Hans Zimmer, the two time Oscar winner and four time Grammy winner, is one of the most prolific film score composers of all time. With a career spanning over 40 years, from “The Lion King” to “The Dark Knight” trilogy to the “Dune” movies, he shows no signs of slowing down. As for retirement, don’t expect it any time soon.
“Are you kidding me? I’ve played all my life. Why would I stop playing? Why would I stop living a playful life? Why would I stop trying to, you know, invent things? Why would I? I mean, there are good reasons because, as soon as I sit down and there is the blank page and I’m supposed to write something, I’m like ‘Oh my god, I have no idea how to do this,” Zimmer told IndieWire. “After two weeks I want to phone the director and give...
“Are you kidding me? I’ve played all my life. Why would I stop playing? Why would I stop living a playful life? Why would I stop trying to, you know, invent things? Why would I? I mean, there are good reasons because, as soon as I sit down and there is the blank page and I’m supposed to write something, I’m like ‘Oh my god, I have no idea how to do this,” Zimmer told IndieWire. “After two weeks I want to phone the director and give...
- 3/15/2024
- by Vincent Perella
- Indiewire
A few months ago, on Jan. 1, more than 150 thousand people swarmed the savannah-based, landlocked city of Brasília — an unusual flock since beach cities like Rio are usually top destinations around the holidays. Yet Brazil’s capital was busy as ever, starting with its buzzy main avenue: By the Esplanada area, a massive crowd watched a series of concerts featuring dozens of artists from all over the country. Hip-hop heads with soccer jerseys stood next to old-school Tropicalia fans, couples holding babies shouted along to baile funk hits with groups of kids,...
- 3/28/2023
- by Felipe Maia
- Rollingstone.com
Alvaro la Fuente’s year has been a whirlwind — a product of a budding, but frenetic musical career that has taken him across the world. Prior to releasing his first LP, La Cantera, which came out in May, the Spanish singer, who records under his stage name Guitarricadelafuente, was touring with only a handful of songs under his belt. Many of those tracks were acoustic-driven melodies dressed in La Fuente’s low-hum, classical drawl. But after realizing he wanted to make a full-length album, la Fuente joined forces with Raül Refree,...
- 12/2/2022
- by Vita Dadoo
- Rollingstone.com
Me duele hasta que no me duele más. (It hurts until it no longer does.) On their new tropical-pop earworm “Me Duele,” Bomba Estéreo and Spanish legend Manu Chao reflect on the post-heartbreak pain that lingers, sometimes for far too long, but once it’s gone… it’s gone.
The song’s colorful, light-hearted video captures lead singer Li Saumet in braids and a flower crown as she sings from behind cartoon leaves and trees, while Chau joins in on the fun holding a vase of flowers. The song effortlessly...
The song’s colorful, light-hearted video captures lead singer Li Saumet in braids and a flower crown as she sings from behind cartoon leaves and trees, while Chau joins in on the fun holding a vase of flowers. The song effortlessly...
- 9/14/2022
- by Tomás Mier
- Rollingstone.com
Trent Reznor, Phish’s Mike Gordon and Tedeschi Trucks Band are among the artists who are joining Tipitina’s livestream benefit this weekend. The ‘Save Tip’s’ free livestreaming event seeks to raise funds to help the iconic New Orleans venue stay afloat in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The event will stream via Tipitina’s website on Saturday at 9 p.m. Et.
Featuring new and vintage performances from the vault, the three-hour event will also feature exclusive backstage stories about the venue. Reznor and Gordon are among those contributing their own stories.
Featuring new and vintage performances from the vault, the three-hour event will also feature exclusive backstage stories about the venue. Reznor and Gordon are among those contributing their own stories.
- 11/12/2020
- by Althea Legaspi
- Rollingstone.com
Santana launched their career half a century ago with a cover of Nigerian percussionist Babatunde Olatunji’s “Jingo” and now, for their 25th album, they’ve created a love letter to Africa. Although Africa Speaks sounds undeniably like a Santana album, with Carlos’ fiery guitar bursts and reedy-voiced singer Buika’s Spanish-language exclamaciones, it explodes from the start with African rhythms and a unique freedom to the way the group plays the songs.
With the exceptions of “Breaking Down the Door,” a faithful cover of the Manu Chao–penned Calypso Rose song “Abatina,...
With the exceptions of “Breaking Down the Door,” a faithful cover of the Manu Chao–penned Calypso Rose song “Abatina,...
- 6/7/2019
- by Kory Grow
- Rollingstone.com
“It’s about saying things al chile!” says Lila Downs backstage at the Center for the Arts in Escondido, where she’s about to perform cuts from her latest studio album, Al Chile. Just like the Mexican expression conveys — roughly meaning “straight up” — the folk singer has been keeping it real to her roots, and championing the lives of countless indigenous populations, since her emergence in the Nineties.
“I feel like I would be making a deal with the devil if I did [commercial pop],” she says with a wink. Her dedication...
“I feel like I would be making a deal with the devil if I did [commercial pop],” she says with a wink. Her dedication...
- 5/29/2019
- by Isabela Raygoza
- Rollingstone.com
When indie luminary Manu Chao first released his 1998 debut, Clandestino — and the song of the same title — he sought to humanize the millions of migrants, survivors of civil war and poverty hustling to survive on the mean streets of European cities. Often derided as “clandestinos,” or what those in the English-language world refer to derogatorily as “illegals,” undocumented migrants and their stories pervaded Manu Chao’s now-classic album — which at times explored his own relationship to immigration, as a child of political refugees from Spain.
Now, recorded over two decades since its original release,...
