Author Archive: rojas.alexander
Alex’s Film List 2004
Top X Favorite Films of 2004 Before you start getting your panties in a bunch, let me just say that I did not get to see every damn theatrical release in 2004. So…you won’t find The Aviator or House of Flying Daggers or Crimson Gold or Million Dollar Baby on this list. So chill out [...]
The Bird People in China
What most audiences who have come to know the work of director Takashi Miike, expect to see cinema of the most violent, bizarre and macabre stories and visuals. However, many of his lesser known movies exemplify Miike’s sensibilities and wide ranging cinematic styles. All you have to do is watch Miike’s horror-comedy-apocalyptic musical, The Happiness [...]
The Motorcycle Diaries
It’s somewhere in the beginning of most reviews for The Motorcycle Diaries that a reference to people wearing Che T-shirts, buttons, bandanas, underwear, and so on, is made. Then a statement is made claiming Che would be rolling in his grave (does he have a grave?) if he would to see how his image has [...]
Fruit of Labor [Fruto de Trabajo]
While once purchasing sliced cucumbers with generous portions of chile, lemon and salt from a pushcart fruit vendor in Chicago’s La Villita, I found myself in a fascinating conversation with the middle-aged entrepeneur. He told me about his start as a fruit vendor in Chicago, all the struggles he has endured in his eleven years [...]
Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior
After a village’s buddhist statue, Ong-Bak is beheaded and the head is stolen, the people from the village frantically sent out one of their strongest and most noble young men, Booting, to recover the head of the sacred statue. With little money and inexperience in a city, Booting seeks out the help of George, who [...]
El Bonaerense
Starting in a rural area in Argentina, Zapa, a locksmith involved in pity crimes, mostly due to his locksmith skills, is arrested after a job his boss, Polaco, set him up with. Zapa is jailed, but with the connections his uncle has, a retired police officer, Zapa is released and is sent to Buenos Aires [...]
Mean Creek
Sundance has had a stellar year with several of the films screened at this years festival going on to have a considerable amount of mainstream success. Following Napoleon Dynamite, Garden State, Open Water and others, Mean Creek is another worthy film to continue this trend. Like a few of the other Sundance successes, Mean Creek [...]
11th Annual Chicago Underground Film Festival
The Chicago Underground Film Festival (CUFF) offers an experimental/avant-garde style of films to an audience. They tend to venture into the b-movie realm at times or even dare I say the world of traditional narrative. That’ll make the non-conformists shudder in their mismatched socks. I unfortunately wear matching socks, thanks to my mother who taught [...]
AfroPunk: The “Rock ‘N Roll Nigger” Experience
Fuck Yeah! Having listened to Bad Brains off of a friend’s compilation punk tape, I was completely enthralled by their intensity that was crazier than most other bands I heard at the time. I then bought one of their CDs and I saw in the album sleeve these punk rockers are Black. Holy Shit! Now [...]
Big City Dick
While watching this documentary about a remarkable savant street musician, I was reminded of a similar street musician who came to fame in Chicago in the late nineties. I have no idea what happened to him, but his voice still beats over my head as his song “Rock N Roll McDonalds” periodically drills my skull. [...]
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