Mary Poppins + El Orfanato

Saw + Mi pie izquierdo

(Esta es una de las más sutiles y supongo que sólo la entenderás si has visto ‘Mi pie izquierdo’)

Sin perdón + Sin City

(Esta ha sido la que más me ha gustado junto con ‘Batman + El coche fantástico’ en la entrega anterior)

]]> http://cinemaleo.wordpress.com/2009/09/24/%e2%80%9cthe-orphanage%e2%80%9d/ Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:18:27 +0000 cinemaleo http://cinemaleo.wordpress.com/2009/09/24/%e2%80%9cthe-orphanage%e2%80%9d/

2007: El Orfanato di Juan Antonio Bayona

Critica generalmente entusiasta: L’Unità: “Un film di fantasia nera che guarda al romanzo Giro di vite di Henry James. (…) Il regista, il trentenne Juan Antonio Bayona, è alla sua opera prima, eppure dimostra grande capacità e tecnica”. La Repubblica: “Si vede poco in The Orphanage, ma quel poco basta a trasmettere brividi ignoti al più truculento degli splatter”, Il Corriere della Sera: “Il film ha una pulizia visiva e un rigore nella paura, senza ricorrere mai al ghigno, allo splatter, al sangue ma tenendo presente il mistero senza fondo delle coscienze infelici da cui forse dipende tutto”, Ciak: “L’horror spagnolo si conferma ricco di eleganza e maturo nelle scelte tematiche”, Dnews: “Uno dei thriller horror più belli da tempo”.

Un’ atmosfera fiabesca e sognante, visionaria e malinconica… ma anche inquietante, un continuo e non superficiale stato di tensione, un crescendo emotivo per tutta la durata del film, sono le caratteristiche essenziali di The Orphanage (campione d’incassi in patria, vincitore di sette premi Goya -i premi più prestigiosi del cinema iberico-, candidato della Spagna agli Oscar come miglior film straniero, nonché nominato agli European Film Award 2008 come Miglior Film, Attrice, Fotografia e Compositore).

Una sobria e asciutta ghost story (anche commovente… ma non patetica) che lodevolmente si differenzia dai similari prodotti d’oltreoceano (ma purtroppo in America si sta già lavorando al remake), rifuggendo intelligentemente dai facili “effettacci” che tradizionalmente abbondano in questo genere di film, che privilegia la psicologia e gli stati d’animo dei personaggi e i cui modelli sono Suspense di Jack Clayton e “Gli invasati” di Robert Wise, nonché Alfred Hitchcock, Guillermo del Toro, Alejandro Amenabar (ma anche Pupi Avati). Una sceneggiatura che riprende temi già trattatati mille volte ma che trasforma il tutto in una originale intrigante angosciosa “caccia al tesoro”.

The Orphanage (ma perché un titolo inglese?) più che un horror è un dramma sulla maternità e sulla perdita, sull’infanzia erroneamente ritenuta età idilliaca, sul passato le cui tracce rimangono indelebili e ci condiziona, sulle paure -più o meno inconsce- di tutti noi. Un film che cattura totalmente l’attenzione dello spettatore non lasciandogli mai un attimo di tregua: cento minuti tesissimi e coinvolgenti al massimo, senza tempi morti o lungaggini fuorvianti (ogni scena è importante, ogni sguardo o battuta è essenziale).

Regia elegante sensibile raffinata dell’esordiente Juan Antonio Bayona (noto finora solo come autore di cortometraggi e di video musicali), fotografia e scenografia ottimi (notevole la ricercatezza visiva e formale), suggestivo l’utilizzo di rumori (più che della musica) come colonna sonora: sorprendente che anche sceneggiatore, direttore della fotografia, montatore e compositore siano alla loro opera prima.
Magistrale l’interpretazione di Belén Rueda che regge sulle sue spalle l’intero film e che negli ultimi 40 minuti è praticamente sola in scena (aveva dato ottime prove già in Mare dentro e in Savage Grace): bravissima nel rendere l’angoscia di una madre a cui crolla il mondo addosso (e la si confronti con Angelina Jolie dal ridicolo look in Changeling). Perfetta Geraldine Chaplin.

p.s.

