"Perro Como Perro" by Carlos Moreno

tejasmarcos says on May 15, 2008, 19:23:

uma, oprah - oprah, uma.....

my glass is getting shorter on whiskey, ice and water...

webmanco says on May 15, 2008, 19:35:

Gracias por el trailer

But, I'm going to start making some assumptions here.... Which means I might actually end up making an ass out of myself ..........Thu 04 17, 2008 11:34 am

PALEOLITICO says on May 15, 2008, 19:37:

Quiero ir a verla. El protagonista es mi actor colombiano favorito: Marlon Moreno (excelente!).

La mujer que hace de bruja es una actriz natural, una desplazada de la masacre de Bojayá (Chocó). Tardaron muchisimo en encontrar este personaje y el rodaje de la pelicula estuvo detenido porque ninguno de los actores que presentaron casting llenaba las expectativas del director, hasta que apareció ella.

"Amar a las personas y usar las cosas; y no amar a las cosas y usar a las personas"

PALEOLITICO says on May 15, 2008, 19:51:

WaySouthOfTheBorder: Que nombre tan largo :) Porqué me conoces si eres newbie?. Este es un nuevo nombre de QUIÉN?. Gracias por el recibimiento :)

"Amar a las personas y usar las cosas; y no amar a las cosas y usar a las personas"

Medellin Traveler says on May 15, 2008, 19:54:

Paleolitico,
Me encantó la película espero que te guste



Las ratas se acavan pero con beneno........ dice la bruja

Medellin es una chimba! www.medellintraveler.com

PALEOLITICO says on May 15, 2008, 19:56:

Hola M.T !! si, hay que ir a verla. ´
Que lástima la copia pirata que sacaron a la calle. Pero esa copia pirata está sin editar, sinembargo han perdido mucha plata por estos ladroncitos de ideas.

"Amar a las personas y usar las cosas; y no amar a las cosas y usar a las personas"

Medellin Traveler says on May 15, 2008, 19:56:

Medellin es una chimba! www.medellintraveler.com

PALEOLITICO says on May 15, 2008, 20:03:

Increible como ha crecido el cine colombiano en los últimos años. Hace 10 años era prácticamente nulo. Sinembargo lo que no termina de gustarme es que siempe se tocan los mismos temas: violencia, narcotráfico, guerrilla, prostitución, etc, etc, etc... mas repetitivos que buggi con Uribe.

"Amar a las personas y usar las cosas; y no amar a las cosas y usar a las personas"

PALEOLITICO says on May 15, 2008, 20:17:

WaySouthOfTheBorder: Yo te reconozco así saques un nuevo nombre cada samana.

"Amar a las personas y usar las cosas; y no amar a las cosas y usar a las personas"

Tinto (Moderator) says on May 15, 2008, 22:09:

What's this? You say there's a new film about Perry Como?

thur says on May 16, 2008, 00:47:

Nice film. Nothing exceptional, but a nice film to watch though.
And: Las ratas se acaban, pero con veneno.
Greetings,

- www.pbase.com/thur

webmanco says on May 16, 2008, 00:48:

Paleolitico que haces llamando a Buggy? :-)

But, I'm going to start making some assumptions here.... Which means I might actually end up making an ass out of myself ..........Thu 04 17, 2008 11:34 am

Atrevido says on May 16, 2008, 04:33:

Yes I saw it. Lots of Cali and surroundings scenes. Hope it makes it to US Blockbuster so friends up north can see it.

webmanco says on May 16, 2008, 06:29:

http://www.eltiempo.com/entretenimiento/tvfarandula/noticias/ARTICULO-...



Mayo 11 de 2008

A punta de sacrificios construyó Óscar Borda su papel de Eusebio Benítez en 'Perro come perro'

Afirma que lo primero que hizo fue irse a vivir junto con Marlon Moreno, su compañero protagónico, a una pensión en el barrio Obrero, ubicado en el centro de Cali.

"La idea fue del director. Quería que entre todos buscáramos el perfil de los personajes", dice.

Y el ejercicio dio sus frutos. Después de un mes de encierro, el desprecio que se tienen los protagonistas se refleja en las actuaciones de la ópera prima de Carlos Moreno.

"Al principio, fue muy bueno poder compenetrarme con Marlon; pero luego era tal la euforia del personaje que después de 17 días de compartir habitación llegamos al punto de mirarnos a los ojos y decirnos: 'Usted me cae gordo'", cuenta. La situación, en vez de generar enemistad, lo que hizo fue propiciar un lazo de amistad y de profesionalismo.


Superó el miedo a la brujería


En esta actuación, una de las mejores en sus 18 años de carrera artística (tiene 12 películas en su hoja de vida, entre ellas La nave de los sueños, Juegos bajo la luna, Amores ilícitos, Colombianos, El sheriff y El Trato), tuvo que sortear todo tipo de dificultades.

Explica Borda que ese mes que vivió en esa habitación le sirvió para buscar, en medio de drogadictos y ladrones, las características que llevaría su personaje. "Me dejé crecer la barba y el afro, me puse cachucha y un día en el barrio Obrero, que es como el 'Cartucho' en Bogotá, me di a la tarea de buscar a Benítez. Lo bueno es que nadie me identificó", asegura.

But, I'm going to start making some assumptions here.... Which means I might actually end up making an ass out of myself ..........Thu 04 17, 2008 11:34 am

Rikito says on May 16, 2008, 07:31:

Too bad for Colombia and it's citizens that the only films that can be made in Colombia is crap like this. Sure, some of you will take shots at me and that's ok, but it's the crap like this that keeps a stigma on Colombia. There are many more stories that be told in Colombia that do not involve: murder, drugs, sex, murder, drugs, oh...and sex. Is this the only type of film these guys can make?

This typical Colombian movie is just one more sterotype that so lack s of skill, imagination, inspiration, and general abilty when this is the only type of movie that can be made and watched.

Last week I asked if anyone had ever heard of or seen a movie about Colombia's fight for independence. Not another movie about Boilvar, but an honest movie about the struggles of the Restrepos, the Mosqueras, and the peasants who fought and died to be free. The answer...NADA. Where are the good comedy movies, the good mystery movies, or a good love story that does not include eveyone tlaking about how pretty some stars bush was in the film?

Stuff like this is pure crap. There are pleanty of stories about Colombia and Colombians that could be made into epic type of movies. It is done in many other countries with much success, but here in Colombia people cannot get enough of drug, mafia type of movies. It's laughable and at the same time shameful.

This weekend, my wife and I are going to watch "Love In The Time of Cholera." I look forward to enjoying it.

It is not life that matters, but the journey.

Medellin Traveler says on May 16, 2008, 14:22:

Rikito says, "This typical Colombian movie is just one more sterotype that so lack s of skill, imagination, inspiration, and general abilty when this is the only type of movie that can be made and watched."

I would offer you a pen and paper to write a screenplay half as good as most of the crap that is out in theatres now, but you already have the tools to write without pen and paper on your computer.

Go ahead and write something better than this so-called crap that lacks "skill, imagination, inspiration, and general abilty" only then can you make a statement dismissing someone's personal work.

Writers are thought to write what they know, maybe that is all these Colombian writers who make this "crap" know.

You should celebrate the fact the Colombians are able to make movies as an alternative to life in the world that is often depicted in these "crap" movies. One day, someone will make that great Colombian movie, but until then, enjoy what is available.

Writers, Actors, Directors, Producers, and Filmmakers all have to pay their dues, everyone starts at the bottom.

