Our Latin American journey leaves the South American mainland behind this week, and dips into Caribbean cinema with a 2007 film from the Dominican Republic, YUNIOL. After some reviews, we talk about class differences, telling multiple stories, and how this is not an ‘uneven’ film.

Recent Media
ALL OR NOTHING: TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (2021): Rob Worsoff, Kyle Dubas, Will Arnett
STRANGER THINGS S4 (2022): Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Winona Ryder

Recommendations
HEROES (2007–09): Tim Kring, Jack Coleman, Hayden Panettiere
SHARKTOPUS VS. PTERACUDA (2014): Kevin O’Neill, Robert Carradine, Katie Savoy
SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (2017): Jon Watts, Tom Holland, Michael Keaton
BLINDSPOTTING (2018): Carlos López Estrada, Daveed Diggs, Rafael Casal

Footnotes
This week’s links:

• [where this film comes from, Part 1] www.barcelo.com/pinandtravel/en/from-the-godfather-to-jurassic-park-the-best-dominican-cinema
• [where this film comes from, Part 2] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dominican_Republic_films
• [what this film could have been] www.tasteofcinema.com/2016/15-poetic-films-about-mundane-subjects
• [our episode about the film to which we compared this one] www.kaiju.fm/prestige/5-04-city-of-god-2002-corrupt-space
• [finally: yes this is about the UK, but it’s still a good article!] aaronguthrie.medium.com/the-representation-of-class-in-contemporary-british-film-and-tv-afc5882dd7d3

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The most recent film on our Latin American odyssey is the Venezuelan MY STRAIGHT SON (2012). After reviews — some more fervent than others — we talk about drama, found families, and whether or not we might have a Eurocentric view of this film’s politics.

Recent Media
GOLDENEYE (1995): Martin Campbell, Pierce Brosnan, Sean Bean
REACHER (2022–): Lee Child, Nick Santora, Alan Ritchson

Recommendations
THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER (2012): Stephen Chbosky, Logan Lernan, Emma Watson
BEAUTIFUL THING (1996): Jonathan Harvey, Hettie MacDonald, Linda Henry
[Sam’s last-minute, unexpected recommendation] THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES (2004): Walter Salles, Ernesto Guevara, Gael Garcia Bernal
THE LARAMIE PROJECT (2000): Moisés Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Stephen Belber

Footnotes
This week’s links:

• www.jstor.org/stable/26384822 (JSTOR subscription needed)
• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telenovela
• www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-catharsis-definition
• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queer_as_Folk_(British_TV_series)
• www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/g9621178/best-gay-lgbt-films

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After something of a hiatus: we’re back! With the award-winning 2015 Colombian film EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT. After some reviews, we dive in with a reference to Rob’s favourite theatrical director, as well as exploring why it’s good that this film was made and how it might be important that some people don’t get on board with it.

Recent Media
THE HARDER THEY FALL (2021): Jeymes Samuel, Idris Elba, Zazie Beetz
ENCANTO (2021): Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Stephanie Beatriz
THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS (2021): Lana Wachowski, Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss
TITANE (2021): Julia Ducorneau, Vincent Lindon, Agathe Rousselle
TICK, TICK…BOOM! (2021): Lin-Manuel Miranda, Andrew Garfield, Alexandra Shipp
SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME (2021): Jon Watts, Tom Holland, Zendaya
THE MAN WHO DIED TWICE (2021): Richard Osman
The Jack Reacher Book Series (1997—): Lee Child, Andrew Child

Recommendations
THE MOTORCYCLES DIARIES (2004): Walter Salles, Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, Gael García Bernal
NARCOS: MEXICO (2018–21): Carlo Bernard, Chris Brancato, Michael Peña
A FIELD IN ENGLAND (2013): Ben Wheatley, Julian Barratt, Peter Ferdinando
SORCERER (1977): William Friedkin, Georges Arnaud, Roy Scheider

Footnotes
Firstly, this is what we seem to be talking about a fair bit this episode: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_revisionism. As Rob mentions at the start, this film is two different versions of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero%27s_journey. Here’s the obligatory Brecht link: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bertolt-Brecht. It’s interesting that IMDB actually have this as a tag: https://www.imdb.com/search/keyword/?keywords=in-medias-res. This reviewer seems to have similar thoughts to Sam about the film: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/embrace-of-the-serpent-2016. Finally, here’s a link to our FIELD IN ENGLAND episode, for more on a film like this one in several ways: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-prestige-417454/episodes/a-field-in-england-and-psyched-29626170.

Another Small Batch episode, looking at the the 2021 horror film, Titane

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The next stop on our journey through Latin America is 2005’s MADEINUSA. After some reviews, we talk about how this film is itself a disturbing experience for the viewers, to what extent it presents the main character as a ‘femme fatale', and why it works as a complete disruption of the ‘white saviour’ myth.

Next Up
The next film in our Latin American Odyssey is Colombia’s EL PASEO (2010).