“Attenzione ai titoli di testa di The Orphanage, dove i nomi, impressi su pareti fatiscenti, saltano fuori a ogni strappo della carta da parati che li ricopre. In questo emergere del passato di sotto la vernice fresca del presente, c’è infatti la chiave di lettura del film” (Film.it).

scheda

sito ufficiale

A horror film that actually looks scary???

Steven Spielberg had taken a Paranormal Activity DVD screener to his Pacific Palisades estate, and not long after he watched it, “the door to his empty bedroom inexplicably locked from the inside.” The famous director was forced to call a locksmith, and returned the screener back to Dreamworks in a garbage bag, certain that his copy of the movie was haunted. LOL

For a long, long time scary films just never scared me.

But with the 2007 Spanish takeover, El Orfanato (which nearly made me cry with fear) and [REC] (which had me laughing with fear because I was in the cinema and trying to be brave) I rediscovered in my adult life, the joy of being scared by a film.

Paranormal Activity is released in the US in the next couple of weeks and is gaining huge hype.
At the time of writing it has 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Granted, from only seven reviews by such well respected critics as ‘Uncle Creepy’. It will be interesting to look at how that page changes as it gets reviewed in the states.

There is something slightly alarming about the knowledge we do not possess. It’s a primal fear we inherently have based on the basic human principle that if we don’t understand something, then we don’t know whether it has the capacity to harm us. It’s an idea that has shaped our perception of the world, and no matter where or when we were born, who we are in the social stratum, or what we do in our lives, it is a human constant to fear the unknown, the shadow in the corner of human cognizance. Today’s feature, The Orphanage, pits the fear of our own ignorance with an equally alarming situation, the loss of a child. It is a mind-bending supernatural horror film that poses the main character in such a heart-breaking position that by the end of the film I felt mentally drained from thinking about it so much.

In modern-day Spain, Laura is going back home, so to speak. She was an orphaned as a little girl, and now that she has grown into a happy and successful woman with a wonderful husband and a sweet little boy named Simòn, she decides that it’ll be a good gesture to fix up the now-dilapidated orphanage and get it in working order again as a facility for handicapped children. The whole family moves there to help her with this venture, but things are not all what they seem. Simòn begins to converse an imaginary friend named Tomás, a boy he draws as wearing a crude mask made out of a small sack. Simòn begins to act coldly towards her after he starts talking to Tomás, and their relationship becomes strained. This hurts Laura, and her distress is compounded when a woman named Benigna comes to the orphanage with some startling facts about Simòn’s past. It all comes to a head at Simòn’s birthday party, where the two argue and Simòn runs away from her. They can’t find him anywhere. He’s not in the house, he’s not outside, he’s just gone. After an exhaustive search that leads Laura to a serious injury, questions abound about Simòn’s whereabouts. Was he abducted? The strange Benigna seems a likely suspect. Is he just hiding from his mother? Simòn could have hidden anywhere on the expansive plot of land. Or is there something more supernatural at work here? The imaginary friend Tomás might have more to do with it than anyone knows. These are the things that go through Laura’s mind as she searches for her missing son. And as the trail goes colder, she becomes more and more desperate, until the question she is asking might be more painful if it is answered. What will become of our heroine and her lost young boy?

What an exhausting movie! This one will wear you out emotionally. Nobody likes the idea of a missing child, so seeing this film will definitely get your heart racing from start to finish. The Orphanage is a very mature horror in the sense that it doesn’t sink to the lower echelons of the industry (i.e. BOO! scares) to deliver an effective scare. Its terror lies both in the otherworldly happenings of the orphanage itself and in the desperation of Laura’s heart. There is no serial killer, no monsters, no over-wrought American concept of danger and fear, but a more intimate portrait of worry and regret that manifests itself in haunting, frightening ways.

