This is the final part of my conversation with comics writer Robert Loren Fleming on the tragic backstory and forgotten history of DC’s Thriller comic book series. As I explained last week, this is actually an addendum to my recent article on this 80s cult favorite in TwoMorrow’s Back Issue Magazine.
Thriller was poised to be the next big thing from DC, but it seemed like many forces conspired against it. Despite it all, Thriller achieved a certain status. How did so many things go off the rails? The behind the scenes stories are as fascinating as the story between the covers.
Hazing, Publishing Style
There were some difficult things going on backstage at DC in those days. One of the uglier things was the hazing. It included everything from ripping up freelancers checks to harassing a female worker to the point where she was ready to clobber...
Thriller was poised to be the next big thing from DC, but it seemed like many forces conspired against it. Despite it all, Thriller achieved a certain status. How did so many things go off the rails? The behind the scenes stories are as fascinating as the story between the covers.
Hazing, Publishing Style
There were some difficult things going on backstage at DC in those days. One of the uglier things was the hazing. It included everything from ripping up freelancers checks to harassing a female worker to the point where she was ready to clobber...
- 9/11/2017
- by Ed Catto
- Comicmix.com
Facebook is planning to buy its own original video content, the company said on Wednesday. Mark Zuckerberg’s social media platform is in discussions with video producers, looking to license and fund original programming for its dedicated video tab, rolled out earlier this year. The effort is being led by Head of Global Creative Strategy Ricky Van Veen, the former Iac executive and CollegeHumor co-founder who joined Facebook in June and was tasked with linking the social network with media companies looking to distribute their videos. Also Read: Help Wanted! Facebook Seeks Head of News Partnerships Amid Fake News Fracas...
- 12/14/2016
- by Reid Nakamura
- The Wrap
Last Man Standing was in the news last week for its controversial episode about “safe spaces” and “microaggressions”. Though I applauded the series for exploring an issue that most shows won’t touch, the internet wasn’t as kind. This week’ s episode didn’t tackle anything nearly as controversial, and I actually kind of missed the controversy. I guess it fell back into safe mode, which was fine, but a little bit disappointing. This week on Last Man Standing: Vanessa is getting restless at home, much to the chagrin of her family. Given that, Mike attempts to help her find a teaching job, but
Last Man Standing Review: Vanessa Explores “Help Wanted” Ads...
Last Man Standing Review: Vanessa Explores “Help Wanted” Ads...
- 12/10/2016
- by Nick Hogan
- TVovermind.com
Possessions, exorcisms, the whole business is difficult. That's not an understatement, nor is it a joke.
The Catholic Church takes the practice seriously, whether we're watching this go down for entertainment or not. There's a serious shortage of exorcists available to the Vatican right now. Help Wanted, if you happen to be a priest in the field.
The Exorcist Season 1 Episode 7 shows us just a bit of why it's such hard work. Whether you believe or not, are devout, ordained, excommunicated or in high places, issues of God and faith affect everyone differently.
The Rance family is doing their best to hold it together. They have no idea where their daughter is, but part of the community is behind them. Those they know, those who attend their church.
The sensational side, the tabloids, those who are getting wind of who Angela is, and more importantly who she was and who her mother is,...
The Catholic Church takes the practice seriously, whether we're watching this go down for entertainment or not. There's a serious shortage of exorcists available to the Vatican right now. Help Wanted, if you happen to be a priest in the field.
The Exorcist Season 1 Episode 7 shows us just a bit of why it's such hard work. Whether you believe or not, are devout, ordained, excommunicated or in high places, issues of God and faith affect everyone differently.
The Rance family is doing their best to hold it together. They have no idea where their daughter is, but part of the community is behind them. Those they know, those who attend their church.
The sensational side, the tabloids, those who are getting wind of who Angela is, and more importantly who she was and who her mother is,...
- 11/12/2016
- by Carissa Pavlica
- TVfanatic
![Emma Roberts in American Horror Story (2011)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BM2ZlMjQ2ZmEtODEwYi00ZTk5LThmY2UtYWFiNzE3MjZjNzQyXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTU1ODIwMTM1._V1_QL75_UY207_CR1,0,140,207_.jpg)
![Emma Roberts in American Horror Story (2011)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BM2ZlMjQ2ZmEtODEwYi00ZTk5LThmY2UtYWFiNzE3MjZjNzQyXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTU1ODIwMTM1._V1_QL75_UY207_CR1,0,140,207_.jpg)
In the wake of Rory’s death, Wednesday’s American Horror Story: Roanoke upped the fear factor, turning loose Agnes on a rampage, revealing Dominic’s dark side and sending Lee, Audrey and Monet down a perilous path in hopes of making us squeal like the Piggy Man. Did it work? Let’s review the events of “Chapter 7,” then hash it out in the comments.
Related2017 Renewal Scorecard: What’s Coming Back? What’s Getting Cancelled? What’s on the Bubble?
Putting The ‘R’ In ‘R.I.P.’ | As the hour began, Sidney was delighting in Matt’s attack on Dominic and,...
Related2017 Renewal Scorecard: What’s Coming Back? What’s Getting Cancelled? What’s on the Bubble?
Putting The ‘R’ In ‘R.I.P.’ | As the hour began, Sidney was delighting in Matt’s attack on Dominic and,...
- 10/27/2016
- TVLine.com
![Help Wanted (2008)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjA2MTg1Mzg4OV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNzI5OTk0NA@@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR3,0,140,207_.jpg)
![Help Wanted (2008)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjA2MTg1Mzg4OV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNzI5OTk0NA@@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR3,0,140,207_.jpg)
This week on The CW’s The Flash, amid an episode that was ostensibly about two new (if not particularly compelling or dangerous) metahumans, the team took a bold step in the name of shoring up its ranks.
RelatedLegends Schedules Snart’s ‘Return,’ Plus Arrow 100 News
Because while it’s fine and good that Harry paid us a visit from Earth-Two, the fact is that he and his daughter will need to go back, just as soon as Jesse gets a few more speedster lessons. Harry’s own solution: Go reel yourself in another Harrison Wells!
So after transmitting out...
RelatedLegends Schedules Snart’s ‘Return,’ Plus Arrow 100 News
Because while it’s fine and good that Harry paid us a visit from Earth-Two, the fact is that he and his daughter will need to go back, just as soon as Jesse gets a few more speedster lessons. Harry’s own solution: Go reel yourself in another Harrison Wells!
So after transmitting out...
- 10/26/2016
- TVLine.com
Burbank, CA (June 2, 2016) – After finding out who had a hand in his wife’s murder, Sheriff Walt Longmire is back for the fourth season of the hit crime drama Longmire. In this gripping three-disc, 10-episode set, characters test their courage and face challenges that will ultimately define them. The thrilling third season of this contemporary Western captivated fans across the country, demanding for Netflix to bring it back for a fourth season. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will release Longmire: The Complete Fourth Season on DVD on September 13, 2016 for $24.98.
Longmire: The Complete Fourth Season will also be available to own on Digital HD via purchase from digital retailers on September 13, 2016.
Due to overwhelming fan demand, Longmire: The Complete Fourth Season also arrives September 13, 2016on Blu-rayTM courtesy of Warner Archive, and will be available at Amazon.com and all online retailers.
The new season finds unflappable Sheriff Walt Longmire...
Longmire: The Complete Fourth Season will also be available to own on Digital HD via purchase from digital retailers on September 13, 2016.
Due to overwhelming fan demand, Longmire: The Complete Fourth Season also arrives September 13, 2016on Blu-rayTM courtesy of Warner Archive, and will be available at Amazon.com and all online retailers.
The new season finds unflappable Sheriff Walt Longmire...
- 6/5/2016
- by ComicMix Staff
- Comicmix.com
"Ixcanul" is Guatemala's Official Submission in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 88th Academy Awards. Isa: Film Factory Entertainment. U.S. Distributor: Kino Lorber
Ingrained millenary practices and forbidding modern concerns unfold simultaneously against the backdrop of dark volcanic stone, colorful attires, rural duties, and perpetual mysticism, in a film that’s as aesthetically exquisite as it’s gruelingly bold in its quest to be fueled by unrestrained reality. Jayro Bustamante’s “Ixcanul” is an ethereal masterpiece whose breathtaking beauty is layered with sociopolitical undertones while always honoring the indigenous people at its center and, more specifically, its women's unwavering and restrained strength waiting to be unleashed.
