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LOCKED Is Intense and Entertaining A talk with the Director

We caught up with the director of LOCKED David Yarovesky (Brightburn, Nightbooks), just before we screened the film with no spoilers. The film took nineteen days to shoot. Watch our quick interview. Synopsis: No escape. No …

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At a Screening of Dog Man the Movie

It was an enjoyable screening with two of the grandsons. The five year old said it was happy and sad at the same time. And he loved it! The twelve year old who has read …

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Unstoppable Streaming on Prime Video

Unstoppable is the inspiring true story of Anthony Robles (Jharrel Jerome) who was born with one leg but whose indomitable spirit and unbreakable resolve empowered him to defy the odds and pursue his dreams. With the …

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Sonic the Hedgehog 3 The Speed to the BoxOffice

“Sonic 3 will beat out Mufasa, for sure!” — JimmityCritic (12) Sonic the Hedgehog 3, what a fun evening with the grandkids it was. When you have a 12, 10 and 5 year-old clap their hands at the end …

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Mufasa: The Lion King the Prequel

Mufasa: The Lion King was entertaining and the production value was amazing to watch. Set in Africa, all-new film blends live-action filmmaking techniques with photoreal computer-generated imagery.  My 12 year-old grandson thought it was one …

LOCKED Is Intense and Entertaining A talk with the DirectorAt a Screening of Dog Man the MovieUnstoppable Streaming on Prime VideoSonic the Hedgehog 3 The Speed to the BoxOfficeMufasa: The Lion King the Prequel

Rico’s sister Raini Rodriguez gets a show of her own in December

…and a multi-media blitz to go with it

It’s no big secret that talent tends to run in the family, and the Rodriguez family is no exception. Rico has already made a big impact as the all-too-insightful son of Sofia Vergara on ABC’s Modern Family and proven his flexibility as a young pitchman in a recent “Back to School” series of office-supply commercials. And we’ve seen glimpses of his sister Raini Rodriguez before, in Paul Blart, Mall Cop to Prom and guest shots on TV series from The Suite Life of Zack and Cody to I’m in the Band. Now the 18-year-old is part of the ensemble cast of Disney’s newest kid-sitcom, Austin & Ally, also starring Laura Marano (Without a Trace) and newcomer Ross Lynch. The premise, according to Disney, “follows polar opposites-an extroverted musician/singer, and a brilliant yet shy Read the rest of this entry »

Paula Garcés returns to the world of “Harold & Kumar”

One more stop along the way for this busy Latina

We talked a bit about Paula Garcés last March right here–not just an actress, but a character in video games and a comic book co-creator. Since then, Paula’s appeared in episodes of The Good Wife and The Breakout Kings, and she’s in pre-production on Ruben Rodriguez’ first feature film, Deception, along with Rosa Blasi.

By the way, Paula’s not the only Latino wandering around the world of Harold and Kumar. The ubiquitous Danny Trejo will be there, too, as well as Latino actors Marvin Cruz, Shirley Benyas, and Esteban Cruz. And if you’d like to see Paula in the preview, check out the trailer very carefully (Hint: watch for the red teddy!). Read the rest of this entry »

Latino Hollywood and Winter Blockbusters 2011? Not so much…

After this week, Latino headliners are noticeably absent until 2012

…though Sofia Vergara and the ubiquitous Danny Trejo seem to be keeping busy.

All in all, it was a pretty good summer–at least in terms of visibility–for Latino actors, especially in high-profile supporting roles. And even though the TV networks have finally started to notice the value of Latinos in prominent positions (or at least they seem to be), the trend isn’t extending to theatrical releases, at least not in November-December 2011.

November gives us a few names in a few features, but it thins by the end of the month…

Michael Peña finishes a very productive year with one more entry, in his above-the-title involvement in Tower Heist, the new Brett Ratner crime comedy premiering Friday, November 4. And you’ll see the beautiful Paula Garcés and the…ah, less beautiful Danny Trejo in A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas, also crashing into theaters on Friday.

Brazilian director José Padilha made a small splash with action fans last year with Elite Squad; his sequel is showing up on November 11 here in the U.S. And the same day, Mexico’s popular actor Eugenio Derbez appears Read the rest of this entry »

Latino Voices: Animation Domination (and beyond), Part II

Last week we posted our first look at Latino voices in animation, featuring folks like Antonio Banderas, Cheech Marin, George Lopez, and the phenomenal Carlos Alazraqui. We knew we were only scratching the surface, but we had no idea how much more was there.

For instance, how could we have forgotten that Banderas was not the only Latino talent in the Shrek trilogy: Cameron Diaz was the princess, in human and goblin form, both completely charming. Meanwhile, Sofia Vergara isn’t busy enough with Modern Family, commercial endorsements, and movie roles; she also lends her unique vocal styling to a prominent role in Happy Feet Two, premiering on November 18. We also forgot one of the youngest (but most active) voices around, Jake T. Austin, the 15-year-old actor from Wizards of Waverly Place who is also the voice of Diego on Dora the Explorer and Go, Diego, Go, as well as in movies like The Ant Bully and Rio.

