In a movie summer that has been notable—no, let’s say notorious—for its nearly complete lack of Latino stars, here comes the weekend with a handful of films featuring Latinos.
First there’s Americano, starring (among others), Salma Hayek and Carlos Bardem (Javier’s older brother). We hear Salma sizzles as a stripper in director Mathieu Demy’s homage to his parents, filmmakers Agnes Varda and Jacques Demy. Americano is only in limited release, but don’t worry: Hayek will be back in Oliver Stone’s Savages in just a few days. Meanwhile, take a look at her here:
Next up: the much-anticipated (some would say dreaded) Rock of Ages. The inclusion of Tom Cruise in this odd upgrade of a Broadway show actually stars Julianne Hough and Diego Boneta in a country-girl-meets-urban-boy rock musical. Boneta, a music-show winner as a kid and a regular on The CW’s Beverly Hills 90210 and ABC Family’s Pretty Little Liars, is making a break for the big time, co-starring with the likes of Russell Brand, Paul Giamatti, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Malin Akerman, Mary J. Blige, and Alec Baldwin. Oh, and Tom Cruise stops by for a couple of minutes, too. There’s also lots of music from Def Leppard, Joan Jett, Journey, Foreigner, Bon Jovi, Night Ranger, REO Speedwagon, and others. 2D theaters and IMAX.
Michelle Jenner and Julián Villagrán
And just for fun, here’s a Sci-Fi comedy called Extraterrestrial, with an all-Spanish cast. There may be more to this quiet little flick than meets the eye; a lot of reviewers actually liked it, calling it things like an “idiosyncratic romantic comedy that masquerades as a sci-fi alien invasion flick” The concept? What would happen if the alien invasion finally started…while you were in the flat of the girl of your dreams—the one you have just met? It’s in limited release only, but we’ll be watching for its DVD release as well. Might be a better date-night flick that you thought.
So who says there are no Latinos in movies this summer? June 15 is just crawlin’ with ’em!
