Thursday, May 28, 2009

Latino Images in Film Schedule for 5/28

The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1983)

Lonestar (1996)

Popi (1969) - read Tommy Salami's take on this here.

My Family (1995) - superb contemporary Latino family drama

Terror in a Texas Town (1958)

While I'm not writing a proper review about this, I would like to post a little something about this Western being shown on TCM tonight. It's a very interesting little movie about Swedish and Mexican immigrants in a small Western town being run by corrupt and dangerous men. Sterling Hadyen stars as a George Hansen, a Swede, who comes to visit his father's farm only to find out that his father has been killed. A wealthy tycoon had hired a professional hitman/gunfighter to kill anyone who refused to give up their land, which it has been discovered to be oil-rich. His father's best friend, Jose Mirada (Victor Millan), a Mexican, witnessed the murder but is reluctant to give George information about the hitman who was hired to kill him. Hayden's character is determined to avenge his father and the corrupt men in the town, especially the gunfighter/hitman Johnny Crale (Ned Young), is worried that George knows too much and that his freedom as a gun wielding murderer is at stake.

I like the bond between the Swedes and the Mexicans. I think this has to do with me being a Latina and having formed a really great friendship with Jonas from All Talking! All Singing! All Dancing!, who happens to be a Swede. If you get a chance to watch this/DVR it tonight, please do! Otherwise, it's available on DVD as well.

4 comments:

  1. Raquelle, I want to see this film! It's always nice to see how we Swedes are portrayed in the movies, especially when played by non Swedish actors. Stirling Hayden was born in New Jersey but his mother might actually have been Swedish. Her last name was Simonson which is a very Scandinavian sounding name.

    Very inspiring post as usual! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, no mention of harpoons.

    Excellent movie, though I must be honest, Sterling Hayden jumps so prominently to mind that I didn't even associate its airing with the LIF series until your post!

    Hayden is really beginning to spring to mind lately when I think underrated. I've enjoyed everything I've seen him in and really should start looking for more with him.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'll be recording these and reviewing them in the next few weeks. Can't say no to Sterling Hayden or Alan Arkin :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Taped this earlier this morning, along with Bluebeard (1944) and The Woman in Green (1945), (I'll try and catch a peek at it later.

    I was so glad that TCM showed one of my favorite John Sayles films last night in Lone Star (1996). It's truly an amazing movie, and there aren't enough superlatives in my vocabulary to describe how I feel about this one-of-a-kind drama. I like to think that the Oscar Chris Cooper won for Adaptation (2002) was really a consolation prize for Star.

    ReplyDelete

Leave me a comment! If it is a long one, make sure you save a draft of it elsewhere just in case Google gobbles it up and spits it out.

Popular Posts

 Twitter   Instagram   Facebook