Thanks for the heads up on new reading material. It will give me something to read while waiting for your next book. I will also check out Rico’s Substack.
Thank you Ioan Grillo for the mention of my new book "A Cop's Son." As you know, I worked Public Corruption cases with the DOJ along the SW Border coming into contact with the Juarez Cartel. I enjoy each and every blog you publish. Bravo.
Thanks there Kenneth and your signed copy was well appreciated. When you worked those cases then did it seems it has reached it's worst? Or could you imagine it would end up like this these decades on? All best friend.
Great to have you on board friend and I'll be looking forward to the edition. Immigration as always is a hot topic, especially with the new executive order from Biden. Un abrazo.
Dear Ioan, I wanted to tell you that the UNAM Internacional issue will be published later. Some articles arrived late, so we need to postpone. And due to vacations at UNAM, it will be out a month from now. We are very sorry, please wait a little longer, the issu is very strong. An enthusiastic Hi! To all Crash Out readers.
Dear Ioan, I wanted to tell you that the UNAM Internacional issue will be published later. Some articles arrived late, so we need to postpone. And due to vacations at UNAM, it will be out a month from now. We are very sorry, please wait a little longer, the issu is very strong. An enthusiastic Hi! To all Crash Out readers.
Individual articles are being uploaded, but the complete designed issue in PDF format can be downloaded since right now.
We will make a presentation next August 14, at 6:00 pm, at Marabunta Book Store, Coyoacán (the event will be video-streamed too), it would be very nice if you could come.
My hope is that Sheinbaum will not be talked into yet another attempt at "all-out war" on the cartels or other crime groups by more hawkish elements within the government or military establishment; after multiple failures so costly in civilian and soldier lives. There is no path to social peace or safety through bloody conflict with entities for whom violence is a primary mode of doing business, and whose profits are so massive that they can sustain such a conflict for decades if necessary. Other approaches are still sorely needed.
Thanks much there Shaggy - always good to have your insight here. I guess a difficult aspect about handling the cartel violence is that there isn't a very successful position of just trying to ignore it either as the last presidencies have shown. I wouldn't want her to go back to a big war on the cartels, and I am pretty sure she won't. But it would be nice to have a strategy to try and reduce the violence and the worst effects on the population. All best there friend.
It's criminal of me to not have the time to read (besides a gazillion news pages) but 'Prayers for the Stolen' is a sublime and then profound movie which I saw last year - https://youtu.be/mlLqfk_OFAA
BAM, there we go. I guess this is perhaps the unglamorized real version of the narco war getting onto screen. Is there a good South Africa movie you would recommend?
Damn, you have really done some Latin American cinema. I love the Brazilian films big time, with City of God at the top. For the Mexican movies, I would go back to some of the golden age of Pedro Infante, Tintan, Cantinflas - and in that era Los Olvidados. A bit more mordern Ley de Herodes, and then Amores Perros...
They're not easy to find, but I've tried, over many years, to try know different cultures. I'd spend a month only watching one area, to try get a sense of the people. I've taken note of your golden oldies recommendations.
For Bunuel you have to add The Criminal Life of Archibaldo Cruz, and the trio of films with Mexico's greatest actress, Silvia Pinal-Viridiana, Exterminating Angel and Simon of the Desert. Also Bunuel's Wuthering Heights is the destruction of Romanticism replaced with obsession bordering on necrophilia. Also Milky Way is Bunuel's most religious film and had a huge influence on me.
For fun here is a clip of the incredible Resortes with Silvia Pinal dancing to another song synced together perfectly-
Thanks for the pointers. Yeah, District 9 was a great fun film in its time. I thought it hit a good noughties era theme of city-setting movies. Like you had D9 in Joburg and Snatch in London and Amores Perros in Mex City, City of God in Rio and Barcelona in (where was that in again). I saw Tsotsi as well, pretty good. I'll check out Beyond the River and Saloum. I might review the narco movies here for realism at some point.