Now, recorded over two decades since its original release,...
- 4/19/2019
- by Suzy Exposito
- Rollingstone.com
[[tmz:video id="0_kbft6p54"]] Arianny Celeste and her equally hot homegirls are knocking out the beaches in the Bahamas right now ... and tops are optional. Unclear where the Ufc Octagon Girl's hangin' loose in the video ... but Arianny and friends are clearly feelin' themselves, jammin' out to Manu Chao's old-school track about loving life (and weed). If you like what you hear, Celeste -- an aspiring recording artist -- says you can cop her new single that drops on Friday.
- 11/30/2017
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
Playing For Change, the multimedia company responsible for the popular ‘Songs Around The World’ video series, has announced it will host We Are One, a concert benefitting the Playing For Change Foundation and celebrating 10 years of positive change through music.
Official partners for the event include Los Angeles’ premier rock radio station 95.5 Klos, La Weekly, and Japan-based music app Nana. The concert will take place on Tuesday, October 3, at the historic Mayan Theater in downtown Los Angeles and feature performances from The Doobie Brothers members Tom Johnston, Patrick Simmons, and John McFee; as well as Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett from Little Feat; The Playing For Change Band, that features 10 respected musicians from 10 different countries; world-renowned drummer James Gadson; The Ambassador of Soul, Ellis Hall; legendary harmonica player Lee Oskar; and more. Ticketing options include an exclusive VIP experience with a pre-show meet and greet reception with The Doobie Brothers and musicians,...
Official partners for the event include Los Angeles’ premier rock radio station 95.5 Klos, La Weekly, and Japan-based music app Nana. The concert will take place on Tuesday, October 3, at the historic Mayan Theater in downtown Los Angeles and feature performances from The Doobie Brothers members Tom Johnston, Patrick Simmons, and John McFee; as well as Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett from Little Feat; The Playing For Change Band, that features 10 respected musicians from 10 different countries; world-renowned drummer James Gadson; The Ambassador of Soul, Ellis Hall; legendary harmonica player Lee Oskar; and more. Ticketing options include an exclusive VIP experience with a pre-show meet and greet reception with The Doobie Brothers and musicians,...
- 8/24/2017
- Look to the Stars
Feliz cumple, Manu Chao! Or, perhaps joyeux anniversaire, or feliz aniversário, or عيد ميلاد سعيد…
French by birth, Spanish by descent, and Latin American by consensus, multiculturalism has been the bedrock of Manu Chao’s musical style since forming Mano Negra in 1986. At 52 he's spent years in the region, learning the music of the streets that he's partially absorbed into his distinctive mishmash of styles.
Strictly speaking, Manu Chao -- though definitely Hispanic, because of his Spanish heritage -- isn't actually Latino. Most definitions of the term “Latino” include only people of Latin American birth or descent.
But while the nation continues to debate over the question of who counts as Latino, we’re going out on a limb and unilaterally extending Manu Chao official Latino status.
And he’s not the only one. There’s plenty of people out there who just exude Latinidad, regardless of their country of origin or ancestry.
French by birth, Spanish by descent, and Latin American by consensus, multiculturalism has been the bedrock of Manu Chao’s musical style since forming Mano Negra in 1986. At 52 he's spent years in the region, learning the music of the streets that he's partially absorbed into his distinctive mishmash of styles.
Strictly speaking, Manu Chao -- though definitely Hispanic, because of his Spanish heritage -- isn't actually Latino. Most definitions of the term “Latino” include only people of Latin American birth or descent.
But while the nation continues to debate over the question of who counts as Latino, we’re going out on a limb and unilaterally extending Manu Chao official Latino status.
And he’s not the only one. There’s plenty of people out there who just exude Latinidad, regardless of their country of origin or ancestry.
- 6/21/2013
- by The Huffington Post
- Huffington Post
Inquiring minds want to know, what has the Peruvian-American multi-media artist and filmmaker of the radical film Sleep Dealer been up to since he broke through at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. I had a chance to catch up with Alex and find out what’s shaking.
Sleep Dealer had been percolating through development for a few years when it participated in the 2001 Sundance Institute Screenwriters lab. It premiered in the festival’s Us Dramatic Competition in 2008 where it was bestowed with the Waldo Screenwriting Award for Alex and his co-writer David Riker. The ambitious and thoughtful genre bender (eco/romance/sci-fi/adventure/socio-political thriller), was a uniquely original feature debut which earned him lots of buzz including a spot on Variety’s Ten Directors to Watch. On the heels of all the Sundance momentum, Alex was courted around town for various projects, mostly speculative script work (aka free labor). One of the projects he became attached to write and direct was a film based on the Wired article “La Vida Robot,” then being produced by Salma Hayek and John Wells. Meanwhile, Sleep Dealer was released by Maya Entertainment in April 2009. Unfortunately, Maya’s theatrical releases struggled to make much profit (the company quietly shuttered last year to dissolve its debt). Sleep Dealer averaged 2k in its 18 booked theaters NY/La Opening Weekend engagement. My opinion? Lack of a strong and savvy marketing campaign along with Maya’s model of booking the film at its out of the way fringe theater markets hurt the film’s shot at targeting the audience it eventually found elsewhere. And where it did find a cultish nerd-like audience was in the educational space. Alex has traveled to over 50 campuses and continues to do so in order to discuss and engage with the complex layers and themes the film generates - a testament to the heavily research based scientific, sociological and immigration alchemy of the film.
So let’s hear what else Alex has been up to. {redacted transcription of our recorded conversation}.
What are some of the exciting things you’ve worked on immediately after Sleep Dealer?