This profoundly affecting story follows Maria (María Mercedes Coroy), a Kaqchikel Mayan young woman, who lives with her parents near in the outskirts of a volcano near a coffee plantation. This land, its scent, its colors, and its people are all she’s ever known and all she’s ever wanted until now. When an arranged marriage threatens to put an end to her apparent freedom, Maria considers the possibility of venturing far from home and seeing what’s beyond the mountains, but her naïve eagerness to escape will place her in the crossfire between romantic betrayal, dangerous rituals, and the unwelcoming urban world.
Bustamante juxtaposes Maria’s unnerving coming of age story with her mother Juana’s (María Telón) efforts to salvage the family’s future by abiding by tradition. Within these two parallel experiences there is an urgency to bring attention to the vulnerability of Guatemala’s Mayan population who are rarely given a voice.“Ixcanul” is a fierce artistic triumph coated with complexity, subtle poetry, and a delicate ability for capturing its characters’ introspective dilemmas through its imagery. Such showcase of attuned sensibilities is expected from a seasoned auteur at the peak of his creative powers, but Jayro Bustamante has accomplished just that with his astonishing debut feature. No wonder “Ixcanul” is Guatemala’s most acclaimed film ever and the winner of numerous international awards including the Alfred Bauer Award at the Berlin International Film festival.
We talked to Bustamante about the his relationship to the Mayan community where the film was shot, the male chauvinist societies that hinder women’s growth, his homeland’s institutionalize discrimination against indigenous people, and the incomparable visual allure of “Ixcanul.”
Kino Lorber will release "Ixcanul" in early 2016.
Carlos Aguilar: The film focuses on these two women who are every strong in distinct ways; however, they are faced with extraordinary circumstances that test that strength. How did the idea to write a story about these two connected characters come about?
Jayro Bustamante: The idea was born from a real story, the story of a real Maria. What’s really inspired in her life is the third act, the problematic situation with the baby. Based on that I started to create this fictional screenplay but always grounded on real things that I had seen in Guatemala. I grew up in that region and I asked myself, “How does one become the perfect victim?” just as Maria is in the film. That’s how I started building this story. I had two very clear themes I wanted to work on: one was loss and the other maternity. In order for the loss and that sort of prohibition to become a mother that is imposed on Maria to feel as powerful as they do in the movie, I needed to construct a kind of maternity that was beautiful, without idealizing it but highlighting it. That’s why I created the relationship between these two women. Throughout the process I always worked with the actresses as if the two characters were one. We always thought that Maria, if she had been given the chance, would have become Juana. She would have been just as strong as her. That’s how we worked on these two characters.
While Juana is the matriarch and often appears to be charge, she still lives in a male-driven society where her needs and desires are secondary to those of the men around. Was it important for you to depict the internal strength of these Mayan women while also being honest about the world they live in?
Jayro Bustamante: From the beginning my intention was to adhere to reality, except for the magical realist touches that I also wanted the film to have because they were very important. Magical realism doesn’t work if the real reality doesn’t exist. There is a great contradiction in male chauvinist societies, and that is that they are usually composed of matriarchal groups. A woman reigns but she always reigns in a small space that the man left for her. She reigns when the man needs someone to be in charge of things that he doesn’t want to take care of. For me that matriarchy is till is part of this male chauvinism or "machismo" and that matriarchy continues to feed it. If I’m against male chauvinism, I should also be against matriarchy because both extremes are bad and one is derived from the other.
What I really wanted to demonstrate was that there is a waste of feminine energy that happens in male chauvinist societies.To get from point A to point B, a woman has to embark on an incredible journey through everything that’s in between these two points and have a great strategy to be able to get there. This journey would be so much easier if we would let her take those steps and then with her own strength she can get wherever she wants to go. I wanted to talk about that strength and that’s why there is that parallel relationship between Maria and the volcano. There is something symbolic about it. For me, Mayan women in Guatemala today are like that volcano that rumbles and resounds but hasn’t yet erupted. Real change will happen when these women erupt and release what they have inside. That’s the metaphor we wanted to convey, the connection between these women and the volcano.
One of the greatest achievements of the film is that it refrains from observing the characters from an ethnographic perspective or with an air of exoticism. These are people. Yes, people with different traditions and experiences from what many consider normal, but they are still as human as anybody else.
Jayro Bustamante: Definitely. I never had that temptation or that perspective because I grew up there, so for me there is no difference between us. I wouldn’t do it with any other culture. That’s something I can’t understand, to think there are people that one can observe like if they were in a zoo. I don’t think that’s right. Rich cultural differences show us the diversity that exists in the world, but if you explore any of these differences you’ll see that we all have the same human feelings. That’s what allowed me to make a story that was very local but that at the same time could have certain international repercussion. I wrote a film about a woman whose problems take us into the problems of a family and that in turn takes us into the larger social problems. That’s what we wanted to do from the beginnings. That can’t be done if the feelings that belong to the universal language are not present.
Indigenous languages are rarely used in modern cinema and because of this indigenous people have in a sense become both faceless and voiceless. How crucial was it for you to make the film in the Mayan language?
Jayro Bustamante: It was very important. Perhaps there is a bit of melancholy because as I said I grew up there. I had a nanny that taught me a lot of things, a lot of traditional stories, and who also taught me that language when I was a young child. Maybe this melancholy is there, but above all this, language is the clearest example to demonstrate how a large portion of the country lives without the tools to grow and evolve in its own country. They are foreigners in their own country, but they are the majority. Today statistics say that these people represent only 40% of the Guatemalan population, but that’s a lie. Discrimination is so strong that if you are Mayan and during the census or on a survey they ask you, “Are you Mayan?” you prefer to say that you are mestizo or mixed because you are ashamed to say who you really are. The social fracture is so big that in Guatemala the worse insult you can tell somebody is calling him or her an “Indian.”
Something similar happens in Mexico, where I'm from. People tend to associate indigenous languages, features, or traditions with negative ideas or as something that's less sophisticated or worthy, which is terrible.
Jayro Bustamante: When you think about it, if the worse insult is to be who you are, even if you are the majority in a country, it means that the majority of the country has a terrible complex regarding their identity. If you are trying to improve yourself or overcome this circumstances, these ideas make very complicated emotionally. There are many themes that we touch on in the film that are derived from discrimination. When I travel abroad I get asked a lot, “Why does Pepe want to go to the Us?” Maybe you and I can understand why this young man wants to leave. The reason why he wants to leave is obvious to those of us who are from countries like Mexico and Guatemala. He earns one dollar a day in Guatemala and in the U.S. he could earn, let’s say, $15 an hour. It’s true that in the U.S. he could be discriminated for being Latino, but he is already being discriminated in Guatemala, his own country, because his Mayan. He has a lot more to win than to lose by leaving. That’s very sad.
Tell me about the process of finding your actors and how challenging this was. You evidently needed people who were Mayan and who spoke the language, but also that could pull off the intricate performances the film required.
Jayro Bustamante: That was the most beautiful part of the process, to work with the actors. I started hosting workshops, more regarding social issues, in the place were I grew up. I grew up in the outskirts of the Atitlán Lake in the highlands, which is a volcanic lake. It’s about two hours away from the location where we were going to shoot. I was accompanied by a social worker. The idea was to open spaces to discuss the problems facing the Mayan community so that the social worker could hear their concerns and follow up. This would help me enrich the screenplay and find the actresses there.
In a way this also reflected the reality of the country, although there were many women that were interested in working with me, there were also many of them that didn’t want to be part of the project. I thought all of them would want to, but I was wrong, a lot of them didn’t. Those that I wanted to work with and that wanted to work with me had another problem. Their husbands, their brother, their sons, or any other male in charge wouldn’t give them permissions to participate. They couldn’t come be part of the project because they had to stay home to serve them.
While this was happening and we were trying to figure things out, I met Maria Telón, who plays Juana. She is part of a street theater group. It’s a militant theater group that advocates for indigenous rights and women rights. They were putting on a play at that time, and I started following her performances from town to town. When we finally got to her community, I discovered that this community is very prosperous and very curious about the arts. I decided to stay there to do the casting. We held auditions at the local market. We set up our own stand among fruits and vegetable stands and we put up a sign that said, “Casting.” We had a camera and a notepad. Nobody came.
The next day we change the sign to, “Help Wanted,” and the entire town came. Thanks to that we were able to meet everyone in town and that’s where we cast the actors. We worked with them for threes months before filming the first scene. It was a very enriching process because besides the fact that they were Kaqchikel Mayans they had nothing in common with the characters. They live in a very prosperous society with all the basic services. Maria Mercedes is a student and Maria Telón is an actress and a saleswoman. She has a very different life form the character of the mother. Manuel Antún, the man who played Maria’s father, is a dentist, and Marvin Coroy, the guy who plays El Pepe, is a poet. We really did a lot of work to characterize this family so they could really look like a family and like they live in this very different situation.
