Bad timing could affect Guillermo del Toro project

ELAINE: A big coincidence.

RAVA: Not a big coincidence. A coincidence!

ELAINE: No, that's a big coincidence.

RAVA: That's what a coincidence is! There are no small coincidences and big coincidences!

ELAINE: No, there are degrees of coincidences.

RAVA: No, there are only coincidences! ..Ask anyone! (Enraged, she asks everyone in the elevator) Are there big coincidences and small coincidences, or just coincidences? (Silent) ..Well?! Well?!..

--- Scene from the “Seinfeld” episode entitled “The Statue”

Fate can work in strange ways, particularly in relation to man-made and natural disasters. The Kristin Hersch-led rock group 50-Foot Wave received an inordinate amount of attention when their first album came out weeks after the infamous 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. The original version of the Cole Porter musical “Anything Goes” was overhauled shortly after it premiered due to the 1934 shipwreck of the SS Morro Castle. “Collateral Damage”, an action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, was delayed from its release due to the 9/11 attacks and the finished product did not include a scene with Sofia Vergara playing an airplane hijacker.

On the same day as a deadly earthquake and tsunami Japan details emerged of the possible plot of a film directed by Mexico’s Guillermo del Toro called “Pacific Rim”. The coincidence between the real event and the purported plot of the “Japan-based disaster film” is hair-raising:

Pacific Rim is set in a world where, in November 2012, giant monsters began emerging from a hole in the Pacific Ocean and wreaking havoc on Japan, leaving the nation devastated, and all but wiping out the population. The film mostly takes place some decades later, when the only hope for the “leftovers” are giant battling robots commanded by young pilots, two of whom will head through the monsters’ portal to find the “Anteverse” and fight them there at the source.

The movie is reported to be “in development” and planned for release next year; thus, there is ample time for any modifications to the movie’s script. Though as Sean O’Neal pointed out in The A.V. Club “if we were del Toro, we’d probably be feeling a little squeamish about hitting the storyboards today.”

Del Toro reportedly agreed to go behind the lens for “Pacific Rim” a few days before the disaster in Japan.

“Degrees of coincidence” indeed.

Image- deadline.com
Online Sources- 24 Frames, The Black Table, BBC, imdb.com, The A.V. Club, seinfeldscripts.com

Daily Headlines: September 28, 2010

* Mexico: Critically acclaimed director Guillermo Del Toro’s next project will involve the world of animation.

* Guatemala: Most residents of the “remote, indigenous village of Xenac” are outraged over the death of one of their compatriots after a confrontation with Los Angeles police.

* Bolivia: Social activists and media groups are butting heads over an anti-racism proposal that could soon become law.

* Honduras: Police claimed that the main suspect in the massacre of eighteen factory workers earlier this month was himself killed in a shootout.

Image – The Independent
Online Sources- The A.V. Club, Los Angeles Times, Knight Center, Miami Herald

Tourism stumbles in Mexico

With a stifled economy around the world and skyrocketing violence around the country, Mexico’s tourism has taken a mighty big hit.

According to a report in Mexico’s Reforma and mentioned in the LAHT, tourism nationwide has plummeted. Such is particularly the case in border cities like Ensenada, Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez where the numbers of tourists visiting them plunged by 13 to 21%. Even some cities in the interior suffered an average decline of 10% in arrivals, according to cited tourism figures.

Is it any wonder that luminaries like Guillermo Del Toro are so worried over Mexico’s violence that they're afraid to work there?

"Hellboy" director Guillermo del Toro says he is unlikely to make another film in Mexico because his father's kidnapping 10 years ago left him fearing for his safety, a newspaper has reported.

Del Toro's father was eventually released, but the family says it later received death threats…

"Not all of the people who participated in the kidnapping were captured," El Universal newspaper on Thursday quoted him as saying.

He described his situation as a "forced exile" and said it saddens him to think he may never film again on Mexican streets.