David Riker and I developed a TV series. It’s called “Blink!” It’s about a woman who suffers a strange accident, loses her eyesight, and is given digital retinas, a technology that is currently being developed. Shortly after she starts to see again, she realizes something is terribly wrong – her head is transmitting. You can see what she sees through a live video feed. She doesn’t know if her eyes are malfunctioning, if she’s been ‘hacked,’ etc. The show follows Blink as she tries to unravel what’s inside her head and the possibility that she is part of a conspiracy that might even be altering her reality. We still have the material and are looking for a partner for it, we’ve had different partners along the way.
One of the more surprising developments for me was an ongoing collaboration with the community of activists working around the cause of immigration. The National Day Laborer Organizing Network became aware of my work through Sleep Dealer. They are really active working with day laborers in this grassroots way, but they also have a unique cultural strategy. They happened to be in touch with Manu Chao, the legendary and popular World music artist, who in his work sings about the experience of migration. They put me in touch with him and we produced a video in Arizona. We did the same thing with Ana Tijoux, a Latin Hip Hop artist, and we are dialoging with other artists like Zack de Rocha and La Santa Cecilia, a local La group Latino music mashup group. It’s been deeply fulfilling not going through agencies but rather activists that are committed to the same values that I am committed to. So that kind of has been my reality; partly working with these activist groups on these cultural projects, partly shopping around ideas in this system like the Sci-Fi TV series, and partly supporting Sleep Dealers’s after life.
You also work with other filmmakers on an ongoing basis, talk about your collective:
I’ve been working with other filmmakers for the past 14 years through a small distribution company called SubCine, like subliminal, subliminated. The idea behind the name is that experimental films, documentaries and risky fiction films are already shut out of the mainstream film culture, so then if you are making that kind of work from the Latino perspective its yet another level of marginalization. Its like we are the outsiders of the outsiders. It’s an exciting place to be, to think, imagine and attack from. We are a small collective of filmmakers like myself, Jim Mendiola Gregorio Rocha, Jesse Lerner, Cristina Ibarra, Natalia Almada, Dolissa Medina. A lot of us were making our films in the 90s and selling our films individually. We decided that instead of selling them individually, to compile a catalog together. From one day to the next, a distributor was born. We have a warehouse that keeps the films, does all the fulfillment and billing so we don’t have to lick the stamps anymore. Most traditional distributors pay filmmakers 40% minus expenses. We pay 70% with no expenses taken out of that. We are a very slender operation but set up to make the sales and get the money to the filmmakers. Right now we have almost 50 films in the catalog and over 20 filmmakers that we work with. I manage that on a month to month basis as one of my many other side projects. It’s been super fulfilling because its getting the films seen. They are sold to only a little segment; the libraries, universities and colleges to be used in classroom. Those institutions will pay $300 more or less for a DVD because they are using it in the institutional context. Then that work is seen by young people hungry to learn, whose ideas about the world and ideas about film are being shaped, so its a win-win-win.
That’s an interesting model, you think there is room for more of these kind of distribution platforms for Latino filmmakers?
We were inspired by New Day Films, a social issue documentary distribution collective. It’s a lot of the same thought; Lets not work alone, lets work together. If you sell your film maybe the person who bought it would want to buy my film. It’s like this collective spirit of a distributor that’s owned by the filmmakers. The educational market doesn’t sound glamorous, but it’s absolutely essential for students to see the wide variety of films and it gets to them when their brains are soft and squishy and malleable. It’s an influential moment to reach that audience. And they still pay - librarians still care about getting a licensed copy of a film for their collection and are willing to pay for it. In a day and age when nobody seems to get paid, this market is a unique space to be.
With all these side projects and day to day busy-ness and constant fellow filmmaker collaboration and stimulation how do you concentrate on developing your own projects and tell us what personal project are you focusing on now?
I have a curious mind and active imagination, which is a curse and a blessing. Definitely over the years I have had many ideas and I try to do everything I just mentioned plus develop my own material. About a year ago I got interested in the story of a legendary Chicano activist - somebody who should be as well known as Martin Luther King, Malcolm X or Cesar Chavez but who is not. His name is Reies López Tijerina. He led an armed movement in New Mexico to reclaim part of the land for the original Mexican families that had settled there before it was the United States - the land that was stolen after the war with Mexico. Tijerina is a fascinating character and there are parts of his story that are like a Quentin Tarantino film. Like he would wear a suit in the desert while armed, trying to arrest police officers….it has that kind of great genre and humor in it, but it also taps into extraordinary realities and histories about The Southwest which have, for the most part, been forgotten.
How much does the general public know about this man?
I think the general public knows close to nothing. People who study Chicano history would run into his story but not everybody even in that category…We live in a strange age where there are 53 million Latinos in this country and yet if you ask, ‘Who are some great Latino figures in U.S. history?’ most folks can’t name five. Whether it’s the result of a concerted effort or not, the history is missing. I mean, you look at Arizona and they are banning books about Chicano history, you start to think maybe it is concerted. Either way, you don’t get 50 million people here overnight. There’s a long history that has been erased and its part of the duty of artists who define themselves as Latino to rescue parts of that history because we deserve to know it. Tijerina is one of those incendiary, wild and fantastic stories and there should be many films about it and yet it is exactly the opposite. He’s nearly completely forgotten and he’s not the only one, there is a whole series of these kind of figures that have been swept under the rug. It’s a problem and also an opportunity because it is definitely time now to think of ways that are visually exciting to tell these stories. When I talk about history, it’s not to put someone to sleep, its not a Ken Burns treatment. This is life and death, sex, people fighting over billions of dollars that are at stake, the future of the country - these are high stakes, thrilling stories going back to days of the Conquest up until today.