Once you had cast them, what was your approach to eliciting the emotions you wanted from the actors. María Mercedes Coroy's performance in particular is very quiet but marvelously moving.
Jayro Bustamante: We didn’t have a particular technique. We worked a lot on trusting one another. With Maria Mercedes we worked on her confidence as a woman. It wasn’t that she wasn’t a confident woman, but we talked a lot about the strength that she had within herself. She was worried about playing a character that might falsely seem passive. It’s not that the character is passive, but on paper it might seem that way because everything is internalized. I believe this is one of the hardest types of characters to bring to life. We also worked on the power of her gaze. She allowed me to explore her personal life and her past in order to find in her own experiences emotions she could use while we were shooting. One week we decided to kiss tress. We went to a forest and we decided to kiss trees. She started kissing tress on one side of the forest and I did it in the other. In the end we ended up kissing the same one [Laughs]. It was about earning each other trust and losing all shame.
Visually the film is absolutely breathtaking. There is the natural beauty of the locations and a very evocative atmosphere throughout the entire film. How did you and your Dp, Luis Armando Arteaga, approach to the cinematography and minimalist aesthetic of the story, which is definitely a fantastic element of "Ixcanul"?
Jayro Bustamante: We’ve known each other for along time. We worked together on my last short film and we have developed other projects together. He is someone who has a vision of cinema that goes beyond that of a Dp. We did something very interesting, which was to go to a festival that’s sort of like the Cannes Film Festival for short films. It’s called Clermont-Ferrand International Film Festival. We were there for a week watching all the short films. Our interest was to watch as many as possible because filmmakers are more daring when making short films. There are new technologies that they are willing to try on short films and there is less financial risk. You can watch a lot of them in a short period of time. A big part of our job was watching these short films.
After that we talked a lot about the trap that this location could be because it’s a really beautiful location. You can drop your camera by accident and the photo that’s taken is already a postcard. Of course, I’m exaggerating but it’s really that beautiful. We talked about finding that postcard-like image and getting as far away from it as possible. We wanted to stay within the characters’ intimacy. We both really wanted to shoot it on 16mm, and we couldn’t because of financial constraints, so we shot it on a digital camera. Since we shot on digital, we did a lot of work to create that grainy quality that film gives you. We used the volcano’s dust and a lot of smoke. We had someone who would create smoke for every scene. Every single scene you see in the film had smoke, in varying densities, but they all had smoke. Then we were able to do the post-production in France in one of the best studios, which was amazing.
There is a certain mysticism to the story that we see through several rituals and this community's connection to nature, and the volcano in particular. Tell me about including these otherworldly beliefs and spiritual offerings in the narrative. Why did you feel they were an important characteristic of this society?
Jayro Bustamante: All of these elements are things that I’ve seen myself or that still exist. In terms of the mysticism, for me, instead of trying to tell a spiritual story I wanted to tell a purely religious story. There is a Mayan religion today that’s a mix between Catholicism and the Mayan beliefs that remained after the Spanish empire fell. My characters live in a grave situation, one in which the only thing they do is try resolve their multiple problems. That’s why whenever a new problem arrives they act in such a tolerant manner, because they can’t add fuel to the fire. What they have to do is put it out. When you are in situations like these, normally human beings have the tendency to seek answers and hope in something bigger than them. If they were a Catholic family I would have focused on the Catholic religion. I wanted to also talk about the problem with religions. Religions are dogmas and rules represented by a leader that could lead you into the wrong path. This was the message. It was more of a religious message than a spiritual or Mayan message.
Regarding the rituals you see in the film, they are all based on rituals that are still being practiced today. Even us, before shooting we would lit a sacred fire to ask the volcano for permission. When we shot in the coffee plantation we also had a sacred fire there. It’s a very nice thing because you lit a fire and the ceremony lasts till the fire extinguishes by itself. It’s the fire that tells you when the ceremony is over. In the meantime you are sharing energy with the people around you. You tell the earth what you are going to be doing there. It’s about communicating and about the energy flow. When the fire is out you end up way too relaxed, so we started substituting the sacred fires for the yoga exercises. [Laughs]. It’s very interesting and it’s something that’s still done all the time.
In the final act you take your characters out of their community and expose them to urban Guatemala. In that moment these two worlds seem to clash and how little their know about each other.
Jayro Bustamante: The film was constructed in crescendo from the beginning. I was lucky enough to conceive the ending very early on in the process and because of this I started working backwards towards the beginning of the story. Instead of wanting to say, “Oh poor indigenous people” or “Wow these westerners are terrible,” what I wanted to talk about was the lack of social tools they have and how in this country a large segment of the population is left without basic services. Well, in Guatemala today even people who have all the tools and resources can still be left without the basic services because politicians stole all the money and nothing is working. But for indigenous people things are even worse. They are even lower in the list of the government’s priorities. That was the intention behind taking the characters out of their environment and into the city.
Has the film started a conversation or a dialogue regarding about discrimination and other issues currently affecting this segment of the population and Guatemala in general?
Jayro Bustamante: Yes, I’m really amazed about it. When I started speaking to the press in Guatemala about the film, I said that Guatemalans needed to learn how to watch films because it appeared to me that people were unable to analyze films. When “Ixcanul” opened in movie theaters it became a small success considering that it’s an art house film. We were in theaters for 7 weeks, which was great. After that, I found a lot reviews and articles about the film written by Guatemalans. These were profound analyzes and very well written.
Some were very self-critical regarding the country’s situation. I realized that I was wrong, Guatemalans are able to do these analyzes, but they get to see very few films that warrant it. You are not going to write a profound analysis about “Fast and Furious,” there is not much to analyze there. You watch it and you talk about it candidly, but you don’t spend much time thinking about an American blockbuster. That was very surprising and very gratifying for me, to see that people in Guatemala wrote criticism and self-analyze the country through the film. Soon after the film’s premier one of the most important newspapers in Guatemala published an article entitled, Ixcanul is a Slap on Guatemala’s Face. The journalist wrote about the country’s current social situation in relation to the film.
When you are in another country does it surprise you that perhaps your film is the first contact people abroad have with Guatemala as a country and even more so with its cinema? "Ixcanul" is by far the most talked about and the most internationally acclaimed Guatemalan film ever.
Jayro Bustamante: No, it doesn’t surprise me that we are not a very well known country or that we are country only known because of the difficult political situations we are going through. It doesn’t surprise me because we as a country haven’t done anything for this to be different. Everything we’ve done prompted people outside to see us just the way they see us. It’s what we deserve in a sense. We are also a very small country. When it comes to tourism we are very interesting country, but we are very small country that has been in an arm conflict for so long that obviously tourists don’t come. Then there are all the problems with the gangs, cartels, kidnappings, and all the other bad things you can think of.
It’s understandable that we are not well known. At first I believed that the point of entry could be the Mayan civilization because I thought that would be well known abroad, and I’ve realized that not so much. There is still a lot to teach and share about Guatemala with the world, which is good. Something that I still find especially surprising is this idea that the Mayans disappeared or vanished. It’s crazy to me that people still believe that, but I can understand why. It’s very interesting to me that people around world, even in places as far as Japan, connect with the emotions that the film exudes. That’s the nicest compliment. I’ve also had people in other countries tell me, “You are the firs Guatemalan I’ve ever seen.” I tell them, “Touch me! I’m real” [Laughs].
Kino Lorber will release "Ixcanul" in early 2016.
Ingrained millenary practices and forbidding modern concerns unfold simultaneously against the backdrop of dark volcanic stone, colorful attires, rural duties, and perpetual mysticism, in a film that’s as aesthetically exquisite as it’s gruelingly bold in its quest to be fueled by unrestrained reality. Jayro Bustamante’s “Ixcanul” is an ethereal masterpiece whose breathtaking beauty is layered with sociopolitical undertones while always honoring the indigenous people at its center and, more specifically, its women's unwavering and restrained strength waiting to be unleashed.
This profoundly affecting story follows Maria (María Mercedes Coroy), a Kaqchikel Mayan young woman, who lives with her parents near in the outskirts of a volcano near a coffee plantation. This land, its scent, its colors, and its people are all she’s ever known and all she’s ever wanted until now. When an arranged marriage threatens to put an end to her apparent freedom, Maria considers the possibility of venturing far from home and seeing what’s beyond the mountains, but her naïve eagerness to escape will place her in the crossfire between romantic betrayal, dangerous rituals, and the unwelcoming urban world.