These "crap" movies will only help foster the talents of many Colombian's involved in filmmaking, hopefully they develop past the cheezy telenova style often seen in many Colombian movies.

I look forward to seeing Carlos Moreno's next feature film project.....

Vive Colombian Cinema!

Medellin es una chimba! www.medellintraveler.com

Simon says on May 16, 2008, 14:35:

VIVA RIKITO!!! Bless you, man!

We decent Colombians are also tired of the same old, recycled negative crap! I want to see something uplifiting and inspirational, like a Colombian 'Rocky' or Indiana Jones' type story!

HERE'S SIMON!!!!

Simon says on May 16, 2008, 14:38:

Now this would make for a great Colombian movie:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cartagena_de_Indias

HERE'S SIMON!!!!

Medellin Traveler says on May 16, 2008, 15:14:

Simon says, "We decent Colombians are also tired of the same old, recycled negative crap! I want to see something uplifiting and inspirational, like a Colombian 'Rocky' or Indiana Jones' type story!"

That can easily be misconstrued as an oxymoronic statement.

First, you state you are tired of the same old, recycled negative crap, then you want a recycled Colombian "Rocky" or "Indiana Jones" story. You can't have it both ways, but you can if you really, really want it that way.

To me, that's recycled crap of the worst kind, it's HOLLYWOOD RECYCLED CRAP!

I'll take realism over recycled Hollywood crap any day of the week.

Simon says, "Now this would make for a great Colombian movie:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cartagena_de_Indias"

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ........... B O R I N G !

Medellin es una chimba! www.medellintraveler.com

Medellin Traveler says on May 16, 2008, 15:33:

Anyone who makes a feature film in Colombia should be applauded for the risks they take with their lives.
------------
An Ode to Medellín's Madness, Made at Gunpoint - NYTimes.com

WHILE directing the tumultuous tragicomedy ''Our Lady of the Assassins'' in Medellín, Colombia, Barbet Schroeder learned from a crumpled note hurled into a production car that he was in danger of being gunned down by the same sort of teenage hit squads whose exploits he was busy restaging. Maybe they'd take him for ransom; or maybe, if he didn't pay up, they'd simply ''waste'' him, turning the famous filmmaker into another casualty of the cocaine-inspired carnage that had ravaged the city for two decades.

It's not surprising, in light of that atmosphere, that the movie is marked by a tension between stylization and hurried detachment, between Mr. Schroeder's meticulously controlled color palette and his more urgent inclination to keep from having his head blown off. (To hell with retakes. That's a wrap!) That tension makes for a peculiar mix. The film, based on a novel by Fernando Vallejo, revolves around a burned-out, middle-aged writer named Fernando (German Jaramillo), who returns to his native Medellín ''to die'' but whose spirit is awakened by adoration for a teenage hitman, an ''exterminating angel'' called Alexis (Anderson Ballesteros). An earnest gay love story with equal dashes of nihilism and self-pity, the film abounds in murders so offhand that it's hard to know what to feel. How are audiences weaned on conventional morality plays to process such ambiguity?

Hearing the word ''ambiguity'' over lunch at a high-priced Manhattan steakhouse, Mr. Schroeder shuddered, mortified at the prospect of having it turned against him by Hollywood executives. Moral ambiguity delighted audiences and critics in his ''Reversal of Fortune'' (1990), in which Jeremy Irons's ghoulish Claus von Bulow rises impishly above the vulgar question of complicity in his wife's brain-death. But it resoundingly bombed in Mr. Schroeder's most cherished project of the 90's, a sober adaptation of Rosellen Brown's novel ''Before and After'' (1996) in which Liam Neeson plays a father laboring to cover up a killing by his teenage son. His most financially successful film remains the perverse but decidedly unambiguous slasher picture ''Single White Female'' (1992).

''Our Lady of the Assassins,'' which opens Friday, is Mr. Schroeder's first non-Hollywood project in more than a dozen years, and as discomfiting as its filming proved to be, the director was entirely comfortable with its ''typically Colombian'' riot of tones. ''I love to see it with a few Colombians in the audience,'' Mr. Schroeder said while attacking an immense, rare T-bone that he had lavishly peppered and slathered with Dijon mustard. He speaks in deep, French-accented tones with a gurgling, vaguely sinister laugh. ''I can spot their presence right away -- the amount of laughs changes radically. You would think you were watching a comedy.'' At the same time, he added, there is no loss of sympathy for the protagonist's torment. ''They laugh, yet they understand that it's the story of someone who comes to die and meets a pain that is bigger and more awful than the death he was looking for. And through his pain they feel the pain of a whole country.''

It is a country in which the tall, sharply chiseled Mr. Schroeder, who just turned 60, spent some of his youth, yet always felt like an outsider. Born in Iran, where his Swiss father worked as a geologist for an oil company, he moved with his family to Bogotá at age 6 and lived there until decamping with his mother to Paris four years later. A jet-setter of several fixed addresses (his wife, the actress Bulle Ogier, lives in Paris), Mr. Schroeder now considers his home to be wherever he's making a movie, and he was actively searching for a Colombian project when he became enraptured by the autobiographical novels of Mr. Vallejo -- much as he had once become enraptured by the stories of the skid row bard Charles Bukowski, who wrote the screenplay for ''Barfly'' (1987), Mr. Schroeder's first Hollywood feature.

MR. SCHROEDER did not regard Mr. Vallejo's 1994 ''La Virgen de los Sicarios'' (recently translated into English by Paul Hammond) as natural screen material. A stream-of-consciousness monologue, it frequently swells to an incantatory rant against Medellín, this ''capital of hate, heart of Satan's vast domain'': ''My fellow citizens suffer from congenital, chronic vileness,'' Mr. Vallejo's narrator rails. ''This is an unscrupulous, envious, rancorous, deceitful, treacherous, thieving race: human vermin in its lowest form. And the way to have done with delinquent youth? Exterminate them in the cradle.'' No, it didn't cry out to be filmed -- especially since the young paramour ends up shooting, by the narrator's estimation, some 250 people, including pregnant mothers and children. ''Some of those deaths are allegorical, metaphorical, literary,'' Mr. Schroeder said, ''and it was clear they wouldn't translate to film. A murder in the movies has 10 times more weight than a few lines in a book. You would lose all sense of reality.''

Mr. Vallejo, who insisted that he could write affecting dialogue for the boys, agreed to reduce the body count. Mr. Schroeder, meanwhile, had a visual strategy for the killings -- some executed in self-defense, some out of mere pique. ''I decided to show the violence the way I myself saw it in the streets of Medellín,'' Mr. Schroeder said. ''I would walk by and hear boom boom and suddenly see people running and a person slumped in his car. If it was filmed differently, like a violent American movie, I guarantee it would be unbearable and impossible to digest.''

Mr. Schroeder conceded the danger of making the audience think that he, the filmmaker, is as emotionally distanced from the killing as the characters on screen. ''It's a very fine line,'' he said. ''After the first murder, Fernando is confronted with the worst dilemma. To have met this boy is the most beautiful thing that has happened in his life. And now he is faced with the choice of living with him and having other incidents like this happen or forgetting him for the rest of his days. And, of course, he chooses love. I've somehow got to have the audience go through what Fernando goes through -- and, in order to go through it, he has to desensitize himself. But believe me: by the end of the movie the audience is not so desensitized.''

