hollywood
Viva Latino Film Fest International Opens With ‘Strike One’ Starring Danny Trejo
By GTVW
Photos Agency
The 1st Annual Viva Latino Film Festival NYC International (VLFFI) has chosen David Llauger-Meiselman’s award-winning indie Strike One, starring Danny Trejo, for its Opening Night to screen on Thursday, February 19, 2015. VLFFI runs February 19 to 22nd and will be held at the Film Anthology Archives located on 32 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10003.
Strike One is a story set in Boyle Heights and utilizes this Los Angeles community as an integral character. It also stars break-out artist Johnny Ortiz, Maria Isa Perez, cast along with veterans Billy Gallo, Alma Martinez, French Stewart, James Russo, Lawrence Smilgys, Reginald VelJohnson, and Zahn McClarnon.
“We’re thrilled Strike One is premiering at VIVA’s Inaugural event. It is a great story. We’re truly humbled,” stated Steven De Castro, Viva’s founder and co-executive director.
While Strike One is an anatomy of the dangers of living in low-income and at-risk communities, it is also about the injustice of California’s controversial Three Strike Law – where justice is determined by which side of the street you live on. Actor-Screenwriter Lawrence Smilgys has created a family in one of those “where life chose me” situations. “This law seems to insinuate that some people are born criminals and can never change,” said Smilgys.
“Our film brings a more realistic voice to a group of people that are generally ignored,” stated director Llauger-Meiselman, “and for the most part are truly an important piece of American culture.”
“We are really excited about this movie as it appeals to a wide range of audiences and families due to its rich subject matter, great direction and terrific performances by Danny Trejo and the entire cast,” said the film’s distributor, Steven Istock, president of California Pictures, Inc.
Manny Garcia (Trejo) is determined to steer his nephew Juan (Ortiz) away from falling victim to the trappings of a prejudiced juvenile criminal system. “Manny is an endearing character,” said Smilgys, “no matter how many times you knock him down, he is going to get up and forge ahead despite the shadow of the bureaucrat laws that exists beyond his understanding.”
Film producer Felipe Alejandro, a Boyle Heights native, said the making of Strike One was a labor of love. “The film reverberates with Latino audiences because it is a story that is made for us by us,” said Alejandro. “And, it’s about righting a very wrong law, and bringing justice to all the Latino and Black ‘Juan Garcia’s’ unfairly convicted and sentenced.”
Mr. Turner is refreshingly abrasive film
By Jenny Alvarez
Photos Courtesy
Mr. Turner is an eccentric British painter. Profoundly affected by the death of his father, loved by a housekeeper he takes for granted and occasionally exploits sexually, he forms a close relationship with a seaside landlady with whom he eventually lives incognito in Chelsea, where he dies.
Throughout this, he travels, paints, stays with the country aristocracy, visits brothels, is a popular if anarchic member of the Royal Academy of Arts, has himself strapped to the mast of a ship so that he can paint a snowstorm, and is both celebrated and reviled by the public and by royalty.
It’s full of eccentric, unconventional and deeply sharp moments. The main character is a creative life with great mess in his personal life. It’s impossible not to equate the ideas in the film about working and living as an artist as reflections on the filmmaker’s existence and the best part is the beautiful landscapes and wardrobe, during two and a half hours of exquisitely drawn and beautifully photographed vignettes of Turner’s life, the viewer will enjoy all the likeness of each character.
Midnight’s Children will set you up at night
By Jenny Alvarez
Photos: Courtesy
A film by Oscar®-nominated director Deepa Mehta, based on the universally heralded novel by world-renowned author Salman Rushdie and adapted by Rushdie himself (who also serves as the film’s all-knowing narrator), MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN is a tale at once sweeping in scope and intimate in tone. Full of heartbreak, hope, comedy, tragedy and a considerable amount of magic, the film conjures characters and images as rich and unforgettable as the vast nation it celebrates.
At the stroke of midnight on August 15th, 1947, as India declares independence from Great Britain, two babies are switched at birth by a nurse in a Bombay hospital. And so it is that Saleem Sinai (portrayed as an adult by SatyaBhabha), the bastard child of a beggar woman, and Shiva, the only son of a wealthy couple, are fated to live the destinies meant for each other. Over the next three decades, Saleem and Shiva find themselves on opposite sides of many a conflict, whether it be because of class, politics, romantic rivalry, or the constantly shifting borders that are drawn every time neighbors become enemies and decide to split their newborn nation into two, and then three, warring countries. Through it all, the lives of Saleem and Shiva are mysteriously intertwined. They are also inextricably linked to the history of India itself, which takes them on a whirlwind journey full of trials, triumphs and disasters.
This movie is at once a fascinating family saga and an astonishing evocation of a vast land and its people–a brilliant incarnation of the universal human comedy. Midnight’s Children stands apart as both an epochal work of fiction and a brilliant performance by one of the great director Deepa who makes a mix of magical thinking and political reality. Despite of certain sensitive topics and passages are crafted with amazing skill, and the narrator is a pleasant enough fellow. Great movie with great Indian taste!
Whiplash will be electrifying
By Jenny Alvarez
Photo Courtesy
Andrew Neyman (Milles Teller) is an ambitious young jazz drummer, single-minded in his pursuit to rise to the top of the east coast music conservatory. Plagued by the failed writing career of his father, Andrew hungers day and night to become one of the greats. Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), an instructor equally known for his teaching talents as for his terrifying methods, leads the top jazz ensemble in the school. Fletcher discovers Andrew and transfers the aspiring drummer into his band, forever changing the young man’s life. Andrew’s passion to achieve perfection quickly spirals into obsession, as his ruthless teacher continues to push him to the brink of both his ability – and his sanity. During 1 hr. 46 min, this great Director and writer Damien Chazelle shows a tremendous with excellent psychological intensity in the main characters especially when some experience becomes in wisdom for certain talents. Especially when Andrew is a dedicated student with big dreams of becoming one of the greatest jazz drummers but J.K. Simmons demands the best effort even in some moments looks like disharmony in each other. In few words is a well structured movie drama with intensity, vulnerability, and depth in feelings and ambition. Good ambience and locations but the best part is the background music. Definitely is a mind game and a film that reflects our way in life.