Bustamante juxtaposes Maria’s unnerving coming of age story with her mother Juana’s (María Telón) efforts to salvage the family’s future by abiding by tradition. Within these two parallel experiences there is an urgency to bring attention to the vulnerability of Guatemala’s Mayan population who are rarely given a voice.“Ixcanul” is a fierce artistic triumph coated with complexity, subtle poetry, and a delicate ability for capturing its characters’ introspective dilemmas through its imagery. Such showcase of attuned sensibilities is expected from a seasoned auteur at the peak of his creative powers, but Jayro Bustamante has accomplished just that with his astonishing debut feature. No wonder “Ixcanul” is Guatemala’s most acclaimed film ever and the winner of numerous international awards including the Alfred Bauer Award at the Berlin International Film festival.
We talked to Bustamante about the his relationship to the Mayan community where the film was shot, the male chauvinist societies that hinder women’s growth, his homeland’s institutionalize discrimination against indigenous people, and the incomparable visual allure of “Ixcanul.”
Kino Lorber will release "Ixcanul" in early 2016.
Carlos Aguilar: The film focuses on these two women who are every strong in distinct ways; however, they are faced with extraordinary circumstances that test that strength. How did the idea to write a story about these two connected characters come about?
Jayro Bustamante: The idea was born from a real story, the story of a real Maria. What’s really inspired in her life is the third act, the problematic situation with the baby. Based on that I started to create this fictional screenplay but always grounded on real things that I had seen in Guatemala. I grew up in that region and I asked myself, “How does one become the perfect victim?” just as Maria is in the film. That’s how I started building this story. I had two very clear themes I wanted to work on: one was loss and the other maternity. In order for the loss and that sort of prohibition to become a mother that is imposed on Maria to feel as powerful as they do in the movie, I needed to construct a kind of maternity that was beautiful, without idealizing it but highlighting it. That’s why I created the relationship between these two women. Throughout the process I always worked with the actresses as if the two characters were one. We always thought that Maria, if she had been given the chance, would have become Juana. She would have been just as strong as her. That’s how we worked on these two characters.
While Juana is the matriarch and often appears to be charge, she still lives in a male-driven society where her needs and desires are secondary to those of the men around. Was it important for you to depict the internal strength of these Mayan women while also being honest about the world they live in?
Jayro Bustamante: From the beginning my intention was to adhere to reality, except for the magical realist touches that I also wanted the film to have because they were very important. Magical realism doesn’t work if the real reality doesn’t exist. There is a great contradiction in male chauvinist societies, and that is that they are usually composed of matriarchal groups. A woman reigns but she always reigns in a small space that the man left for her. She reigns when the man needs someone to be in charge of things that he doesn’t want to take care of. For me that matriarchy is till is part of this male chauvinism or "machismo" and that matriarchy continues to feed it. If I’m against male chauvinism, I should also be against matriarchy because both extremes are bad and one is derived from the other.
What I really wanted to demonstrate was that there is a waste of feminine energy that happens in male chauvinist societies.To get from point A to point B, a woman has to embark on an incredible journey through everything that’s in between these two points and have a great strategy to be able to get there. This journey would be so much easier if we would let her take those steps and then with her own strength she can get wherever she wants to go. I wanted to talk about that strength and that’s why there is that parallel relationship between Maria and the volcano. There is something symbolic about it. For me, Mayan women in Guatemala today are like that volcano that rumbles and resounds but hasn’t yet erupted. Real change will happen when these women erupt and release what they have inside. That’s the metaphor we wanted to convey, the connection between these women and the volcano.
One of the greatest achievements of the film is that it refrains from observing the characters from an ethnographic perspective or with an air of exoticism. These are people. Yes, people with different traditions and experiences from what many consider normal, but they are still as human as anybody else.
Jayro Bustamante: Definitely. I never had that temptation or that perspective because I grew up there, so for me there is no difference between us. I wouldn’t do it with any other culture. That’s something I can’t understand, to think there are people that one can observe like if they were in a zoo. I don’t think that’s right. Rich cultural differences show us the diversity that exists in the world, but if you explore any of these differences you’ll see that we all have the same human feelings. That’s what allowed me to make a story that was very local but that at the same time could have certain international repercussion. I wrote a film about a woman whose problems take us into the problems of a family and that in turn takes us into the larger social problems. That’s what we wanted to do from the beginnings. That can’t be done if the feelings that belong to the universal language are not present.
Indigenous languages are rarely used in modern cinema and because of this indigenous people have in a sense become both faceless and voiceless. How crucial was it for you to make the film in the Mayan language?
Jayro Bustamante: It was very important. Perhaps there is a bit of melancholy because as I said I grew up there. I had a nanny that taught me a lot of things, a lot of traditional stories, and who also taught me that language when I was a young child. Maybe this melancholy is there, but above all this, language is the clearest example to demonstrate how a large portion of the country lives without the tools to grow and evolve in its own country. They are foreigners in their own country, but they are the majority. Today statistics say that these people represent only 40% of the Guatemalan population, but that’s a lie. Discrimination is so strong that if you are Mayan and during the census or on a survey they ask you, “Are you Mayan?” you prefer to say that you are mestizo or mixed because you are ashamed to say who you really are. The social fracture is so big that in Guatemala the worse insult you can tell somebody is calling him or her an “Indian.”
Something similar happens in Mexico, where I'm from. People tend to associate indigenous languages, features, or traditions with negative ideas or as something that's less sophisticated or worthy, which is terrible.
Jayro Bustamante: When you think about it, if the worse insult is to be who you are, even if you are the majority in a country, it means that the majority of the country has a terrible complex regarding their identity. If you are trying to improve yourself or overcome this circumstances, these ideas make very complicated emotionally. There are many themes that we touch on in the film that are derived from discrimination. When I travel abroad I get asked a lot, “Why does Pepe want to go to the Us?” Maybe you and I can understand why this young man wants to leave. The reason why he wants to leave is obvious to those of us who are from countries like Mexico and Guatemala. He earns one dollar a day in Guatemala and in the U.S. he could earn, let’s say, $15 an hour. It’s true that in the U.S. he could be discriminated for being Latino, but he is already being discriminated in Guatemala, his own country, because his Mayan. He has a lot more to win than to lose by leaving. That’s very sad.
Tell me about the process of finding your actors and how challenging this was. You evidently needed people who were Mayan and who spoke the language, but also that could pull off the intricate performances the film required.
Jayro Bustamante: That was the most beautiful part of the process, to work with the actors. I started hosting workshops, more regarding social issues, in the place were I grew up. I grew up in the outskirts of the Atitlán Lake in the highlands, which is a volcanic lake. It’s about two hours away from the location where we were going to shoot. I was accompanied by a social worker. The idea was to open spaces to discuss the problems facing the Mayan community so that the social worker could hear their concerns and follow up. This would help me enrich the screenplay and find the actresses there.
In a way this also reflected the reality of the country, although there were many women that were interested in working with me, there were also many of them that didn’t want to be part of the project. I thought all of them would want to, but I was wrong, a lot of them didn’t. Those that I wanted to work with and that wanted to work with me had another problem. Their husbands, their brother, their sons, or any other male in charge wouldn’t give them permissions to participate. They couldn’t come be part of the project because they had to stay home to serve them.
While this was happening and we were trying to figure things out, I met Maria Telón, who plays Juana. She is part of a street theater group. It’s a militant theater group that advocates for indigenous rights and women rights. They were putting on a play at that time, and I started following her performances from town to town. When we finally got to her community, I discovered that this community is very prosperous and very curious about the arts. I decided to stay there to do the casting. We held auditions at the local market. We set up our own stand among fruits and vegetable stands and we put up a sign that said, “Casting.” We had a camera and a notepad. Nobody came.
The next day we change the sign to, “Help Wanted,” and the entire town came. Thanks to that we were able to meet everyone in town and that’s where we cast the actors. We worked with them for threes months before filming the first scene. It was a very enriching process because besides the fact that they were Kaqchikel Mayans they had nothing in common with the characters. They live in a very prosperous society with all the basic services. Maria Mercedes is a student and Maria Telón is an actress and a saleswoman. She has a very different life form the character of the mother. Manuel Antún, the man who played Maria’s father, is a dentist, and Marvin Coroy, the guy who plays El Pepe, is a poet. We really did a lot of work to characterize this family so they could really look like a family and like they live in this very different situation.
Once you had cast them, what was your approach to eliciting the emotions you wanted from the actors. María Mercedes Coroy's performance in particular is very quiet but marvelously moving.
