They are hereeee

...o near. Some of the films which will debut in coming months (click on name to see the trailer).

Alicie in Wonderland (05/03/2010)

Avatar(18/12/2009)

Legion(22/01/2010)

Ninja Assassin (25/11/2009)

Sherlock Holmes (25/12/2009)

The Wolfman (12/02/2010)

Toy Story 3 (18/06/2010)

Xaw 6

Here's how it has been ranked the last film of the Saw saga by the Ministry of Culture of Spain, saying it "incites violence". Should be borne in mind that in Spain it means that the film has a rating of pornographic. And of course Disney-Buena Vista, its distributor, has not taken any good news. As for great evil, great remedies: for the moment the film is not exhibited in Spain. But this is a more serious problem.

On one side the fact that a large American producer, does not need the Spanish market to survive, even in times of crisis.

For another, the question of Spanish cinemas will not really enjoy the success the series has garnered.

And finally piss off Disney-Buena Vista, a distributor that has a large presence in Spain through several Disney films, many other films and several successful TV series like "Alias" or "Grey's Anatomy."

While change is expected from the Ministry, the film follows billboards announcing its opening-night throughout the city.

Alice returns to Wonderland

It was advanced this information several months ago, when it was mentioned that Tim Burton would do a new adaptation of Lewis Carroll book.

The argument is little more then you know from the book, the Disney film, and the many versions that have been carried out in this classic. There is a few differences from the previous films: one is the The White Queen (role played by Anne Hathaway), a character that appears in the second part: "Alice through the Looking Glass." Another, obviously, is that Burton is behind the project, which always ensures a particular tone to the films. I bet for an aesthetic similar as "Big Fish", a combination of clear-dark throughout the movie, but still have to wait a year to attend the big screen. Meanwhile, some new publicity photos of the film.

International Film Music Festival Ciudad de Úbeda

Exist in Spain and around the world festivals and awards related to the world of cinema, but it seems that only the visual pat is rewards. As we all know the films are formed by both, the film and the accompanying audio. Film music has always been important and was born as the same time as the cinema. And I do not mean the talkies movie, but the early films of the Lumière brothers and many others like "Nosferatu" by Murnau or "Metropolis" by Fritz Lang, among others. Not able to record audio of them, the music was live, and thus helped to create the appropriate atmosphere for what was going to see.

But focus, because this festival which has already fulfilled its fifth year deserves a special mention. It rewards that music to accompany short and long films: film music. And it does in several ways.

One is giving voice to composers through various conferences, and can offer their experiences in this world. For example this year's festival had the collaboration of Patrick Doyle ("Great Expectations", "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"), which was also the honorary president, who held a conference full of amusing anecdotes about his works.

Michael Giacchino ("Lost," "Alias," "Ratatouille"), which received a great ovation from the audience for their work on successful television series and for his soundtrack for the new film "Star Trek".

Christopher Young ("Ghost rider, Spiderman 3" "Hellraiser"), delighted his audience with several premiers and with his friendly and jovial character.

Joel McNeely ("The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones", "Air Force One"), which offered a magnificent spectacle in the recital by his flute apart from teaching his expertise to lead the orchestra in several parts of the concert.

Claudio Simonetti (“Profondo Rosso "," Night of the living dead "), less well-known composer as if almost everything has been working in Italy, but by no means lower quality.

Philippe Rombi ("Joyeux Noël" " Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis") with great shyness, perhaps overwhelmed by the reception, hosted a conference halfway funny in English and French. He also delighted the public with an interpretation of his piano works.

Wataru Hokoyama, probably the most unknown composer of all guests, has proved its artistic quality to the arrangements for the soundtrack of the game "Resident Evil 5", or the orchestration of the musical chapter of "Buffy, the vampire hunting." They could hear your next job "Africa", original soundtrack also for a PS3 game.

Importantly, the Spanish presence in this festival, because within our borders with major composers such as Roque Baños, which was attended by Santiago Segura and talked about their next collaboration together: “Torrente 4”. In the talk, the actor confessed his admiration for the composer and recounted several anecdotes of his friendship. People could saw them again on stage, when Santiago Segura put voice to the issue of initiation of Torrente 2. Fernando Velazquez has also managed to get scared with "The Orphanage" or "Forest of Shadows" and now presents his new work "Sexykillers”.

