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Once again, welcome to the Third Annual World of KJ International Spanish Language Festival. For the second year running, I am proud to be your host. This year, a second host - Jeff Schade - will help me prepare the discussion points - in what will surely be our most successful year ever. This year's festival will focus on recent Spanish Language productions, offering an introduction to the revered works of the most celebrated Spanish directors.

A list of covered films will be supplied along with links to their IMDB and Netflix pages to allow you to conveiently research and order films that interest you. We invite you to select any of the films from the list for discussion. In addition to participant reviews, both Jeff and myself will be reviewing selected Spanish Language works over the course of the festival as well as begin discussions on various Spanish directors of note.

Latest Updates - October 29
- The agenda for the next week includes a review of What Have I Done to Deserve This?, and hopefully an *unofficial* movie night if enough of you can get ahold of a copy without missing out on other festival threads.
- There is still time to watch and review any of the films we have discussed, including this weekend's movie night selection, A Little Princess.
- Look for more updates from Jeff and Zach throughout the early week, leading up to the end of the festival
- Our thanks go out to those of you who have participated. Remember, there are 3 Film Giveaways for the most active participants in the 2006 WoKJ Film Festival. The hosts will decide who is awarded these treats based on participation, so make sure to stay active - you could take home a lovely prize!


Reviewed Selections

Participants can expect to see reviews or commentary from the hosts as we revisit these recent critical hits. As always, feel free to jump in or rent one of these films – they make for wonderful discussion in our opinion. Expect to see at least one review from each of us as the festival progresses and, therefore, a new discussion to participate in. We recommend selecting films that interest you a few days in advance to allow Netflix to send them. If you watch a film that has not yet been discussed, feel free to start! Questions or comments about films are always welcome – remember we are here to explore Spanish Language films together.

La Mala Educacion (Bad Education, P. Almodovar)
Los Diarios de Motocicleta (Motorcycle Diaries, W. Salles)
Y Tu Mama Tambien (And Your Mother Too, A. Cuaron)
Todo Sobre Mi Madre (All About My Mother, P. Almodovar)
Hable Con Ella (Talk to Her, P. Almodovar)
Maria Full of Grace (J. Martson)
Amores Perros (Love’s a Bitch, A.G. Iñarritu)

In addition to posting discussion points on the above film, Jeff and I have decided to pick out a series of films that we haven’t seen to review. We feel this allows for better discussion, as the film is still “fresh” in our minds – look forward to several of these as the festival progresses. Jeff will be first to kick off the reviews with La Mala Educacion this week! For now, plans call for the following films to be discussed, which will be updated as the festival continues:

Zach’s Reviews:
¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto? (What Have I Done to Deserve This?, P. Almodovar - November 1st)
La Flor de mi Secreto (The Flower of the My Secret, P. Almodovar - Page 4)
Nueve Reinas (Nine Queens, F. Bielinsky - Page 3)
La Mala Educacion (Bad Education, P. Almodovar - Page 2)
Todo Sobre Mi Madre (All About My Mother, P. Almodovar - Page 2)

Jeff’s Reviews:
La Mala Educacion (Bad Education, P. Almodovar - Page 2)
Carne Trémula (Live Flesh, P. Almodovar)

Film Nights!

This year, we will be having film nights – scheduled times for the group to watch and then review the film directly afterwards. There have tentatively been scheduled two Spanish Language film nights, one hosted by each of us. We will do our best to provide three to four days notice prior to the evening in order to ensure you have time to obtain the film. This will be a casual, exploratory discussion of the film – perhaps the characters (or actors), symbols and themes, or direction serving as topics.

Jeff’s Movie Nights
A Little Princess (A. Cuaron) - (TBA)

Zach’s Movie Nights
Nueve Reinas (Nine Queens, F. Bielinsky) - Friday, October 20th!

Participation

Participation is, of course, voluntary! We would love to see you join us for movie nights and review-based discussion, but we understand that there are many festivals running concurrently and only one of you! Any participation is greatly appreciated, as it enhances the experience for all of us. You are welcome to watch one movie or five – it depends on how much time you can spare for the festival. We hope to see a great turnout this year and thank you so much for joining us! A special thanks goes out to Galia for organizing the event for the third year running!

¡Pásatelo Bien!
Zach & Jeff

Hurray

Hopefully i'll be able to contribute to this one, i just hope you select some of the films that are sat in my 'to watch' pile

The first post has been updated. It should change once I double check everything with Jeff tonight. Also, I promise to add in links to IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, and Netflix for each film!

Finally, I hope to hear more from Mr. Price about the Spanish Language Horror Fest - it may or may not be part of this thread. At the very least I hope to discuss some horror - more details to come!

Anxiously awaiting the beginning of the festival,
Zach

Heh...