How would you go about rescuing these histories and making it modern, relevant and accessible in order to capture people’s interest in unknown historical figures?
All the way through, if you look at any chapter in Latino history, and as I would define it, it starts with the conquest when the Spanish meet Native Americans and start to kill each other and enslave each other and make babies together and create a whole new race -is there anything more Shakespearean? More dramatic? No. Obviously Mel Gibson took a stab at that time period with Apocalpyto, which was wildly successful commercially. Why? Because he used a kind of genre approach. It’s not a historical film, it’s an action film. Now I didn’t love the film but I can respect that it’s a piece of pop culture that is also telling a part of history. Do I love its point of view? No. But I respect the craft. And so starting with that going up to, anywhere you drop the needle on Latino history there is something equally dramatic going on..…In the Us Mexico war countless moments and characters and stories could be told through the genre of a heightened western that would be incredible. Quentin Tarantino has just shown that films that are set in historical contexts but that us the energy and aesthetics of genre filmmaking can be wildly successful. So the approach needs to be creative, elevated, the approach needs to push the envelope. You can mine these histories for all kinds of fantastic narratives. And, of course, the future can be mined as well.
Thanks to Alex for sharing!
Sleep Dealer had been percolating through development for a few years when it participated in the 2001 Sundance Institute Screenwriters lab. It premiered in the festival’s Us Dramatic Competition in 2008 where it was bestowed with the Waldo Screenwriting Award for Alex and his co-writer David Riker. The ambitious and thoughtful genre bender (eco/romance/sci-fi/adventure/socio-political thriller), was a uniquely original feature debut which earned him lots of buzz including a spot on Variety’s Ten Directors to Watch. On the heels of all the Sundance momentum, Alex was courted around town for various projects, mostly speculative script work (aka free labor). One of the projects he became attached to write and direct was a film based on the Wired article “La Vida Robot,” then being produced by Salma Hayek and John Wells. Meanwhile, Sleep Dealer was released by Maya Entertainment in April 2009. Unfortunately, Maya’s theatrical releases struggled to make much profit (the company quietly shuttered last year to dissolve its debt). Sleep Dealer averaged 2k in its 18 booked theaters NY/La Opening Weekend engagement. My opinion? Lack of a strong and savvy marketing campaign along with Maya’s model of booking the film at its out of the way fringe theater markets hurt the film’s shot at targeting the audience it eventually found elsewhere. And where it did find a cultish nerd-like audience was in the educational space. Alex has traveled to over 50 campuses and continues to do so in order to discuss and engage with the complex layers and themes the film generates - a testament to the heavily research based scientific, sociological and immigration alchemy of the film.
So let’s hear what else Alex has been up to. {redacted transcription of our recorded conversation}.
What are some of the exciting things you’ve worked on immediately after Sleep Dealer?
David Riker and I developed a TV series. It’s called “Blink!” It’s about a woman who suffers a strange accident, loses her eyesight, and is given digital retinas, a technology that is currently being developed. Shortly after she starts to see again, she realizes something is terribly wrong – her head is transmitting. You can see what she sees through a live video feed. She doesn’t know if her eyes are malfunctioning, if she’s been ‘hacked,’ etc. The show follows Blink as she tries to unravel what’s inside her head and the possibility that she is part of a conspiracy that might even be altering her reality. We still have the material and are looking for a partner for it, we’ve had different partners along the way.
One of the more surprising developments for me was an ongoing collaboration with the community of activists working around the cause of immigration. The National Day Laborer Organizing Network became aware of my work through Sleep Dealer. They are really active working with day laborers in this grassroots way, but they also have a unique cultural strategy. They happened to be in touch with Manu Chao, the legendary and popular World music artist, who in his work sings about the experience of migration. They put me in touch with him and we produced a video in Arizona. We did the same thing with Ana Tijoux, a Latin Hip Hop artist, and we are dialoging with other artists like Zack de Rocha and La Santa Cecilia, a local La group Latino music mashup group. It’s been deeply fulfilling not going through agencies but rather activists that are committed to the same values that I am committed to. So that kind of has been my reality; partly working with these activist groups on these cultural projects, partly shopping around ideas in this system like the Sci-Fi TV series, and partly supporting Sleep Dealers’s after life.
You also work with other filmmakers on an ongoing basis, talk about your collective:
I’ve been working with other filmmakers for the past 14 years through a small distribution company called SubCine, like subliminal, subliminated. The idea behind the name is that experimental films, documentaries and risky fiction films are already shut out of the mainstream film culture, so then if you are making that kind of work from the Latino perspective its yet another level of marginalization. Its like we are the outsiders of the outsiders. It’s an exciting place to be, to think, imagine and attack from. We are a small collective of filmmakers like myself, Jim Mendiola Gregorio Rocha, Jesse Lerner, Cristina Ibarra, Natalia Almada, Dolissa Medina. A lot of us were making our films in the 90s and selling our films individually. We decided that instead of selling them individually, to compile a catalog together. From one day to the next, a distributor was born. We have a warehouse that keeps the films, does all the fulfillment and billing so we don’t have to lick the stamps anymore. Most traditional distributors pay filmmakers 40% minus expenses. We pay 70% with no expenses taken out of that. We are a very slender operation but set up to make the sales and get the money to the filmmakers. Right now we have almost 50 films in the catalog and over 20 filmmakers that we work with. I manage that on a month to month basis as one of my many other side projects. It’s been super fulfilling because its getting the films seen. They are sold to only a little segment; the libraries, universities and colleges to be used in classroom. Those institutions will pay $300 more or less for a DVD because they are using it in the institutional context. Then that work is seen by young people hungry to learn, whose ideas about the world and ideas about film are being shaped, so its a win-win-win.