I mentioned that the festival supports the composers of two ways; the other is through the Jerry Goldsmith Award for Music Creators Novels for the media. Thanks to new composers they have become known and have already participated in successful national feature films like "La Conjura del Escorial" with music by Alejandro Vivas, "No me pidas que te bese, porque te besare" by Aritz Villodas (winner) or "El lince perdido” by Sergio de la Puente and others will be international hits as" The Red Canvas "by James Peterson," The Immortal Voyage of Captain Drake "Lucas Vidal and" Saints "by Manuel Riveiro.

Other categories have shown the work of composers with a promising career:

Oscar Xiberta, Stefan Maria Schneider, Ivan Palomares, Jorge Aliaga and Arturo Solar were winners in their categories, not forgetting to mention all the nominees. Pablo Laspra especially for his works on the documentary "Sons of the Desert" and also for show me this festival, because it has been an unforgettable experience. Thank you.

There is much more to say about this reunion of friends who gather in Úbeda, but I almost prefer that you, reader, who discover it, as their assistance is more than recommended.

Fresh news from Los Angeles.

The President of the Oscar Academy had done a revolutionary press release two days ago.

It looks like finally they understand that drama movies are not always the best, and they have done a very important change: instead of five nominees, from next year there are going to be ten.

There is more than one change. According of what the president said lots of movies couldn’t be nominee to this category because they weren’t drama, but yes very good films, as “Wall-E” or “The Dark Knight”. So from this right moment animation films, drama, comedy and movies of not English speaker are going to be included in Best Feature Film.

It is a great progress that shows us the awards don’t want to be lost in time. In fact, this is not the Academy first change. “Shrek” in 2001, put a new category in the Oscars: Best Animation Film. Yet in 1999 when the most emotive change had made it: change “the winner is” to “the Oscar is for”. Michael Caine was who showed us the importance of the new sentence when he won the award for “The Cider House Rules”.

Many other changes has happened in the Oscars long history, but the most important right now is that all the movies, no matter where they’re form, compete against theme to decide which are the best one.

Disney and their social phenomenon

Hello again. Sorry for my looong holidays. After these days I decided that was the the time to give new and fresh cinema and audiovisual news.

From some years to now, Hannah Montana is the fresh news in this world. This young and teenager idol is going to perform for the first time on the big screen with a film with the same character who she is famous. We take bets: how many think that is going to be a spectacular fail as Britney Spears or Maria Carey did; on the other hand is going to be successful as Madonna thanks to "Evita" (remember that film was musical film so...). This girl is becoming more popular but we have to wait for the results.

Also from Disney we can see HSM that start as a telefilm and actually you can have Barbie and Ken that look like its main character. There are three films about this schoolar friend group. The lasts news said that they become independents and for different ways. Zac Efron was seen in "Hairsapray" another musical film, but his next work is a teenager comedy where he is a family father that one day he is 17 again (can you imagine the title of the film? yes: 17 again). Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale have taken the musical way and both have videoclip. Maybe you can't see them on Disney Channel.

There is one thing that is clear: all those children that began with Disney, grow up and work by themselfs, although the Company want from them be a teenager always. Thank goodness that the story about Walt Disney was freeze is a legend, if not maybe to more than one producer come to mind a "brilliant idea"

Amenábar in Alexandria

The spanish director, who won an Oscar for "The Sea Inside", backs to the cinemas with a new history. This time he wants to show us what happened in Alexandria, when the library was burned with his new film "Agora". In this case Amenábar, as he did with "The Others", work with a foreigner cast, and Rachel Weisx is heading it. Maybe the director from Madrid is try to repeat the success he had with Nicole Kidman. In any case, Weisz is a good option to a film.

It's a fact that Amenábar have to thanks the publicity of his films, because there's not many spanish directors, really I think he is the only one, who has the possibility to work in a super-production, as we say in Spain, made in Hollywood. I have faith in his work doesn't finish in another box-office hit film. His movies aren't like this so we can be calm.

We had to wait to see te film on big screen, but we can imagine something with the trailer. Enjoy it!!

And the Oscar goes to...

Finally we could listen to these words on Sunday night. One more year, actors, directors and other members of the cinema world met in the Kodak Theater to see, hand in and hand out the most important awards of the big screen: the Oscars.

