Tag Archives: Traffic

del Toro to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at San Sebastian International Film Festival

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Benicio del Toro is about to add another award to his collection…

The 48-year-old Puerto Rican actor and film producer and Oscar-winner will receive the Donostia Award for Lifetime Achievement at the San Sebastian International Film Festival.

Benicio del Toro III

del Toro’s latest film Escobar: Paradise Lostwill close the Pearls Selection at the festival, which runs September 19-27.

Escobar, written by Andrea di Stefano, tells the story of young surfer Nick who thinks he has landed in paradise when he falls in love with a Colombian girl on a visit to see his brother who is living in the South American country only to have it change when he meets her uncle, Pablo Escobar.

del Toro has confirmed that he’ll come to San Sebastian to present the film and receive the Donostia at the closing ceremony. Di Stefano, Josh Hutcherson and Carlos Bardem will also be present for the film’s Spanish premiere.

del Toro is a favorite at San Sebastian where he has accompanied films from his career.

del Toro won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic as well as an Oscar nomination for his work in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s 21 Grams.

del Toro re-teamed with Soderbergh to star in the biography of Che Guevera Che. The performance won him the Best Actor award at the Palme D’Or Closing Ceremony at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008, and again the following year at the Goya Awards in Madrid, Spain.

He starred opposite Emily Blunt and Anthony Hopkins in Joe Johnston’s The Wolfman and as Lado in Oliver Stone’s Savages.

del Toro was starred as Jimmy, the lead in Jimmy P. The film was screened at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. He was last seen in Guardians of the Galaxy a sci-fi action film for Walt Disney Pictures/Marvel Enterprises, which was released in the beginning of August 2014.

Next year he’ll play Mambru in Fernando Leon’s A Perfect Day and Sauncho Smilax in Inherent Vice, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.

The actor is currently in production on Denis Villeneuve’s Sicaro.

del Toro In Final Talks to Star Opposite Emily Blunt in the Crime Thriller “Sicario”

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Benicio del Toro may soon star in a Sic role…

The 47-year-old Puerto Rican actor, who earned an Academy Award for his performance in Traffic, is in final talks to star in the crime thriller Sicario.

Benicio del Toro

del Toro would star opposite Emily Blunt in the film which centers on the hunt for a dangerous drug kingpin.

Blunt will portray a female cop from Tucson, Arizona, who travels across the border to Mexico with mercenaries to catch a notorious drug lord.

Sicario will be helmed by Prisoners director Denis Villeneuve, based on a screenplay from Sons of Anarchy actor Taylor Sheridan.

del Toro will next star as Taneleer Tivan or The Collector in James Gunn‘s Guardians of the Galaxy, which will hit U.S. theaters on August 1.

He’s also among the cast of Paul Thomas Anderson‘s all-star crime comedy drama Inherent Vice along with Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon and Maya Rudolph, among others.

Bratt Lending His Voice to “Despicable Me 2”

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It’s about to get downright despicable for Benjamin Bratt…

The 49-year-old half-Peruvian American actor has signed on to replace Al Pacino as the voice of the villain Eduardo in the animated film Despicable Me 2.

Benjamin Bratt

Bratt, who wrapped up his stint on ABC’s Private Practice earlier this year, will get right to work on the film that Univeral Pictures has slated for a major summer release on July 3.

Despicable Me 2 is the fourth film from Illumination Entertainment and the sequel to its 2010 hit Despicable Me, one of Universal’s most profitable films ever, with north of $540 million worldwide on a $69 million budget.

The sequel is directed by Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin, and scripted by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio.

Bratt’s other movie credits include Snitch, La Mission, The Woodsman and Traffic.

Bejo: From Oscar Nominee to Academy Member

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She received her first Oscar nomination earlier this year for her scene-stealing role in The Artist… And now Bérénice Bejo will be helping select future Oscar nominees and winners.

Berenice Bejo

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has extended an invitation to the 35-year-old Argentinean actress to join the organization. Bejo—who has appeared in The Artist, OSS 117 and Cairo, Nest of Spies—is one of the 176 artists and executives to receive an invitation for their distinguished contributions to theatrical motion pictures.

But Bejo isn’t the only Hispanic artist to receive an invitation … Here’s a look at the other Latinos to make the list:

Actors
Demián Bichir – A Better Life, Che
Clifton Collins, Jr. – Star Trek, Traffic
Diego Luna – Milk, Y Tu Mamá También

Directors
Rodrigo Garcia – Albert Nobbs, Mother and Child

Music
Alberto Iglesias – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Constant Gardener

Short Films and Feature Animation
Jonas Rivera – Up, Cars

”These film professionals represent some of the most talented, most passionate contributors to our industry,” said Academy President Tom Sherak. “I’m glad to recognize that by calling each of them a fellow Academy member.”

Those who accept the invitation will be the only additions in 2012 to the Academy’s roster of members.

New members will be welcomed into the Academy at an invitation-only reception in September.

Guzman Journeys Into His First 3D Film

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He’s one of Hollywood’s most beloved Latino character actors… But, Luis Guzman has never appeared in a 3D film… until now!

The 55-year-old Puerto Rican actor is starring in Journey 2: The Mysterious Island.

Luis Guzman

“It’s my first 3D film and, truthfully, it looks stupendously good. Just like my role!” says Guzman with a chuckle to EFE. “I think that 3D is important today and it will be part of the future of movies, but I also think that they’re never going to replace us actors.”

Starring Josh Hutcherson, Dwayne Johnson and Vanessa Hudgens, the family adventure film centers on Sean Anderson (Hutchgerson), who partners with his mom’s boyfriend (Johnson) a mission to find his grandfather, thought to be missing on a mythical island.

journey-2-the-mysterious-island-poster

It’s been almost two decades since moviegiers first saw Guzman’s shady-looking face in Carlito’s Way (1993), the film in which he played Al Pacino’s bodyguard. Since then actor has become an ongoing presence in Hollywood with his scene-stealing roles.

“I think that part of my secret is that I do good work, I have a good heart and I’m a good person,” Guzman told Efe. “I get along well with people and I have great respect for directors, producers and actors. Hollywood has given me so much love.”

Guzman’s film credits include Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch-Drunk Love, Out of Sight and Traffic. He most recently starred in the two seasons of HBO’s How to Make It in America.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, the sequel to Journey to the Center of the Earth, open this Friday in theaters nationwide.

del Toro Unveils Directorial Debut Film in Cuba…

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Should Benicio del Toro decide to stop acting, he could easily transition to a life behind the camera.

During the screening of the 44-year-old Puerto Rican actor’s directorial debut in the movie “Seven Days in Havana,” del Toro said the labor of love that went into his labor of love was so gratifying he plans to keep working behind the camera.

Benicio del Toro Directorial Debut

“To see the motivation of all the artists, working 14 hours a day, to see the confidence they had in me, the collaboration between everything, is something very special,” said del Toro at a news conference in Havana, where “Seven Days” screened at the city’s annual film festival.

“It’s an experience that motivates me to dream of trying it again,” said del Toro, who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in “Traffic.”

“Seven Days,” a French-Spanish production made up of seven shorts, is based on stories by Cuban writer Leonardo Padura that take place on different days of the week and show different visions of Cuban society.

Del Toro directed the first segment: “The Yuma,” Cuban slang for “The American,” about a young American who travels to Havana for the film festival.

“The theme of the short is to show how people can retain their dignity” says del Toro. “It’s something very human.”

Josh Hutcherson, who appears in the title role in “The Yuma,” said del Toro yelled quite a bit but was a genius director he’d love to work with again.