FICM 2013: PARAÍSO (PARADISE, 2013)

Situated in FICM’s Mexican Feature competition, Mariana Chenillo’s Paraíso (Paradise, 2013) cooks up a delectably sentimental offering, albeit from a slim premise. Carmen (Daniela Rincón) and Alfredo (Andrés Almeida) have been childhood sweethearts since secondary school, living sequestered and happy lives in a small town, oblivious to their mutual obesity. But once Alfredo achieves a work promotion that relocates them to Mexico City—and after attending their first office party where Carmen inadvertently hears Alfredo’s workmates refer to them as “Boteros” (which, distraught, she looks up on

Read more »

{[['']]}

DETROIT UNLEADED (2012)—The Evening Class Interview With Rola Nashef

I met Rola Nashef in Panama City during the 2013 Panama International Film Festival. We fortuitously sat beside each other on the transit shuttle from the festival's Midnight Mojitos Boat Party to the after-party in Casco Viejo. Within minutes, she had me laughing and our ride to the discotheque afforded the opportunity to ask her about her film at the festival, the Lebanese American romantic comedy Detroit Unleaded (2012) [Facebook], which had premiered at the 2012 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, winning the inaugural Grolsch Film Works Discovery Award. Though it had n

Read more »

{[['']]}

RETURN TO GREY GARDENS—The Evening Class Interview With Joshua Grannell (aka Peaches Christ)

I think I read on Wikipedia or some other reliable source that Joshua Grannell (aka Peaches Christ) is genetically inclined to reappropriate films for his (her) own purposes. "Nothing is sacred," the infamous drag star impresario is rumored to have said. Specifically not the Maysles Brothers' 1975 documentary Grey Gardens, which depicts the everyday lives of two reclusive socialites, Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale (1895–1977), known as "Big Edie", and her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale (1917–2002), known as "Little Edie", who lived at Grey Gardens, a decrepit mansion at 3 West End Road in the weal

Read more »

{[['']]}

FICM 2013—Arturo de Córdova Retrospective

Arturo de Córdova (May 8, 1908–November 3, 1973), considered one of the most important actors from the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema, will be honored posthumously as part of the International Film Festival of Morelia (FICM), whose eleventh edition will take place October 18-27, 2013 in Michoacan's capital. De Córdova will be remembered 40 years after his death by way of a retrospective of some of his most beloved films, to be screened in restored 35mm prints. This cycle of films, out of a body of work of 100 films, have been selected for the festival retrospective.Daniela Michel, director of

Read more »

{[['']]}

BIG BAD WOLVES (2013)—Fantasia Q&A With Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado

It's an oft-stated supposition that one of the redeeming values of genre films—particularly horror, sci-fi, and thrillers—is the capacity to reflect the anxieties of the predominant culture. This cultural component is essential to framing an appreciation of Big Bad Wolves (2013) [Facebook], the sophomore effort by Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado (Rabies, 2010), which seeks to introduce the violent revenge thriller to home turf audiences more accustomed to dysfunctional family dramas and war-torn narratives. Keshales and Papushado have negotiated this challenge by premiering Wolves first

Read more »

{[['']]}