The actors are great, although most of the film rests on the shoulders of Belen Rueda, who plays distraught mother Laura. She is a wonder, a fantastic picture of femininity, perfect in her imperfections. Rueda gets so much out of a character that could have easily been misconstrued, by hitting all her notes just right. The character of Laura is not as simple as we see from the beginning, and watching her relive that character’s past is unforgettable. Of course, her partner in all this is Carlos, played by Fernando Cayo, and he is also very, very good. He is the foundation, the support structure for Laura’s whole world. They have a wonderful on-screen relationship that is highlighted by its brevity. The few scenes at the beginning that feature them together are made precious and poignant after the strain sets in as it would on any relationship when a child goes missing.

I cannot believe this is director Juan Antonio Bayona’s feature debut. A movie so dense, frightening, and moving should have come from somebody much older. Most people think this is Guillermo Del Toro’s film, seeing as his name is taped ALL over the trailers, but he is only producing. Not to say his influence isn’t felt in the trappings of this uniquely Spanish film, with the ghosts and the orphans and the spookiness around it. It actually feels like more of a spiritual successor to The Devil’s Backbone than Pan’s Labyrinth did, and they’re supposed to be parts of a planned Spanish Civil War trilogy! But Bayona makes it his own, with a lot more focus on mood and suspense instead of the ghosts themselves. He actually is very sparing with his moments of genuine terror, but when you see them, you will be very impressed (the first appearance of Tomás is something you have to experience for yourself). I can’t wait to see more from this amazing new international talent in the future.

As I said, The Orphanage is a very mature film, not for fans of horror who are looking solely for the jump-cuts and excessive amounts of corn-syrup blood. There’s heart, there’s emotion, there’s a lot of eerie moments, and you would be hard-pressed to find an American movie like it right now. Which is convenient, because the US has decided to remake this film (TYPICAL!). But before that piece of New Line assembly line fodder comes out, take a gander at this amazing film from glorious España. You’ll be amazed at the quality throughout this film, and if you’re not shocked by the ending, you have no pulse. I give The Orphanage 9 crude sack masks out of 10. A high recommendation!

Tomorrow I’ll be seeing something in theaters, but im so indecisive! Any thoughts, anyone? Let me know!

Laura spent the happiest years of her childhood growing up in an orphanage by the seaside, cared for by the staff and fellow orphans whom she loved as brothers and sisters. Now, thirty years later, she returns with her husband Carlos and Simon, their 7-year-old son, with a dream of restoring and reopening the long-abandoned orphanage as a home for disabled children. The new home and mysterious surroundings awaken Simon’s imagination and the boy starts to spin a web of fantastic tales and not-so-innocent games…

A troubling web that begins to disturb Laura, drawing her into the child’s strange universe which resonates with echoes of long-forgotten, deeply unsettling memories of her own childhood. As the opening day draws near, tension builds within the family. Carlos remains sceptical, believing that Simon is making everything up in a desperate bid for attention. But Laura slowly becomes convinced that something long-hidden and terrible is lurking in the old house, something waiting to emerge and inflict appalling damage on her family.

From Movie Posters, Wallpapers, and Trailers

This movie can really get to you if your imagination is wild. You might end up imagining things when you’re alone in the house. It may even leave you wondering what – or who – is making that certain noise in the middle of the night. You might say it could be a rat or something… but is it really?

It’s all about child’s play – only problem is, the children here are ghosts. When I watched this film with my class, people were either hiding behind their jackets or screaming their lungs out. Like I said, it’s child’s play, and what can be creepier than that? This movie is a must-watch, especially for horror movie fans like me.

Titulo Original: El orfanato

 Genero: Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Año: 2007

Duración: 100 min.

