Blindness Review May 15, 2008
There is entertainment to be had in spite of its flaws - though as Danny Glover's philosophical narration starts to kick in you begin to wish the film provided the sort of impact his words allude to - and strong performances from Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo and Gael Garcia Bernal do as much for the characterisation as the script allows. But, as the credits roll, frustration and indeed bafflement linger in the mind, as you wonder how a project with such a strong central conceit and fantastic... (IGN FilmForce)
Cannes' indie films face tough battle with 'Indy' May 15, 2008
It opened with Blindness, Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles tale of an epidemic that causes people to lose their vision, starring Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Gael Garcia Bernal and Danny Glover, and based on a novel by Portuguese Nobel laureate Jose Saramago. While critics pondered the symbolism of Blindness in a darkened cinema, paparazzi were hitting the beach to capture Jack Black pulling a publicity stunt for Kung Fu Panda, DreamWorks tale of a pudgy panda with... (MSNBC -- News)
Cannes openerThe shocking sight of the festival's first night film Blindness May 15, 2008
Gael Garcia Bernal and Julianne Moore star in Blindness ... Although Moore is the stand-out character in the film, she leads a classy international ensemble including Gael Garcia Bernal, Mark Ruffalo and Sandra Oh. (BBC News -- Entertainment)
Star wattage brightens Blindness May 15, 2008
(Along with McKellar and Moore, it stars Mark Ruffalo, Danny Glover, Mexico's Gael Garcia Bernal, and Canadians Sandra Oh, Maury Chaykin and Martha Burns. One journalist went so far as to say: "You know a movie's bad when even the gangbang scene was boring." In truth, Blindness isn't "bad" by any reasonable estimation, but what it doesn't have is the upbeat lift or stylistic dazzle that critics were looking for to kick off the 61st festival. (Globe and Mail -- Entertainment)
Grim Brazilian drama opens Cannes film festival May 15, 2008
Cast members Julianne Moore, Danny Glover and Gael Garcia Bernal (L-R) pose during a photo call for the film 'Blindness' by Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles at the 61st Cannes Film Festival May 14, 2008 ... A workable system of living despite the squalor soon breaks down when one prisoner, played by Mexico's Gael Garcia Bernal, takes the law into his own hands. (Xinhuanet, China)
Can Cannes Still Do It? May 15, 2008
The leader of the bad guys (Gael Garcia Bernal) dominates because he has a gun, which she could take from him at any time. Yet she allows the women in her ward, and herself, to be sexually abused by the miscreants rather than take control, as any Hollywood heroine would do. (Time.com)
Cannes festival celebrates like it's 1968 May 14, 2008
Julianne Moore, Danny Glover and Gael Garcia Bernal will be in attendance. In a slot that has often been filled by something light and silly that pleases nobody, Blindness is something of a coup. (The Age)
Cannes film festival kicks off with mix of serious films and antics May 14, 2008
The festival opens on a serious note with "Blindness,'' Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles' tale of an epidemic that causes people to lose their vision, starring Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Gael Garcia Bernal and Danny Glover and based on a novel by Portuguese Nobel laureate Jose Saramago. While critics pondered the symbolism of "Blindness'' in a darkened cinema, paparazzi were hitting the beach to capture funnyman Jack Black pulling a publicity stunt for "Kung Fu Panda,'' DreamWorks' tale... (The Star Online, Malaysia -- News)
A smashing success (on the fifth try) May 13, 2008
The five-day fest had already announced that Quentin Tarantino will be recognized as the Filmmaker on the Edge, and that Gael Garcia Bernal and Jane Lynch will be feted for their acting careers. Fallon set to replace O'Brien on 'Late Night' Jimmy Fallon 's kindergarten yearbook at St. Mary of the Snow in Saugerties, N.Y., listed him as "most likely to take over for David Letterman." Letterman's going nowhere, but close enough: Fallon is succeeding Conan O'Brien as the host of NBC's "Late Night"... (Boston Globe)
My beautiful Croisette May 13, 2008
Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Danny Glover and Gael Garcia Bernal will be the stars in attendance. In a slot that has often been filled by something bland, light and silly that pleases nobody, Blindness represents something of a coup. (Sydney Morning Herald)
Cannes films on buyers' lists May 11, 2008
MAMMOTH: Swede Lukas Moodysson's English-language drama toplining Michelle Williams and Gael Garcia Bernal. In post. (Variety)