That’s an interesting model, you think there is room for more of these kind of distribution platforms for Latino filmmakers?
We were inspired by New Day Films, a social issue documentary distribution collective. It’s a lot of the same thought; Lets not work alone, lets work together. If you sell your film maybe the person who bought it would want to buy my film. It’s like this collective spirit of a distributor that’s owned by the filmmakers. The educational market doesn’t sound glamorous, but it’s absolutely essential for students to see the wide variety of films and it gets to them when their brains are soft and squishy and malleable. It’s an influential moment to reach that audience. And they still pay - librarians still care about getting a licensed copy of a film for their collection and are willing to pay for it. In a day and age when nobody seems to get paid, this market is a unique space to be.
With all these side projects and day to day busy-ness and constant fellow filmmaker collaboration and stimulation how do you concentrate on developing your own projects and tell us what personal project are you focusing on now?
I have a curious mind and active imagination, which is a curse and a blessing. Definitely over the years I have had many ideas and I try to do everything I just mentioned plus develop my own material. About a year ago I got interested in the story of a legendary Chicano activist - somebody who should be as well known as Martin Luther King, Malcolm X or Cesar Chavez but who is not. His name is Reies López Tijerina. He led an armed movement in New Mexico to reclaim part of the land for the original Mexican families that had settled there before it was the United States - the land that was stolen after the war with Mexico. Tijerina is a fascinating character and there are parts of his story that are like a Quentin Tarantino film. Like he would wear a suit in the desert while armed, trying to arrest police officers….it has that kind of great genre and humor in it, but it also taps into extraordinary realities and histories about The Southwest which have, for the most part, been forgotten.
How much does the general public know about this man?
I think the general public knows close to nothing. People who study Chicano history would run into his story but not everybody even in that category…We live in a strange age where there are 53 million Latinos in this country and yet if you ask, ‘Who are some great Latino figures in U.S. history?’ most folks can’t name five. Whether it’s the result of a concerted effort or not, the history is missing. I mean, you look at Arizona and they are banning books about Chicano history, you start to think maybe it is concerted. Either way, you don’t get 50 million people here overnight. There’s a long history that has been erased and its part of the duty of artists who define themselves as Latino to rescue parts of that history because we deserve to know it. Tijerina is one of those incendiary, wild and fantastic stories and there should be many films about it and yet it is exactly the opposite. He’s nearly completely forgotten and he’s not the only one, there is a whole series of these kind of figures that have been swept under the rug. It’s a problem and also an opportunity because it is definitely time now to think of ways that are visually exciting to tell these stories. When I talk about history, it’s not to put someone to sleep, its not a Ken Burns treatment. This is life and death, sex, people fighting over billions of dollars that are at stake, the future of the country - these are high stakes, thrilling stories going back to days of the Conquest up until today.
How would you go about rescuing these histories and making it modern, relevant and accessible in order to capture people’s interest in unknown historical figures?
All the way through, if you look at any chapter in Latino history, and as I would define it, it starts with the conquest when the Spanish meet Native Americans and start to kill each other and enslave each other and make babies together and create a whole new race -is there anything more Shakespearean? More dramatic? No. Obviously Mel Gibson took a stab at that time period with Apocalpyto, which was wildly successful commercially. Why? Because he used a kind of genre approach. It’s not a historical film, it’s an action film. Now I didn’t love the film but I can respect that it’s a piece of pop culture that is also telling a part of history. Do I love its point of view? No. But I respect the craft. And so starting with that going up to, anywhere you drop the needle on Latino history there is something equally dramatic going on..…In the Us Mexico war countless moments and characters and stories could be told through the genre of a heightened western that would be incredible. Quentin Tarantino has just shown that films that are set in historical contexts but that us the energy and aesthetics of genre filmmaking can be wildly successful. So the approach needs to be creative, elevated, the approach needs to push the envelope. You can mine these histories for all kinds of fantastic narratives. And, of course, the future can be mined as well.
Thanks to Alex for sharing!
- 2/27/2013
- by Christine Davila
- Sydney's Buzz
On this past week's "Saturday Night Live," a rather strange pre-taped short aired titled "The Legend of Mokiki and the Sloppy Swish." In the segment, Mokiki (played Taran Killam) does a strange, yet strangely infectious dance called the Sloppy Swish around New York City, which culminates with a flood of green "venom" on host Anne Hathaway's face.
It is one of the most bizarre things to ever air on "SNL," yet, the next day, everyone was talking about the Sloppy Swish. (I swear that I am not making this up: I've already been invited to a Sloppy Swish-themed karaoke party.) Where did the Sloppy Swish come from? Who is Mokiki? Killam took some time out of his hectic "SNL" schedule to answer these pressing questions for us.
So ... the "Sloppy Swish," where does something like that come from?
The move came first. And it was always just sort of a creepy,...
It is one of the most bizarre things to ever air on "SNL," yet, the next day, everyone was talking about the Sloppy Swish. (I swear that I am not making this up: I've already been invited to a Sloppy Swish-themed karaoke party.) Where did the Sloppy Swish come from? Who is Mokiki? Killam took some time out of his hectic "SNL" schedule to answer these pressing questions for us.
So ... the "Sloppy Swish," where does something like that come from?
The move came first. And it was always just sort of a creepy,...
- 11/14/2012
- by The Huffington Post
- Huffington Post
Music can make an average ad great. So why, Robin Hicks asks, is music the last thing a creative thinks about when writing an ad?