Part of what makes that ''desensitization'' so tricky is the documentary-like quality of the visuals. ''Our Lady of the Assassins'' teems with artificial colors, slow-motion tricks and bold superimpositions, yet to many viewers and critics it feels as if it's reality caught on the fly. The reason, Mr. Schroeder said, is that it's the first feature shot on true high-definition video. ''There is so much sharpness, so much detail, so much depth of field,'' he said, ''that the city is very present -- a major character in the movie. You have a close-up of Alexis and he's down in the city, but in the background you can see the poor neighborhoods in the mountains where he comes from, where all those boy assassins come from. You can see every little street, every car driving by, every window of every house. For me, it's fantastic! Other directors like close-ups in which the background is fuzzy, so that you concentrate on the character itself. But I like to bring the background up. So for me this high-definition was something I was waiting for all my life. And for certain people it's like an extra dose of reality. In fact, it's some kind of hyperreality -- like Vallejo says in his book, it's 'reality gone mad.' You feel that all the time in Colombia.''

The high-definition video captures something else about Medellín: ''It's so clean,'' Mr. Schroeder said. ''These people are obsessed by cleanliness and respectability and politeness, even as the bodies are dropping. It's a place that has always been separated from the rest of Colombia. It's full of entrepreneurs, industrious people who saw a market and capitalized on it. When this drug trafficking started, there was no coca in Colombia whatsoever. It was all in Peru and Bolivia. But in the 70's, they started planting, and now it's a $30 billion dollar economy.'' Only half-facetiously, Mr. Schroeder announced that the cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar should be credited in the movie as one of the creators: ''Because he is the one who had the idea of hiring the young boys to do the killing. He's the one that started the actual killer school of young boys. And it was his idea to send his assassins regularly to pray to the Virgin for success.''

As the title implies, ''Our Lady of the Assassins'' is swamped in Catholic iconography, which in context is both moving and absurd. Researching the film, Mr. Schroeder would accompany Mr. Vallejo -- whom he described as ''the same as the character in the movie, dressed the same, doing the same things, exactly the same person'' -- to church, where the author would buy and light a candle and get down before the Virgin on his knees. ''He is like Buñuel,'' Mr. Schroeder said. ''He's a non-believer but was raised in that religion and will never get out of it. He goes to church to be in silence with himself -- or with the God he has internalized. Not the other God. In the movie, he calls that God 'the Grand Gonorrhea,' which is the worst of all insults in Medellín. It could come out of the mouth of Job.''

Mr. Schroeder admitted to savoring Mr. Vallejo's blasphemies, even as they interfered with his ability to make his movie. ''Every time he opens his mouth in Colombia there's a huge scandal and he takes the next plane out of the country not to get killed,'' Mr. Schroeder said. ''He says things like, 'The ultimate crime is giving life,' or that he doesn't just hate poverty, he hates the poor.'' For fear of prompt retribution, almost no one in Medellín knew that the film being shot was ''La Virgen de los Sicarios.'' ''We told them it was some kind of documentary,'' Mr. Schroeder said.

Mr. Schroeder sent a series of e-mails from the shoot to The Guardian in London. They contained a ''recipe for filming downtown,'' which included setting up ''a fake set with cameras, projectors and a hysterical director'' 50 meters from the real one, so that bystanders' attention would be diverted. He worked closely with his all-Colombian crew to hold chaos at bay. ''I had about 20 extras who were trained to spot the people who might look into the camera,'' Mr. Schroeder said. ''They would go distract those people at the moment they needed to be distracted. Every take in the movie that's used is the miracle take because no one is looking at the camera.''

And sometimes the miracles didn't come. Mr. Schroeder said that one young actor had been badly beaten for his participation in the film; that a friend of a friend who had been slated to play a small role had been gunned down in a bar; that Anderson Ballesteros had been marked for death and only escaped because he was working on the film -- but that a group of his friends had not been so lucky. (They died.) Mr. Schroeder ended up living with Mr. Ballesteros and another young actor, Juan David Restrepo, in a hidden location for the remainder of filming. ''I was doing my own witness protection program,'' Mr. Schroeder said.

Non-suicidal, Mr. Schroeder did not return to Colombia for the film's premiere. ''This is a country where, during a soccer match a few years ago, a guy by mistake sent a ball into his own goal and was later killed,'' Mr. Schroeder said. ''That's the kind of reality you're dealing with.''

''Our Lady of the Assassins'' -- not exactly a poster for Colombian tourism -- might have aroused similar sentiments but for a stroke of luck. ''There was a critic who saw the movie before the others and wrote an incendiary piece saying it should be banned and that any theater showing it should be sabotaged,'' Mr. Schroeder said. ''Which in a country like Colombia is really a criminal act! So all the intelligentsia grouped around the movie to defend it, and this created a big debate. And we won in the end because it was a huge success, and it ended up being a movie that touched the country to its heart. As an outsider, I found that very moving.''

Revitalized by his experience in Colombia, Mr. Schroeder returned to Hollywood to make a Sandra Bullock thriller called ''Murder by Numbers,'' which is to be released early next year. The shooting, he said, was a delight: ''It felt good to come back to something where I had a little more control.'' Not that he wants to be seen as exercising control. Although he once wrote auteur criticism for Cahiers du Cinema in its early 60's heyday and worshipped at the altar of such directors as Howard Hawks, Nicholas Ray and Fritz Lang, Mr. Schroeder finds moviemakers who talk about the themes of their movies ''hateful.'' He said, ''The auteur poseur for me is obscene.''

Self-effacement notwithstanding, there is a persistent set of values in Mr. Schroeder's films. The best are somewhat lewd, with a sexual kink or two and and an undercurrent of violence. And yet they are remarkably free of sadism or derision. ''They're very healthy movies,'' he said, as un-self-conscious in his appetites for sex and death as for thick rare steaks. ''The only phrase of Christ that I follow very carefully is the one that says not to judge. To the point that I would not even sit in a jury of any kind. There are two things that I know I don't like and they go together: the idea of judging and the idea of power. I hate the idea of power with my guts. Even my own power as a director: I want to ignore it, I want to hide it, I never want to show it.''

What is it about power in particular that he hates? Mr. Schroeder thought a long time. ''I have no idea,'' he said, finally. ''It's a question of style. I just don't think it's elegant.'' And he went back to attacking his steak.

Medellin es una chimba! www.medellintraveler.com

tejasmarcos says on May 16, 2008, 15:38:

first we have gay cowboys in brokeback mountain, now gay hitmen in medellin. i'm waiting for rugby sewing hour next....... sheeeesh!

my glass is getting shorter on whiskey, ice and water...

Simon says on May 16, 2008, 15:39:

Med Traveler,

If you think the battle of Cartagena in which a British invasion force of at least 26,400 in 186 ships lost against a force of 3,000 Spanish and 6 ships is boring than you must not know that good action is!

Now this was the real Pirates of the Caribbean and it would make for one hell of an action-packed, epic movie!!

HERE'S SIMON!!!!

tejasmarcos says on May 16, 2008, 15:40:

i hope the movie does well.

my glass is getting shorter on whiskey, ice and water...

tejasmarcos says on May 16, 2008, 15:41:

simon - did you see "master and commander"?

my glass is getting shorter on whiskey, ice and water...

Desideria (Moderator) says on May 16, 2008, 15:51:

Simon yes, I agree. The battle of Cartagena would make a great movie. There's no decent movie made of Simon Bolivar either. There are thousands of good stories worth to be told, made into movies in Colombia that don't focus on DRUGS, TORTURE, PROSTITUTION, CARTELS and CRIMINALITY.