Reparto: Belén Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Géraldine Chaplin, Roger Príncep, Mabel Rivera, Montserrat Carulla, Andrés Gertrúdix, Edgar Vivar

Puntuación IMDB: 6.8

Sinopsis: Laura regresa con su familia al orfanato en el que creció de niña, con la intención de abrir una residencia para niños discapacitados. El nuevo entorno despierta la imaginación de su hijo, que comienza a dejarse llevar por juegos de fantasía cada vez más intensos. Éstos van inquietando a Laura cada vez más, hasta el punto en el que llega a pensar que hay algo en la casa que está amenazando a su familia. A ella le ocurre algo extraordinario y, a pesar de que es una mujer con unos principios muy claros, su universo se tambalea poniendo en duda todo aquello en lo que creía…

Trailer:

Con esta tendencia que, desde hace algunos años, ha tenido Hollywood de hacer remakes de películas extranjeras que han tenido éxito, ahora se ha confirmado que “El Orfanato”, cinta de terror México-Española dirigida por Juan Antonio Bayona y producida por Guillermo del Toro, será realizada de nueva cuenta en idioma anglosajón. Aún no se tiene en concreto a los protagonistas, pero sí se sabe que Guillermo del Toro, que de nuevo producirá esta cinta, ha elegido a Larry Fessenden para dirigirla. Es probable que ninguno de ustedes conozca a este personaje, y es normal, de hecho ha dirigido pocas cintas y todas de bajo presupuesto, pero se ha dedicado más al campo de la actuación en cintas como Broken Flowers, Bringing out the dead o hasta en La ley y el orden.

De acuerdo a las declaraciones del mismo Del Toro, el guión es una adaptación de la versión española, sólo que tiene un enfoque distinto, adecuado al estilo del nuevo director. Habrá que ver qué tal queda, tengo miedo tomando en cuenta de que el Orfanato es de las mejores películas que he visto en mi vida.

Aquí les dejo el trailer de una de las películas que ha dirigido Fessenden, llamada “No telling”.

Guillermo del Toro escoge a Larry Fessenden como el director del remake de la cinta ‘El Orfanato’

CIUDAD DE MÉXICO, México, 6 agosto, 2009.- El cineasta Larry Fessenden, conocido por películas de terror de bajo presupuesto, dirigirá la adaptación estadounidense de El orfanato (2007), filme español de Juan Antonio Bayona producido por Guillermo del Toro.

Fessender, un polifacético actor, productor y director desconocido por el gran público, cuenta entre sus títulos más relevantes películas como Habit (1996), Wendigo (2001) y The Last Winter (2006).

Del Toro y Fessender trabajaron juntos en la elaboración del nuevo guión que producirá también el mexicano que parece querer darle al nuevo proyecto una perspectiva distinta de la creada por Bayona y ajena también a la pauta que marcan los grandes estudios de Hollywood.

El orfanato narra la historia de una mujer que regresa al hospicio en el que se crió y descubre que un macabro amigo imaginario de su hijo es el mismo niño que la atormentaba cuando era una niña.

Actualmente el proyecto está buscando una actriz protagonista, papel que en la versión española correspondió a Belén Rueda.

Parece ser que una vez pasada la fiebre por rehacer todo film asiático de terror que hiciera algo de dinero, la industria del cine americano esta buscando otro mercado al que sacarle provecho, y por lo visto le ha echado el ojo a nuestro país. Y es que tras copiar hacer la versión americana de “[REC]”, y el proyecto de hacer un Torrente en versión yanqui, Hollywood ya tiene en marcha el remake de la película española más taquillera del 2007 y la segunda que mas dinero ha recaudado de toda la historia del cine español, “El orfanato” de Juan Antonio Bayona.

Ha sido la New Line Cinema la que se ha hecho con los derechos de la cinta, y la que ha aceptado que el actor/productor/director Larry Fessenden se siente en la silla de director, tras una elección de Guillermo del Toro, que si en la original ya ejercía como productor de la cinta, en esta versión vuelve a repetir la labor además de meter mano en el guión junto a Fessenden.