So Bad Education is on its way. Nowhere near as great as I was hoping unfortunately. B-...more later.

Excellent, i have in my pile to watch:
La Mala Educacion
Todo Sobre Mi Madre
Hable Con Ella
Maria Full of Grace

And have previously seen:
Los Diarios de Motocicleta
Y Tu Mama Tambien (THANK YOU ROD )

Which happen to be two of my favourite films ever. Some great choices there, i'll hopefully be watching La Mala Educacion over the weekend. I may be able to see the others over the course of the festival, but can't promise anything. I've also got Mar Adentro (The Sea Inside) by Alejandro Amenábar in the pile, which came very highly recommended to me.

I'm seeing Volver tomorrow for the second time, so it'll be interesting to see how other Almodovar films stand up to it as i get to see them.

You guys should go for films outside of the usual ones that seem to always appear!

What about some of Luis Bunuel's work? Viridiana, El Angel Exterminador, or Los Olvidados, for example. Actually I've never been able to find the last two (then again i haven't really looked all that much).

I love movies like Y Tu Mama Tambien, Maria Full of Grace, and All About My Mother, for example, but there are other great if somewhat lesser known films out there so it'd be kinda nice to see them included.

so just a suggestion

Well, I think everyone is trying to pick something a little more accessable for their "movie night" movie, because it needs to be a title everyone can get their hands on.

For the whole two week run of the festival, however, everyone can watch anything they want related to the countries they are interested in, and then come discuss it. I will actually keep my eye out for some of Bunuel's work if you recommend it. I thought everyone should try to check out Lucrecia Martel's work as well. She's considered one of the up-and-coming international Argentinian directors. I've already seen La Nina Santa (which I recommend, one of my top ten favorites from last year) and I'm going to try to see La Cienaga (2001).

I already have two movies lined up that I want to see for each country so far, at least.

I was wondering if we should "step out of the box" this year, so to speak, but I want to attract a new constituency. On the other hand, we have a solid base of participants that probably want to try new things. Therefore, I'm trying to find a happy medium. I'm considering changing the move night selection to a film kypade has recommended to me quite a few times - "Nine Queens". I'm not sure how many are familiar with it, but it is a rather celebrated crime picture from 2002. I've done a little research into it and it looks like a wonderful crowd pleaser. This might be a happy medium, I think. Dolce, I was going to run it by you tonight, but I might as well post it publicly to see if there is more interest in seeing a film like this?!

Nine Queens @ RT

There should be enough time and it is widely circulated enough. I'd like to get a taste of a Spanish language action film, as I've stuck to drama/comedy. This looks like a wonderful candidate.

Rod, I really, (you have no idea how much emphasis I am putting on this) really appreciate your input. Lots of people might be interested in Almodovar (who wouldn't be? ), but this is about broadening one's understanding of a genre and I think its time to do just that. I'll gladly include your suggestions and even make a point to discuss and watch the ones you think are worthwhile. Please share what you know! I am only here to "organize" the event with dolce, but the success of it depends on posters like you sharing what you do know! Please leave me a PM or simply post in the thread with suggestions or comments. I really appreciate it. :-) If you want to talk over an IM service, we can arrange a time in the near future. I don't mean to trap you as a co-host, but I'd love learning more about what you have to say.

As for my queue this year, it is sort of, erm, long. I'm going to have to fight for time to watch them and should get a head start Friday, since I have the day off.

It's interesting you should remember/link Nine Queens as a recommendation from me. I mean, I'm sure I have mentioned/rec'd it, but...well, in any case, I would love to hear the opinions of a bunch of people at once on it, so if that's what you choose to go with, I approve. :O (Because I know that's what you were /really/ waiting for - my approval...right? :O :O )

Yes, this entire festival hinges on your approval.

God forbid I pay attention to what some people post.

Hmmm, my best bet would be Bunuel's Spanish films but other than Viridiana which was recently released on DVD, the others aren't really all that easily found. But Viridiana is a very good movie so I recommend that I guess. The dinner scene and its reference towards The Last Supper towards the end of the film is so, so good. I'm in heaven watching that

Maybe I should just shift my attention to The French section and somehow [s]force everyone to watch[/s] recommend The Discreet Charm of the Burgeoisie. I'll be watching That Obscure Object of Desire and Diary of a Chambermaid for the first time just for the festival. Or at least using the festival as an excuse/motivation to get around to it.

As far as other recommendations I haven't been able to watch certain movies that I think would fit in well here because of them not being available on DVD in the U.S. So I think maybe go for something in between obscure and well-known. Open Your Eyes, I think should be essesntial for those who have not yet seen it. As should Like Water For Chocolate. I also highly recommend The Devil's Backbone.

So...

