In the documentary film, Backside, director/ filmmaker Raúl O. Paz-Pastrana (Border South), has lovingly composed a poetic meditation about the immigrant workers who care, feed, and tend to the million-dollar race horses at the Kentucky Derby racetrack.

Because of its historical association with royalty and nobility, horse racing is often called “the sport of kings.”In the horse racing caste system at the top are the horses, jockeys, owners, and gamblers, followed by the trainers, and beneath them, the workers who work for the trainers.

Pastrana skillfully uses a minimalist, cinema vertité approach to his film to imbue the workers with an aura of grace and nobility of their own.

There is no celebrity narrative voice over or mood setting, ethnically tinged music with a guitar or piano. There are no long-winded testimonials detailing aspects of the story.

Instead, Pastrana slowly lets the story, with virtually no dialog, pictorially unfold and reveal itself naturally by observing the workers going through their daily routine in quiet elegance. Often, the scenes that show the workers doing their jobs are framed and composed in a painterly fashion that evokes Van Gogh’s representations of working-class people in his timeless and iconic artwork.

The deep emotional attachment depicted in the film between horse and worker is one of the more touching and effective storylines of the film. In one scene, a curious wife asks her husband why he gives the horse candy.

“Because he’s my friend,” he whispers to his wife.

In the opening scene, we watch as a horse is being taken onto a ramp from a trailer. In the final scene, the horse is led up a ramp into a trailer to travel south. The scenes act seamlessly as cinematic bookends for the whole documentary.

Pastrana, a Mexican immigrant from Chihuahua, Mexico, now living in Denver, Colorado, is intimately knowledgeable about the immigrant experience in America and the untold value immigrants bring to the U.S. economy. In this unfortunate era of ICE raids and a Mass Deportation agenda, Backside is a gentle but persuasive reminder of the important and often unknown contributions of the immigrant community to America.

The Kentucky Derby Race is often described as the most exciting two minutes in sports.” Pastrana’s moving documentary, Backside, shows us the thousands of hard-working, tireless, dedicated  hours that go into making those “two exciting minutes.”Backside premieres on PBS, Monday, April 13. Check your local listing for times.

Independent Lens: Backside (2026) can be watched primarily on PBS.org and Free PBS App . It is also available for on-demand streaming for PBS Passport members and will have broadcast airings on various local PBS stations and the World Channel.

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The filmmakers of American Sons, producer Laura Varela, along with producer and director Andrew Gonzales, skillfully use the video diaries of Corporal  Jorge “JV” Villareal, the young Marine who did not return, which he recorded for his family in San Antonio, Texas. Those diaries serve as the storyteller’s voice of day-to-day life during his tour of duty in Afghanistan; he tragically did not survive.

The film is skillfully edited into a bookend, non-linear, fractured structure that goes from the video diaries to ten years after, with his surviving Marine brothers sharing their thoughts about J. V., their struggles trying to reconnect back into the “real world”, and tender scenes of his family recalling memories of their son, JV Villareal.

The various emotional and haunting testimonials by Villareal’s brothers in arms, spoken in frank,  intimate streetwise vernacular about their PTSD, isolation, alienation, and hopelessness, often rise to the level of working-class, urban free verse poetry. There’s an eloquent urgency to their authenticity that echoes the pain of servicemen from past conflicts and foreshadows what may be awaiting those serving in the military now.

The overarching truth of American Sons is in its honoring and celebration of those generations of men and women who have given us so much and all too often received so little in return.

American Sons also underscores and reminds us of the tremendous contributions and historic participation of Latinos in the U.S. armed forces since the days of the American Revolution to the present.

It is an honorable legacy of our heritage that Latinos are the most decorated ethnic group in the long and storied annals of American military conflicts.

The story of JV Villareal and his Marine brothers in American Sons is an important chapter in the book of that proud history.

American Sons is a co-production of Infinite Warrior LLC, Latino Public Broadcasting, and Black Public Media. Major funding by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and additional support by the Jacquie Jones Memorial Fund. This project was made possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional funding is provided by Bexar County and the City of San Antonio Arts and Culture.