Jayro Bustamante: We didn’t have a particular technique. We worked a lot on trusting one another. With Maria Mercedes we worked on her confidence as a woman. It wasn’t that she wasn’t a confident woman, but we talked a lot about the strength that she had within herself. She was worried about playing a character that might falsely seem passive. It’s not that the character is passive, but on paper it might seem that way because everything is internalized. I believe this is one of the hardest types of characters to bring to life. We also worked on the power of her gaze. She allowed me to explore her personal life and her past in order to find in her own experiences emotions she could use while we were shooting. One week we decided to kiss tress. We went to a forest and we decided to kiss trees. She started kissing tress on one side of the forest and I did it in the other. In the end we ended up kissing the same one [Laughs]. It was about earning each other trust and losing all shame.
Visually the film is absolutely breathtaking. There is the natural beauty of the locations and a very evocative atmosphere throughout the entire film. How did you and your Dp, Luis Armando Arteaga, approach to the cinematography and minimalist aesthetic of the story, which is definitely a fantastic element of "Ixcanul"?
Jayro Bustamante: We’ve known each other for along time. We worked together on my last short film and we have developed other projects together. He is someone who has a vision of cinema that goes beyond that of a Dp. We did something very interesting, which was to go to a festival that’s sort of like the Cannes Film Festival for short films. It’s called Clermont-Ferrand International Film Festival. We were there for a week watching all the short films. Our interest was to watch as many as possible because filmmakers are more daring when making short films. There are new technologies that they are willing to try on short films and there is less financial risk. You can watch a lot of them in a short period of time. A big part of our job was watching these short films.
After that we talked a lot about the trap that this location could be because it’s a really beautiful location. You can drop your camera by accident and the photo that’s taken is already a postcard. Of course, I’m exaggerating but it’s really that beautiful. We talked about finding that postcard-like image and getting as far away from it as possible. We wanted to stay within the characters’ intimacy. We both really wanted to shoot it on 16mm, and we couldn’t because of financial constraints, so we shot it on a digital camera. Since we shot on digital, we did a lot of work to create that grainy quality that film gives you. We used the volcano’s dust and a lot of smoke. We had someone who would create smoke for every scene. Every single scene you see in the film had smoke, in varying densities, but they all had smoke. Then we were able to do the post-production in France in one of the best studios, which was amazing.
There is a certain mysticism to the story that we see through several rituals and this community's connection to nature, and the volcano in particular. Tell me about including these otherworldly beliefs and spiritual offerings in the narrative. Why did you feel they were an important characteristic of this society?
Jayro Bustamante: All of these elements are things that I’ve seen myself or that still exist. In terms of the mysticism, for me, instead of trying to tell a spiritual story I wanted to tell a purely religious story. There is a Mayan religion today that’s a mix between Catholicism and the Mayan beliefs that remained after the Spanish empire fell. My characters live in a grave situation, one in which the only thing they do is try resolve their multiple problems. That’s why whenever a new problem arrives they act in such a tolerant manner, because they can’t add fuel to the fire. What they have to do is put it out. When you are in situations like these, normally human beings have the tendency to seek answers and hope in something bigger than them. If they were a Catholic family I would have focused on the Catholic religion. I wanted to also talk about the problem with religions. Religions are dogmas and rules represented by a leader that could lead you into the wrong path. This was the message. It was more of a religious message than a spiritual or Mayan message.
Regarding the rituals you see in the film, they are all based on rituals that are still being practiced today. Even us, before shooting we would lit a sacred fire to ask the volcano for permission. When we shot in the coffee plantation we also had a sacred fire there. It’s a very nice thing because you lit a fire and the ceremony lasts till the fire extinguishes by itself. It’s the fire that tells you when the ceremony is over. In the meantime you are sharing energy with the people around you. You tell the earth what you are going to be doing there. It’s about communicating and about the energy flow. When the fire is out you end up way too relaxed, so we started substituting the sacred fires for the yoga exercises. [Laughs]. It’s very interesting and it’s something that’s still done all the time.
In the final act you take your characters out of their community and expose them to urban Guatemala. In that moment these two worlds seem to clash and how little their know about each other.
Jayro Bustamante: The film was constructed in crescendo from the beginning. I was lucky enough to conceive the ending very early on in the process and because of this I started working backwards towards the beginning of the story. Instead of wanting to say, “Oh poor indigenous people” or “Wow these westerners are terrible,” what I wanted to talk about was the lack of social tools they have and how in this country a large segment of the population is left without basic services. Well, in Guatemala today even people who have all the tools and resources can still be left without the basic services because politicians stole all the money and nothing is working. But for indigenous people things are even worse. They are even lower in the list of the government’s priorities. That was the intention behind taking the characters out of their environment and into the city.
Has the film started a conversation or a dialogue regarding about discrimination and other issues currently affecting this segment of the population and Guatemala in general?
Jayro Bustamante: Yes, I’m really amazed about it. When I started speaking to the press in Guatemala about the film, I said that Guatemalans needed to learn how to watch films because it appeared to me that people were unable to analyze films. When “Ixcanul” opened in movie theaters it became a small success considering that it’s an art house film. We were in theaters for 7 weeks, which was great. After that, I found a lot reviews and articles about the film written by Guatemalans. These were profound analyzes and very well written.
Some were very self-critical regarding the country’s situation. I realized that I was wrong, Guatemalans are able to do these analyzes, but they get to see very few films that warrant it. You are not going to write a profound analysis about “Fast and Furious,” there is not much to analyze there. You watch it and you talk about it candidly, but you don’t spend much time thinking about an American blockbuster. That was very surprising and very gratifying for me, to see that people in Guatemala wrote criticism and self-analyze the country through the film. Soon after the film’s premier one of the most important newspapers in Guatemala published an article entitled, Ixcanul is a Slap on Guatemala’s Face. The journalist wrote about the country’s current social situation in relation to the film.
When you are in another country does it surprise you that perhaps your film is the first contact people abroad have with Guatemala as a country and even more so with its cinema? "Ixcanul" is by far the most talked about and the most internationally acclaimed Guatemalan film ever.
Jayro Bustamante: No, it doesn’t surprise me that we are not a very well known country or that we are country only known because of the difficult political situations we are going through. It doesn’t surprise me because we as a country haven’t done anything for this to be different. Everything we’ve done prompted people outside to see us just the way they see us. It’s what we deserve in a sense. We are also a very small country. When it comes to tourism we are very interesting country, but we are very small country that has been in an arm conflict for so long that obviously tourists don’t come. Then there are all the problems with the gangs, cartels, kidnappings, and all the other bad things you can think of.
It’s understandable that we are not well known. At first I believed that the point of entry could be the Mayan civilization because I thought that would be well known abroad, and I’ve realized that not so much. There is still a lot to teach and share about Guatemala with the world, which is good. Something that I still find especially surprising is this idea that the Mayans disappeared or vanished. It’s crazy to me that people still believe that, but I can understand why. It’s very interesting to me that people around world, even in places as far as Japan, connect with the emotions that the film exudes. That’s the nicest compliment. I’ve also had people in other countries tell me, “You are the firs Guatemalan I’ve ever seen.” I tell them, “Touch me! I’m real” [Laughs].
Kino Lorber will release "Ixcanul" in early 2016.
- 12/1/2015
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
Guidance
Written & Directed by Pat Mills
Canada, 2014
Not only is Guidance hilariously uncouth, it might be one of the best movies ever made about borderline personality disorder. This is not a warm, snuggly comedy that you can watch with grandma and grandpa. No, this movie is the reprobate uncle that nobody wants to bail out of jail. Yet, despite its unabashed rudeness, Pat Mills’ consistently-funny debut doesn’t have a cynical bone its body. Our memorable hero just wants to help people, no matter how much it hurts them.
Imagine Stuart Smalley quitting his mood stabilizers cold turkey and you get some idea what to expect from David Gold (Mills). Twenty-five years ago, David was the star of a hit children’s show called “Wacky Street.” Today, he’s an unemployed narcissist who drinks like a fish, curses like a sailor, and refuses to acknowledge his homosexuality. He’s a...
Written & Directed by Pat Mills
Canada, 2014
Not only is Guidance hilariously uncouth, it might be one of the best movies ever made about borderline personality disorder. This is not a warm, snuggly comedy that you can watch with grandma and grandpa. No, this movie is the reprobate uncle that nobody wants to bail out of jail. Yet, despite its unabashed rudeness, Pat Mills’ consistently-funny debut doesn’t have a cynical bone its body. Our memorable hero just wants to help people, no matter how much it hurts them.
Imagine Stuart Smalley quitting his mood stabilizers cold turkey and you get some idea what to expect from David Gold (Mills). Twenty-five years ago, David was the star of a hit children’s show called “Wacky Street.” Today, he’s an unemployed narcissist who drinks like a fish, curses like a sailor, and refuses to acknowledge his homosexuality. He’s a...