My favourite TV ad of the year so far is the Let Yourself Go spot for Kangaroo Island.
When it didn’t win Mumbrella’s Ad of the Month for March (it came third) I felt aggrieved for the agency that made it. But less so a week later when it emerged that the agency had paid celebrities to tweet nice things about its work.
Let Yourself Go is a stunning spot with lots of pretty images. But it would probably have had a similar effect on me if I’d watched a blank screen for 60 seconds.
John Baker of Adelaide ad agency Kwp!, which made the ad, told me that the music (Rise by Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder) “is 50% of the communication”. For me,...
My favourite TV ad of the year so far is the Let Yourself Go spot for Kangaroo Island.
When it didn’t win Mumbrella’s Ad of the Month for March (it came third) I felt aggrieved for the agency that made it. But less so a week later when it emerged that the agency had paid celebrities to tweet nice things about its work.
Let Yourself Go is a stunning spot with lots of pretty images. But it would probably have had a similar effect on me if I’d watched a blank screen for 60 seconds.
John Baker of Adelaide ad agency Kwp!, which made the ad, told me that the music (Rise by Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder) “is 50% of the communication”. For me,...
- 4/30/2012
- by Robin Hicks
- Encore Magazine
Sometimes the greatest and most profound art is created during moments of upheaval, as a reaction against a political or social climate that is seen as unjust. And that explosive blend of vision and expression will be on full display at the Tribeca Film Festival in the documentary "Let Fury Have the Hour."
The feature directorial debut from acclaimed author, visual artist, and filmmaker Antonino D’Ambrosio chronicles how a generation of artists, thinkers and activists used their creativity -- and their creations -- as a response to the reactionary politics that came to define 1980s culture. The mixed-media collage incorporates graphic art, music, animation and spoken word and spans three decades of change -- from the cynical heyday of Reagan and Thatcher through today -- and brings together over 50 writers, playwrights, painters, poets, skateboarders, dancers, musicians and rights advocates, all of whom attest to the fact that we can...
The feature directorial debut from acclaimed author, visual artist, and filmmaker Antonino D’Ambrosio chronicles how a generation of artists, thinkers and activists used their creativity -- and their creations -- as a response to the reactionary politics that came to define 1980s culture. The mixed-media collage incorporates graphic art, music, animation and spoken word and spans three decades of change -- from the cynical heyday of Reagan and Thatcher through today -- and brings together over 50 writers, playwrights, painters, poets, skateboarders, dancers, musicians and rights advocates, all of whom attest to the fact that we can...
- 4/18/2012
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Sydney Festival kicked off last night (January 8) with various performances. Jamiroquai singer Jay Kay, with a beer in hand, performed from a double decker bus to a huge crowd in the city's Hyde Park on the first night of the three-week arts event, shortly after DJ Norman Jay performed his Good Times Sound System set. According to The Daily Telegraph, singer Megan Washington, award-winning musician Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu and French music star Manu Chao warmed up the crowds in The Domain, while a roving Trocadero Nights dance party paraded down Elizabeth Street. Stars such as director Sam Strong, Underbelly actress Cheree Cassidy, Spirited's Claudia Karvan and Rake actor Richard Roxburgh were spotted at the (more)...
- 1/9/2012
- by By Rebecca Davies
- Digital Spy
Getty Chang Weisberg
Since launching in Southern California in 2004, the Rock the Bells hip-hop festival has grown into a leading music showcase. After distinguishing itself in the past by recruiting acts such as Wu-Tang, A Tribe Called Quest and Snoop Dogg to perform the albums that made them famous – notably from start to finish, in 2011 the festival continues its focus on headlining “classic” recordings, this year enlisting artists like Nas to perform his blockbuster debut, “Illmatic,” and Lauryn Hill to...
Since launching in Southern California in 2004, the Rock the Bells hip-hop festival has grown into a leading music showcase. After distinguishing itself in the past by recruiting acts such as Wu-Tang, A Tribe Called Quest and Snoop Dogg to perform the albums that made them famous – notably from start to finish, in 2011 the festival continues its focus on headlining “classic” recordings, this year enlisting artists like Nas to perform his blockbuster debut, “Illmatic,” and Lauryn Hill to...
- 8/20/2011
- by Todd Gilchrist
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
Graham Coxon, Chrissie Hynde with Jp Jones and Manu Chao La Ventura have been added to the bill of this year's Hop Farm Festival. They are joined on the card for Saturday, July 2 at Paddock Wood, Kent by Guillemots, Tim Booth and Damien Dempsey. Other new acts added for Friday, July 1 at the festival are The Duke Spirit, Kitty Daisy & Lewis and The Secret Sisters. Previously-announced artists over the weekend of the fourth (more)...
- 3/31/2011
- by By Mayer Nissim
- Digital Spy
If ever you start to feel a little too proud of yourself, remember this: Manu Chao sings in more than half a dozen different languages. The musical legend enjoys taking his multi-cultural tunes all over the globe, as evidenced by his latest release, the live 2Cd/DVD set, Baionarena, which features a full concert, music videos and a 30-minute video tour diary....
- 10/11/2010
- Pastemagazine.com
Cuéntame is excited to announce the release of a Free, innovative, original, provocative and powerful online Latino Music Series. As an introductory gift to You and to whet your appetite, we are Giving You our first Cuéntame Latin music album ever -- For Free! This is an exclusive compilation of 10 amazing tracks put together by our partners Nacional Records, the powerhouse Latin alternative record label home to socially and politically poignant bands such as Manu Chao and Aterciopelados as well as rising stars like Bomba Estereo and Mexican Institute of Sound. This Free compilation represents a survey of the most exciting Latino music today and a great opportunity to explore new Latin sounds in an incredible album you won't be getting elsewhere but here! A one-of-a-kind gift to you from your friends at Cuéntame. Each week, Cuéntame's Online Latino...