Personally. I'm also sick and tired of all Colombian cinema focusing on cheap and blatantly commercial topics; that's why I thought La vendedora de rosas, bleak and melancholic as it was, was refreshing. Colombians need to turn away from the culture of violence and start focusing on the sane and healthy aspects of their country and society.

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

Simon says on May 16, 2008, 16:20:

"simon - did you see "master and commander"?"

That's the one with Russell Crowe, no, I haven't seen it.


Desi, I once read in a Colombian magazine several years ago that there was a planned Hollywood movie about Bolivar starring Johnny Depp. That would have been interesting.

HERE'S SIMON!!!!

billyb says on May 16, 2008, 16:42:

That would be interesting, you know if Depp is in it, it won't be conventional.

Desideria (Moderator) says on May 16, 2008, 16:45:

What's wrong with having a a Latin American actor play Bolivar? Or a Spaniard?

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

billyb says on May 16, 2008, 16:51:

So it would be between Simon (as Simon) and Banderas?

Simon says on May 16, 2008, 16:51:

Yes Desi, I'd also prefer a latino as Bolivar, but you know how Hollywood is.

HERE'S SIMON!!!!

Desideria (Moderator) says on May 16, 2008, 16:53:

Forget Hollywood...there are other people who make movies too.
Banderas...no, I don't think so. He's a handsome devil, but not Bolivar. We need somebody...more intense.

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

billyb says on May 16, 2008, 16:54:

Like I said, Simon as Simon? That's not to say that Simon is not a handsome devil, i wouldn't know jajaja.

Simon says on May 16, 2008, 16:55:

How about Colombian actor Rafael Novoa as Bolivar?

http://cisoto.blogspot.com/2007/09/rafael-novoa-gallery.html

HERE'S SIMON!!!!

Desideria (Moderator) says on May 16, 2008, 16:56:

I have no idea what Simon looks like. I'd rather not have a rambo as bolivar

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

Simon says on May 16, 2008, 16:56:

I'd love to BillyB, but I am no Bolivar!

HERE'S SIMON!!!!

billyb says on May 16, 2008, 16:58:

Why not desi? Didn't Bolivar once swim across el cauca with his hands tied behind his back? Now that is ramboesque, no?

Desideria (Moderator) says on May 16, 2008, 16:59:

No, Bolivar would be somebody more...hmmm..motivated? A Latin actor with Spanish features and with a political agenda?
Hmmmm...buggy?

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

Desideria (Moderator) says on May 16, 2008, 17:01:

No that was capax

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

billyb says on May 16, 2008, 17:03:

buggy? I don't remember ever reading about Bolivar running from battle ;)

Desideria (Moderator) says on May 16, 2008, 17:05:

Cuando el último animal haya muerto, cuando el último río ya esté contaminado, cuando nos falten
los hijos, entonces sabremos que hemos perdido una gran oportunidad, que estamos acabando
con nuestra casa, con nuestra familia,
con nuestro trabajo... con nuestro mundo.�

por Alejandro Arias Gómez


Kapax, el legendario personaje de las selvas colombianas, famoso por sus travesías a nado en los años setenta, es ante todo un ecologista que cobró fama al atravesar el mayor río de Colombia, el Magdalena, corriente que nace en el sur del país en los Andes y termina en el mar Caribe.

Su nombre real es Alberto Rojas Lesmes. Nació en Puerto Leguísamo, y treinta años atrás una hija de las aguas del majestuoso río lo sedujo. Desde entonces vive en Leticia protegiendo la selva y orientando a los turistas. Trabaja como guía turístico contratado por la Gobernación del departamento del Amazonas.

Un día un campesino, al verlo nadar contra la corriente del río Magdalena, le dijo: “Usted nada como un ‘Capax’� (una especie de pez) y desde entonces es conocido como Kapax.

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

billyb says on May 16, 2008, 17:07:

Bolivar did it 200 years before Kapax, that johnny comelately, jeje.

Desideria (Moderator) says on May 16, 2008, 17:07:

A Colombian Hero
They ought to make a movie of him.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.laesquinaregional.co...

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

billyb says on May 16, 2008, 17:12:

* Al llegar Bolívar a Los Llanos donde se encontraba Páez sabía que para atraer la adhesión de los llaneros debían demostrarle que seria su jefe. Que podría igual que ellos galopar hasta cansar el caballo, cruzar un río a nado, luchar contra el caimán o el tigre. Tenía que ser tan macho o mas macho que ellos, para eso tuvo que someterse a agobiantes tareas, no permitía que nadie le ganara ni en agilidad ni en inteligencia.
Tuvo que arriesgarse en pruebas de habilidades, entre todas las cosas que hizo fue que apostar con un Coronel Martel, que era uno de sus escribientes que seria capaz de nadar con las manos amarradas atrás. Nadie quería que lo hiciera, pero le dijo a Ibarra que le amarrara las manos, cosa que hizo y se lanzo al agua. Ibarra temiendo que se ahogase, había colocado en el río dos buenos nadadores para auxiliarlo, pero no fue necesario, aunque con trabajo lo logro. Otra prueba que hizo pero en esta si no salio bien librado fue que quiso, como había visto que los llaneros hacían, saltar sobre un caballo de la cola al lomo. Lo logro a la tercera vez pero recibiendo tremendo golpe en los testículos. "

http://www.simon-bolivar.org/bolivar/anecdotas_de_sb.html

Desideria (Moderator) says on May 16, 2008, 17:17:

Didn't know that...interesting guy that Simon. I would've liked him, I think.

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

billyb says on May 16, 2008, 17:19:

Desi, in that link there are some more interesting anecdotes of the man, yes very interesting dude.

Rikito says on May 16, 2008, 17:31:

Medellin Traveler, you do not understand. I have seen a number of movies like this and thye are good and entertaining. I would love to see Martina Garcia in any movie, with or without clothes. There are also some good Colombian actors that never get enough credit. And you are so correct...if I had to wirte to make a living I would starve very quickly. What I am saying is that there must be more than this genre of movie (did I say that right?)

This is not all there is to life in Colombia. Let's be serious for a sec. What kind of Colombian movie would you like to see? Here's a couple I would pay to see:

A good sports movie...maybe something about the quest for the World Cup Sports.
** The earthquake in Armenia. I have heard so many incredible stories about what people did to survive and also help others.
** Maybe a movie about the struggle of the Caribe Blacks or the slaughter of the indigenous. Something similar showing how the U.S. slaughtered their Indians.
** Geeze, who doesn’t like music in here? A Colombian musical…I can see it, can’t you?
** A comedy about the plastic surgery industry and all of the breast and lipo that goes down here.
** I saw an Aussie movie several years ago called, “The Rabbit Proof Fence.� One of the best movies ever. It’s a story about the determination of two aboriginal sisters who would not give up their freedom.
** A political movie, that’s easy…could be a comedy or a drama...whichever!
**Do you know that there have been many Colombians that have fought for the U.S. in Vietnam, WWll, the Gulf War and did some heroic shit.
**How bout a movie about Botero and his art.

The thing is…there are better subjects and stories out here that could show the other side of Colombia besides always being tied to drugs, murder, drugs, murder, drugs murder.

What are your thoughts?

It is not life that matters, but the journey.

Simon says on May 16, 2008, 17:37:

"**Do you know that there have been many Colombians that have fought for the U.S. in Vietnam, WWll, the Gulf War and did some heroic shit."

