I remember when Bahrani was supposed to be next the big thing in American cinema. I guess 99 Homes was well-received but, considering the acclaim his first three films received, he hasn’t really been able to translate that early promise to the world of “prestige” films.

Yeah, Transparent is one of my favorite shows from the past few years, but this episode was definitely rough. It made me laugh how they had to put together so many ridiculous coincidences just so Ali could learn about the plight of the Palestinians. Her reactions made total sense for the character, but there had to be…

I guess I’m in the minority, but I actually really enjoyed this season. I thought the narrative was more solid than the first season, which I found very disjointed and messy. And yes, this meant they had to pile up on the coincidences, but I didn’t really mind (the plot here is secondary, anyway). The performances…

It also makes me wonder if the term Bodega is widely used all over the United States, or if it’s a New York thing that then spread to other urban centers. I’m from Latin America, so to me Bodega just means warehouse (in my country, family-owned convenience stores are called pulperías). So it’s possible that if they…

Not to mention that the Sandinistas and the Contra were actually from Nicaragua, not Colombia. I guess he meant the FARC and the right-wing autodefensas.

“Chingar” is Méxican slang, though. It’s not really a Spanish word. So there’s a chance the Pope didn’t understand such blasphemy.

Then again, Mexicans say “chingar” A LOT. So if he’s had any kind of significant contact with Mexicans (or even Mexican TV), he probably knows what it means.

This film made me discover Brian Eno back when I was fourteen years old. So that was nice. I don't believe I've watched it since then, but I have fond memories of it. I don't usually like Moretti that much, but in this one he hit the balance between realism and sentimentality just right. The fact that in a year with…

I enjoyed this one, but reading an interview with the director later, I found out that most of the religious aspects of the film flew past me. This review, for example, doesn't even mention any of it (focusing instead on the ethnographic angle, which is there, but is much more present on Ben Rivers' film about the…

I really liked Kékszakállú, too. I guess Ignatiy just doesn't have the same tolerance for this type of "slow cinema" as some of us do.

While I agree that Serra's films tend to be conceptually interesting but ultimately rather boring, I found this one to be totally hypnotic. I was engrossed the whole time. That being said, whether one enjoys this film or not totally depends on one's headspace, attention span, sleepiness, conditions of the cinema, etc.…

I'll add some female cartoonists from Latin America:

I just saw this episode yesterday, so it was really great to find this interview here. I was so glad that they gave Shea a bigger role this time, since in past seasons she has mostly just been briefly around Maura from time to time. Definitely a highlight of the season.

Armisen's accent was not quite spot-on because it sounded more like Caribbean Spanish (that's the variety of Spanish spoken in Venezuela, it's quite recognizable because they drop the "d" and "s" at the end of words). But as far as sounding natural, he was pretty good.

I saw this at the local film festival last year. It's not a long enough film to merit a walk-out, but what a fucking joke. The ending is hilarious, though. Franco was actually there at the end of the movie for a Q&A and only like two people came up with a question. He was convinced we were still having trouble…

I know some Spanish speakers have complained about the variety of accents in this show, but I found them immensely entertaining. This probably has to do with how rare international productions are in Latin America. Most TV here is local (there may be one or two foreign actors in a few shows, but that's that), so it's…

Actually, when I saw the episode's title my first thought was that someone involved with Narcos must have worked on that show, because it's just such a weird reference. Then again, Deutschland 83 was reviewed here, so at least its name may not be that obscure.

Completely agree with this review. I didn't hate the movie or anything, but the amount of critical acclaim it received in some circles made me scratch my head. It's very flawed.

The basic plot is rather straight-forward (then again, it's based on an actual war in the Camorra). Is how they handle it that is rather special. I would argue, though, that the setting is more than a snowy mountain in the background: it's actually an integral part of the series (obviously, with setting I don't only…

Everything about the look and sound of this show was great. It was very well-shot, beautiful in its grittiness, with some great sequences (that opening heist, particularly) and fine performances. But it just lacked narrative focus and, perhaps more importantly, an emotional heart. The Belgrade/Bosnia plotlines were…

You're right that the expansion of nominees for Best FIlm opened the door for blockbusters to be nominated (in fact, that was one of the main objectives of the expansion, probably to get more ratings). But what I meant with populist choices (which is really more of a political concept, I don't know why I'm using it…