I Love You Phillip Norris

Based on a true story, Jim Carrey plays Steven Russell, a charismatic con-man who is sent to prison. While in prison, he meets his gay lover, Phillip Norris, which is delicately portrayed by Ewan McGregor. The performances on both ends are exquisite; Carrey, the eccentric, funny trouble-maker and McGregor, the sweet, pleasing southerner. A witty comedy that I very much enjoyed.

El Infierno

Benny, a Mexican emigrant, returns to his country 20 years after, and just like a time traveler, he finds himself with a worse Mexico than when he left.  A Mexico that has lost it's innocence and is now controlled by 'narcos'. 

Although this is a dark comedy, I found it kind of sad, because this is the reality of the Mexican society. The way a 'narco' corrupts everything he touches is finely portrayed.

An excellent film in which you will have some laughs and also become more aware of what life is like in most places in Mexico. 

Oceans

Oceans is a Disney nature documentary film that explores all Earth's oceans. Truly majestic and beautiful, the cinematography is stunning. I saw animals I didn't even know existed!! Like the "dugong", that was the weirdest one for me. The shots are amazing, all I kept thinking was "How did they get that?". Astonishing film.

Los Invisibles

Each year thousands of migrants are kidnapped, raped and murdered by the Mexican authority or local gangs throughout their journey in Mexico to get to the U.S. This heartbreaking documentary reveals stories of one of the most dangerous journeys in the world. The torture these people go through is no new thing but watching the interviews gives us a profound touch of reality. The figures are distressing, in a period of 6 months, 10,000 people have been found dead, 9 out of 10 come from Central America, and 6 out of 10 people are sexually abused. Hopefully, the Mexican government will do more to protect the migrants because to not do so, is inhuman. 
A must-see short film.

Little Fockers

Jack Byrnes suffers from a mild heart attack, realizes his time is almost up and eagerly wants to name his successor, Gay Focker. 
The third movie of the "Focker" trilogy. Why they made a third one, is beyond me. This film was dead in so many ways. One of the first scenes was just terribly gross and from then on, it just gets worse and worse. I didn't believe any of the roles, and to watch De Niro, Keitel & Hoffman was just disgraceful. This is exactly the movie in which we see what Ben Stiller's acting is really like, because to me he was just lucky with the rest of his hit films. Fake, exaggerated, lazy, just a plain awful.movie.

Waiting For 'Superman'

An excellent documentary about the public schooling system in the United States.
This film made me sad. The problems presented in the film seemed that much scarier because the U. S. is supposedly the country that should have a better public educational system than all the other countries in America. If this is what really happens in a country, which was once the prime power of the world, I don't even want to think about how the system in poorer countries is managed. The fact that a child's future is already partly predicted is simply horrifying. A dream-shattering film that you have to watch.

Events of cultural interest (GUADALAJARA, JAL, MX)

A great website that encourages you to assist to the hottest, artsy events in Guadalajara. Everything from galleries to film festivals to fairs. This is a great chance for you to awake your cultural roots.

Check it out, it will definitely be of great use to you...

http://abarroteramexicana.wordpress.com/

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised is a powerful documentary film based on the overthrow attempt of President Hugo Chávez in 2002. It was quite a shocking revelation to actually see what when on in Venezuela from the inside. I'm used to watching news on U.S. channels, so I always understood Hugo Chávez was a mean dictator. But for me this was an excellent eye-opening film. The love the Venezuelan people have for him is so electric and captivating that it actually gave me chills. Through conspiracy, once again, it all points to the U.S. trying to take advantage of one of the world's leading exporters of oil. An insider movie which is worth watching, so you can clearly see how the evidence speaks for itself.

The Yellow Handkerchief

A road trip between three lonely strangers brings them all together, when they are forced to reconnect with their past. LOVED IT! Absolutely loved it. A gentle yet captivating film with beautiful photography. All three leading performances were extremely convincing. This film definitely exceeded my expectations, hopefully it will exceed yours too. I suggest you watch it a.s.a.p.