American Sons premieres on PBS on Monday, January 12. Check local listings for time.

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And The Oscar Goes To…

All the signs are there pointing to a big night for Emilia Pérez, beginning with the Venice Film Festival where the three lead actresses, Karla Sofía Gascòn (El Senior de los cielos), Zoe Saldaña (Avatar, Lioness) and Selena Gomez (Only Murders in the Building), all share the Best Actress Award, afirst for that prestigious film festival.

At the Golden Globes, Saldaña’s show stopping singing and dancing performance of El Mal, won for Best Song, The genre busting, musical, drama, crime story, gender bending saga of physical, spiritual change and search for redemption, also won Best Film from France, as well as Best Motion Picture.

Legendary blockbuster filmmaker / director, James Cameron (Titanic, Avatar) said; “Emilia Pérez is just not like any other film that’s ever been made. It’s bold, daring, a vision.” And that daring and vision has resulted in 13 Oscar nominations including for: Best Adapted Screenplay, Original Score, International Feature, Supporting Actress, Actress, Director and Picture.

Zoe Saldaña is a shoo-in to win Best Supporting Actress. She’s already taken honors at the Golden Globes, Critic’s Choice and BAFTA award shows. All that’s missing is a Nobel Peace Prize and Baseball’s MVP Award. Look for Zoe to bring down the house when she performs El Mal.  Zoe has shown herself to be a topflight action/adventure star in Avatar, Guardians of the Universe and my favorite TV series; Lioness. But as the morally conflicted lawyer, Rita Mora Castro, Zoe Saldaña brings her acting, singing and dancing talents in full, brilliant display that will surely garner her Best Supporting Actress honors.

Karla Sofía Gascón is the first trans person ever nominated for an Academy Award. As the arch criminal, drug cartel kingpin, Manitas, who is surgically transformed into Emalia Pérez, Gascón’s portrayal is eerie, chilling, disturbing, but ultimately sympathetic and one colored with humanity. Manitas is an evil dude who through his metamorphosis into Emilia, tries valiantly to cleanse his soul and find ultimate redemption as a human being…as a woman.

Right now, Gascón is the betting favorite to win best Actress, but she faces stiff sentimental competition from Demi Moore in The Substance. However, Gascón’s nomination has been plagued over a controversy revolving around some seemingly racist remarks she made on social media. Hollywood immediately responded by essentially blackballing her. She was excluded from Netflix’s marketing campaign for the film. Even some of her co—stars and director of the movie expressed extreme disappointment in her perceived racist remarks and distanced themselves from her.

Initially, Netflix refused to pay for Gascón to attend the Oscars but have since reversed themselves and are paying for her to attend the ceremonies. Could it be Netflix senses (as this writer does) Emilia Pérez is going to win a boatload of Oscars and it will be a huge feather in Netflix’s streaming platform cap?

This controversy also raises the question: Do we punish artists for offensive behavior or remarks outside of their art? I think not. Mel Gibson said awful things about Jewish people. He was not blackballed and went on to make Hacksaw Ridge and Apocalypto  to critical praise. Gibson subsequently apologized for the remarks and so has Karla Sofía Gascón for her unfortunate social media posts.

Hopefully, the dark cloud of controversy over the nomination of Karla Sofía Gascón will dissipate, and the Academy will judge her solely for her groundbreaking performance in Emilia Pérez. 

That performance by this talented trans person has cultural and social significance because in this current political climate where homophobia, and hatred of the LGBTQ+ community has been validated in Executive Orders signed in bold Magic Marker scrawls, a Best Actress Oscar for Gascón would send a much-needed ray of hope and light in these uncertain times.

Selena Gomez did not receive an Oscar nomination for her role as Jessi del Monte, the troubled wife of Manitas. She did receive acting nods from BAFTA and the Golden Globes and this often award snubbed actress who has grown from a tiny tyke on Barney, the Purple Dinosaur, to a teen star on the Disney Channel’s The Wizards of Waverly Place, to an international pop singing sensation to currently being the pillar in the acting trio of Steve Martin and Martin Short on Only Murders in the Building, has proven in her tough, dark performance in Emilia Pérez,she is more than ready to take on serious, demanding  dramatic roles and will be a force to be reckoned with in the future.