Recent Media
MIDNIGHT MASS (2021): Mike Flanagan, Kate Siegel, Zach Gilford
SQUID GAME (2021): Hwang Dong-hyuk, Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo

Recommendations
LA MALA EDUCACIÓN (2004): Pedro Almodóvar, Gael Garcia Bernal, Fele Martínez
HIGH NOON (1952): Fred Zinnemann, Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly
THE PURGE (SERIES, 2013–21): James DeMonaco, Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey
THE WICKER MAN (1973): Robin Hardy, Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland

Footnotes
Rob mentions a few cinematic touchstones for some of the visual stylings of this film: kabuki (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabuki), the morality play (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morality_play), and anime (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime). Some of this film’s ideas are also reminiscent of the film noir (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_noir), particularly at the end. This is an interesting analysis of ‘white saviour’ films: movies.mxdwn.com/feature/a-critical-analysis-of-white-savior-films-and-why-you-should-avoid-them. Finally, Rob mentioned tourism, in the context both of this film and of CITY OF GOD; this is a useful article about this, focused on the film’s geographical setting: barbieri.wordpress.ncsu.edu/files/2020/07/2020_Peru_SusTmo.pdf.

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The title for this episode comes from something Rob says towards the end of this chat, which I think sums up this film brilliantly. After reviews (spoilers: we loved it), we talk about a number of things to do with the incredible artifice of this film, and its brutality, and (strangely enough) its use of architecture. 

Next Up
Our next Latin American film is the Peruvian drama MADEINUSA, from 2005.

Recent Media
MONEY HEIST (2017–21): Álex Pina, Úrsula Corberó, Álvaro Morte
MALIBU HIGH (1979): Irvin Berwick, Jill Lansing, Stuart Taylor
BLACK WIDOW (2021): Cate Shortland, Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh

Recommendations
THE CONSTANT GARDENER (2005): Fernando Meirelles, Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz
THE NEON DEMON (2016): Nicolas Winding Refn, Elle Fanning, Christina Hendricks
PREDATORS (2010): Nimród Antal, Adrien Brody, Topher Grace
ROMEO + JULIET (1996): William Shakespeare, Baz Luhrmann, Leonardo DiCaprio

Footnotes
Firstly, find out more about Rio favelas here: catcomm.org/favela-facts. Sam mentions how touristy Rio’s favelas have become in the last 30 or so years; this site shows you what he means: www.daytours4u.com/en/travel-guide/rdj4u/favela-tourism. Roger Ebert wasn't always on the money, but this is a pretty good review of the ‘churn[ing…] furious energy’ of the film: /www.rogerebert.com/reviews/city-of-god-2003. And this is another good review about the story-telling genius at the heart of this movie: www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2004/06/the-movie-review-city-of-god/69527. Finally, this is a great piece (not only because the articles at Wallpaper are often very well-written) about architecture in film: www.wallpaper.com/architecture/architecture-in-film-through-the-decades.

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Our film this week is the slacker comedy/drama 25 WATTS, from Uruguay. Post-reviews, we talk about movies with which this shares obvious roots, as well as how this captures the experiences of disenfranchised youth, and some borderline-colonial-tourist-y speculation about why this was such an important touchstone in Uruguayan film.

Next Up
The next film on our cinematic journey through Latin America is the 2002 film CITY OF GOD.

Recent Media
KATE (2021): Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Miku Martineau
GODZILLA VS. KONG (2021): Adam Wingard, Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown
SHIN GODZILLA (2016): Hideaki Anno, Shinji Higuchi, Hiroki Hasegawa

Recommendations
THE MYTH OF THE AMERICAN SLEEPOVER (2010): David Robert Mitchell, Claire Sloma, Marlon Morton
waydowntown (2000): Gary Burns, Fab Filippo, Don McKellar
CLERKS (1994): Kevin Smith, Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson
SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT (1986): Spike Lee, Tracy Camilla Johns, Tommy Redmond Hicks

Footnotes
Firstly, it would be remiss of me not to include a reference to our CLERKS episode, from way back in the mists of time (remember how the world was, before COVID and Trump and Brexit? Ahhh…): www.kaiju.fm/prestige/clerks-slacker-cinema. For more on the cinema of Uruguay, see here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_Uruguay. If you’re a fan of 25 WATTS, why not try one of these: www.guruguay.com/5-uruguayan-films. Given our discussion of nationality, and why this might be a particularly ‘Uruguayan’ film, this is a good book (for the whole of this mini-season, in fact): books.google.co.uk/books/about/Latin_American_Cinema.html?id=MB-hBAAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y. Finally, I know it’s a comedy, not a drama, so doesn’t meet Rob’s criteria for authentic youth/university life on screen, but here’s a nice little summary of what made FRESH MEAT a good — and, it turns out, poignant — bit of tv: www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/mar/28/fresh-meat-farewell-good-luck-in-the-real-world-its-terrible-out-there.

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After something of a hiatus from the main feed, this week the band is back together with our look at (the most recent, Rob) THE ACCUSED. We talk about how this film undercuts expectations, what it has to say about the experiences of children as opposed to adults, and the in some ways chilling ending of the movie.

Next Up
The next film on our Latin American road trip is 2001’s 25 WATTS from Uruguay.

Recent Media
EMPIRE RECORDS (1995): Allan Moyle, Anthony LaPaglia, Maxwell Caulfield
THE SUICIDE SQUAD (2021): James Gunn, Margot Robbie, Idris Elba

Recommendations
THE ACCUSED (1988): Jonathan Kaplan, Kelly McGillis, Jodie Foster
THE ACCUSED (1949): William Dieterle, June Truesdell, Loretta Young
THE REVENANT (2015): Alejandro Iñárritu, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy
STAGED (2020–21): Simon Evans, Michael Sheen, David Tennant

Footnotes
Normal footnote service will resume next time: I hurt my hand this morning, and typing’s painful; I could leave it to Rob, but who knows what this section would look like then...

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