Morning Glory

A stressed-out morning show producer tries desperately to make her program work but with her anchors bickering at each other incessantly, they make it almost impossible. As predictable as you know it's going to be, the director manages to let it become something more than just another chick flick. It's still a very cheesy movie, but I have to admit I did laugh a couple of times and I enjoyed Harrison Ford's egotistical jerk role. Definitely upped my mood even though I thought I was going to hate this movie. I wouldn't go to the movies to watch it though...

Please Give

Kate and Alex are owners of a modern-kitsch furniture store whose things they get from old people's  apartments that recently died. They get acquainted  with the granddaughters of an elderly woman who lives across the hall from them
Please Give is a series of small moments filled with envy and guilt. An artsy, clever, sentimental, funny movie, in which all of the performances are great. This one will make you smile.

La Ciudad de los Fotografos

Now, I look at the other side of the coin (I just saw I Love Pinochet).
La Ciudad de los Fotografos is a documentary film that covers a daring group of photographers that records brutal Pinochet's dictatorship.The film explores the families of the "desaparecidos" and pays homage to the courage of these activists. The documentary is a lot better than I Love Pinochet not only because it shows what truly happened, but the cinematography and photography is superb. You can truly see, through the testimonies and excellent photographies, how terrifying Pinochet's reign was. 
The only thing that bothered me about this film is that I could barely understand one of the photographer's spanish, for it was way too much of a local slang, and after a while it just gets annoying. But other than that, if you're a photojournalist, this is your kind of movie and if you're not, watch it either way, it's good!!

All Good Things

Based on a partially true story, this films revisits an unsolved mystery, the disappearance of Katie Marks It mostly covers the relationship between Katie (Kirsten Dunst) and David Marks (Ryan Gosling). David becomes creepier and more violent as the movie progresses and I thought Gosling did and exceptional job at it.
Solid performances, intriguing secuences and interesting moments, a pretty good home-watching movie.

I Love Pinochet

I Love Pinochet is a documentary film constructed through envisions that allow us to realize the broad and complex view of Chile's existing phenomenon, pinochetism. The numbers are mind-boggling, apparently 40% of the population still supports Pinochet's economic reforms and actually see them as keys to the nation's "salvation" from a communist government. My mind was simply blown away to see that people still adore him, and quite disgusted with the idea that they await the next "Pinochet". A good eye-opening documentary.

Solitary Man

Michael Douglas performs as another selfish douche. Real innovative, Mr. Koppelman. An aging businessman makes poor decisions regarding his work, family and relationships, leaving him a Solitary Man. This film was thoroughly unpleasant for the entire running time, boring and super predictable. The only thing that I thought wasn't that bad was the last scene, where he doesn't know if he should get in the car with his ex-wife or go after the young woman. That was it. This movie is not worth watching, don't even bother.

Secretariat

Based on a true story, Secretariat is about the greatest U.S. racehorse ever lived.
A conventional yet inspirational film. I was truly expecting a lot less from the film but in the end, I actually liked it, mainly because the ignorant me did not know the true story so it caught me off-guard. I read that when Secretariat died, they performed an autopsy and his heart was 2 and half times bigger than a normal horse's heart should be. Overacting and the dream-killing villain are obviously part of the film, after all, it is a Disney movie. One of the few (very few) good cheesy movies to watch.

Somewhere

Sofia Coppola's fourth film. The actor Johnny Marco is bored with his dull and meaningless life but takes a different turn when his ex-wife leaves their 11 year old daughter, Cleo, for a prolonged visit. Although this movie focuses on Marco, the real star and most resonant part of the film is Cleo. She does an exceptional job.
This film is definitely not for everybody in my opinion. It has prolonged scenes that could eventually bore the viewer. But, all in all, a great film despite all the bad criticism it has gotten. It has Sofia Coppola's signature written all over it, same style as Lost In Translation, which I absolutely adored. Maybe it's just the fact that I'm a big Coppola fan, but I liked it, a lot.