The First World chooses not to see, even though we're looking May 8, 2008
Hundreds of people, including the doctor and his wife, are rounded up and placed in quarantine, where they are menaced by a gang of thugs led by a very unsavory Gael Garcia Bernal. The movie does not shy from depicting the degrading conditions, although it will spare audiences some of the novel's more excruciating details, such as people slipping on excrement. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Slings & Arrows finds new beginning in Brazil Apr 10, 2008
The film - a fierce and fantastical story of a blindness pandemic that eviscerates society - has an international cast that also includes Canadians Maury Chaykin and Sandra Oh, American Danny Glover, Japanese heartthrob Yusuke Iseya and Mexico's Gael Garcia Bernal. . (Globe and Mail -- Entertainment)
Gael Garcia Bernal Actor Profile Apr 9, 2008
Gael Garcia Bernal Actor Profile: Filmography & Biography of the Spanish Star of Motorcycle Diaries ... Gael Garcia Bernal Actor Profile ... Gael Garcia Bernal Actor Profile. (Suite101.com)
Fortissimo picks up 'Chevolution' Apr 1, 2008
Footage includes interviews with Gael Garcia Bernal, Antonio Banderas, Tom Morello, and Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams. Links posted in this story. (Variety)
2008 awards season shaping up Apr 1, 2008
The next week, on Sept. 19, Miramax opens Fernando Meirelles' "Blindness," starring Gael Garcia Bernal, Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo, in limited release. United Artists and MGM debut Bryan Singer's Tom Cruise starrer "Valkyrie" on Oct. 3; the film was originally scheduled to open in June but was pushed back to shoot a key battle scene, as well as better position it for an awards run. (Variety)
Be Kind Rewind Mar 21, 2008
Gael Garcia Bernal dreamed of a TV studio where the cameras were made of cardboard; so was much of Paris. Between those two films Gondry made Dave Chappelle's Block Party, a documentary about a free rap concert the comedian staged in Brooklyn as a gift for the (mostly) black community of Bedford-Stuyvesant. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
An Honest Look at Illegal Immigration Mar 15, 2008
But Brand gets superb portrayals from his Colombian leads: Angelica Blandon as the teen sexpot Reina; and Aldemar Correa, whom Brand calls "the next Gael Garcia Bernal," as her bewildered boyfriend Marlon. Blandon and Correa, who were discovered in Medellin's theater scene, play lower-middle-class kids driven less by economic straits than by a gratuitous belief that even the worst of the U.S. is preferable to the best their own country can give them. (Time.com)
Argentina an animation hot spot Feb 14, 2008
The producer of Gael Garcia Bernal starrer "The Past" has teamed up with Eyeworks Cuatro Cabezas, a leading TV producer in Argentina with offices in Chile and Spain and a network of global partners, on the production of an animated feature starring lab rats, with pic to be released during the June-July winter break of 2009. Fox is tipped to distribute. (Variety)
Williams returns to work Feb 13, 2008
Williams stars alongside Gael Garcia Bernal playing a couple who face a crisis in their marriage. Mammoth' is Swedish director Lukas Moodysson's first English-language film. (AZCentral -- Entertainment)
Imitation ** Jan 11, 2008
As in his 2004 debut feature, A Silent Love which also starred Bauche, an actress best known for starring opposite Gael Garcia Bernal in the Mexican hit Amores Perros Hidalgo effectively conveys the sense of cultural dislocation and the pull toward home felt by new immigrants like Teresa, whom Fenton insists on calling "Terry." Yet the character's inability to decide what she wants and where she wants to be leaves the film similarly tentative and indeterminate. When we finally complete the... (Globe and Mail -- Entertainment)
'Lamb of God' to open Rotterdam Jan 10, 2008
MORE FESTIVAL ARTICLES Gael Garcia Bernal will introduce 'Dficit'1/9/08 4:52pm Hanak, Jakubisko given tribute at Karlovy1/9/08 1:55pm Film joins competition lineup1/9/08 7:33am Nine titles added to competition1/9/08 7:15am Horror pic will premiere at Berlin Film Festival1/8/08 6:14pm BRUSSELS "Lamb of God," the fiction debut of Argentine docu helmer Lucia Cedron, will open the International Film Festival Rotterdam on Jan. 23. As well as making its world bow, pic will compete with 14 others... (Variety)
Berlin picks Coixet, Leigh films Jan 10, 2008