The Oscars are right around the corner, and it looks like a battle between Wicked and Emilia Pérez to take top honors. Will this be the year Latino Hollywood can at long last finally celebrate by grabbing the brass ring? Well, I echo Manitas’ cooly confident affirmation: “Bingo!”
The Academy Awards, hosted by Conan O’Brien, air on Sunday, March 3, on ABC and stream on Hulu.

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Emilia Perez starring Zoe Saldana, Karla Sofia Gascón and Selena Gomez, is a gender-bending, genre-busting, phantasmagorical, operatic, hyper theatrical, electrifying crime and redemption melodrama.

Saldana plays Rita Mora Castro, an attorney tasked with negotiating a sex change operation for Manitas Del Monte, an arch drug cartel criminal . In a dark, unsettling scene, we meet the mobster with Gascón eerily portraying Del Monte in heavy prosthetic make-up.

Del Monte is born again as Emilia Perez. She tries to make up for her previous evil ways by helping  grief-stricken Mexican citizens find loved ones who have disappeared, often at Manitas’ hands. It’s a nice try, but sometimes redemption is a bridge too far.

Emilia Perez is a powerful Latina centric film. Saldana showcases her singing and dancing talents. Gomez, as Jessi, Manitas’ clueless spouse, gives a surprisingly strong and tough performance proving she has the acting chops for more demanding dramatic roles. Gascón shines in the dual role of Manitas and Emilia.

 The three leads, Saldana, Gascón and Gomez all shared a Best Actress Award for their performances in the film at the Cannes Film Festival. They will all get Oscar nominations. Hopefully, they won’t cancel one another out.

Writer / director Jacques Audiard will, no doubt, be considered for an Oscar for Best Director, as well as the movie for Best Picture. Could this, at long last, finally be the year Latinos make their too often overlooked and snubbed presence known at the Academy Awards? Hope so, otherwise the Academy will be on the receiving end of an acid drenched “WTF were you thinking? ¡Fideo Loco! blog from yours truly.

Emilia Perez is streaming on Netflix.
Director: Jacques Audiard
Cast: Karla Sofía Gascón , Zoe Saldana , Selena Gomez , Adriana Paz , Edgar Ramirez
Running time: 2 hr 10 minCast:  

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Emmy Award winner John Leguizamo follows up his brilliant one-man show, Latino History for Dummies (2018), with a Master Class in the three-part historical documentary for PBS VOCES. American Historias: The Untold History of Latinos, Leguizamo’s panoramic, kaleidoscopic landscape exalting the centuries long contributions of Latinos to the Americas is a colorful, dramatic and illuminating cinematic wall mural worthy of Diego Rivera.

American Historias, co-written and directed by Ben de Jesus, proudly chronicles the Latino legacy from the great indigenous ancient Meso-American empires, the Conquest, the Latinization of the Americas and the Caribbean. It reminds us of our military heroism, patriotism, political activism for social justice, our cultural influences in the arts, music, film, theater and not the least of which is our world class cuisine.

Leguizamo points out Latinos are an ethnic mixture with roots in Europe, Africa an  Meso America. We are a complicated multi-layered and delicious ethnic dish like traditional Mexican mole, a blend of native and several ingredients from all over the world.

American Historias bursts, con mucho argullo Latinim like a busted piñata. Each one of the tasty historias is excellent material for movies, like Walkout and Stand and Deliver. We must have our own all Latino streaming network like Netflix. We must have a MEXFLIX streaming network to tell and share nuestro American Latino historias with the world.
American Historias is currently streaming Prime Video, Hulu & YouTubeTV.  You can also watch it free on pbs.org/VOCES

American Historias: The Untold History of Latinos is executive produced by Jill Kirkorian and produced by Alessandra Quest and Belinda Salazar Kizy among

Currently Steaming on Hulu, Prime Video and on PBS.org/Voces. Or to purchase the three hourlong episodes go to Amazon CLICK HERE.