Wow, you must be one of the few people off continent whose seen 'Tsotsi' outside of art theatres. Though, more things must be streaming nowadays. Loved 'Snatch' and 'Amores Perros'.
Have you seen 'An Elephant Sitting Still'? It's a Chinese movie set in Manzhouli near the border of Mongolia and Russia. It's damn depressing, long and genius... and a statement by the director as it's the only one he made, and he killed himself before its release.
I think I rented Tsoti from a Mexico City Blockbuster or something bizarre. I kept going to the Blockbuster pretty late through the 2010s until they finally shut it down and then begrudgingly got Netlflix. I'll keep my eyes open for An Elephant Sitting Still.
Thanks for the heads up on new reading material. It will give me something to read while waiting for your next book. I will also check out Rico’s Substack.
BAM. All best there Daniel - plenty more material to come for you.
Thank you Ioan Grillo for the mention of my new book "A Cop's Son." As you know, I worked Public Corruption cases with the DOJ along the SW Border coming into contact with the Juarez Cartel. I enjoy each and every blog you publish. Bravo.
Thanks there Kenneth and your signed copy was well appreciated. When you worked those cases then did it seems it has reached it's worst? Or could you imagine it would end up like this these decades on? All best friend.
Ioan, its our honor to appear in this post. Thank you very much, you are giving our young magazine a mighty push! Greetings from UNAM!
Great to have you on board friend and I'll be looking forward to the edition. Immigration as always is a hot topic, especially with the new executive order from Biden. Un abrazo.
You'll be the first to get it!
Dear Ioan, I wanted to tell you that the UNAM Internacional issue will be published later. Some articles arrived late, so we need to postpone. And due to vacations at UNAM, it will be out a month from now. We are very sorry, please wait a little longer, the issu is very strong. An enthusiastic Hi! To all Crash Out readers.
Dear Ioan, I wanted to tell you that the UNAM Internacional issue will be published later. Some articles arrived late, so we need to postpone. And due to vacations at UNAM, it will be out a month from now. We are very sorry, please wait a little longer, the issu is very strong. An enthusiastic Hi! To all Crash Out readers.
Thanks for the update Carlos. I am sure it will be worth the wait. Please post here when it is published. Suerte.
Hi Ioan! Just to invite to read UNAM Internacional issue on Migration, we have just uploaded it: https://revista.unaminternacional.unam.mx/
Individual articles are being uploaded, but the complete designed issue in PDF format can be downloaded since right now.
We will make a presentation next August 14, at 6:00 pm, at Marabunta Book Store, Coyoacán (the event will be video-streamed too), it would be very nice if you could come.
Please let us know your opinion on the magazine!
Fantastic. Thanks for sharing and I will give it a read. I'll also try and make the presentation - but let's see! Best friend.
Sincerely appreciated, Ioan! You are the legend on all analysis and reporting on the Mexican drug cartels.
A nice blurb there friend. Great to have you here.
My hope is that Sheinbaum will not be talked into yet another attempt at "all-out war" on the cartels or other crime groups by more hawkish elements within the government or military establishment; after multiple failures so costly in civilian and soldier lives. There is no path to social peace or safety through bloody conflict with entities for whom violence is a primary mode of doing business, and whose profits are so massive that they can sustain such a conflict for decades if necessary. Other approaches are still sorely needed.
Thanks much there Shaggy - always good to have your insight here. I guess a difficult aspect about handling the cartel violence is that there isn't a very successful position of just trying to ignore it either as the last presidencies have shown. I wouldn't want her to go back to a big war on the cartels, and I am pretty sure she won't. But it would be nice to have a strategy to try and reduce the violence and the worst effects on the population. All best there friend.
It's criminal of me to not have the time to read (besides a gazillion news pages) but 'Prayers for the Stolen' is a sublime and then profound movie which I saw last year - https://youtu.be/mlLqfk_OFAA
BAM, there we go. I guess this is perhaps the unglamorized real version of the narco war getting onto screen. Is there a good South Africa movie you would recommend?