- 9/17/2010
- by Axel W. Caballero
- Huffington Post
Maradona by Kusturica Directed by Emir Kusturica The two-time Palme D’Or winner Emir Kusturica traces the remarkable story of soccer legend Diego Maradona in this documentary featuring music by composer Manu Chao and Sex Pistols. Maradona’s rags-to-riches tale of a fallen anti-hero is classic Hollywood material yet Kusturica doesn’t deliver a good film here. He is perhaps [...]...
- 6/10/2010
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Madrid -- French alt-rock artist Manu Chao is in Cuba to play two concerts marking the 42nd anniversary of the assassination in Bolivia of Cuban-Argentine Revolutionary leader Ernesto 'Che' Guevara on Oct. 9, 1967.
Chao and his band Radio Bemba Sound System last played in Cuba three years ago at the open-air Anti-Imperialist Tribune that faces the North American Interests Section (Sina) building, which functions as a substitute for a U.S. Embassy on the Malecon seafront.
Chao, former leader of band Mano Negra, will play first on Oct. 9 at Havana University, where ex president Fidel Castro studied and developed his revolutionary ideas.
On Oct. 12 -- the Day of Hispanity that marks the 'discovery' of the Americas by Christopher Columbus -- Chao will play in Santa Clara, 270km east of Havana, where Che's remains lie. Santa Clara was the scene of the final battle of the Castro-led insurrection against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista,...
Chao and his band Radio Bemba Sound System last played in Cuba three years ago at the open-air Anti-Imperialist Tribune that faces the North American Interests Section (Sina) building, which functions as a substitute for a U.S. Embassy on the Malecon seafront.
Chao, former leader of band Mano Negra, will play first on Oct. 9 at Havana University, where ex president Fidel Castro studied and developed his revolutionary ideas.
On Oct. 12 -- the Day of Hispanity that marks the 'discovery' of the Americas by Christopher Columbus -- Chao will play in Santa Clara, 270km east of Havana, where Che's remains lie. Santa Clara was the scene of the final battle of the Castro-led insurrection against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista,...
- 10/9/2009
- by By Howell Llewellyn, Billboard
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia, a married couple from Mali who first met at an institute for the blind, have been making music together in one form or another since 1976. Through recordings and joyously energetic live shows, the pair attracted a following that grew exponentially with the release of Dimanche À Bamako in 2005. Produced by Manu Chao, a musician who never met a stylistic boundary he couldn’t ignore, Dimanche brought the sound of Amadou’s masterful guitar work and the pair’s yearning vocals into a setting that sounded like tomorrow’s radio. Chao ceded producing duties on ...
- 3/24/2009
- avclub.com
Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia, a married couple from Mali who first met at an institute for the blind, have been making music together in one form or another since 1976. Through recordings and joyously energetic live shows, the pair attracted a following that grew exponentially with the release of Dimanche À Bamako in 2005. Produced by Manu Chao, a musician who never met a stylistic boundary he couldn’t ignore, Dimanche brought the sound of Amadou’s masterful guitar work and the pair’s yearning vocals into a setting that sounded like tomorrow’s radio. Chao ceded producing duties on ...
- 3/24/2009
- avclub.com
The 24th Guadalajara Film Festival Awards went to Gerardo Tort's Viaje Redondo (Round Trip) and Peruvian Claudia Llosa's La teta asustada (The Milk of Sorrow) in the Mexican and Latin American feature film sections, respectively. Voy a explotar (I'm Going to Explode) from Canana, directed by Gerardo Naranjo won for first work in the Latin American section, even though it was actually his second work. Naranjo's first work was Drama/Mex. Carlos Enderle's Cronicas Chilanga won for Mexican first work, Mexican screenplay, and best actor award going to Patricio Castillo. Other winners included La passion de Gabriel, Corazon del Tiempo for best director, and Retorno a Hansala also for best director. The special jury prize went to Aquele Querido Mes de Agosto (This Dear Month of August). At the Coproduction Meetings awards went to Sergio Teubal for his project El dedo and to Leandro Fabrizzi of Puerto Rico for Filiberto.
During the days of the festival, The red carpet was unfurled for the world debut of The Perfect Game by William Dear and producers David Salzberg and Christian Tureaud. Encounters with the media were held for the movies Corazón del tiempo, Niño Pez, La Última y nos Vamos, and Amor sin Fin.
Otra Película de Huevos y un Pollo by brothers Rodolfo and Gabriel Riva Palacios surprised many as the film chosen to inaugurate FLCG24.
Encounters with the media were held for the feature films Voy a Explotar, Camino which won six Goya prizes, including best movie, best director and best actress, and Rabioso Sol Rabioso Cielo.
The keynote speech Sunday March 22 under the aegis of IV Digital Space in Guadalajara will be a lecture by Peter Broderick, The New World of Distribution.
Broderick, President of Paradigm Consulting, is known as one of the leading experts in the development of creative strategies for digital distribution. His innovative viewpoints have contributed to both producers and filmmakers multiplying audiences and revenue and successfully taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the digital age.
The first day's activities included Gerardo Tort presenting his movie Viaje Redondo, director and scriptwriter Alicia Scherson and star Diego Noguera presenting the Chilean movie Turistas to the press, a competitor in the Ibero-American Feature-length Fiction category.