The post Fideo Loco Quick Review: PBS’ American Historias first appeared on .

By Roberto Leal

With the recent release of Flamin’ Hot, Eva Longoria, the talented actor, producer,
makes her directorial debut telling us an inspirational Horatio Alger-like story with a
decided Mexican twist of Richard Montañez, the humble janitor working for Frito-Lay
who developed the spicy seasoning for Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, America’s favorite snack
chip.

While the nuts-and-bolts facts surrounding the development of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos are
in dispute, Longoria doesn’t go into that aspect of the story but rather brings clear
focus the body and soul of this story which is Richard Montañez’s rags-to-riches, triumph over adversity buoyed by the strength of his Mexican heritage and close-knit family.

Jesse Garcia (The Avengers) gives an honest, sympathetic performance as Richard, a
young Mexican struggling to navigate and overcome the barriers of a troubled upbringing and systemic racism to realize his ambitions and dreams.

Annie Gonzalez (Gentefied, Vida) delivers an excellent performance as Judy, Richard’s wife who bolsters, encourages, scolds, and never loses faith in Richard. In many ways, Judy’s never faltering strength in this story is reminiscent of the tireless determination of the Mexican wives in the  Herbert J. Biberman directed feature The Salt of the Earth (1954) who were the driving force behind the copper miners strike in New Mexico.

Judy’s presence in the film reminds us that Mexican society is not necessarily a male dominated, macho one, but more often a matriarchal hierarchy ruled by: las madres, abuelas, tias, hermanas, and comadres. At least that was the reality in my family.

Longoria’s even-handed directing style is crisp and fast-paced. She allows the story to evolve and reveal itself at its own chosen speed. There are no slow parts in Flamin’ Hot. The story is punctuated and rounded out by the casting of veteran character actors: Dennis Haysbert, Tony Shouloub, and Pepe Serna.

Flamin’ Hot was recently screened at the White House as part of the administration’s advocacy efforts to strengthen DACA and immigration reform. Alicia Menendez, host of MSNBC’s American Voices asked Longoria why she made Flamin’ Hot: “It’s a love letter to the Mexican American community”, said Longoria.

“When I think about tonight’s movie, I think about courage. So many of you, your ancestors left behind all that they knew to start a new life in the United States,” President Biden said as he addressed a crowd of over 900 person there for the outdoor screening of the film for community, White House staff and press.

Flamin’ Hot is indeed a love letter to our community. But it is also a message to Hollywood we need to see more positive representations of Latinos in film, TV and theater and we have exceptionally talented storytellers, like Eva Longoria, to bring those “love letters” to American audiences and beyond.

Richard Montañez disrupted the food industry in the ‘90s by channeling his Mexican American heritage to help turn Flamin’ Hot Cheetos into a multibillion-dollar brand today and a cultural phenomenon,” Longoria said. “We are telling a story that celebrates the American entrepreneurial dream without sidestepping the fact that the dream isn’t available in the same way for everyone.”

Flamin’ Hot starring Jesse Garcia and Annie Gonzalez is currently streaming on Hulu and
Disney+.

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Ramon Rodriguez returns to broadcast television in the title role in ABC’s upcoming crime / drama series, Will Trent, as a Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) special agent. The series premieres on January 3 on ABC.

Rodriguez got his star on television with his first series regular in ABC’s Day Break. From there he went on to make to short live series Charlie’s Angels and Fox’s Gang Related.  Meanwhile on film fans followed his trajectory in films such as Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, The Taking of Pelham 123 and Battle Los Angeles. 

As Rodríguez embarks on his latest television series, which he also produces, he eloquently and enthusiastically spoke to Latin Heat about his artistic journey and emotional investment in creating a unique character for the TV series. 