For the sake of overkill, the best Latin American movies I've seen are:
1. Roma (Mexico servant drama - Dir Alfonso Cuaron)
2. Biutiful (Mexico drama 2010 - Dir Alejandro G. Iñárritu)
3. City of God (Brazil child crime gang drama 2002 - Dir Fernando Meirelles)
4. Embrace of the Serpent (Colombia dark colonial drama 2015 - Dir Ciro Guerra)
5. Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (Mexico surreal drama 2022 - Dir Alejandro G. Iñárritu)
6. The Secret in Their Eyes (Argentina mystery drama romance 2009)
7. The Club (Chile religious child abuse crime drama 2015 – Dir Pablo Larraín, stars Antonia Zegers)
8. Central Station (Brazil Portuguese child drama 1998)
9. History of the Occult (Argentina dialogue mystery thriller 2020 - debut Dir Cristian Ponce)
10. Babel (Mexico drama 2006 but set various countries - Dir Alejandro G. Iñárritu)
11. Amores Perros (Mexico drama 2000 - Dir Alejandro G. Iñárritu)
12. Memories of My Father (Spain set Colombia family political drama 2020 - Dir Fernando Trueba)
13. Apocalypto (USA but Mayan shot Mexico colonial oppression adventure 2006 - Dir Mel Gibson)
14. Argentina, 1985 (Argentina political legal biopic 2022 - Dir Santiago Mitre)
15. Silent Light (Mexico love drama 2007 - Dir Carlos Reygadas)
16. Monos (Brazil child war drama 2019)
17. Pan’s Labyrinth (Mexico WW2 war fantasy horror 2006 - Dir Guillermo del Toro)
18. New Order (Mexico revolution servant drama 2020 - Dir Michel Franco)
19. Language Lessons (USA but Spanish American grief drama 2021 - Dir Natalie Morales)
20. Wild Tales (Argentina thriller short stories 2014)
21. Ema (Chile unique sex drama 2019 - Dir Pablo Larraín)
22. The Second Mother (Brazil servant drama 2015)
23. Sin Nombre (Mexico immigrant drama 2009 – Dir Cary Joji Fukunaga)
24. Carandiru (Brazil prison crime drama 2003)
25. City of Men (Brazil gang crime drama 2007 - Dir Fernando Meirelles)
26. Invisible Life (Brazil female oppression family drama 2019)
27. Birds of Passage (Colombia crime drama 2018 - Dir Ciro Guerra)
28. The Chambermaid (Mexico working class drama 2018)
29. Neruda (Chile political poet biopic 2016 - Dir Pablo Larraín)
30. No (Chile political drama 2012 - support stars Antonia Zegers)
31. Neighbouring Sounds (Brazil drama 2012)
32. Prayers for the Stolen (Mexico coming of age fem oppression 2021 - Dir Tatiana Huezo)
33. Our Time (Mexico 3hr love drama 2018 - Dir Carlos Reygadas)
34. A Twelve-Year Night (Uruguay biopic 2018)
35. The Motorcycle Diaries (Argentina biopic drama 2004)
36. Spider aka Araña (Chile political drama 2019 - stars María Valverde)
37. 7 Prisoners (Brazil modern slavery drama 2021)
38. Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (Brazil cop action 2010)
39. When Evil Lurks (Argentina horror 2023 - Dir Demián Rugna)
40. I Dream in Another Language (Mexico LGBTQ fantasy drama 2017)
41. I'm No Longer Here (Mexico immigrant drama 2020)
42. Identifying Features (Mexico immigrant drama 2020 – debut Dir Fernanda Valadez)
43. Hotel Coppelia (Dominican Republic war drama 2021)
44. A Fantastic Woman (Chile LGBTQ transgender drama 2017 - Sebastián Lelio)
45. Olmo & the Seagull (Brazil pregnancy drama 2015 - Dirs Petra Costa & Lea Glob, stars Olivia Corsini)
46. Tigers Are Not Afraid (Mexico child drama thriller 2017)
47. And Your Mother Too (Mexico sex drama 2001 – Dir Alfonso Cuaron)
48. Endless Poetry (Chile surreal biopic drama 2016 - Dir Alejandro Jodorowsky)
49. Fuga (Chile musician drama 2006 - Dir Pablo Larraín)
50. Time of Peace aka Peacetime (Brazil dialogue immigrant drama 2009)
51. Rojo (Argentina mystery drama 2018)
52. The Devil’s Backbone (Mexico horror Dir Guillermo del Toro)