- 5/27/2015
- by J.R. Kinnard
- SoundOnSight
Last week we comics fans were treated to a nice treat that, had other circumstances prevailed, would have been the big buzz in our donut shop. Instead, events mandated – properly – that we turn our attention to the Charlie Hebdo matter. That situation remains unresolved and part of a much bigger and even more disquieting picture, but if we can’t stop to smell the flowers we will surely go insane. That’s why I’m going to talk about Marvel’s Agent Carter this week.
The mini-series – it runs eight episodes, and the first two ran last week – goes a long way towards answering the question “Hey, why won’t Marvel Studios pay more attention to the female characters?” It doesn’t answer the question “Hey, why won’t Marvel Studios do a Black Widow movie?” but I suspect if the executives at Marvel understand what they’re doing on Agent Carter,...
The mini-series – it runs eight episodes, and the first two ran last week – goes a long way towards answering the question “Hey, why won’t Marvel Studios pay more attention to the female characters?” It doesn’t answer the question “Hey, why won’t Marvel Studios do a Black Widow movie?” but I suspect if the executives at Marvel understand what they’re doing on Agent Carter,...
- 1/14/2015
- by Mike Gold
- Comicmix.com
Even after Twisty the Clown and Dora the Maid were offed, death just couldn’t take a holiday from American Horror Story: Freak Show. This week, Gloria reluctantly became an accomplice to murder, and Stanley eagerly served the titular, poisoned “Pink Cupcakes” to the Tattler twins. But did their sweet tooth do them in? And what did Matt Bomer’s killer role turn out to be? Read on and find out!
Bitter Sweets | Though Maggie reluctantly agreed to help Stanley with his plot to dispatch the freaks and sell their remains to the American Morbidity Museum – for an additional 5 percent...
Bitter Sweets | Though Maggie reluctantly agreed to help Stanley with his plot to dispatch the freaks and sell their remains to the American Morbidity Museum – for an additional 5 percent...
- 11/6/2014
- TVLine.com
Nightcrawler
James Newton Howard
Lakeshore Records
On the July 25, 2000 episode of Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Conan decided to play a prank on his guest that evening, Harrison Ford. Ford, whose “no bullshit” personality both on and off the silver screen has preserved his deadpan chops to this day, was to recreate his ever-dependable intense face, once under eerie music and then again with “slightly different music.” Ford’s first attempt went off like gangbusters but the second, a grimace to a lively jazz number, forced the infamously gruff actor to hold back a smile. (You can watch the segment on Funny or Die at the 0:55 mark.) Ford quickly recovered but his subtle slip up was a refreshing bit of transparency and revealed something about the grisled man behind Han Solo, Indiana Jones, and Jack Ryan: in that moment, he didn’t know how to react.
James Newton Howard...
James Newton Howard
Lakeshore Records
On the July 25, 2000 episode of Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Conan decided to play a prank on his guest that evening, Harrison Ford. Ford, whose “no bullshit” personality both on and off the silver screen has preserved his deadpan chops to this day, was to recreate his ever-dependable intense face, once under eerie music and then again with “slightly different music.” Ford’s first attempt went off like gangbusters but the second, a grimace to a lively jazz number, forced the infamously gruff actor to hold back a smile. (You can watch the segment on Funny or Die at the 0:55 mark.) Ford quickly recovered but his subtle slip up was a refreshing bit of transparency and revealed something about the grisled man behind Han Solo, Indiana Jones, and Jack Ryan: in that moment, he didn’t know how to react.
James Newton Howard...
- 11/5/2014
- by David Klein
- SoundOnSight
All in all its hard to sit back and complain about the second volume of this inspired webshow. Help Wanted warrants the .99 rental fee alone and if Bloodtraffick doesnt impress you enough to feel comfortable in your purchase The Deed will. Rose White can be considered a bonus if nothing else. Its another strong showing from Bo Cephus and Lulu...
- 10/10/2014
- Best-Horror-Movies.com
Super jam-packed week here at Tfe. We were possibly over-posting which brings us to Icymi because sure you did miss something. I've put the goods under song headers this morning just because.
We Can Be Heroes
Tfe got schizophrenic as Amir bitched about superhero franchises just as Anne Marie was celebrating them with live Comic Con coverage.
You're Beautiful
We gave Sandra Bullock a teensy look-back for her 50th. But I was mostly feeling love in short post form for players who get too little attention these days: Mary Steenburgen is always boss, John Leguizamo is an oft inspired clown, and on a clear day you can see Barbara Harris forever. I'm glad to know there are other fans out there of all three.
Anticipation
I was worried that Ynms efforts were getting stale but the inspiration faucet was suddenly turned back on for Imitation Game. And how about a...
We Can Be Heroes
Tfe got schizophrenic as Amir bitched about superhero franchises just as Anne Marie was celebrating them with live Comic Con coverage.
You're Beautiful
We gave Sandra Bullock a teensy look-back for her 50th. But I was mostly feeling love in short post form for players who get too little attention these days: Mary Steenburgen is always boss, John Leguizamo is an oft inspired clown, and on a clear day you can see Barbara Harris forever. I'm glad to know there are other fans out there of all three.
Anticipation
I was worried that Ynms efforts were getting stale but the inspiration faucet was suddenly turned back on for Imitation Game. And how about a...
- 7/28/2014
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
![Lizzy Caplan, Michael Sheen, Caitlin FitzGerald, and Annaleigh Ashford in Masters of Sex (2013)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTgzNjkzNjMxOF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMTcyMTg2OTE@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR6,0,140,207_.jpg)
![Lizzy Caplan, Michael Sheen, Caitlin FitzGerald, and Annaleigh Ashford in Masters of Sex (2013)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTgzNjkzNjMxOF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMTcyMTg2OTE@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR6,0,140,207_.jpg)
In the second season premiere of Showtime’s heartbreakingly brilliant Masters of Sex, Virginia marvels at how the reaction to Bill’s calamitous presentation of their study has been “like nuclear rain falling on us all.” Not only has Bill been canned, but horndog doctors have begun propositioning Virginia left and right (and even following her into the ladies’ room, for Pete’s sake!). But, by the end of “Parallax,” the stage is set for things to get much better for the illicit lovers… and much, much worse. Read on, and I’ll tell you all about it!
Related Emmy...
Related Emmy...
- 7/14/2014
- TVLine.com
Help Wanted: Comic Book Classifieds by Brian VanHooker Turtle with Lemonade Productions www.turtlewithlemonade.com Bouncer at the Mos Eisley Cantina Bouncer needed for Chalmun’s Cantina in Mos Eisley, Tatooine. Applicants must be strong enough to break up fist fights and lightsaber battles. Will be expected to throw out troublemaking Tusken Raiders, soliciting Jawas and patrons not buying drinks quickly enough. Bouncers must also have a keen eye, as they will be expected to serve as arbiter in “who shot first” scenarios. Must be comfortable working in the desert under two suns. Should be comfortable around all races and species, the Cantina does not discriminate. No droids need apply. Daily Planet Reporter Great Caesar’s Ghost, there’s an opening at the Daily Planet! Looking to fill a recently vacated position, replacing a reporter who had been with the company over 70 years. Applicants must have a keen eye...
- 11/14/2012
- ComicBookMovie.com
This is a premise parents of unruly teen kids can relate to — a series about a world where youths are quarantined after a mysterious virus makes adults allergic to teenagers. The CW has bought the spec, titled Sick. Described as a provocative cross between Contagion and The Hunger Games, it centers on a band of teens who escape from their containment units and go on the run from authorities. Trey Callaway and Sean Hood wrote the script, which was sold directly to the CW. ICM Partners-repped Callaway is currently the co-executive producer of CSI: NY and also is developing the drama Help Wanted for TNT. Apa-repped Hood is best known for his genre work on Halloween: Resurrection, Fear Itself and Masters Of Horror.
- 11/13/2012
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
If you meet all three criteria below, we’d love for you to write for us. If you don’t meet All Three (not one or two, but All Three), forget about it. Really, just forget about it. I’m being totally serious about this. 1. Be Like Us. BeyondHollywood.com is awesome. That’s a fact. If you’re a regular reader of our site, it’s only logical to conclude that you’re pretty awesome, too. (This is infallible scientific stuff. Don’t even try to question it.) At the very least, you should have read more than just this Help Wanted post. Seriously, don’t waste our time if you’ve only read a handful of our posts. Having us already bookmarked helps. This isn’t because we’re vain and only want people who are already fans to write for us (though that’s true, too), but...