The Gala event featured Sólo Quiero Caminar, and afterward the Guadalajara Prize was awarded to Guadalajara's own actor, director and producer Gael Garcia Bernal. Special event Cinelandia began with Manu Chao presenting the films that have touched his life, including Los Olvidados by Luis Buñuel and Princesas by fellow Spaniard Fernando Leon de Aranoa. ...
During the days of the festival, The red carpet was unfurled for the world debut of The Perfect Game by William Dear and producers David Salzberg and Christian Tureaud. Encounters with the media were held for the movies Corazón del tiempo, Niño Pez, La Última y nos Vamos, and Amor sin Fin.
Otra Película de Huevos y un Pollo by brothers Rodolfo and Gabriel Riva Palacios surprised many as the film chosen to inaugurate FLCG24.
Encounters with the media were held for the feature films Voy a Explotar, Camino which won six Goya prizes, including best movie, best director and best actress, and Rabioso Sol Rabioso Cielo.
The keynote speech Sunday March 22 under the aegis of IV Digital Space in Guadalajara will be a lecture by Peter Broderick, The New World of Distribution.
Broderick, President of Paradigm Consulting, is known as one of the leading experts in the development of creative strategies for digital distribution. His innovative viewpoints have contributed to both producers and filmmakers multiplying audiences and revenue and successfully taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the digital age.
The first day's activities included Gerardo Tort presenting his movie Viaje Redondo, director and scriptwriter Alicia Scherson and star Diego Noguera presenting the Chilean movie Turistas to the press, a competitor in the Ibero-American Feature-length Fiction category.
The Gala event featured Sólo Quiero Caminar, and afterward the Guadalajara Prize was awarded to Guadalajara's own actor, director and producer Gael Garcia Bernal. Special event Cinelandia began with Manu Chao presenting the films that have touched his life, including Los Olvidados by Luis Buñuel and Princesas by fellow Spaniard Fernando Leon de Aranoa. ...
- 3/23/2009
- Sydney's Buzz
In show business there are two kinds of performers: the kind that pursue and the kind that get pursued. Eugene Hütz is that rare specimen who's so larger-than-life, so magnetic and effortlessly cool, that the world all but demands he enters the spotlight. It's his birthright. The mustached Ukrainian is best known as the visionary front man to gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello. But, for first-time directors Liev Schreiber, who cast Hütz in Everything Is Illuminated after a music meeting, and Madonna, who wrote the part in Filth and Wisdom (opening Oct. 31) specifically for Hütz, he is a silver-screen savior."Always people were saying this," recalls Hütz. "Whenever the stirring of things was needed, people seem to force me on stage or in the school or in any other social environment, in party. But that's simply because I came from a family of eccentric characters like that already. [When] I moved to New York,...
- 10/28/2008
- by Cassie Carpenter
- backstage.com
Acts including James Blunt, Shakin' Stevens and The Feeling will play this year's Glastonbury, say reports.
According to eFestivals, a full lineup for this year's summer bash has leaked. The official bill is released in Q magazine tomorrow.
Artists expected to play the Pyramid Stage are Kings of Leon, The Fratellis, Editors, Gossip, The Feeling, Kt Tunstall, Get Cape Wear Cape Fly, The Subways, Kate Nash and Manu Chao.
Also playing the main stage are James Blunt, Crowded House, Seasick Steve, The Hold Steady, Goldfrapp, The Verve, Jay-z, John Mayer, Shakin' Stevens and Gilbert O'Sullivan.
Acts . . .
According to eFestivals, a full lineup for this year's summer bash has leaked. The official bill is released in Q magazine tomorrow.
Artists expected to play the Pyramid Stage are Kings of Leon, The Fratellis, Editors, Gossip, The Feeling, Kt Tunstall, Get Cape Wear Cape Fly, The Subways, Kate Nash and Manu Chao.
Also playing the main stage are James Blunt, Crowded House, Seasick Steve, The Hold Steady, Goldfrapp, The Verve, Jay-z, John Mayer, Shakin' Stevens and Gilbert O'Sullivan.
Acts . . .
- 4/28/2008
- by Alex_Fletcher_imdb_@digitalspy.co.uk (Alex Fletcher)
- Digital Spy
TORONTO -- Wynton Marsalis, the Roy Hanes Quartet and world music stars Manu Chao, Cesaria Evora and Seu Jorge will headline the 28th edition of the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal, organizers said Tuesday.
Marsalis will appear with his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Ghanaian drum master Yacub Addy, while Cesaria Evora and Seu Jorge will share the stage at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier.
The Montreal International Jazz Festival, North America's largest outdoor and indoor jazz festival, also will include performances by Derek Trucks, Mark Murphy, Billy Cobham, Didier Lockwood and the North American premiere of the Spaghetti Western Orchestra, with their tribute to the film scores of Ennio Morricone.
The most recent performance announcements follow dates for the Dave Holland Quintet, Holly Cole, the Wayne Shorter Quartet, Joshua Redman, Keith Jarrett and Branford Marsalis that were unveiled in December.
Marsalis will appear with his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Ghanaian drum master Yacub Addy, while Cesaria Evora and Seu Jorge will share the stage at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier.
The Montreal International Jazz Festival, North America's largest outdoor and indoor jazz festival, also will include performances by Derek Trucks, Mark Murphy, Billy Cobham, Didier Lockwood and the North American premiere of the Spaghetti Western Orchestra, with their tribute to the film scores of Ennio Morricone.
The most recent performance announcements follow dates for the Dave Holland Quintet, Holly Cole, the Wayne Shorter Quartet, Joshua Redman, Keith Jarrett and Branford Marsalis that were unveiled in December.
- 3/21/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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