Discovering Will Trent

Rodríguez recalls he did not initially seek out the role of Will Trent:

“I had just done a project with Hulu. I know some of the executives and have a history with them and they wanted to do something else with me and they presented me with Will Trent.”

The TV show, Will Trent, is based on author Karen Slaughter’s popular series of novels on the Atlanta-based special agent. Will Trent, who was abandoned as a child, grew up in the Atlanta foster care system, has dyslexia but overcame those obstacles to attain the highest clearance rate in the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Rodríguez admits he was not familiar with slaughter’s books but immersed himself in them and found Will Trent to be an attractive and appealing character.

He recalls, “I met with the showrunners, Liz Heldens and Daniel Thomsen, and we had several creative dialogs on how to approach the material, where we want to take the show, how to portray Will Trent and how to best develop a compelling character,” 

“A big part of it for me,” adds Rodríguez, “is the chance to produce and be a part of the early on dialogs about the show.”

The Puzzle Master

There were several factors that drew Rodríguez to the character of Will Trent:

“I found Will Trent to be a most interesting character,” says Rodríguez, “He had a difficult childhood growing up an abandoned orphan in the Atlanta foster care system. He experienced a lot of traumas and carries a lot of scars.  He’s dyslexic. But despite all that, Will manages to rise to the highest levels in the Georgia Bureau of Investigation earning  its highest clearance rate”

Rodríguez refers to Trent as a Puzzle Master because, despite his dyslexia, he can come onto a crime scene and see things others miss. Trent takes the puzzle pieces and creates a collage or story  to solve the hidden mystery  of a crime.

“We have created a visual language,” says Rodríguez, “to portray to the audience how Will sees things.”

Unlike Sherlock Holmes, Columbo and Hercule Poirot, who employ linear, logical geometrical deductive reasoning to solve crimes, Trent uses an unconventional, asymmetrical approach to reconstruct and deconstruct a crime scene.

Vulnerabilities

People with dyslexia are often wrongly characterized as being not very intelligent because they often have great difficulty reading. Will Trent has suffered with this all his life, but has developed coping methods to deal with it; visual aids, colors, color coded files, etc. But sometimes his dyslexia completely betrays him.

“We sometimes show Will really struggling with his dyslexia,” says Rodríguez. “There are times when he simply cannot read, and we show his frustration. Will is ashamed of his visual liability and works hard to keep it from being revealed.”

A Three-Dimensional Character in a Three-Piece Suit

According to Rodríguez, “Will is the kind of guy who loves working a crime scene. He lives for this stuff, and it sometimes creates tension between himself and the Atlanta Police Force.”

To present himself as a guy in charge and in control of the situation, he always shows up wearing a natty three-piece suit that gives him the aura of respectability, authority and being on top of things.

“I love Will’s outlook on life, his point of view and how he sees things differently than others do,” says Rodríguez. “Here’s a guy who grew up alone. Nobody helped him and yet because of his tragic childhood he is someone who cares and wants to help others in need.”

Rodríguez shares, “in the pilot we demonstrate this quality when will adopts a chihuahua dog he doesn’t like or want but can’t stand the idea of it being left alone and helpless like he was. This immediately shows the heart and I love that. This guy has a lot of heart.

Atlanta As A Character

Will Trent is shot on location in Atlanta, Georgia because as Rodríguez points out, “The novels take place in Atlanta. We shoot on location here in Atlanta, so the city is a real character. We want to capture that energy, heat and vibe,” explains Rodríguez. “Our stories are mostly Atlanta-based stories. In one episode we tell a story that takes place at a lake here that has a history that we mine for a story.”

Atlanta is rapidly becoming a center of entertainment production. Rodríguez indicates that the show is surrounded by so much talent. In addition to Rodríguez, the cast of Will Trent features Erika Christensen, Iantha Richardson, Jake McLaughlin and Sonja Sohn .

Executive producers are Liz Heldens, Daniel Thomsen, Karin Slaughter and Oly Obst. Ramón Rodríguez is a producer and the star of Will Trent. His tireless dedication and commitment to the character of Will Trent results in a relatable special agent who is resilient in the face of his adversities and liabilities, a relentless unorthodox crime solver but ultimately tempered and defined by his innate sense of decency and genuine humanity.

