Daily Headlines: January 11, 2016

* U.S.: Mexicans Gael Garcia Bernal and Alejandro González Iñárritu received individual Golden Globes last night while the Pablo Larraín-directed Chilean movie “The Club” lost in the top foreign film category.

* South America: The Dakar Rally reached its halfway point on a tragic note after a spectator was run over and killed during the seventh stage between Bolivia and Argentina.

* Cuba: White House chief-of-staff Denis McDonough confirmed the Obama administration’s plans to close the U.S. military base at Guantanamo, Cuba.

* El Salvador: Gen. José Guillermo Garcia-Merino, El Salvador’s former defense minister, was deported back to his homeland over his likely role in human rights violations during the civil war era.

YouTube Source – TIFF Trailers

Online Sources – Reuters Africa, Business Standard, NBC News, Latin America Herald Tribune, Christian Science Monitor

Daily Headlines: January 13, 2014

* Mexico: Alfonso Cuarôn of Mexico was named Best Director at the 2014 Golden Globe Awards and, thus, could be the favorite to capture top director honors at the upcoming Oscars.

* Brazil: Daniel Ellsberg, the former military analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers in 1971, claimed in an interview that the Brazilian government should grant asylum to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

* Venezuela: Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez gave out his personal phone number as part of a campaign to combat corruption launched after the murder of ex-beauty queen and actress Monica Spear and her husband.

* Chile: President Sebastián Piñera vowed that the constructors of Chile’s first drawbridge will “fix…the mistake” after it was discovered that one of the stricture’s road decks was built upside down.

Video Source – WIRED via YouTube
 
Online Sources- UPI; Sky News; ZDNet; Huffington Post

Nuestro Cine: Cuarón's Debut

The nominees for the upcoming Golden Globe Awards were announced on Thursday and among the finalists for the Best Director Award is Alfonso Cuarón.  The 52-year-old Mexican was recognized for his work directing the critically acclaimed and box office hit thriller "Gravity" though he faces stiff competition from other nominees including Steve McQueen ("12 Years A Slave"), David O. Russell ("American Hustle") and Paul Greengrass ("Captain Phillips").   

A talented director, screenwriter, producer and editor, Cuarón is best known for films like "Y Tu Mamá También," "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" and "Children of Men."  Yet his first big hit came in 1991 with his directorial debut.  

"Love in the Time of Hysteria" focuses on a young man who is notorious for his womanizing and, as the narrator of the film's trailer claims, "will sleep with just about any lady he meets."  His life as a carefree Casanova comes to a quick halt after one of his many jilted lovers, a nurse, convinces him that he has AIDS.  His attempts of suicide are thwarted yet it is his desire to want to kill himself that leads him to fall in love with a stewardess who also wants to end her life after she is cheated upon.

Aside from directing this dark comedy, Cuarón also co-wrote, produced and co-edited the film.  Known locally as "Sólo con tu pareja", the movie garnered four nominations in Mexico's Ariel film awards and won in the Best Original Story category.

Below the page break is the Spanish-language trailer to "Love in the Time of Hysteria".  (Please note that it is Not Safe for Work due to images of brief nudity).