There weren’t many surprises this year, maybe that “The curious case of Benjamin Button” just won three of the thirteen awards that it was nominated, or “Doubt” that didn’t win anyone. The greatest surprise, in my opinion, was that “Departures”, a Japanese film, won the Oscar of Best Foreign Language Film instead of “Waltz With Bashir”, the film that everybody bet for winner.

On the other hand, some awards were well known, like Kate Winslet for “The Reader” that this year accumulates a lot of awards in her house: Golden Globes, BAFTA, Screen Actors Guild Awards and now the Oscar. Another non-surprise was the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor to Heath Ledger, one of the most emotive moments of the ceremonies when his parents and his sister went to the stage to take the price and said thanks to everybody for that. Other affecting minute was the Honorific Oscar to Jerry Lewis for his entire career and his humanity labor. And the last touching moment was the video to remember all the people of the industry who has die the last year.

Of course we can’t talk about the Oscars, without say anything about “Slumdog Millionaire” the big winner of the night. Best Film, Best Director and other six awards for this movie that shows something different of India, an especial view that makes it the film most searching on Internet.

And just two more awards: Best Actor, the only Oscar for “Milk” thanks to Sean Penn, and the best new for Spain: Penélope Cruz as Best Supporting Actress for “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”, makes her the first Spanish actress that won an Oscar.

To conclude, a few word for Hugh Jackman, the host. His musical actuations prove that he is good singing and dancing  but, his less presence on the stage makes me doubt about if he was hosting or just entertaining the ceremony. In any case, it was quite great see something different this year. For the moment, Oscar, see you next year!

The curious case of Benjamin Button

There are not many words to describe this film, because people is speechless with the masterpiece, but also a good work needs a lot of word to be explained.

The plot is touching, simple and complicated at the same time because is just a film about a life, but this life is so different at any other you may know. David Fincher wants to draw our attention in all the situations that are the life of this man who goes at the other way, because is the way to understand the film.

David Fincher, the director, is the type of name that maybe it’s not very known but he has a lot of films, which talks for him, like “Zodiac”, “Fight Club”, “The Game”, “Seven”, just to say some of them. These films help us to make an idea about what we are going to see: methodical, detailed characters and original work, also if it’s an adaptation. The screenwriter who made that work is Erin Roth as well-known as the director. Again the films talk about him: “The Good Shepherd”, “Munich”, “Ali”, “The Insider”, “Forrest Gump”, and a big etcetera.

The work in front of the cameras has to be mentioned. Brad Pitt was a men that creates excitement in the women, but I didn’t like it too many when I was young. He wasn’t the tipe of men that I put my eyes on and I thought that his work was bad and that he was in films just for his face. Well, the maturity feels fine to everybody and Brad Pitt is not an exception of that. His career has risen up (in my opinion from “Twelve Monkeys”), and now he has the appreciation of everybody. Different is the career of Cate Blanchett who hasn’t a constant progress, she has ups and downs. Sometimes she works really good and in very good films, but other time you see her in films that you can’t explain to yourself how she could accept this role. This film is definitely an up point in her career.

There is not too much to say. Very good audiovisual effects in the same way as the make-up, a setting well worked in the period time of the film, enviable stages (like the daybreak) and many other details that compose the film, and give a hope to people who likes go to cinema but not to see a Chihuahua as a main role. “The curious case of Benjamin Button” has a lot of possibilities in the Oscars.

And the oscar goes to...

It's a little soon to hear this sentence, but we just know who is going to be nervous when they hear it. Today we know the nominees list for the Academy Awards.

These nominees are quite different to the winner of the Golden Globes, where in the principal categories, "Slumdog Millionaire" won by a landslide, a film that has just been nominated for Best Motion Picture and Adapted Screenplay, and other technical Oscars (ten in total).

The big surprise has been "The curious case of Benjamin Button". They can be happy because it has five of the seven important Oscars, in addition to the artistic Oscars, making thirteen nominees in total. And if Brad Pitt doesn't win the Oscar, maybe will be more lucky his wife, Angelina Jolie with "Changeling" the only film by Clint Eastwood which is going to be in the awards.