In the pilot episode of Will Trent premieres on ABC on January 3, Special Agent Will Trent relies on his keen instincts and unique experience to uncover the truth when a murder investigation reveals there’s more to the story than meets the eye.

The post Ramón Rodríguez Brings Special Agent Will Trent to Life in New ABC Series first appeared on .

Ian Lara’s comedy star continues to ascend in the wake of his highly successful and well-received HBO Special Romantic Comedy, which premiered November 11 and is currently streaming on HBO. Without question, this has been a banner year for Lara. But he is not an overnight success. The Brooklyn-born son of Dominican parents put in the hard work during his early “salad” days working a full-time day job and doing open mic gigs in the evening at various comedy clubs. All that hard work now has him poised to become a bright, shining star in the Latino comedy galaxy.

The Son of Immigrants

Born in East New York, Brooklyn, Ian grew up in a neighborhood dominated by people of Puerto Rican and Dominican heritage. Ian benefitted greatly from that proud Latino background.

“My parents were immigrants from the Dominican Republic’, recalls Ian. “From an early age, they instilled in me the immigrant work ethic. A work ethic that says as an immigrant you must work harder than everyone else in order to fit in and be accepted.”

Ian also is the beneficiary of a big humorous family that loves getting together and enjoys laughing and joking with each other.  “My parents were okay with me becoming a comic, but they insisted I had to work and earn money while trying to achieve my comedy goals,” says Lara. “I was always a fan of stand-up comedy and people suggested it to me” And wisely Lara took their advice to heart.

Perfecting His Comedy Craft

Lara’s comedy influences and role models are Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle and Kevin Heart. Lara’s on-stage style and persona is conversational, observational, sharp, edgy, often raunchy, hip, smart and insightful.

“My comedy,” says Lara, “comes from just living my life.” He has the unique ability to take casual encounters with friends and people he meets on the street and finds material for jokes within them. It’s a style that creates an intimacy with his audience. Even in the large 400 seat audience venue for his Romantic Comedy HBO Special, Lara’s style and delivery created an intimate energy much like that of a small comedy club.

Ian began his rise to comic stardom by way of Comedy Central and HBO Latino’s Entre Nos franchise, which spotlights the best Latino standup talent on the scene. Comedian Aida Rodriguez, also an alum of Entre Nos, directs Lara’s HBO special.

The premiere of Romantic Comedy is his second special of 2022. His first, Growing Shame, premiered on Comedy Central Digital on February 10^th as part of their series of half hours. He performed his 30-minute debut comedy special LA Meets NY for HBO Latino’s esteemed Entre Nos franchise in 2020, which did so well the streamer gave him his current special now streaming on HBO.  

His appearance on Comedy Central’s StandUP Featuring has garnered over 10 million views collectively on social media, and he was a regular on the network’s hit series This Week at the Comedy Cellar.  He is also a big favorite on NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

A Dynamic Duo Team of Latino Producers Make It Happen

It was through the tireless, creative efforts of the dynamic Latino producing duo of Victor Elizalde and Edwin Licona., who in conjunction and cooperation with HBO, brought the ground-breaking Entre Nos series to life. Elizalde and Licona explain: “We wanted to create a Latino stand-up comedy show that was clever enough to attract a discerning audience that spoke both English and Spanish and was  true to the Latino experience. So, ultimately the brand was developed as Entre Nos—We Speak Comedy.