There is one small bright spot for Mexico’s tourism: Spain’s Office of Tourism concluded that Mexico City is world's most visited religious tourism destination.

Image- AFP (“Three severed heads have been found stuffed inside a cooler outside the Guadalupe town hall, Mexico”)
Online Sources- La Plaza, Vivirlatino, LAHT, UPI

Daily Headlines: November 18, 2008

* U.S.: Congrats to Dominican slugger Albert Pujols who won his second National League Most Valuable Player award yesterday.

* Puerto Rico: Governor Anibal Acevedo Vila signed an executive order barring government agencies from discriminating against same-sex couples.

* Mexico: Famed director Guillermo del Toro will reportedly become the executive producer of an upcoming remake of “Pinocchio.”

* Haiti: A Canadian aid worker pled guilty to sexually assaulting eight Haitian orphans.

Image- AP
Sources- washingtonpost.com, New York Daily News, wired.com, Canada.com

Today’s Video: “El Espinazo del Diablo”

Today is all about Halloween and it’s nice to watch the kids in my tranquil neighborhood with their costumes go trick-or-treating. My original plans to play dress up and make the trek to Manhattan to the Village Halloween Parade, yet I’m opting to stay home to watch “100 Scariest Movie Moments” on Bravo. (I’m a sucker for inane list shows!)

One of the films highlighted by the special is “El Espinazo del Diablo” (“The Devil’s Backbone”). Co-written and directed by Mexico’s Guillermo Del Toro, the 2001 flick centered on a boy caught up in the proverbial horrors of war.

Below is the trailer to the movie though no synopsis can do justice to the totality of the movie. It’s an arresting film which is truly a unique entry in the horror genre.

The Day of the Dead is being observed this weekend so don’t forget to pray and nosh on some pan del muerto!
Sources- YouTube, Bravo, imdb.com, Wikipedia, New York Daily News

Daily Headlines: April 25, 2008

* Mexico: Congrats to Guillermo del Toro who was picked by Peter Jackson to direct a pair of future “Hobbit” prequels.

* Brazil: A Brazilian drug firm and nonprofit group have united to develop a new malaria treatment that is expected to be distributed throughout Latin America and Southeast Asia.

*Guatemala: “TV Maya” recently launched in Guatemala with the aim of promoting indigenous Mayan culture.

* Cuba: The island’s state-run telephone firm said that over 7400 new cell phone accounts were established in the first 10 days Cubans were allowed access to the service.

Image- Los Angeles Times (“Guillermo del Toro will take on the future "Hobbit' prequels, while Peter Jackson is still basking in the success of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Jackson and New Line handpicked Del Toro.”)

Sources- PR.inside.com, The Latin Americanist, Reuters, Voice of America

Daily Headlines: February 1, 2008

* A Brazilian judge has barred the use of a Carnival parade float depicting models of Holocaust victims.

* Mexican director Guillermo del Toro may be behind the lens of two upcoming films based on J.R.R. Tolkien's “The Hobbit.”

* The Argentine government punished two retired admirals and a former navy captain for their roles in the country’s “Dirty War.”

* In an interview, Colombia’s police chief said that a former police cornel fired for helping a drug capo should be extradited to the U.S.

* Follow-up: Ex-Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega cannot be extradited to France until all of his appeals have been exhausted, according to a U.S. magistrate.

Sources- Guardian UK, BBC News, The Latin Americanist, MSNBC, New York Times,

Image- CNN (“The Viradouro samba group has been ordered to remove mannequins representing Holocaust victims.”)

Video of the Day: Guillermo del Toro

We end today with Halloween in mind; more specifically, the work of Mexican film director Guillermo del Toro. His horror films are difficult to describe except to say that they are very striking visually as well as psycholgcally.

Below is the trailer for one of del Toro's films- 2001's The Devil's Backbone (not The Devil's Advocate as had originally been written in this post).

You can get a flavor of del Toro's style from the trailer but I highly recommend that you watch the movie itslf.

(Video link):

Sources- Wikipedia, YouTube