Cuarón’s “Gravity” to Open the 70th Annual Venice Film Festival

Posted on July 4, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Alfonso Cuarón latest film project is headed to Italy…

The 51-year-old Mexican filmmaker’s 3D deep space thriller Gravity will open the 70th Venice Film Festival in an out of competition berth.

The Warner Bros. film, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, will debut on the Lido on August 28.

Bullock plays a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission alongside a veteran astronaut played by Clooney. Disaster strikes during a seemingly routine spacewalk, leaving the two completely alone — tethered to one another and spiraling into the blackness.

Gravity is the first high-profile world premiere that Venice has announced so far.

Cuarón’s first film in Venice was 2001′s Y tu mamá también which won the Golden Osella for Best Screenplay as well as the Marcello Mastroianni Award for stars Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna.

In 2006, the director’s Children Of Men won the Best Cinematography Golden Osella for Emmanuel Lubezki, who is also the director of photography on Gravity.

The Venice Film Festival runs this year from August 28-September 7.

Cuarón Releases First Trailer for “Gravity,” Starring Sandra Bullock

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Alfonso Cuarón is back with what appears to be another award-worthy film…

After debuting some of the first footage from his new film, the 51-year-old Mexican filmmaker has released the first trailer for the sci-fi drama Gravity, which stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney.

The trailer not only that features a breathtaking view of outer space, it shows a nerve-racking experience undergone by Bullock, whose character Dr. Ryan Stone gets into a panic during her first shuttle mission.

The video follows Stone doing a leisure spacewalk in the company of a veteran astronaut when flying debris suddenly hits their craft. “I can’t breathe! What do I do?” Stone says. Completely lost in outer space, she later desperately says, “Anybody, please call me.”

The space-set film centers on Stone, a brilliant medical engineer who is on her first shuttle mission. Accompanied by astronaut Matt Kowalsky, the seemingly routine spacewalk turns into a disaster as their shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone. The deafening silence tells them they’ve lost any link to Earth and any chance for rescue.

The sci-fi film marks the return of Cuarón, who has not helmed a pic since 2006’s Oscar-nominated Children of Men. Taking triple duty in the project, the Mexican filmmaker directs, pens the script with his son Jonas, and co-produces alongside Harry Potter producer David Heyman.

Gravity is set to hit theaters in the U.S. on October 4.

Cuarón’s “Gravity” Set for Release in October

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Alfonso Cuarón’s latest film will be blasting into theaters in October…

The 51-year-old Mexican director’s Gravity, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as surviving astronauts in a damaged space station, will be released on October 4, 2013 in 3D and IMAX.

Gravity, which Cuarón wrote with his son Jonás Cuarón and Rodrigo Garcia, had been scheduled for released in November 2012, but Warner Bros. pushed it forward last spring to give it more room amid a crowded fourth-quarter slate of films, including The Hobbit.

The October 4 release puts Gravity up against Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City sequel, Paranoia and Vince Vaughn’s The Delivery Man.

Cuarón’s directing credits include A Little Princess, Y tu mamá también, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Children of Men.

Lopez to Serve as a Presenter at Sunday’s Golden Globes

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Jennifer Lopez will be heading the Golden Globes…

The 42-year-old Puerto Rican actress/singer will be one of the presenters at this year’s awards show.

Lopez was one of the first celebrities announced by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a presenter for the 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards, along with la Lopez’s Parker co-star Jason Statham, George Clooney, Will Ferrell, Jennifer Garner, Debra Messing, Jeremy Renner, Amanda Seyfried, Meryl Streep, Kerry Washington and Kristen Wiig.

Each of the scheduled presenters is either a past Globe winner or nominee.

More names will be announced in the lead-up to the telecast, which will be broadcast live on NBC this Sunday, January 13 at 8:00pm ET from the Beverly Hilton Hotel, with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler serving as this year’s hosts.

This year’s Latino nominees include three-time nominee Sofia Vergara.

Cruz Gets “Waxed” for Paris’ Grevin Wax Museum…

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

Penelope Cruz is officially waxtastic…

A wax sculpture of the 38-year-old Spanish actress will be placed in a prime spot in a Paris museum, joining similar statues of Brad Pitt and George Clooney.