The Devil's Backbone
Like Water for Chocolate
Viridiana
Open Your Eyes

It's probably also important to remember that not everyone lives in the US. So just because certain movies have not been released here doesn't mean they have not been eleased in other countries...so other forum members could easily watch something like Exterminating Angel and discuss it here. Just to increase interest. Maybe even motivate some to pay $40+ for it So it might be a good idea to recruit dar for this. I'm sure he wouldn't mind discussing certain films with...himself.

Exterminating Angel has also been released in the UK though and I'm sure many other European countries. In case anyone participating in this feels like adding yet another movie to their pile. *ahem* What's one more when you already have like 2+ years worth of viewing material anyway, right?

Wait, why is A Little Princess there? Granted it's by Cuaron but... it's not even in Spanish. You might as well include
Prisoner of Azkaban. Oh well, I own A Little Princess so I guess I can partake in its viewing night.


Great cinematography by Lubezki though. Wonderful little film.

Jeff is interested in Spanish directors... so while we're at it, we should watch Great Expectations.

Rod, we had dar as a host last year. I've seen Like Water for Chocolate and am familiar with Open Your Eyes, so those are also possible routes to explore. It seems like there simply isn't a wonderful variety available to American audiences at this time. I can make a point to see The Devil's Backbone, though. If anything, it would be fun to talk with you.

Sign, Devil's Backbone started off quite well and then plummeted towards the abyss of American slasher-style films.

This came into the library today.

Solo Con Tu Pareja, which is apparently a newly released older Cuaron film dating back from before he broke through here in the States. His cinematographer is again Lubezki, so Rogue, if you liked Little Princess you should definately check out this earlier paring of the two. I really like Lubezki's work. This seems like a bit tongue-in-cheek comedy from the write-up on the back. I'm going to take it home and try to watch it next week.

That actually sounds interesting. I'm also a huge fan of Cuaron and Lubezki, so I'll look for it. Do let us know how it turns out. Jeff should have a review of Bad Education up soon. I'm drafting a piece as well, so look for an update soon. Tomorrow is SAT Subject Tests, one of which is in Spanish, so everyone wish me some luck...

Oooh. Let me know how it is, I'll have to see if I can find it anywhere.

Damn you and your damn recomendations

I've managed to order a few of those dirt cheap (including Exterminating Angel). Open Your Eyes is the same director as Mar Adentro (which was excellent) so i had to get that. I'm looking forward to Jeff's review of La Mala Educación, i want to see how he justifies his B- grade

Wait, did you see Bad Education, Andrew?

I too am waiting for a review. You have a lot of explaining to do, Jeff. To be fair, I recall dar being fairly unenthusiastic with it as well, but he has much more familiarity with earlier Almodovar than the rest of us, so he obviously has a different perspective.

wow. I can't believe I've seen all 7 of the first 7 mentioned films.

I think I will try to check out La Flor de mi Secreto (The Flower of the My Secret, P. Almodovar) sometime soon.

What do we do exactly? Just watch and post/discuss our thoughts on the film?

And I recently watched All About My Mother

Yup! Just watch a film and post a review or some thoughts. Anything that you want. For other threads I participate in, I usually end up asking questions . That said, I'd love to hear more about any of the pictures you've seen... especially All About My Mother. Not to pull dar into this again, but I've heard him criticize it for being a bit too melodramatic. Personally, I thought it was a wonderful dramedy. That might be a bit vague, but I'd nonetheless like to talk about it.... I actually have it saved on my DVR for "those days" when I need a good time... mostly because I can't afford to buy it.

Antonia San Juan's Agrado is one of my favorite characters to come out of film in a long time. Sassy and quite hilarious (Agrado, if you don't remember, is the transexual friend of Manuela from Barcelona). Almodovar certainly has a knack for creating characters. Anyone else (dis)like it?

I absolutely loved and adored All About My Mother. It might find its way into my top 20 or so favorite films of all time. Maybe... lol.

I agree Agrad was pure perfection. I loved her little monologue thing when the play was cancelled for the night.

My mom watched it with me and although she did say "it was a little weird" (it's become a running joke with her that I often say "it's not your type of film" when the content is something a bit more "untraditional" or non-mainstream) but I could tell she was pretty interested throughout and might have been a bit endeared by the film.

Yeah, and my view on it is more in line with yours than Jeff's, so i'm patiently waiting for that review of his

Well, we start discussing next Friday, so I hope Jeff tactfully times his review for, like, Thursday night.

Just to add to the suspense.

Oooh. Andrew, Andrew, Andrew...you just lost points in my book.

Well, I'm getting to it, I'm sort of backlogged on writing but this week is going to be working on that.

Well I'll definately be seeing "Y Tu Mama Tambien" this week, though that will probably be it for this week. I'll see if I can dig anything else up.