A movie about the 'Batallon Colombia' which fought in the Korean War would be a good one.

HERE'S SIMON!!!!

Medellin Traveler says on May 16, 2008, 18:22:

Rikito -

I agree. And would like to see Colombian cinema explored in various genres as well.

Of all your pitches I liked "A comedy about the plastic surgery industry and all of the breast and lipo that goes down here." Latin humor is like no other, they find laughter in tragedy. I can almost see this type of movie in my head already, with lots of beautiful Colombian women!

My biggest problem is with people dismissing films like "Perro Como Perro" all together due to the negative depictions of Colombia. Again, a good writer writes what he knows. This generation of writers have probably witnessed their share of violence and have used their personal experiences in their writings; good, bad, or otherwise.

The fact that Colombians are breaking out into the world stage of cinema is exciting to me. Hopefully this is only the begining of greater things to come. As Colombia changes, life in Colombia changes for many, creating new experiences for the next generations, which will help develop the next wave of Colombian filmmakers looking to tell different stories, stories about Colombia without all the violence.

A good sign is the new Film Program that is being thought in Medellin. I believe at the University of Antioquia, if I recall correctly. I can't believe there is actually a film school in Medellin! I LOVE IT!

I'm working with the kids who put this video together to develop a few of my ideas. This is a whole new generation of young Colombians who have broken away from the vicious cycle so many have affected by. The video is just another great example of the positive changes that are happening in Colombia today, you have kids playing rock-n-roll, with a respectable following for a rock band in Medellin, and several of their friends are shooting, editing and producing music videos as well.



It will take time before we will probably see a different kind of Colombia film. The period between having an idea for a movie leading up to the world premiere can take up to 10 years to complete. This is especially true if it's independent, with no mass appeal, and something new that Colombia has not seen on the big screen before. It's a tough road, but hopefully we will someday see a young Colombian who is ready to take that road to show us the other side of Colombia.

Gawd knows I've been working on it. I'm the kind of writer that writes that kind of stuff. I have interviewed hundreds of people in Medellin, on all of my trips. I am developing an idea, but don't know what will become of it, due to many factors, none of which can't be overcome.

For now, I believe we should all be happy that there are films being made in Colombia, regardless of subject and genre. Let the next wave of filmmakers develop their skills and talents by working on the current wave of films so that they can be better prepared to shoot the next Palm d’Ore winner at the Cannes Film Festival some day.

Vive Colombia Cinema!

Medellin es una chimba! www.medellintraveler.com

Medellin Traveler says on May 16, 2008, 18:29:

Johnny Depp is in Chicago robbing banks disguised as John Dillinger.

Benico Del Torro would make a great Simón Bolívar!

Del Torro is in Cannes promoting two of his latest movies "Guerilla" and "The Argentine" which are both being screened at the festival.

Medellin es una chimba! www.medellintraveler.com

Simon says on May 16, 2008, 18:33:

A Puertorrican Bolivar? Are you nuts?

HERE'S SIMON!!!!

MitchAlvarez says on May 16, 2008, 18:45:

MT you know i love you brother....i apreciate all the positive things you say and do for my beautiful country. However, as a Colombian I can tell you that many of us do recognize the great movies many of these turn out to be, but we are tired of the same topics. Every Colombian has been affected directly or indirectly by something that has to do with drogas, sicarios, guerilla and all that stuff that is so clearly glamourized in hollywood nowadays.

I also understand many of your points MT. But I sympathize with the others who might be able to apreciate the movies but just have some frustration with the same fuckin topics brother.

but whatever.........thats my 2 cents.

Tengale miedo a una huelga de mujeres o a una escasez de aguardiente. :)

Medellin Traveler says on May 16, 2008, 18:49:

If Charlton Heston can play a Mexican in Orson Welles classic "Touch of Evil" than the great Borricua actor Benicio Del Torro can play Simón Bolívar!



There is no Colombian actor, or latin actor for that matter, that came approach the talent Del Torro would bring to any production of about Bolivar. Call me nuts, but I'm right and it seems you're never happy.

Benicio Del Torro IS Pablo Escobar AND Simón Bolívar!

Medellin es una chimba! www.medellintraveler.com

Medellin Traveler says on May 16, 2008, 18:53:

Mitch Alvarez,

I understand. Las cosas cambian sólo hace falta paciencia.

Medellin es una chimba! www.medellintraveler.com

Simon says on May 16, 2008, 19:14:

"There is no Colombian actor, or latin actor for that matter, that came approach the talent Del Torro would bring to any production of about Bolivar. Call me nuts, but I'm right and it seems you're never happy."

That just shows how little you know about latin and Colombian actors!

Yeah, what a great actor Benecio is, he played a Mexican cop who spoke with a Colombian accent in 'Traffic'!

HERE'S SIMON!!!!

Desideria (Moderator) says on May 17, 2008, 02:24:

NOT simon Bolivar, el caraqueño americano

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

Medellin Traveler says on May 17, 2008, 05:17:

Benecio Del Torro for PRESIDENT!

No one is going to hire a no-name actor for a major production period piece about Bolivar, that's not the way Hollywood works.

Medellin es una chimba! www.medellintraveler.com

Medellin Traveler says on May 17, 2008, 05:44:

Latina.com magazine's Lazzie Award goes to John Leguizamo for worst actor in "Love in the Time of Cholera."

He stunk up "Paraiso Travel" as well, not that it was his fault, because the movie was not that good overall.

Medellin es una chimba! www.medellintraveler.com

rocinante says on May 17, 2008, 06:06:

"A Puertorrican Bolivar? Are you nuts?"

A great actor is a great actor. John Leguziamo would be better? Film producers are probably looking to make money and to cast in order to sell tickets. Not do what's right in the national interest of the people living in the country where the main character is from.

So every mobster movie should have actors from Italian lineage? Makes sense to me! I guess that's why Morgan Freeman and Will Smith always play black guys.

"World economic indicators point to a democrat winning 2008. It will surely be Obama. Peso 1400 by November" Feb 5, 2008

tejasmarcos says on May 17, 2008, 06:52:

my vote is for cheech marin! the dude is brilliant!

my glass is getting shorter on whiskey, ice and water...

Monpirri says on May 17, 2008, 07:03:

I agree there are several Colombian actors who can do an exemplary performance as Simon Bolivar.
Benecio Del Toro and Peruvian Benjamin Bratt can also do the part but the problem with them is that they are a bit too tall to act as Bolivar. Simon Bolivar was not tall at all and if we want to make an interesting and realistic, accurate historical movie we need to find a shorter Bolivar.

Annette Taddeo for US Congress 2008

Medellin Traveler says on May 17, 2008, 07:14:

A great actor can ACT short.

Cheech Marin is too old.

I keep thinking about Rikito's idea " A comedy about the plastic surgery industry and all of the breast and lipo that goes down here." There may be a part for Cheech Marin in this movie. It's funny Ha-Ha.

Medellin es una chimba! www.medellintraveler.com

Rikito says on May 17, 2008, 08:24:

Yeah..."Cheech gets 36DDD Implants"

It is not life that matters, but the journey.

Monpirri says on May 17, 2008, 09:06:

"A great actor can ACT short." sure, it makes a lot of sense, let's hire Arnold Schwarzenegger to act as Simon Bolivar.

Annette Taddeo for US Congress 2008

rocinante says on May 17, 2008, 10:03:

"Simon Bolivar was not tall at all and if we want to make an interesting and realistic, accurate historical movie we need to find a shorter Bolivar."