The Grevin Wax Museum decided to include this year’s Key To The Cure ambassador in its list of stars to “pay tribute to this essential actress who has asserted herself on the world level as well as on the Spanish one,” the museum’s communications director, Veronique Berecz, told Efe.

Finishing the sculpture has taken six months, during which time sculptor Eric de Saint Chaffray, lacking the real model to work from, has had to create the wax image by “improvising and imagining” her look from images taken from the Internet and clips of her films.

The work has been “arduous” and the pressure “constant,” since the Spanish film icon “is part of a group of superstars, beautiful women with great charm, and those attributes had to be given expression in the (wax) figure,” said Saint Chaffray.

The result is a remarkably lifelike replica of Cruz – with her long, dark hair gathered into a bun and wearing an elegant evening gown made of lace, velvet and blue gemstones – who seems to be looking at the camera out of the corner of her eye with an enigmatic half-smile.

Bichir Receives First-Ever Oscar Nomination…

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

Demián Bichir is following in the footsteps of legendary actor Anthony Quinn…

The 48-year-old former telenovela star has become only the second Mexican actor to receive a lead actor Academy Award nomination; nearly 50 years after Quinn won an Oscar for his role in Zorba the Greek.

Bichir received the nod for his starring role in A Better Life where he played Carlos Galindo, an illegal immigrant gardener living in East Los Angeles. Struggling to remain employed but undetected by immigration authorities, Galindo attempts to provide a better life for his American-born son.

“I’m overwhelmed for having my name among those incredible actors,” Bichir tells Us Weekly in a statement. “This could have never happened if Chris Weitz had not been the head of this film. He is my brother and I thank him deeply.”

Bichir’s performance—which led to a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination and Independent Spirit Awards nod, has simmered on Hollywood’s back burner since awards season began.

“You know, when you encounter a character like this and a project like this, the first reaction is how lucky I am,” said Bichir in a recent interview with USA Today. “Because this is my Hamlet. This is my King Lear… It’s a bigger-than-life character that any actor would fight for it, would die to do it.”

Bichir will face-off against George Clooney (The Descendants), Jean Dujardin (The Artist), Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) and Brad Pitt (Moneyball).

Meanwhile, Bérénice Bejo is also a first-time Oscar nominee. The 35-year-old Argentine star—who was the best-dressed Latina at this year’s Golden Globes—received a Best Supporting Actress nod for her star-making role in The Artist.

Bejo is up against Jessica Chastain (The Help), Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids), Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs) and  Octavia Spencer (The Help).

Here’s a look at the other Latinos nominated for an Academy Award this year:

Music (Original Score):
Alberto Iglesias, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Music (Original Song):
Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown & Siedah Garrett, “Real in Rio” from Rio

Martin Scorsese’s Hugo was this year’s most nominated film with 11 nods, followed by Michel Hazanavicius’ The Artist, with 10.

The 84th Academy Awards will be televised on ABC on Sunday, Feb. 26.

Alba Drops the F-Bomb… for a Good Cause!

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Tom Castaneda

Break out the bar of soap! Jessica Alba has been caught on camera dropping the F-bomb…

Don’t worry though, it’s all for a good cause!

The Mexican-American actress appears in a new PSA created by the anti-poverty advocacy group ONE.

Titled “The F Word: Famine is the Real Obscenity,” the minute-long clip aims to bring attention to the devastating famine occurring in Somalia. Other celebrities appearing in the PSA include George Clooney, Bono, Rob Lowe, Joe Jonas and Colin Farrell.

The Horn of Africa, the peninsula in East Africa that’s home to Ethiopia and Somalia is currently experiencing the worst drought in more than 60 years and it’s threatening the lives of more than 12 million people.

“More than 30,000 children have died in just three months. Mothers are forced to decide who to feed and who to let die. In 2011? That’s obscene,” says U2 lead singer Bono. “There are things that can be done, and if we really believe the life of a child in East Africa is worth the same as the lives of our own children, we have to act.”

The PSA is calling for the African governments provide the $650 million needed for assistance, and to fulfill their commitment to invest $22 billion in agriculture for African governments.

Click here to show your support by signing ONE’s petition.

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