- 9/16/2012
- by Nix
- Beyond Hollywood
That's right. The L.A. Complex just went there. We've entered into Scientology territory and I hope the series never goes back.
I don't know that I've ever been more excited for a show to tackle a storyline. And here I was thinking that the whole Connor/long lost sister thing was going to be boring!
In "Help Wanted," everyone is asserting themselves in some unique way. Beth's helping out the hot blonde with her S.A.T.s, Raquel is inflicting her lack of waitressing skills on some poor restaurant patrons, Kal enlists Abby for album help with ulterior Tariq motives and Connor's "sister" Charlotte thinks she knows just the thing to cure what ails Connor.
And she couldn't be more right! Remember that episode where Connor almost got sucked in while him and Raquel were walking around Hollywood?
The last time he encountered Scientology, he had Raquel to pull him out.
I don't know that I've ever been more excited for a show to tackle a storyline. And here I was thinking that the whole Connor/long lost sister thing was going to be boring!
In "Help Wanted," everyone is asserting themselves in some unique way. Beth's helping out the hot blonde with her S.A.T.s, Raquel is inflicting her lack of waitressing skills on some poor restaurant patrons, Kal enlists Abby for album help with ulterior Tariq motives and Connor's "sister" Charlotte thinks she knows just the thing to cure what ails Connor.
And she couldn't be more right! Remember that episode where Connor almost got sucked in while him and Raquel were walking around Hollywood?
The last time he encountered Scientology, he had Raquel to pull him out.
- 9/11/2012
- by lisabethpalmer@gmail.com (Lisa Palmer)
- TVfanatic
The following is a list of all comic books, graphic novels and special items that will be available this week and shipped to comic book stores who have placed orders for them.
Aardvark Vanaheim
Glamourpuss #26, $3.00
Abrams
Economix How And Why Our Economy Works And Doesn’t Work Gn, $19.95
Abstract Studios
Rachel Rising #10, $3.99
Amryl Entertainment
Cavewoman Gangster #1 (Of 3), $3.75
Cavewoman Gangster #1 (Of 3)(Budd Root Special Edition), Ar
Antarctic Press
Rise Of The Planet Of The Living Dead Tp, $14.95
Archie Comics
Archie #636 (Gisele Lagace Variant Cover), $2.99
Archie #636 (Gisele Lagace Regular Cover), $2.99
Archie And Friends Double Digest #19, $3.99
Best Of Archie Comics Volume 2 Tp, $9.99
Jugheads Double Digest #184, $3.99
Audiogo Ltd
Doctor Who Feast Of The Drowned Audio CD, $24.95
Avatar Press
Crossed Badlands #4 (Michael Dipascale Project Comic Con Nurse Cover), $5.99
Dan The Unharmable #4 (Rafael Ortiz Regular Cover), $3.99
Dan The Unharmable #4 (Rafael Ortiz Retro Incentive Cover), Ar
Dan The Unharmable #4 (Rafael Ortiz Wraparound Cover), $3.99
Dicks #7 (John McCrea Regular...
Aardvark Vanaheim
Glamourpuss #26, $3.00
Abrams
Economix How And Why Our Economy Works And Doesn’t Work Gn, $19.95
Abstract Studios
Rachel Rising #10, $3.99
Amryl Entertainment
Cavewoman Gangster #1 (Of 3), $3.75
Cavewoman Gangster #1 (Of 3)(Budd Root Special Edition), Ar
Antarctic Press
Rise Of The Planet Of The Living Dead Tp, $14.95
Archie Comics
Archie #636 (Gisele Lagace Variant Cover), $2.99
Archie #636 (Gisele Lagace Regular Cover), $2.99
Archie And Friends Double Digest #19, $3.99
Best Of Archie Comics Volume 2 Tp, $9.99
Jugheads Double Digest #184, $3.99
Audiogo Ltd
Doctor Who Feast Of The Drowned Audio CD, $24.95
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Crossed Badlands #4 (Michael Dipascale Project Comic Con Nurse Cover), $5.99
Dan The Unharmable #4 (Rafael Ortiz Regular Cover), $3.99
Dan The Unharmable #4 (Rafael Ortiz Retro Incentive Cover), Ar
Dan The Unharmable #4 (Rafael Ortiz Wraparound Cover), $3.99
Dicks #7 (John McCrea Regular...
- 8/20/2012
- by Adam B.
- GeekRest
![Kristen Wiig at an event for The Oscars (2020)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BODY0NzMzYTEtOGZmNS00ODJiLWEzYzktY2I4NDI3ODA2ZGRhXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMDM2NDM2MQ@@._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,1,140,207_.jpg)
![Kristen Wiig at an event for The Oscars (2020)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BODY0NzMzYTEtOGZmNS00ODJiLWEzYzktY2I4NDI3ODA2ZGRhXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMDM2NDM2MQ@@._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,1,140,207_.jpg)
The Tribeca Film Festival brought out some big names this weekend, starting with Kristen Wiig on Saturday when she celebrated Revenge for Jolly. On Sunday Michelle Williams joined Sarah Silverman and friends at an event for the festival. Michelle also stepped out for boyfriend Jason Segel's Five Year Engagement premiere which kicked off Tribeca, though she was careful not to be photographed at the event. James Franco celebrated his own latest project Francophrenia while Olivia Wilde tended to the Help Wanted shorts program. Among the other celebrity attendees, Abbie Cornish was at The Girl screening. View Slideshow ›...
- 4/23/2012
- by Molly Goodson
- Popsugar.com
It’s that time again… okay, it’s a little past that normal time, thanks to the Mix March Madness wrapup, but here are the preview materials for DC Comics releases for July 2012.
What’s on tap this month? More of the Before Watchmen books, with the debut of Ozymandias from Len Wein and Jae Lee, the conclusion of the Court of Owls storyline and crossover in all the Bat-books, and the debut of the done-in-one book, National Comics, featuring the New 52 Debut (coming right at you) of Eternity.
And in the white elephant of desire category, there’s the $300 statue showing the climactic scene from The Dark Knight Returns.
Once more, into the breach? Banzai!
As always, spoilers may lurk beyond this point.
Before Watchmen: Ozymandias #1
Written by Len Wein
Art and cover by Jae Lee
Backup story art by John Higgins
1:25 Variant cover by Phil Jimenez...
What’s on tap this month? More of the Before Watchmen books, with the debut of Ozymandias from Len Wein and Jae Lee, the conclusion of the Court of Owls storyline and crossover in all the Bat-books, and the debut of the done-in-one book, National Comics, featuring the New 52 Debut (coming right at you) of Eternity.
And in the white elephant of desire category, there’s the $300 statue showing the climactic scene from The Dark Knight Returns.
Once more, into the breach? Banzai!
As always, spoilers may lurk beyond this point.
Before Watchmen: Ozymandias #1
Written by Len Wein
Art and cover by Jae Lee
Backup story art by John Higgins
1:25 Variant cover by Phil Jimenez...
- 4/12/2012
- by Glenn Hauman
- Comicmix.com
In February, NCIS celebrated having filmed 200 episodes over the course of 9 seasons. And kudos to them… but today, The Bold & The Beautiful — the youngest of the four remaining daytime soaps — celebrates its 25th anniversary. Just to give this accomplishment a little perspective, let’s imagine that NCIS manages to hold on for another 13 years. Upon marking its silver anniversary, the drama would have aired approximately 425 episodes. And not to downplay what an incredible (if unlikely) scenario that would be, the fashion-based sudser that today turns a quarter century old has delivered over 6,200 episodes. Let that sink in for a minute… and then, let’s flash back to our five favorite moments (and it was tough to pick!) from the show’s history.
Thorne Shoots Ridge (1988)
What do you do upon discovering that your big brother slept with your wife? If you’re Thorne Forrester, you get drunk, take some sleeping pills,...
Thorne Shoots Ridge (1988)
What do you do upon discovering that your big brother slept with your wife? If you’re Thorne Forrester, you get drunk, take some sleeping pills,...
- 3/26/2012
- by Couch Tater
- The TV Addict
Turns out, Beyonce had it wrong: if you like it, you really should not put a ring on it. At least not in Mystic Falls.
Indeed, The Vampire Diaries may have returned this week with a visit to the past, but "1912" left viewers wondering instead about the future, specifically: what the heck will now happen to Alaric?!?
The stunning revelation that this mild-mannered history teacher has been responsible for various killings in town - due to a ring that's caused him to come back to life so many times he now makes Charlie Sheen look stable - takes the series in a whole new direction.
How will Alaric react? Will he turn himself in? Lock himself up? Make the ultimate sacrifice? What help can Meredith, Elena or any of the supernaturals possibly offer?