“Virtually every feature film and almost every television show produced in English in the U.S. has a Spanish-language voice track produced for foreign distribution and DVD release…”

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Jennifer Lopez’ production company does it again

This time she’s producing a Latino sitcom script for MTV

Jennifer Lopez must be the busiest woman in Hollywood these days–certainly one of the busiest Latinas. Besides judging American Idol for a second season and fronting for cosmetics, fashion, and car companies (frankly, we’ve lost count), her production company, Nuyorican Productions, is producing or placing projects all over town.

The newest is a script deal with MTV for a half-hour sitcom, as yet unnamed, to be written by writer/actress/internet celeb/composer Grace Parra, whose written for the Disney Channel’s Jonas LA show and Glory Daze. (More about her soon–interesting woman, and just as busy/productive as her boss on this project!). The summary of the show, according to The Hollywood Reporter: “The project centers on Lina Molina, a recent Read the rest of this entry »

Happy Halloween–and a shout out to all those Latino horror directors

Latino film-making and the horror genre have been joined at the hip–the fleshless, skeletal, creaking hip–since Latinos first started making films. And as Halloween 2011 shambles into view, we thought we’d raise a trembling hand in an unsteady salute to some of the field’s best directors, all of them proudly Latino.

George Romero, a Cuban-born director, is one of the horror grandaddies of us all. He made the very first Night of the Living Dead more than forty years ago, with unknown actors and a budget that wouldn’t cover lunch by today’s standards. In the process, he revitalized a dying genre and created a whole new approach to horror pretty much single-handedly…and all before the age of 30. Today, Romero has made more Living Dead movies than we can count, produced other horror movies, and continues to scare people to death…and undeath.

Guillermo del Toro, born in Mexico and raised in the San Fernando Valley, has brought a strange kind of beauty to horror, as well as a proud Latino flavor. More than one of his films has been

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A New Webseries Premieres, “The Trainee”

If you love comic books—this live action webseries might have something for you. The series premieres, Monday, October 31 at 9A (PT) and 11(CT) on a computer near you. They are three episodes, and they’ll be released every two weeks.

It stars; Raúl Castillo (The Trainee), Michael Ray Escamilla (The Macaw), David Barrera (Shadow Knight), and new comer Letty Valladares (Lucy Ramirez). And written by Mauro Flores, Jr., executive producer Valente Rodriguez, and directed by Miguel Alvarez.

You can see the trailer here and check out the episodes here. You’ll be hearing more about this, stay tune.

 

Latino Voices: Animation Domination

Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Constance Marie and yes, even Guillermo del Toro are among the voices in Puss in Boots, the spin-off from the Shrek trilogy that’s already made roughly 18 gazillion dollars for DreamWorks Animation. It’s anticipated that Puss will add another 35 per cent to that number by, roughly speaking, Tuesday.

This isn’t Banderas’ first trip around the animation nation. He’s been Puss since Shrek the second.  But the long-anticipated arrival of The Booted One reminds us that Latinos have been a major part of animation voice-work for years–not just behind the camera, doing the hard work, but out front, as celebrity voice-actors in feature films and TV series. Read the rest of this entry »

Tatyana Ali: love that girl! (and we didn’t even know it)

Sometimes cruising the cable channels is like cruising the Caribbean a hundred years ago. There are hundreds of uncharted islands. Some speak strange languages. Some are dark, mysterious, uninhabited. And some are surprising little jewels you didn’t even know existed.

We confess: TV One was one of those uncharted islands to us, until we caught up with Tatyana Ali, once the little sister on the Fresh Prince of Bel Air…and found that this beautiful young actress (her mother a Panamanian nurse, her father a retired police officer from Trinidad) has been working steadily right there on TV One, in a cute little sitcom called Love That Girl, in which Tatyana is that girl in question, that’s just now begun its second year. Read the rest of this entry »

Rodrigo García and “Albert Nobbs”

Has made or contributed to quite a collection of exquisite, quiet movies that are often collections of short films that weave themselves together into a larger whole–films like Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her, Ten Tiny Love Stories, and Nine Lives. His tight, intimate focus on stories isn’t surprising considering his heritage as the son of renowned Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez. García’s most recent effort is a bit of a change in direction: a remarkable period piece starring Glenn Close as Albert Nobbs. Se Fija! got a chance to attend a special screening of Nobbs, part of TheWrap.com’s special Awards Screening Series. This is one of those strange, touching, powerful little films that always seem to get mentioned around Academy Award time…and if something happy happens Read the rest of this entry »

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