That's the problem. interesting? , realistic? accurate? Naaaaaaah. The execs just want to make money - not please you. Sorry. Hollywood will changes major details of an author's best selling novel against the author's wishes, in order to appeal to the lowest common denominator and make money. That's show biz folks.

"World economic indicators point to a democrat winning 2008. It will surely be Obama. Peso 1400 by November" Feb 5, 2008

Medellin Traveler says on May 17, 2008, 10:09:

Monpirri says, ""A great actor can ACT short." sure, it makes a lot of sense, let's hire Arnold Schwarzenegger to act as Simon Bolivar."

I was just being facetious.

But you never know, as Rocinate points out "That's show biz folks."

Medellin es una chimba! www.medellintraveler.com

Desideria (Moderator) says on May 17, 2008, 10:17:

Actually, Javier Bardem would be more suitable than Benicio.

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

bufalo says on May 17, 2008, 10:40:

"Film producers are probably looking to make money and to cast in order to sell tickets. Not do what's right in the national interest of the people living in the country where the main character is from."

Couldn't be truer. It is a business in the end. People talk of art and yes ok, there is art, but the bottom line is to make money. That's what producers do.



Been meaning to see "Perro Come Perro", now just want to see it even moreso.

don't fret those that want to see a different type of film come out of Colombia... I'm about 90% finished with the visuals - probably not a Blockbuster, but is different.

"If you don't like it - lump it, take it down the road and dump it." - Archie Bunker played by Carroll O'Connor

bufalo says on May 17, 2008, 10:40:

"Film producers are probably looking to make money and to cast in order to sell tickets. Not do what's right in the national interest of the people living in the country where the main character is from."

Couldn't be truer. It is a business in the end. People talk of art and yes ok, there is art, but the bottom line is to make money. That's what producers do.



Been meaning to see "Perro Come Perro", now just want to see it even moreso.

don't fret those that want to see a different type of film come out of Colombia... I'm about 90% finished with the visuals - probably not a Blockbuster, but is different.

"If you don't like it - lump it, take it down the road and dump it." - Archie Bunker played by Carroll O'Connor

Simon says on May 17, 2008, 10:58:

"He stunk up "Paraiso Travel" as well, not that it was his fault, because the movie was not that good overall."


Paraiso Travel was not that good?

Now I know you don't know crap about movies! 'Paraiso Travel' received overwhelming positive reviews, even TIME Magazine hailed it! It's the best Colombia movie ever by far and also the best movie I've seen this year. Everyone I know loved it!

And I thought Leguizamo was pretty funny in Paraiso Travel, sure his stuttering was annopying, but it was nice to actually see him play a Colombian and speaking in Spanish!

HERE'S SIMON!!!!

Monpirri says on May 17, 2008, 11:35:

"That's the problem. interesting? , realistic? accurate? Naaaaaaah. The execs just want to make money - not please you. Sorry. Hollywood will changes major details of an author's best selling novel against the author's wishes, in order to appeal to the lowest common denominator and make money. That's show biz folks."

I guess you are right, let's continue to hire Mexican actors to act as Colombians as all the previous Hollywood movies. There is no need to be close to history or even attempt to be accurate because afterall the audience is not even that educated to know who is Simon Bolivar.

Annette Taddeo for US Congress 2008

Monpirri says on May 17, 2008, 11:49:

MT, I was just being facetious too.
"That's show biz folks." Is that why you make your projects about Medellin similar to Hollywood movies or as a "show biz"

Annette Taddeo for US Congress 2008

bufalo says on May 17, 2008, 12:43:

The bottom line is someone has to pay for the product. Who's the audience??? If they can make 2X the investment having someone as an historical kick-ass Bolivar, or have a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Brad Pitt and make 20X their money, who do you think they'll choose?

It's not just show biz, it's any biz. For an odd example....

Do you think that the original hamburgers had all those sauces and the fried potatoes? No, but hey I can be historically correct and open up an original hamburger joint here in Colombia - or I can give the public what they want and actually continue in business.

Hawaiian pizza? Oh sure centuries ago in Italy it was sooooooo fashionable.

"If you don't like it - lump it, take it down the road and dump it." - Archie Bunker played by Carroll O'Connor

bufalo says on May 17, 2008, 12:44:

The bottom line is someone has to pay for the product. Who's the audience??? If they can make 2X the investment having someone as an historical kick-ass Bolivar, or have a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Brad Pitt and make 20X their money, who do you think they'll choose?

It's not just show biz, it's any biz. For an odd example....

Do you think that the original hamburgers had all those sauces and the fried potatoes? No, but hey I can be historically correct and open up an original hamburger joint here in Colombia - or I can give the public what they want and actually continue in business.

Hawaiian pizza? Oh sure centuries ago in Italy it was sooooooo fashionable.

"If you don't like it - lump it, take it down the road and dump it." - Archie Bunker played by Carroll O'Connor

Medellin Traveler says on May 17, 2008, 12:47:

This just in... Colombia cinema growing beyond borders.

Variety.com
Organization revives Colombian cinema
Proimagenes en Movimiento boosts film sector
By ANNA MARIE DE LA FUENTE - Fri., May 16, 2008

A key player in the revival of Colombian cinema is nonprofit org Proimagenes en Movimiento, now celebrating its 10th year.
Org's myriad functions include managing the $3 million-per-annum public film fund, overseeing a brand-new film commission, promoting Colombian cinema abroad and organizing creative writing courses, among others.

Multitasking is the norm here. Steered by Claudia Triana and her right-hand man/projects manager Andres Bayona, the org has become virtually indispensable to Colombia's emerging film industry. Along with the culture ministry's film department headed by David Melo, also on its 10th year, Proimagenes is highly regarded in the national film sector.

"Without a doubt, Proimagenes has been the anchor of our resurging cinema," says Ana Pineres, executive producer of "Del amor y otros demonios," (Of Love and Other Demons).

"It has urged Colombian filmmakers to meet worldwide standards of quality and has helped bolster our international sales as well as festival participation abroad," she continues.

"It's encouraging to see that Proimagenes is run by intelligent professionals," concurs Alessandro Angulo of Laberinto Cine, producer of 2007 hit "Bluff."

"We've dispensed $9 million to dozens of film projects since 2004," Triana says. Seventy percent of the state film fund is destined for film productions. The rest goes to preserving film classics and helping in the government's antipiracy efforts. Piracy penetration of the DVD market is at 50%, according to Triana.

Proimagenes deputy director Silvia Echeverri has been tapped to head the new film commission which just got its stamp of approval from the government in March. Along with Ricardo Restrepo, Echeverri has been charged with the task of enticing international filmmakers to shoot in Colombia.

She may have her work cut out for her. It took a call from Colombia's vice president, Francisco Santos, to convince helmer Mike Newell and his producer Scott Steindorff to shoot "Love in the Time of Cholera" in Cartagena de Indias, where the novel is set, instead of Brazil. While shooting conditions remained basic -- they had to fashion trailers out of shipping containers -- the "Cholera" production managed to save some $20 million.

Fortunately, the nationwide cleanup urged by President Alvaro Uribe has worked, with cities and main corridors now safer. Medellin, once the haven of drug dealers, has been restored to its peaceful, verdant beauty.

Medellin es una chimba! www.medellintraveler.com

Simon says on May 17, 2008, 12:58:

"Fortunately, the nationwide cleanup urged by President Alvaro Uribe has worked, with cities and main corridors now safer. Medellin, once the haven of drug dealers, has been restored to its peaceful, verdant beauty."

