Change Your Image
by-luis-m
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Una Noche En Mexico (2016)
Mexican American visitor and Mexican local girl confront their views and hearts
This movie by director Luis Luna Estrada explores the feelings of a Mexican American guy when he visits a hacienda in Guanajuato, Mexico, where the origins and property of his father's family have been in good hands, waiting for someone to return and manage or sell the hacienda, a place which also has two surprises for him: a tequila factory and a magical tradition about finding love in the location. The night the protagonist spends in Mexico is of a close encounter with love and also is one in which he will have to choose between selling the property (cutting ties with his past for good,) or developing new roots there. His first hours in there, before the one night, allow us to experience how tequila is made with a tour guide who is a Mexican charro, sombrero and all, reminiscent of the classic movies of this country, idealistically nostalgic but refreshingly funny. The next morning some hidden details will surface that will make decisions more difficult. Some nice new Mexican songs, but background music is not always comfortable. Don't expect horse chases, bullets, violence, caped crusaders, cliffhangers nor a masterpiece. It's an uneven movie, sometimes playful, sometimes melodramatic (telenovela-style,) sometimes romantic, sometimes reflexive about the differences between being Mexican vs. Being American of Mexican descent. The movie features some very good actors and actresses who try to make the best of story and continuity, because those two have gaps in them. The technical side of the production reflects its low budget with some difficulties at times. Expect too much tequila product placement. The main virtue of the movie is that it has a heart; the love of the main character pulled by both countries and the people in them.
Ayotzinapa, El paso de la Tortuga (2018)
A chronological documentary about an unsolved case
A detailed narration, with interviews and documents, of the case about 43 students that having been under custody of policemen, disappeared in Mexico in 2014. Very important because this subject is an open wound and paradigmatic of a failed investigation by the government.
The documentary begins by describing the background, family, school and circumstances of politically active rural Mexican students in the state of Guerrero that hijacked buses one night, because they wanted to go to a yearly protest in Mexico City. 43 of them disappeared after doing that. A few other students that had been with them survived to tell what happened until the time in which they were attacked by police forces (and insulted by soldiers.) Policemen took away their classmates and they were never to be seen again.
After that, the documentary follows the exasperatingly slow investigation that followed both at state and federal levels (thus the title of the documentary "The Step of the Turtle"), leading by popular pressure to an unconvincing official "historic truth" from Presidente Peña Nieto's Attorney General which seems to have involved torturing witnesses and altering evidence to distort facts into a convenient hypothesis that could close the case and stop the search. The relatives of the disappeared ones seeked the help that they didn't receive from the government somewhere else. An intervention of an international group of experts advanced more the investigation in a few weeks than the government in years. The findings of this group were uncomfortable for the Peña Nieto administration. The strange behavior of the official investigators, their slow approach to clear up facts, and their unwillingness to recognize mistakes and to cooperate with other investigators, points to signs of a cover-up.
Las glorias del gran Púas (1984)
The authorized biography of Ruben Olivares
This movie follows the attempt of writer Ricardo Garibay to gather information about the life of boxing champion, generous friend and popular hero Ruben Olivares, from him and his close ones. The production involved the real Ruben Olivares and attracted many famous actors to create this reflection of the boxer and his "friends", parasites of his money. Don't expect a story of personal improvement. The purpose was more to feel inside his world and try to understand him the way he is.
Mister Magoo (1960)
Very funny for little kids of the sixties and some gags still funny today
Even if the premise (nearly blind little old man acting as if he had good vision) is difficult to accept by an adult, Mr. Magoo is a character that has similarities with many kids' grandparents or elderly neighbors that refuse to accept their obvious age-related limitations, making him situation-comedy funny, and more because of the charm given to him by a great voice artist, Jim Backus (the Mexican voiceover was great too.)
Some of the visuals may need explaining for today's kids of how the things in the 1960s and before worked, like for example very old wall telephones or UHF band television channels. The minimalistic but stylish visual design was good and very modern for its time, maybe too dated for today's taste, although not a problem.
Again, the most difficult obstacle for this show is today's adult mind. The very simplified animation and many of the stories with coincidental plot points, always about nearsightedness denial, make it difficult for grownups to remember how much they laughed at simple, repeated gags during early childhood years.
My bet is that kids can still enjoy this show if not having a zillion other options at the same time and if given the chance by skeptical adults.
Padre Pro (2008)
The amazing life of Padre Pro
This biographical movie and its humanitarian drama made me feel the dangerous days of the religious persecution in post-revolutionary Mexico, with this brave and witty protagonist, great actors, good humor and script. Very entertaining to know more about history, the unfairness of a despotic regime, and how an intelligent person manages to be a priest when his activities are prohibited.
Risen (2016)
Nice epic movie, half from the scriptures, half for a CSI mentality
I liked this movie, even with some of its faults depicting a time in history. I specially like that they chose the Resurrection, because we already have many options about the Passion. And in fashion with all the crime scene investigation on TV here a Roman tribune investigates what happened to the body of Christ that the Romans expected to remain buried, but somehow the tomb was opened and empty. As a story for the screen it is entertaining and with convincing scenarios most of the time, as well as good acting. The research does show in uniforms, the tomb, houses and furniture of those times, and a few aspects of the Jewish Temple. The research is only half done about geographical locations in Galilee, which this production unfortunately depicts as a desert near an ocean; or about the contents of the Bible: details like who were the real witnesses, what the apostles really said, etc. but oh well, it's literary license and enjoyable as is.
Teletón (1997)
Mexico's telethon has changed many lives
In 1997 a thirty something director of the Mexico Unido Foundation was thinking big: to gather the efforts of many television and radio networks, with the support of some newspapers and commercial enterprises to launch the yearly broadcast of Teleton: a show with the best production values that raises awareness of the dreams and needs of handicapped kids and invites the audience to contribute and reach the amount of money needed to build a children's rehabilitation center every year and provide the attention in them by doctors and therapists. More than 20 years later more than 20 buildings are already built all over Mexico and working thanks to it. The help has been real and many stories of success in the development of children has given them better abilities and self-esteem. It has also helped handicapped boys and girls to be better understood and reduce labeling, awkward attitudes and bullying from those who interact with them.