53. Dive (Argentina sport abuse drama 2022 - Dir Lucía Puenzo, stars Karla Souza & debut Dèja Ebergenyi)
54. Tremors (Guatemala gay brainwashing drama 2019)
55. The Heiresses (Paraguay drama 2018)
56. The Delinquents (Argentina dry crime dramedy 2023 - Dir Rodrigo Moreno, support Margarita Molfino)
57. Maria Full of Grace (Argentina crime drama)
58. Azor (Switzerland mystery drama set Argentina - Dir Andreas Fontana debut 2021
59. Land and Shade (Colombia drama 2015)
60. Land of Ashes (Costa Rica child drama 2019)
Damn, you have really done some Latin American cinema. I love the Brazilian films big time, with City of God at the top. For the Mexican movies, I would go back to some of the golden age of Pedro Infante, Tintan, Cantinflas - and in that era Los Olvidados. A bit more mordern Ley de Herodes, and then Amores Perros...
They're not easy to find, but I've tried, over many years, to try know different cultures. I'd spend a month only watching one area, to try get a sense of the people. I've taken note of your golden oldies recommendations.
Yeah, it can take work to watch as it is dated but that was a way stronger era of cinema. Watch Olvidados and Pepe El Toro perhaps...
For Bunuel you have to add The Criminal Life of Archibaldo Cruz, and the trio of films with Mexico's greatest actress, Silvia Pinal-Viridiana, Exterminating Angel and Simon of the Desert. Also Bunuel's Wuthering Heights is the destruction of Romanticism replaced with obsession bordering on necrophilia. Also Milky Way is Bunuel's most religious film and had a huge influence on me.
For fun here is a clip of the incredible Resortes with Silvia Pinal dancing to another song synced together perfectly-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wCZOm0k8WQ
Never found 'Pepe' but there's the director's 'Imperfect Man'. 'The Young and the Damned' available.
Well, a few of our citizens escaped and made movies overseas. 'District 9', the sci-fi, had something to say about Apartheid - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyLUwOcR5pk
Otherwise, our industry is small, but if you like indie:
Beyond the River (true story) - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4997036/
Tsotsi (gangster) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468565/
A unique revenge movie by a Congolese director is 'Saloum' - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10756184/
BTW, I posted Latin American doccies at https://wickedmike.substack.com/p/hello-latin-america-documentaries
Thanks for the pointers. Yeah, District 9 was a great fun film in its time. I thought it hit a good noughties era theme of city-setting movies. Like you had D9 in Joburg and Snatch in London and Amores Perros in Mex City, City of God in Rio and Barcelona in (where was that in again). I saw Tsotsi as well, pretty good. I'll check out Beyond the River and Saloum. I might review the narco movies here for realism at some point.
Wow, you must be one of the few people off continent whose seen 'Tsotsi' outside of art theatres. Though, more things must be streaming nowadays. Loved 'Snatch' and 'Amores Perros'.
Have you seen 'An Elephant Sitting Still'? It's a Chinese movie set in Manzhouli near the border of Mongolia and Russia. It's damn depressing, long and genius... and a statement by the director as it's the only one he made, and he killed himself before its release.
I think I rented Tsoti from a Mexico City Blockbuster or something bizarre. I kept going to the Blockbuster pretty late through the 2010s until they finally shut it down and then begrudgingly got Netlflix. I'll keep my eyes open for An Elephant Sitting Still.
‘Blockbuster, your Spanish mainline to the anus of Africa’ - no wonder they closed down after that slogan.