Yeah, and thanks to Uribe! You see, Med Traveller?

HERE'S SIMON!!!!

Medellin Traveler says on May 17, 2008, 12:58:

Simon says, " 'He stunk up "Paraiso Travel" as well, not that it was his fault, because the movie was not that good overall.'

Paraiso Travel was not that good?

Now I know you don't know crap about movies! 'Paraiso Travel' received overwhelming positive reviews, even TIME Magazine hailed it! It's the best Colombia movie ever by far and also the best movie I've seen this year. Everyone I know loved it!

Yep, It had poor direction, with the biggest problem being under-developed characters. The story could have been told in a better way, but it did manage to keep my attention.

Also, I could care less what critics have to say. I watch movies and make up my own mind, don't like others telling what is good or bad. The critics loved "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and it made a whole lot of money, but it was one of the biggest peices of chit I've ever seen. You can listen to the critics, not me. No way Jose!

I could not recommend "Paraiso Travel" to any of my friends, but I have highly praised the work of Carlos Moreno and his new film "Perro Come Perro."

I happend to think I know a whole lot about world cinema, but that's just me.

Medellin es una chimba! www.medellintraveler.com

Simon says on May 17, 2008, 13:12:

Poor direction? For one thing, the opening scene with the overhead moving camera shot of the different apartments and their tenant was awesome. I thought the characters were developed just fine. And I remember the critics didn't really like 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' that much, it was the audiences who took to it.


I also happen to be a cinephile, I participate on IMDB.com all the time.

HERE'S SIMON!!!!

bufalo says on May 17, 2008, 13:31:

aaaaand he's got Indy as an avitar - how could one compete with that??????

Just wondering, how much of Paraiso Travel is Colombian? People say that "Maria...." is a colombian movie but how could it be so? The director is a gringo and it was shot in NYC and Ecuador - where's the colombian part? - Jackson Heights?????

I really mean this as a serious question? How is it a Colombian movie??

"If you don't like it - lump it, take it down the road and dump it." - Archie Bunker played by Carroll O'Connor

bufalo says on May 17, 2008, 13:31:

aaaaand he's got Indy as an avitar - how could one compete with that??????

Just wondering, how much of Paraiso Travel is Colombian? People say that "Maria...." is a colombian movie but how could it be so? The director is a gringo and it was shot in NYC and Ecuador - where's the colombian part? - Jackson Heights?????

I really mean this as a serious question? How is it a Colombian movie??

"If you don't like it - lump it, take it down the road and dump it." - Archie Bunker played by Carroll O'Connor

bufalo says on May 17, 2008, 13:35:

Have you guys seen "Apocalypsur" yet?

"If you don't like it - lump it, take it down the road and dump it." - Archie Bunker played by Carroll O'Connor

Simon says on May 17, 2008, 13:38:

Bufalo,

'Paraiso Travel' is a Colombian movie because it was mostly produced by Colombians, unlike 'Maria Full of Grace'.

HERE'S SIMON!!!!

bufalo says on May 17, 2008, 13:42:

That's what I thought, (but is the director from NY too? or colombian born but raised there or something??)

"If you don't like it - lump it, take it down the road and dump it." - Archie Bunker played by Carroll O'Connor

bufalo says on May 17, 2008, 13:43:

So Maria... isn't a colombian movie after all? Then why promoted as such??

"If you don't like it - lump it, take it down the road and dump it." - Archie Bunker played by Carroll O'Connor

Monpirri says on May 17, 2008, 13:47:

I suppose the European audience or moviegoers would know better how Napoleon Bonaparte or Adolfo Hitler would look like and consequently they would be content with a tall actor because they would not care the least if history is not close to accuracy.

Annette Taddeo for US Congress 2008

Simon says on May 17, 2008, 13:52:

Simon Brand, the director of 'Paraiso Travel', was born and raised in Colombia.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1868746/

And even if he wasn't born in Colombia, that shouldn't make the movie any less Colombian. Does the fact that James Cameron is Canadian not make 'Titanic' an (US)American movie?

'Maria Full of Grace' is a Colombia-themed movie, just like 'Love in the Time of Cholera', but both were produced by (US)Americans.

HERE'S SIMON!!!!

bufalo says on May 17, 2008, 13:54:

ouchhhhh.

"If you don't like it - lump it, take it down the road and dump it." - Archie Bunker played by Carroll O'Connor

bufalo says on May 17, 2008, 14:03:

ouchhhhh.

"If you don't like it - lump it, take it down the road and dump it." - Archie Bunker played by Carroll O'Connor

bufalo says on May 17, 2008, 14:06:

Ouch was for Monpirri's comment

But Simon, exactly my point... "Love..." and "Maria..." aside from the theme and local aren't colombian movies, just themed so.

"If you don't like it - lump it, take it down the road and dump it." - Archie Bunker played by Carroll O'Connor

bufalo says on May 17, 2008, 14:06:

Ouch was for Monpirri's comment

But Simon, exactly my point... "Love..." and "Maria..." aside from the theme and local aren't colombian movies, just themed so.

The "Mad Max" movies, well I and II are Australian movies, made there by australians, the III and worst was a US movie. Same series, diffent movie makers.

Where does the "Indy" series take place? and where is the movie from???

"If you don't like it - lump it, take it down the road and dump it." - Archie Bunker played by Carroll O'Connor

bufalo says on May 17, 2008, 14:11:

But am glad to know that Paraiso is a colombian movie. Point to see it.

"If you don't like it - lump it, take it down the road and dump it." - Archie Bunker played by Carroll O'Connor

Simon says on May 17, 2008, 14:18:

The Indiana Jones movies are 100% USA.

Now the James Bond movies I have always wondered about. Are they British or US or both?

HERE'S SIMON!!!!

bufalo says on May 17, 2008, 14:28:

HHHHMMMMM...Bond, not sure, not a huge fan.

But was happy as hell to see that there's a new indy movie out. I had no idea until about a week or two ago (have to come out under the rock where I live I guess)

Did you see Apocalypsur?? My opinion is that it really sucked.

"If you don't like it - lump it, take it down the road and dump it." - Archie Bunker played by Carroll O'Connor

Simon says on May 17, 2008, 14:32:

No, I haven't seen Apocalypsur.

Have you seen 'El Colombian Dream'? Now that was one weird, tripped out Colombian movie. It reminded me a lot of 'Trainspotting'.

HERE'S SIMON!!!!

bufalo says on May 17, 2008, 14:33:

No didn't see that. It looked too much like a "novella" comedy and friends said it sucked so I didn't bother.

"If you don't like it - lump it, take it down the road and dump it." - Archie Bunker played by Carroll O'Connor

Desideria (Moderator) says on May 17, 2008, 14:34:

I'd say that you are wrong, monpirri. The average European moviegoer likes accuracy in historical movies and cringes at Hollywood interpretations. Bolivar was a short guy just like Bonaparte, dark, narrow features, slightly built. Not your typical Hollywood star...I very seriously doubt that people would want to see a movie about Bolivar with a blond, tall, muscular Gringo as the creole patriot..

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

Monpirri says on May 17, 2008, 14:41:

That's exactly my point, the Europeans and South Americans in particularly Colombians would want accuracy in historical movies or in other type of films because nobody wants to sit in a theater to watch BS movie even if it is in the name of "Show Biz"

Annette Taddeo for US Congress 2008

Desideria (Moderator) says on May 17, 2008, 14:47:

Years ago when I watched August Bille's movie made on Isabel Allende's great book The House Of The Spirits I remember how disappointed I felt about Clara being portrayed by Meryl Streep, a good actress, but miserably miscast.

