Oh wow, I’ve never even heard of this…Thanks Guanabee!!!! And wonderful casting, Mr Nava: a (secretly) half-Spanish actor and a Nuyorican actress playing Mexicans, bravo for following the Vanessa Hudgens school of casting…I’m kinda shocked this movie didn’t get released, really, really shocked…

Remember “In the Time of the Butterflies”, the film version of the Julia Alvarez novel, set in the Dominican Republic, were the uneven cast was made up of every single notable Hispanic actor/actress in the US, none of whom were Dominican: Salma Hayek, Edward James Olmos, Marc Anthony, Mia Maestro, oh it was bad!!…even Russian-Mexican telenovela actress Ana Layevska was there!!!

Oooooh…juicy tidbit from that article:

“Several of them [Latina Actresses] (and several, when you are counting a handful, is telling) said with great apology that they had been advised by their handlers and management NOT TO PLAY LATINAS in movies that were ETHNIC, because that was seen as being too political a statement at the moment. In other words, they could play the exotic Latina love interest of an action hero in a “white” movie, but they could not play self-actualized Latinas with depth in a Latina movie:. These actresses, many of whom have complained in interviews about the lack of exciting roles for Latinas, in private meetings said they were unwilling to play Latinas in a Latino project lest they be seen by the powers that be as *”going the JLo route.””

Could this be our beloved Jessica Alba? She was in a superhero movie (the fantastic four)…or maybe it’s Eva Mendes!!!

I like that Martin Sheen was cast to represent his Mexicanness.

she always has something interesting on her blog

http://alisavaldesrodriguez.blogspot.com/

If they are putting the shit jessica simpson appears in on the big screen, suckiness is not a factor.

Um, Martin Sheen isn’t Mexican. His father is Spanish, but maybe you were trying to be flippantly clever?

It is not about the quality of the film, it is finding the movie distributor that has cajones to do what it wants. In Hollywood, not so much, it used to be Miramax…but they kinda have fallen off from their edgy, artsy flicks of the 90s. I saw the movie, it was ok at best. The story is the only reason one should pick up the movie, the acting, the shots, are very weak. Not to say, I did not get anything out of the me, I did.
Yes the story does have an anti-American, anti-Nafta, and anti-Mexican police, who rather eat donuts and not do their jobs, only to be replaced by the Federal Army which have no experience in finding serial killer stance…but hey, I have seen worse. So yes, this is movie is better than Gigli, Spawn and 13th Warrior, banderas was in the film too….

sorry for the ramble

the movie is out on DVD now. I think its good enough to check out at least for the content.

so that’s our standard of artistic achievement for latino films: “it sucked just as much as gigli so we also deserve theatrical distribution?” please.

Hhmm (and omg this is my third comment on this post, I am talking to myself here)…While I agree with a lot of Alicia Valdes-Rodriguez’ points, her novel wasn’t that good at all, it was just capitalizing on the whole “Sex and the City” thing, just with Latina characters…Her characters were certainly not “self-actualized Latinas with depth”, it was slightly trashy chick lit, after all, and there is more than a touch of sour grapes in her denounciation of the industry. However, 99% of movies released on the US are not known for their “artistic merit”, most of them are pretty trashy, as she points out. For every “No Country for Old Men” there are a dozen “Gigli”s…This movie seems to have been blocked solely on its controversial immigration-related content, it’s almost as if the film was banned or censored, the whole deal is pretty scary. Every movie J. Lo has made has been pretty bad and void of artistic merit, and yet they’ve all been at released in the US and a lot have done very well…So what’s the deal? Why not get a limited release it in NYC and LA and call it a day? Why block it entirely? This is very, very troubling…

so that’s our standard of artistic achievement for latino films: “it sucked just as much as gigli so we also deserve theatrical distribution?” please.

Will someone please give jm a prize! Seriously, jm, thank you for using your brain. You rock!

Ok, I’ll admit that I love a good conspiracy theory. For fun, I like to hang out with Ron Paul supporters. They’re such a hoot. But I refuse to buy into this whole “I’m a victim” mentality. It’s pathetic.

There’s no question that Latinos are underrepresented in the entertainment industry. And there’s no question that there’s a general lack of interest in Latinos and Latino issues in this country. But it’s not just an “I HATE ALL LATINOS” phenomenon. Women, African Americans, unconventional screen writers and directors, people in the LGBT community, and many others face similar problems in Hollywood. So, stop crying! Good roles for women (of all colors) are hard to come by. There are amazing screen plays (by White writers) that are too cerebral for Hollywood, and they’ll never see the light of day. Let’s all cry together. Shall we? Whatever!!!! Hollywood is a business, folks. They only care about one thing: the bottom line. Trust me, there are concerned mothers and advocacy groups (remember Tipper Gore and her battle against the music industry?) out there that have tried to force the entertainment industry to change. Here are some of their complaints: too much violence and sex on television, propagation of negative stereotypes, and promoting decadent life styles (remember, drugs are bad kids). If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that soccer moms hate guns and sex more than they hate dubious looking Brown people. Even after report after report shows that many adults in this country are AGAINST sex and violence in movies and on TV, the entertainment industry (television and film) still keeps getting worse and worse. Why? Because that’s what consumers want. And, honestly, I’m a consumer who wouldn’t pay money to watch a (bad) movie based on a trite screen play about some poor ethnic person doing whatever it is poor ethinic people do. My point: the industry isn’t out to get Latinos. Also, Hollywood tends to be super Liberal. How else can you explain the success of the film Crashed?

I’d also like to respond to the following comment: Some people here defend the film not being released by saying “it sucked,” to which I reply with one simple word: “Gigli.” In other words, sucking has never been a real reason to halt release of a Hollywood movie - has it?

Ok, Alisa failed to mention that Gigli was written and directed by Martin Brest, and it also starred Ben Affleck and Christopher Walken. Hello! Of course it’s going to get more support than the average film! Comparing it to Nava’s Bordertown is a little silly.

Correction: the film was called Crash (not Crashed)

@este_es_mi_nombre: Actually, some have suggested that controversy increases media attention, which can help get a film noticed. As they say, any publicity is good publicity, and the studios LOVE making money. Also, please keep in mind that i>Bordertown was booed at a screening in Berlin. Hmm, it sounds like this film sucks. End of story!

Hollywood is not always an outlet of intelligence nor is it a source of social morality/standards.

Sure, Miramax released the Oscar winner “No Country For Old Men” which was amazing and has grossed about $120 million world-wide. But, Buena Vista released “Wild Hogs” and it has made over $253 million world-wide.

For Hollywood, the bottom line is cash. If they can cash in on an intelligent film (like No Country) or if they can get people to pay to turn their brains off (Wild Hogs) then nothing stops them from producing the film.

Those money-grubbers could care less about being fair and portraying real life issues. They don’t care if now is the time to show a movie like “Bordertown” or that society should see Latinas who are college educated and bilingual. That brings them no money so they don’t want it. It’s horrible, but the truth hurts.

@Latin_Princess: Amen! Your preaching to the choir, my friend.

Blacks did not get representation by demanding it. We got behind the camara and represented ourselves. That’s the only way any underrepresented group can over come that.

Bordertown appears to be a very interesting film and J-Lo should be stomping for that film to hit the U.S. If she went public and exposed what was going down, she could get that movie released here. My first impression lf Alisa Valdes Rodriguez is that she jumps to conclusions. However, she may right about this one.

I’m not buying a new TV for some time, even with the big sales going on. JL did a half ass job & Tony Flags rocks a usual the NAFTA hate thing that’s old but leave it to the Yanks not to want to pay big prises but just turn their noses up to present day slavery.