Ahora mismo la producción de la película esta centrada en la búsqueda de la actriz que interprete el papel que en su día fue a parar a manos de Belén Rueda, ganadora en el 2007 del Goya a la mejor actriz revelación por “Mar Adentro”.

Poster de District 9

Hay unas cuantas películas que espero con impaciencia para lo que resta de año: Millenium 2, Malditos Bastardos, Enemigo Público y Distrtrict 9. Desde que vi el primer trailer de esta película tuve ganas de verla. Método documental, idea extraordinariamente original y un productor de lujo, Peter Jackson, hacen que la película de Neill Blomkamp sea una recomendación muy buena. Los primeros comentarios que llegan desde Estados Unidos son alagadores y decir que es “la mejor película del verano” es ya una gran promoción. Aquí os dejo el trailer:

El remake de de El Orfanato, la ópera prima de Juan Antonio Bayona, ya tiene su director, éste es Larry Fassenden, que también ha escrito el guión al lado de Guillermo del Toro.
Otra noticia interesante para los fans de la saga Crepúsculo es que su segunda parte, Luna Nueva, llegará a España antes que a Estados Unidos, el día será el 18 de noviembre.
930.000€ recaudó UP en el día de su estreno en nuestro país, la película de Pixar ha destrozado a Ice Age 3 que ostentaba el primer puesto superándola en un 24% más de recaudación en las salas 3-D.

Poster de The Lovely Bones

Otro trailer más, la nueva película de Peter Jackson “The Lovely Bones” lanza sus primeras imágenes para el disfrute de todos los que esperamos esta película, aquí os lo dejo:

Like I always say, the internet is a gift and a curse.  So much information is at our fingertips but there is also so much bullshit that it is hard to decide which outweighs the other.  Last night was one of those nights where I wish I could have taken back 700mb of space(erased immediately) on my computer and an hour and a half of my time.  Thanks to the internet and a particular website, I downloaded “legally” and watched Rolling Kansas.  I checked it out on IMDB(amazing site) and thought that it sounded fairly entertaining.  Maybe because I was home alone and bored out of my mind but I knew after the first ten minutes that the movies was pretty bad but I decided to stick it out and watch the whole thing.  Needless to say, it was absolutely horrendous.  I honestly can’t even believe this movie was made and that I watched the entire thing.  I think it is supposed to be a comedy but there wasn’t one funny part in the whole thing.  I’m going to spare you guys a plot recap or a full review.  Just know the movie is terrible.  Which brings me to my next point.  At what point during the writing, planning, filming, editing or marketing process do people make a conscious decision to continue with putting out a movie.  Here is how the conversation always plays out in my head.

“This movie is bad.  This movie is very, very bad.  This is one of the worst movies ever.  We are wasting millions of dollars creating it.  It is going to be a failure and potentially ruin some careers.  Fuck it.  Let’s put it out anyway.”

I mean there has to be SOME point in the process of making a movie where people have a conversation about how terrible the movie is, RIGHT???  Maybe a bad movie still makes a decent profit but I’m not even talking about bad movies like Fast and the Furious which still do well at the box office.  I am talking about movies like Glitter with Mariah Carey and Urban Legends with Snoop and Fat Joe.  How do that many people ignore the fact that the movie is HORRIBLE.  Making a movie is not like recording a song in your boy’s basement.  Movies take A LOT of work and A LOT of money.  Okay, you get the point.  I am just kind of bummed about watching The Myth and Rolling Kansas on consecutive days and both movies being failures.  However, I wish everyone would watch Rolling Kansas  so we can start a discussion about why it was made.  Anyone already seen it?????????  On a positive note, Shinjuku Incident which starred Jackie Chan was DOPE and so was El Orfanato.  Just for your viewing (dis) pleasure, here is a 10 minute clip of Rolling Kansas.