Monsters

An indie science fiction film that follows two Americans stationed in Mexico trying to make their way through the infected zone to get to the U.S. The infected zone is the northern half of Mexico filled with squid-like aliens.
Ok, so my first question is: What is up with the scene where they are both sitting on top of a pyramid admiring the U.S. border? Mexican pyramids are on the south of the country, so that was WAY OFF! Is it because everything is fiction? Or is it because the director wants the viewer to see how beautiful Mexico can be? Or is it just a mistake? I don't know...
To me, this was an immigration analogy. So, should I be offended because apparently Mexicans are monsters or feel complemented because at the end they show the human side to the aliens? I'm not really sure what to feel. I'm not really comfortable with the Mexican/alien metaphor, but I guess in the technical side of things it has excellent photography and all the extras were locals, which made the movie more authentic. I admire the fact that is was a well done film with a very small budget but I think it could have been so much better.

Chloe

Hiring a young, beautiful call girl to see if she can seduce your husband, just so you know he's actually cheating on you, is a pretty good idea if you ask me! I thought the movie was very intriguing. At first, I thought it was going to be just another predictable film, but I have to admit it had it's weird erotic twists. Julianne Moore did a superb job with her role. I was hoping to see a little bit more of Liam Neeson, but I read somewhere his wife died while filming this and they shortened his screen time.
I thought it was a riveting provocative flick, although at the end it left me wondering "What the hell just happened?". I have to say if we're talking about infidelity theme movies, "Revolutionary Road" crushes this one!!!!

Leaves of Grass

When I first read what this movie was going to be about I thought I was in for a stoner comedy, but faaaar from it, definitely calling this a drama. The film is about twin brothers who have vastly different personalities, one teaches philosophy in college (Billy) and the other is a very fine marijuana grower (Brady). They have both parted ways and re-encounter in a really strange way. I really think this movie is worth discovering, Edward Norton does a fantastic job playing both brothers and the supporting cast is also really good. Kept my interest going.

The Squid and the Whale

The plot follows a family living in Brooklyn that's dysfunctional in every extent of the word. Both, mother and father are novelists going through a divorce and the sons have different ways of dealing with it. Issue after issue and out-break after out-break,  but overall nothing seems to happen. The acting on Jeff Daniels is amazing with his insecure yet arrogant behavior. I thought, this being a Wes Anderson produced movie, it was going to be a lot wittier and funnier but it just seems to lack spark. To me this movie was just about ruthless, screwed up people with no climax. Ordinary film.

Presumed Guilty

Presumed Guilty is a documentary film about a typical case in Mexico's "justice" system, where a street vendor is charged with a murder he did not commit. It truly shows how old-fashioned and corrupted the legal system can be. After watching this film I felt so outraged, it really is an eye-opener to anyone who is unfamiliar to the way criminals are convicted in Mexico. I find it truly shameful that in my country one is guilty until proven innocent. The documentary, fortunately has a happy ending, but the reality is that not everyone can prove themselves innocent. Excellent film. I highly recommend it.

Angel-A

I have to say, I am a sucker for French films. As you can see the title is in French, I simply adore the language and the photography always seems to be superb. It might be the Parisian streets or the accordion music but I always fall for their elegance. The movie is a romantic comedy between a con-man who owes money to too many people and an angel.  I thought the movie was beautiful in every aspect. It was creative, passionate, simply beautiful, like flipping through an art book. The last 5 minutes were a little bit too much for me, but that's just me, haha!! The rest of the movie was magnificent.

Four Lions

The movie is a political comedy about four Islamic wannabe terrorists trying to engage in a suicide bomb attack. An obscure satire of one of today's most talked about matters. The main characters are all idiots and the director is trying to make the terrorists human with they're incompetence.. I thought it was a brave and quite unique film. Although, reading all the reviews I expected more, a lot more. Everyone said it was a clever, brilliant masterpiece but I truly counted the times I laughed. I didn't think the photography was one of the best either. I'm glad I saw it but I wouldn't watch it again.