Several movies over the past decade have brought Mexican cinema repeated international recognition. While popular films like Amores Perros and, most notably, Pan’s Labyrinth are without a doubt great, no film in the last decade has given me as much hope about the possibilities of a Mexican national cinema as Y Tu Mama Tambien (beautifully directed by Alfonso Cuaron).
Another yearly award season will come to an end tonight when trophies for top motion picture honors, the Academy Awards, are handed out in California. As with previous years, the long stretch of endless pre-cursor awards handed out leading up to the Oscars means we pretty much know what to expect tonight. It would perhaps be Oscar’s biggest shock if someone like Mo’nique ended up losing.
Sure, there are people out there who think there’s an actual race for Best Picture between Avatar and The Hurt Locker. The only thing I can say to that is that I don’t get it. The Hurt Locker might appear microscopic in comparison to Avatar but, apart from the Golden Globe, it has won every award you can think of so far. An Avatar win tonight would flat-out shock and disappoint me. True, I would have said the same thing about a Brokeback Mountain loss a few years back, but I am not expecting history to repeat itself so soon. So with Picture, in my opinion, pretty much wrapped up, it narrows down the likelihood of any major surprises to a couple of categories. The most likely of these is Best Actress.
What Will/Should Win. Plus What should have been nominated.
Best Picture
Will Win: The Hurt Locker (Alt: Avatar)
Should Win: The Hurt Locker
Should Have Been Nominated: Bright Star
Best Director
Will Win: Kathryn Bigelow (Alt: None)
Should Win: Kathryn Bigelow
Should Have Been Nominated: Jane Campion (Bright Star)
Best Actress
Will Win: Sandra Bullock (Alt: Gabby Sidibe)
Should Win: Gabby Sidibe
Should Have Been Nominated: Catalina Saavedra (The Maid)
As I posted before, my hike to Huentitan canyon last week did not end so well. I had a lot of fun, but we ended up being turned away before I was able to see the river. Rod : Bodies of water :: Moth : Flame. So I had to go back this weekend.
As much as I wanted to be prepared for a donkey attack with gear to step all over them, going for my hike in boots might not have been the best idea. And I was once again unable to reach the river, although I was that much closer. Within meters, in fact. I’m beginning to wonder if this is the Mexican Area 51. I will just have to keep going back until I reach my intended destination, I guess. That might have to wait until the missing layer of skin at the bottom of my feet grows back, though. Until then, I have these photos (and more over at my Flick’r page):
Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art.
One of my favorite ways to spend Valentine’s Day, were I not so cynical, would be a day with a few of my favorite movies. I might be biased, but it’s romantic, relaxing and relatively effortless. Judging by a couple of titles out now and aimed at sweethearts all over, a less-cynical version of me would not be alone.
If you choose to spend your Valentine’s Day this way this year, do yourself, your relationship and humanity a favor: stay away from multiplexes and crap like Dear John and Valentine’s Day. I suggest, instead, watching the tragically overlooked 2009 Jane Campion film, Bright Star.
Huentitan Canyon is located in the Guadalajara Metropolitan area. The Rio Grande de Santiago (Mexico’s second largest river) runs through the bottom of the canyon. Climbing down to the bottom is quite the workout (don’t be fooled by the pictures, they don’t do the hill’s angle any justice). As someone who is a little obsessed with fresh bodies of water, I couldn’t wait to get to the bottom for a close view of the river. Sadly, during our climb down this weekend, we decided to take a bit of detour along the way thinking it’d be faster, and ended up in private property at the bottom of the canyon. Unable to get to the river itself.
Enjoy the (distant) views of the river and canyon.
Huentitan Canyon Sunset
One of the things I most looked forward to when moving to Mexico was exploring Mexican cinema, from its very first silent movies to the current, and very much resurgent, era. Over the last decade, Mexico has witnessed unprecedented international success with Academy-Award nominated films like Amores Perros, The Crime of Father Amaro, Pan’s Labyrinth and Y Tu Mama Tambien. Without taking away anything from those movies (Y Tu Mama Tambien, in particular, is one of my all-time favorites) I wanted to bring attention to four filmmakers whose films didn’t quite receive the attention of the aforementioned titles. These filmmakers, however, could very well represent the birth of a bright, artistic period in the future of Mexican cinema..
First off, Francisco Vargas. Of the four directors I will be covering ,he is the only one to have made no more than one feature-length film over the course of the decade. That film, 2005’s The Violin (El violin), is such a poignant, assured debut that he absolutely had to be included here nonetheless.
The announcement of the Oscar nominations this morning was business as usual, for the most part. A couple of surprise nominees did manage to sneak in, most notably in the supporting actress race. After a decade of fantastic work, it was pleasant to see Maggie Gyllenhaal earn her first Academy Award nomination for her work in Crazy Heart in spite of a slightly bipolar campaign that saw her in both the supporting and lead actress categories at different stages of the race.
That aside, and while I had long given up on nominations for some of my favorite films, there were still a couple of major disappointments. It is only the second day of the month and already I’m threatening to exceed my whining quota, so for my own sake I will cap off my list at three.
Marion Cotillard
I realize this is so more than one month ago. Call my style retro.
2009 had its share of great moments in cinema, but ultimately I have managed to narrow down my list to fourteen films which I consider essential viewing. I, of course, have no time to watch every movie released in any given year and so there are a few, mostly smaller, films that I have yet to watch. Among them Summer Hours, 35 Shots of Rum, The White Ribbon, A Prophet, A Serious Man, The Beaches of Agnes, and The Headless Woman.
I also saw a handful of very good films that came close to making my list, but just missed out. They include The Princess and The Frog, A Single Man, An Education, and Good Hair.
On to my Top 14.
14. Avatar
You’ve probably heard everything there is to say about this film at this point. It’s true that it might not be storytelling at its best. On a visceral level, however, I can think of only a few movies that I have enjoyed more over the last few years. That’s pretty hard to come by, so why whine?
13. Coraline
The first animated film on this list is the wonderful, imaginative and visually stunning Coraline. It adheres to the classic fairy tale format close enough for comfort and somehow still ends up being an altogether original experience with just the right amount of spooky horror.
12. Star Trek
Leave it to J.J. Abrams to bring a previously dying franchise back to life with such force. This is how summer action blockbusters should be made. A must-see for Star Trek fans and non-fans alike.
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