Así como los americanos tienen parodias de sus mejores películas de la temporada, la gente de Hispano Fox Films decidió que las películas españolas merecían ser parodiadas, por ello, estan a punto lanzar “Spanish Movie”  burlándose de largometrajes como Los Otros (The Others), El Orfanato, Volver, El laberinto del Fauno, Alatriste, Rec, Los Lunes al Sol, Abre los Ojos, Mar Adentro, entre otras.

La película será dirigida por Javier Ruiz Caldera, se estrenará en noviembre de este 2009 en el país ibérico. El casting incluirá a artistas locales de la altura de Alexandra Jiménez, Carlos Areces, Silvia Abril, Joaquín Reyes y Eduardo Gómez.

La idea del trailer se ve tan buena, que parece falsa, esperemos a ver que pasa

via Notas de Cine

]]> http://columnacritica.wordpress.com/2009/06/16/guillermo-del-toro-lanza-%e2%80%9cnocturna%e2%80%9d/ Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:02:57 +0000 Iván Martínez http://columnacritica.wordpress.com/2009/06/16/guillermo-del-toro-lanza-%e2%80%9cnocturna%e2%80%9d/

Guillermo del Toro vuelve a sorprendernos una vez más. Si ya hemos visto maravillosas películas en las que ha participado (como productor o director) como “El Laberinto del Fauno”, “El Orfanato”, “Hellboy”, “Blade” o futuros largometrajes que suenan a éxito como “The Hobbit”, ahora también se atreve con la literatura.

Junto a Chuck Hogan firma su primera novela “Nocturna” de lo que será la Trilogía de la Oscuridad. El amante de los comic ha crecido y se ha visto inmersos en proyectos tan grandes que han tenido que reconocer su prestigio, su buen trabajo y por ejemplo las tres estatuillas de los Oscar por “El laberinto del Fauno” lo abalan.

Guillermo del Toro espera que aquellos monstruos que le aterrorizaban en su habitación cuando era pequeño guiarían su vida, y hasta el momento así ha sido. Ahora “espero que nunca me dejen solo”  ha declarado.

Nocturna es una nueva criatura como proyecto más que ambicioso ya que “la idea nace como un ejercicio especial, un arco dramático largo que no puede ser contenido en dos horas de película ni en un libro”.

Todo lo más actual que Guillermo del Toro ha hecho en el cine se ha convertido en oro, y a mí personalmente me ha llegado bastante. Los mundos imaginarios, criaturas incomprensibles, poderes inimaginables son la fuente de su inspiración que tan bien sabe plasmar en la gran pantalla.

Estoy seguro que pronto su libro se convertirá en un éxito, el cual deseo leer porque sabiendo cómo ha sido el mexicano espero lo mejor al leer sus ideas contadas a través de las palabras literarias. ¿Quién se atreve con lo nuevo de Guillermo del Toro?

Lo dicen las cifras presentadas por Pedro Pérez, presidente de los productores españoles: el cine patrio recaudó más en 2008 fuera de nuestras fronteras que dentro del territorio nacional. El desequilibrio es como sigue: 132 millones en el extranjero, casi 82 en casa. Un desfase de unos 50 millones que deparan un titular llamativo… pero con un matiz importante: 39 de los millones computados como “de fuera” pertenecen a Astérix y los Juegos Olímpicos, cinta con una participación española mínima y preponderancia de capital francés. Borrado este “maquillaje”, seguiría venciendo la exportación, sólo que de forma menos escandalosa: 92-82.

Sea como fuere, estos datos han servido a la “industria” patria para volver a derramar unas cuantas lágrimas. “Nos ven más los extranjeros… nuestro cine vende pero el público español nos da la espalda… hacen falta más ayudas”… El entrecomillado es propio, no citamos a nadie, pero es sencillo imaginar que algo así habrá pasado por la cabeza de los responsables del séptimo arte español.