Considering the news that Matt Davis has been cast on another CW show, we can watch assured...
Indeed, The Vampire Diaries may have returned this week with a visit to the past, but "1912" left viewers wondering instead about the future, specifically: what the heck will now happen to Alaric?!?
The stunning revelation that this mild-mannered history teacher has been responsible for various killings in town - due to a ring that's caused him to come back to life so many times he now makes Charlie Sheen look stable - takes the series in a whole new direction.
How will Alaric react? Will he turn himself in? Lock himself up? Make the ultimate sacrifice? What help can Meredith, Elena or any of the supernaturals possibly offer?
Considering the news that Matt Davis has been cast on another CW show, we can watch assured...
- 3/16/2012
- by matt@mediavine.com (Matt Richenthal)
- TVfanatic
2012 Tribeca Film Festival Announces Short Film Selections
The 2012 Tribeca Film Festival (Tff), presented by founding sponsor American Express, today announced its lineup of 60 short films, 26 of which are world premieres.
For the second year running, the recipient of the Tribeca Film Festival.s Best Narrative Short award will qualify for consideration in the Short Films category of the annual Academy Awards® without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules. The 2011 Tff Narrative Short Pentecost was nominated for Best Live Action Short at this year.s annual Academy Awards®, while last year.s award-winning Tff documentary short Incident in New Baghdad was nominated for Best Documentary Short.
Tff.s shorts programs chart a wide range of cultural perspectives and geographic coordinates. Drawn from more than 2,800 submissions, the 2012 roster represents 25 countries and territories, including Australia, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Egypt, France, Germany, Haiti, India, Ireland, Israel, Japan,...
The 2012 Tribeca Film Festival (Tff), presented by founding sponsor American Express, today announced its lineup of 60 short films, 26 of which are world premieres.
For the second year running, the recipient of the Tribeca Film Festival.s Best Narrative Short award will qualify for consideration in the Short Films category of the annual Academy Awards® without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules. The 2011 Tff Narrative Short Pentecost was nominated for Best Live Action Short at this year.s annual Academy Awards®, while last year.s award-winning Tff documentary short Incident in New Baghdad was nominated for Best Documentary Short.
Tff.s shorts programs chart a wide range of cultural perspectives and geographic coordinates. Drawn from more than 2,800 submissions, the 2012 roster represents 25 countries and territories, including Australia, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Egypt, France, Germany, Haiti, India, Ireland, Israel, Japan,...
- 3/13/2012
- by Melissa Howland
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
HollywoodNews.com: The 2012 Tribeca Film Festival (Tff), presented by founding sponsor American Express, today announced its lineup of 60 short films, 26 of which are world premieres.
For the second year running, the recipient of the Tribeca Film Festival’s Best Narrative Short award will qualify for consideration in the Short Films category of the annual Academy Awards® without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules. The 2011 Tff Narrative Short Pentecost was nominated for Best Live Action Short at this year’s annual Academy Awards®, while last year?s award-winning Tff documentary short Incident in New Baghdad was nominated for Best Documentary Short.
Tff’s shorts programs chart a wide range of cultural perspectives and geographic coordinates. Drawn from more than 2,800 submissions, the 2012 roster represents 25 countries and territories, including Australia, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Egypt, France, Germany, Haiti, India, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Palestine, Puerto Rico,...
For the second year running, the recipient of the Tribeca Film Festival’s Best Narrative Short award will qualify for consideration in the Short Films category of the annual Academy Awards® without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules. The 2011 Tff Narrative Short Pentecost was nominated for Best Live Action Short at this year’s annual Academy Awards®, while last year?s award-winning Tff documentary short Incident in New Baghdad was nominated for Best Documentary Short.
Tff’s shorts programs chart a wide range of cultural perspectives and geographic coordinates. Drawn from more than 2,800 submissions, the 2012 roster represents 25 countries and territories, including Australia, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Egypt, France, Germany, Haiti, India, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Palestine, Puerto Rico,...
- 3/13/2012
- by Josh Abraham
- Hollywoodnews.com
Plus, the Situation is hungover and the girls wear bunny suits in this week's episode.
By Jim Cantiello
Mike "The Situation" on Thursday's Episode of "Jersey Shore"
Photo: MTV
The Situation's back and he got a Hugh Hefner-themed surprise party, what with the strippers and the wheelchairs. Here now, my five favorite moments from this week's "Jersey Shore."
5. Hungover Situation
You can't get any more Dtf than a stripper, right? Wrong. Just ask the Situation, who brought home one of his party favors.
"I don't even remember her name. It might as well be A-nita because all night she was saying 'I need a cigarette. I need French toast.' Well I need you to get the hell out of my house!"
I think Hungover Situation is my favorite Situation. On the other hand, dude, she's a stripper who never actually took her clothes off. That's like being mad...
By Jim Cantiello
Mike "The Situation" on Thursday's Episode of "Jersey Shore"
Photo: MTV
The Situation's back and he got a Hugh Hefner-themed surprise party, what with the strippers and the wheelchairs. Here now, my five favorite moments from this week's "Jersey Shore."
5. Hungover Situation
You can't get any more Dtf than a stripper, right? Wrong. Just ask the Situation, who brought home one of his party favors.
"I don't even remember her name. It might as well be A-nita because all night she was saying 'I need a cigarette. I need French toast.' Well I need you to get the hell out of my house!"
I think Hungover Situation is my favorite Situation. On the other hand, dude, she's a stripper who never actually took her clothes off. That's like being mad...
- 1/27/2012
- MTV Music News
Cinema Blend never stops looking for talented contributors, but now more than ever we want you. No, not all of you. Just some of you. No definitely not you. The person behind you though, you there in the back! We like the cut of your jib. We.re growing faster than we can handle on our own. To keep growing, we need your help. This is your chance to get involved in one of the internet.s most successful, independently owned entertainment websites. translation: We.re not a bunch of corporate tools, which means we say whatever we want, but we wear secondhand clothes and don.t have any dental coverage. You should see our teeth. We.ve updated our Help Wanted page with new openings. To fill them and become a Cinema Blend contributor is easy. Just head over to the Help Wanted page right here. If you look...
- 8/16/2011
- cinemablend.com
Shorts Program 6: Comedy Shorts includes 11 individual short films of various comical style, for a total running time of 80 minutes. Played consecutively, these films offer a broad and entertaining showcase for independent comedy filmmakers in the St. Louis area.
Fluff (4 minutes)
Directed by Anthony Meadows and shot by Tim Bowe, Fluff is an awesome action-mystery-thriller ode to all the kick ass genres of cinema. The comedy is inherent, as the film is cast entirely with colorful, handmade puppets. The central character, a stuffed bear, meets up with a stuffed horse named Lewis (voiced by Tim Gowan) about a strange black disc (a button). As they flee from danger together through the woods, they run into a freaky shot-out stuffed bear-thing named Martin (voiced by Tyler Meadows), who joins them in a violent fight to the death with two sock monkeys seeking the black disc. Carnage ensues, culminating in an open-ended “what happens next” moment.
Fluff (4 minutes)
Directed by Anthony Meadows and shot by Tim Bowe, Fluff is an awesome action-mystery-thriller ode to all the kick ass genres of cinema. The comedy is inherent, as the film is cast entirely with colorful, handmade puppets. The central character, a stuffed bear, meets up with a stuffed horse named Lewis (voiced by Tim Gowan) about a strange black disc (a button). As they flee from danger together through the woods, they run into a freaky shot-out stuffed bear-thing named Martin (voiced by Tyler Meadows), who joins them in a violent fight to the death with two sock monkeys seeking the black disc. Carnage ensues, culminating in an open-ended “what happens next” moment.
- 8/16/2011
- by Travis Keune
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Cinema St. Louis, our city’s non-profit cinema-related event planning group, will presenting its 11th annual St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase which begins this Saturday, August 13th at the Tivoli Theater (and ends with a party on the 18th at Blueberry Hill). The showcase, sponsored by Stella Artois Beer, is a chance for St. Louis-based filmmakers to show off their art. All of these films were written, directed, edited or produced by St. Louis natives or those with strong local ties. The 16 film programs that screen at the Tivoli from Aug. 14-18 serve as St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase.s centerpiece. The programs range from full-length fiction features and documentaries to multi-film compilations of fiction and documentary shorts. Many programs include post-screening Q&As with filmmakers. Watch for more coverage of this important local event here at We Are Movie Geeks.com over the coming days
Here’s the schedule:
Saturday, Aug.
Here’s the schedule:
Saturday, Aug.
- 8/10/2011
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
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