Elizalde and Licona, who also produced Romantic Comedy, point out that, “HBO programming fought hard for this show to get it placed including forcing the show to be a licensed product and not an HBO Original. They continue, “Kudos to the HBO team for leading the way whilst allowing us to own the brand we created.  This is unheard of for almost any modern-day producers”

However, the two enterprising Latino producers came up against the usual obstacles to a Latino production. According to Elizalde and Licona, “Too many platforms did not originally see the need or demand for Latino based comedy” 

Furthermore, they explained, “It wasn’t until the breakout Orlando Leyba‘s comedy special on HBO did executives start to take notice that not only was there an audience but that they had no idea who the main attractions were like Frankie Quinones, Chris Estrada, Jerry Garcia and Aida Rodriguez to name a few.  Hollywood execs did not realize that these folks are all household names, but just not in their household”.  The latest shows on HBO were with Ian Lara, Ralph Barbosa and Gwen LaRoka. Judging by the requests for comp VIP tickets to the launch parties and activations by the talent agents, managers and platform execs these obstacles are being removed quickly.

So, What’s Next for Ian Lara?

When Lara was asked where he saw himself in five years — doing more comedy specials, a TV sitcom series, possibly a movie, Lara without hesitation answered enthusiastically, “All of the above.” Will Lara get his shot at the brass ring to become a “household name” like Frankie Quinones, Chris Estrada, Jerry Garcia and Aida Rodriguez?

Producers Elizalde and Lacona have demonstrated their passionate commitment to showcasing the wide diversity, shapes, sizes in authentic, relatable programs that highlight the best of our culture. The opportunities for Lara will certainly be there and for this rising comedy star, the sky is the limit.

To find out about Ian’s upcoming tour dates, check out his website: www.IanLaraLive.com. Romantic Comedy is now streaming on HBO.

The post Stand-up Ian Lara is a Hit in HBOs ‘Romantic Comedy’ first appeared on .

TV Series – Rosie’s Rules

Genre: Animation, Family

Creator: Jennifer Hamburg

Cast: Ellora Lopez, Carlos diaz, Ana sofia Ferrer, Gabby Clarke, Amanda Martínez

REVIEW

A young Latina solving the mysteries of life on her own terms. In this pre-school animated comedy series, we follow the hilarious adventures of 5-year-old Rosie Fuentes (voice of Ellora Lopez). This curious, independent kid has many questions about the world outside of her family and neighborhood. No worries. Rosie is a smart little kid who figures things out on her own. 

Production Company: 9 Story Media Group

Distributor:  9 Story Media Group

Rating:

TV Series Alma’s Way

Genre: Animation, Family

Creator: Sonia Monzana

Writer: Jorge Aguirre

Cast: Summer Rose Castillo, Maya Shoken, Neo Vela, Jacob Crispo, Jesus E. Martinez

REVIEW

“Better is a poor and wise child than an old and foolish king” —Ecclesiastes 4:13. Alma Rivera (voice of Summer Rose Castillo ), is the proud six year old Puerto Rican living in the Bronx embodiment of the  Biblical saying. 

In every episode, Alma’s Way aims to model self-awareness, responsible decision making, and empathy, encouraging kids to generate and value their own ideas and questions. As she uses “Think-Through” moments to stop, listen, and process in the face of a tough decision, Alma reflects and takes action while demonstrating social awareness.

Production Company: Fred Rogers Productions

Distributor: PBS Kids

Rating:

Rosie’s Rules and Alma’s Way are two great animated educational series that highlight and portray positive images of young Latinas who are smart, curious, thoughtful and wonderful role models for young Latina viewers.

Rosie’s Rules and Alma’s way can be seen on PBS Kids.

The post Thumbnail Reviews: Rosie´s Rules and Almas Way first appeared on .

Written by Roberto Leal

“The problem with Marilyn playing dumb blonde roles is she’s not dumb or a blonde” —Arthur Miller, Playwright

Ana de Armas has clearly and undeniably nailed down the coveted pole position for the for Oscar race for Best Actress. The talented, beautiful, Cuban-born de Armas delivers a stunning portrayal of Marilyn Monroe that is at once harrowing, compassionate, heart-breaking, nuanced, at times painful to watch and emotionally courageous. Ana de Armas has laid the foundation for this ground-breaking and controversial performance with critically acclaimed roles in her previous films, Knives Out, in which she plays a humble caregiver, the latest Bond girl in No Time to Die and a tough, kickass CIA agent in The Gray Man. But in Blonde, de Armas not only carries the film on her slender shoulders, she elevates the entire film to award-winning heights which in turn required her to extend her emotional acting range to newer, deeper and darker regions.