Also a surprise, but more for it absence, is "Revolutionary Road" which has nothing, not even, with Kate Winslet for Actress in a Leading Role, a nomination does have for "The Reader". Happiness is what the makers of "Milk" are feeling. It has eight nominations, two of them main awards: Actor in a Leading Role and Actor in a Supporting Role. "The Reader" has four nominees and the one for Kate Winslet. "Doubt" has five, fore of the main Oscars, although two of its actresses were nominated for Actress in a Supporting Role. "Frost/Nixon”, also has five, but just one is for a main award. And "The Wrestler" which has Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei as the only representatives of the film.

Oscar also to "Wall-E" as Best Animated Feature Film, which means that finally the aim to be nominated as Best Film didn't work, but I’m sure that it is the best animated film. It’s the only one of them ("Bolt" and "Kung Fu Panda" are the others) that is in six categories, including Original Screenplay.

Now the nominee list is common knowledge, it's time to do the pools; the Oscar web site has the entire list. In one month we will know the result. Make your bets.

Happiness, disappointment, surprises and obvious prizes in the Golden Globes.

The 11th at night, was the famous prize-giving of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association of cinema and TV. The gala was carried out with style; this contest returning after a year of absence because of the scriptwriter’s strike, and all the participants retuned it with pleasure, enthusiasm and with perfect clothes.

But the red carpet wasn’t the only catwalk for actors and filmmakers. The Beverly Hilton’s assembly hall had its own catwalk of winners and hosts. The ones who were on the stage were the team of “Slumdog Millionaire” (a film half made in Hollywood and half in Bollywood), which won four important prizes: Best Director, Best Motion Picture Drama, Best Screenplay and Best Original Score.

Kate Winslet was the winner of the night, something predictable because she was the favorite, but not so clear because the great opponents that also were nominated. But her role as a seductress of a young man in “The Reader” and her with Leonardo DiCaprio in “Revolutionary Road” deserved to win the two prizes that she was nominated (for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture and Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama respectively) and give happiness to her movies, because they didn’t win any others.

The great surprises of the night: Mickey Rourke won as Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama for “The Wrestler”, maybe thanks to his campaign that he is carrying out for the Oscars; Sally Hawkins as Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy for “Happy-Go-Lucky”, as happy as the actress was in her never ending speech; and Colin Farrel for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy for “In Bruges”, which wasn’t really a surprise although it must be said because he also had great opponents as nominated.

Obvious prizes: Best Animated Feature Film to “Wall-E”, which was also trying to be nominated in the Oscars for Best Film but not Animation, in this way the robot created by Pixar would compete with human actors. Best Original Song - Motion Picture for “The Wrestler” for Bruce Springsteen, who showed what it a good friend is, and why he is “The Boss”. Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture to Heath Ledger for “The Dark Knight” a bittersweet prize that made everybody stands up and also shows that people don’t easily forget great performance, even if the movie star that played can’t take the prize.

There is a bit more to add. Happiness for the Israel team of “Waltz With Bashir” for its prize Best Foreign Language Film and sadness for “Doubt” that didn’t win any prize for Clint Eastwood, also when he has two films nominated, “Changeling” and “Grand Torino”. The tribute was for Steven Spielberg, who had the Cecile B. DeMille prize, a director who was mentioned in his speech as his mentor.

We have to wait to see what happens with the Oscars, about which be able to imagine something from 22th of this month, when we know the nominees.

New Year, New Post

Happy New Year!!

Now we are in 2009, I think it is a good moment to review the flim from last year.

Looking the publicity board I have to say that we can find any kind of film, as always: blockbusters from Hollywood started to appear near to the end of the year although in a smaller number than other years (the crisis is everywhere).

For me, it is a reason for happiness and celebration that the documentaries have increased in number on the big screen. This genre, which in Spain only has a TV audience, has filled the cinema this year. It means that the spectator is not just a popcorn eater and is someone who is worried about the world and interested in the things around them.

And like every year, there were films that did not realized that they were on the cinema, but they appreciated the opportunity, that finally are really good movies with an in-depth study of humanity. Maybe I exaggerate, but for me it's comforting to see that there are people who can think and write these things that others enjoy, and that thanks to that the multi cinema it's not just full of seconds, thirds and infinite parts, which look like the only thing that a group of idle scriptwriters can do.

I don't know what 2009 has in store for us. We have to wait and see.

Again Merry Christmas and I hope Santa Claus has brought a lot of presents for you.