Para los amantes de los datos: con 173 películas, nuestro país es el séptimo productor, por detrás de monstruos como India (¡1.132!) y USA (520), pero por encima de países más poblados como Italia (155) y Reino Unido (102). Vivo contraste con la cuota nacional, esto es, el porcentaje de españoles que ven cine español: un 13,3 por ciento (en USA: 91,5; Francia. 45,4).

Más: ¿dónde proyectan españoladas? Sobre todo, en Francia (20 en todo 2008), Méjico/Argentina (16) y Colombia (10). Por último: ¿qué películas? El Orfanato se vio en 16 países, REC en 14 y Vicky Cristina Barcelona, una co-producción, en 9.

Enviar a Menéame

Was reading around and was told that a blog should be posted in at least once every two days, and as I really have nothing better to post about I just though I’d make a list of movies that I have interest in watching when I get the chance.

REC is a Spanish horror film released back in 2007. My uncle was actually the one that recommended it to me, how long ago I don’t remember, but now I’m actually getting around to seeing it. REC is the story of a television reporter, Ángela Vidal, and her cameraman, Pablo, who are covering the night shift in a local fire station for the documentary series While You Sleep. Although they are prepared for a more or less normal night, stuff goes awry and the horror begins.



One of Jim Carrey’s newer movies, Yes Man seems like much more of a funny comedy as opposed to a stupid one. Apparently it is based on a true story, and is about a random depressed guy that starts saying “yes” to every opportunity that presents itself, and ends up happy and whatnot. Knowing it’s a Jim Carrey movie, though, I’m kind of scared to find out exactly what he will agree to do throughout the movie.



El Orfanato (The Orphanage) is another Spanish horror film, though this time no one really recommended it to me. The main character, Laura, returns to the orphanage in which she grew up with her husband, Carlos, and adopted son, Simón. She hopes to turn the orphanage into a home for disabled children, but a problem arises when Simón makes an “imaginary” friend with whom he threatens to run away with.



A thriller this time, Taken is the story of a man who sets off to track his daughter down after she is kidnapped in Europe. There isn’t that much else to say about it, except that the trailer really made me want to watch it.






If you know of any movies that are just plain excellent, or you at least think so, feel free to comment and let me know so I can watch them sometime.

-Tamarti.

Habitualmente en el/los momentos zapping que realizo en mi tv (me gusta lo retro, por eso sigo teniendo mi televisor de tubo, XD) suelo detenerme unos segundos en la cadena 40Principales o en la cadena Sol Música; para ver si puedo deleitarme con alguna pieza espectácular en formato videoclip (otra tema son las propias canciones…).
Siendo fiel a la verdad he de reconocer que hay muchos que no cumplen este cometido (sobre todo si no se trata de “superproducciones” americanas), pero el último trabajo musical de J.A. Bayona (podéis ver su ficha técnica“> aquí), “El Aleph” (de Nena Daconte), estrenado a finales de Febrero de este mismo año, ha conseguido que no siga avanzando con mi mando a distancia (me gusta lo retro, pero sin excesos, que el color y el mando a distancia son grandes inventos ).

Juan Antonio Bayona natural de Barcelona, es conocido, sobre todo por dirigir “El Orfanato“, aunque también se dedica a realizar anuncios y videoclips (ya trabajaron con él: Camela, Fangoria El Arrebato, Rosario, Carlos Jean, Ella Baila Sola o Elefantes).

No quiero entrar en polémicas musicales, ni en discusiones con fans; pero desde CraftWear lo que queremos mostrar y admirar es el trabajo audiovisual del realizador y no la calidad o gusto personal por los temas musicales, canciones y grupos. (Particular y personalmente este videoclip me gusta bastante pero las bandas con las que suele trabajar Juan Antonio Bayona, no están dentro del espectro musical que me gusta escuchar.)