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

Monpirri says on May 17, 2008, 14:53:

Ok, you comments are more gear to American or "gringo" stuff. My comments are about accuracy in Colombian films and not necesarily about gringos, see my previous comments above.

Annette Taddeo for US Congress 2008

Desideria (Moderator) says on May 17, 2008, 15:02:

My previous comment was just an example of how a movie can be ruined by choosing unsuitable actors for leading roles, however good or talented these actors may be. The commercial choices are not always good choices.

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

Medellin Traveler says on May 17, 2008, 15:14:

The good news is that Colombian cinema is growing beyond borders.

I can't wait to see the new wave of filmmakers who hopefully will make more personal stories about Colombia, even if it's yet another Colombian gangster picture.

Medellin es una chimba! www.medellintraveler.com

SiV says on May 17, 2008, 15:28:

I heard a story about Perro Come Perro and the Concejal of the Barrio Obrero, Cali, where much of the film is shot.

Apparently, the Councillor was outraged about how his barrio was portrayed in the film, full of prostitution, sicarios, beggars, street vendors etc. and went to make legal complaint, and took a DVD of the film along as evidence. The problem was the judge couldn't accept the complaint as the DVD the councillor brought along was a pirate version he got in his own barrio. . .

Stultórum númere infinitum est.

Monpirri says on May 17, 2008, 15:41:

So did the City Council return to plead his case with an original DVD?

Annette Taddeo for US Congress 2008

bufalo says on May 17, 2008, 16:10:

"nobody wants to sit in a theater to watch BS movie even if it is in the name of "Show Biz""

OOOOH Monpirri, hate to break the news to you but have you seen the large majority of show biz movies? practically all BS and there are plenty of people who sit through them - they sell the most.

History is a bit boring in spots, what movies do is try to liven them up a bit (not sying this is good or not) -but they try to make them a bit more dramatic so people stay interested. How many times in school did we just ache to go to history class? not too many of us.

and not to pick but "Colombians would want accuracy " - why? how can you know something like this? What you also have to understand is that (remember it is a buisness): Are your clients (paying audience) colombians or worldwide? If worldwide, then the picture should try to capture the world's attention, not just colombians. One of the dilemas I had was that in my film I wanted to keep true to Colombia, but generate interest for other audiences, hence draw attention to them about Colombia (albeit indirectly).

Otherwise who would be interested in a colombian film? (some, not all)Colombians and people interested in Colombia - not a huge audience and if your spending 1 million plus dollars easily in a film, in days when it can be pirated in 10 minutes or so, you want to get your money back and make some on top of it.
so the best route is a universal theme - keep it local but have other people be able to identify with the story.

"Armagedon" - Bruce Willis saves the world from a metiorite - how many can identify with that? BUT the real story was Willis fighting for the protection of his daughter (with the whole metiorite thingy to maintain attention) - NOW how many people can identify????

When people try to pitch films, investors want to see how they will make money back - 500K for a cheezy independant film is nothing. If someone wants a personal film that makes them feel chummy, then they should only use their own money because noone would be interested.

Unfortunately that's how any business is run.

"If you don't like it - lump it, take it down the road and dump it." - Archie Bunker played by Carroll O'Connor

Medellin Traveler says on May 17, 2008, 16:19:

Monpirri says, "So did the City Council return to plead his case with an original DVD?"

The films was just released in theatres, DVD should be available sometime at the end of the year, legally that is.

Medellin es una chimba! www.medellintraveler.com

Lisa Zee says on May 17, 2008, 16:19:

WOW, this is very interesting post.
I do not want to see any more violent movies that give us such a bad name, but maybe it is a start.
f there is a movie about Simon Bolivar or about mafia in Colombia, I think there will be more audience for the mafia, unfortunately!.

bufalo says on May 17, 2008, 16:21:

True Lisa - violence, sex sells way more easily than drama, especially historical drama - unless of course it is a major production.

"If you don't like it - lump it, take it down the road and dump it." - Archie Bunker played by Carroll O'Connor

bufalo says on May 17, 2008, 16:23:

True Lisa - violence, sex sells way more easily than drama, especially historical drama - unless of course it is a major production.

"If you don't like it - lump it, take it down the road and dump it." - Archie Bunker played by Carroll O'Connor

Medellin Traveler says on May 17, 2008, 16:31:

Alvaro Rodriguez - I nominate him for Best Supporting Actor in Perro Come Perro!



I like what he says about the talented Colombian filmmaker Carlos Moreno

Medellin es una chimba! www.medellintraveler.com

Medellin Traveler says on May 17, 2008, 16:56:

Perder es Cuestion de Metodo (2004) Directed by Sergio Cabrera.

This was a very entertaining movie with sex and violence, set in Bogota. The girl is HOT!

Medellin es una chimba! www.medellintraveler.com

SiV says on May 17, 2008, 17:25:

I saw it on a bus to Pasto a few weeks ago.

Great acting by Alvaro Rodriguez, Oscar Borda and Marlon Moreno (unfortunately, I didn't think Blas Jaramillo's was up to his usual standard- shame, as it was his last film). Good production. Shame about the story.

Still, definitely worth seeing.

Stultórum númere infinitum est.

webmanco says on May 17, 2008, 17:30:

Paraiso travel is mostly Colombian and was filmed in Bogotà and New York with Villa de Leiva and another town near Bogotà as locations.

I met a couple of foreigners working behind the scenes, one Mexican and another from Spain. Simon Brant wanted a low bugdet movie that is why he choose not well known actors.

But, I'm going to start making some assumptions here.... Which means I might actually end up making an ass out of myself ..........Thu 04 17, 2008 11:34 am

Monpirri says on May 17, 2008, 17:46:

Bufalo, you do not understand what did I mean by BS, I mean BS as of False or Misleading story when it comes to depict a country, as in Colombia in this case.
You go ahead and try to make a historical movie on Europe or on the US and change the facts as we know them now and tell me what do you get from the audience? You will get lots of “BS" comments against the movie, you will get BS as in Garbage! Or try to make a historical movie about Simon Bolivar with Sylvester Stallone as Simon Bolivar just for the sake of “Show Biz"
There are however some professional movie makers and producers who will go the extra mile when it comes to producting a historical movie, and even just a plain old gangster movie. One way a movie gets away with false information as in a form of entertainment is when the movie is injected with massive doses of comedy.

Annette Taddeo for US Congress 2008

Simon says on May 17, 2008, 17:50:

"Or try to make a historical movie about Simon Bolivar with Sylvester Stallone as Simon Bolivar just for the sake of “Show Biz""


Sylvester Stallone as Bolivar....now that's a good one, lol!

HERE'S SIMON!!!!

Monpirri says on May 17, 2008, 17:53:

"The films was just released in theatres, DVD should be available sometime at the end of the year, legally that is."

MT, under certain conditions a legal DVD copy can be aquired before the official release of the movie.

Annette Taddeo for US Congress 2008

Monpirri says on May 17, 2008, 17:54:

Simon, I thought you would like that one, lol

Annette Taddeo for US Congress 2008

Simon says on May 17, 2008, 17:59:

Buena esa, Monpirri!

BTW, has anyone else here seen IRON MAN? I've seen it twice already and needless to say, I loved it! I'm also counting the days to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Sk