The Film Auteur’s Vision

The great Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, who gave us classic films like Persona, The 7^th Seal, and Wild Strawberries, observed that sitting in a darkened theater and watching the mesmerizing flickering images dance on a movie screen is the closest thing to the dream state. Andrew Dominik, the director of Blonde and noted for his avant-garde film, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Bob Ford, masterfully applies his auteurship skills to his vision of Blonde, which is based on the highly fictionalized, 1999 novel of Marilyn’s life by the author, Joyce Carol Oates.

In Blonde Dominik has created a surreal journey through the catacombs of Marilyn Monroe’s tortured inner psyche, as Norma Jean Baker struggles with the manufactured Hollywood identity of Marilyn Monroe that inhabits her body, mind and soul. In de Armas, Dominik has found the perfect vessel to bring his vision to life on the screen.

Dominik uses dark, muted light and shadows to convey an ethereal, dream-like tone that pervades the film often blending and mixing reality and nightmarish sequences with delusional fantasies.

Netflix, in a rare move, gave Dominik carte blanche to realize his vision of the material which contains some strong sexual content that resulted in Netflix getting its first NC-17 rating. But while the sexual content is disturbing, it is not especially graphic and as experienced through the vulnerable eyes of de Armas as Marilyn, it comes across more like pathos than porn. Ana de Armas uses her eyes, face, and inner dialogs between Norma Jean and Marilyn to paint a very textured portrait of the legendary Blonde Bombshell as a complicated, conflicted and misunderstood human being who became a Hollywood myth.

A Fine Supporting Cast

Blonde features an excellent supporting cast, all of whom turn in notable acting performances. However, Lily Fisher (Station 19, Life & Death)) as young Norma Jean and Julianne Nicholson (August: Osage County, Black Mass) as Gladys Baker, Marilyn’s mentally unstable, delusional and often abusive mother, deserve a special shout-out for their fine work in the opening scenes of Blonde that depict, with often unsettling detail, the genesis of Norma Jean /Marilyn Monroe’s journey.

Fisher has a very unforgettable and poignant scene when she is shuffled off to an orphanage and protests in a quiet, haunting, plaintive voice: “But I’m not n orphan.”  Nicholson’s riveting performance of Gladys’s descent into utter and complete madness is a disquieting and viscerally frightening experience to behold.

A Cinematic Triumph for Ana de Armas

But in the final analysis, Blonde is all Ana de Armas. Her performance is like a great concert pianist playing George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.  She commands the attention of the camera. You can’t take your eyes off of her. She draws you into the story and demands you watch, listen and try to understand her pain. The camera loves de Armas in much the same way it loved Marilyn Monroe, who was beyond a doubt the most photogenic Hollywood movie star of all time. 

Ana de Armas’s physical resemblance to Monroe is obvious. She worked diligently with an accent coach to diffuse her lovely Cuban accent and recreate Marilyn’s speaking voice. Her Cuban accent slightly betrays her only once or twice on certain words and did not detract from her performance at all.

In fact, it was a bit of unintentional irony that de armas, a Latina, was cast to play Marilyn Monroe. In real life, Monroe kept her Mexican birth heritage (her mother, Gladys, was born in Mexico) a professional secret because of pressure from the Hollywood studio executives who did not want their valuable All-American “product” to be tainted with a Hispanic background. So, in a karmic twist of fate, de Armas is in reality the perfect actress to portray Marilyn Monroe.

Ana de Armas’s star power keeps intensifying with each new challenging role. After her brilliant star turn in Blonde the only question remaining for de Armas is what designer dress this gorgeous and talented Latina will be wearing during her red-carpet interviews on her way to receiving her many well-earned and richly deserved acting awards for her role in this film.

BLONDE

Director: Andrew Dominik

Stars: Ana de Armas, Lily fisher, Julianne Nicholson

Distributor: Netflix

Blonde is currently streaming on Netflix.

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