MORE FESTIVAL ARTICLES Gael Garcia Bernal will introduce 'Dficit'1/9/08 4:52pm Hanak, Jakubisko given tribute at Karlovy1/9/08 1:55pm Film joins competition lineup1/9/08 7:33am Nine titles added to competition1/9/08 7:15am Horror pic will premiere at Berlin Film Festival1/8/08 6:14pm Isabel Coixet's "Elegy," starring Penelope Cruz, and Mike Leigh's "Happy-Go-Lucky" are among nine titles added to the Berlin Film Festival's main competition on Wednesday. "Elegy," an adaptation of Philip Roth's... (Variety)
Hot docs, cool cinema kick off Jan 4, 2008
"The cultural ministries realize docs are a good way to get stories about Mexico out there." Even more important in Hot Docs' choice of Mexico is the emergence of Ambulante, a large travelling documentary festival started in 2004 by actors Gael Garcia Bernal (The Motorcycle Diaries, Babel) and Diego Luna (Y Tu Mama Tambien) to help build a domestic audience and support for documentaries. "Having such star power behind docs is a powerful tool," Farnel observes. (Globe and Mail)
Michelle Williams joins 'Island' Dec 7, 2007
She will juggle the role in "Shutter Island" with another in Lukas Moodysson's currently shooting pic "Mammoth," in which she stars with Gael Garcia Bernal. Links posted in this story. (Variety)
Natalie Portman Nov 25, 2007
There will be no discussion today of her love life, of either (reported) ex-boyfriend Gael Garcia Bernal or current beau, Reading-born model turned fashion entrepreneur Nathan Bogle. That side of celebrity she can well do without. (Guardian Unlimited)
'cholera' In Need Of Doctoring Nov 16, 2007
Gael Garcia Bernal would have been the ideal choice. Also, Fermina rejects Florentino for vague reasons. (New York Post -- Entertainment)
AFI FEST wraps Nov 13, 2007
DEFICIT (Mexico) Director: Gael Garcia Bernal Bernal makes his feature film directing debut with the story of a social class war being played out during a party hosted by a privileged young man concerned about his university schooling prospects. THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY (USA/France) Director: Julian Schnabel Film follows the true-life story of Elle France editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, who, in 1995 at the age of 43, suffered a stroke that paralyzed his entire body except for his left eye. (Variety)
Santa Muerte: The New God in Town Oct 31, 2007
And Santa Muerte may gain even more credibility with the release of Saint Death, a new documentary about the phenomenon, narrated by Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal. "It's become commercialized," observed Isabel Montalbo, manager of a botanica here. (Time.com)
Today In History - October 30, 2007 Oct 30, 2007
Actor Gael Garcia Bernal is 29. Actor Tequan Richmond (Everybody Hates Chris) is 15. (CBS2.com, CA)
Michelle Williams set for 'Mammoth' Oct 29, 2007
Williams, who was Oscar-nommed for "Brokeback Mountain," and Gael Garcia Bernal will play a New York couple facing a crisis. The drama, Moodysson's first English-language film, starts shooting in Thailand on Nov. 5 before moving on to the Philippines, Sweden and New York. (Variety)
Williams joins Moodysson pic Oct 27, 2007
Williams, who was Oscar nommed for "Brokeback Mountain" and also appeared in "The Station Agent," teams up with Gael Garcia Bernal to play a New York couple in crisis. The drama, which is Moodysson's first English language pic, starts shooting in Thailand on Nov. 5. (Variety)
Latino Film Festival To Open Two Films Oct 18, 2007
Drama/Mex, (Directed by Gerardo Naranjo and Executive Produced by Gael Garcia Bernal & Diego Luna), is a dramatically seductive film that features two interwoven stories that unfold over the course of one long, hot day in Acapulco. The first story involves the beautiful Fernanda. (NBCSandiego.com, CA)
Sogecine halts film production Oct 8, 2007
Owned by Spanish TV giant Sogecable, Sogecine remains committed to two films: Jose Luis Cuerdas Los girasoles ciegos, now shooting in Galicia, Northern Spain, and Mateo Gils Pedro Paramo, toplining Gael Garcia Bernal, now in pre-production. Beyond that, for the moment at least, no new films are being put into production at Sogecine, a company whose productions include Alejandro Amenabars The Others, his Academy Award-winning The Sea Inside, all the films of arthouse auteur Julio... (Variety)
Michel Gondry Makes Jack Black A Hero In 'Be Kind Rewind' Oct 4, 2007
That's not too difficult a label to affix after previous work like "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," wherein Jim Carrey has his memories erased in the middle of the night by a stoned Mark Ruffalo, or "The Science of Sleep," a very personal trip of a flick most memorable for a scene in which star Gael Garcia Bernal runs around with giant hands. "Be Kind Rewind" is accessible, though, if for no other reason than the comforting comic presence of Jack Black, in a role that fits him to a T.... (VHI.com -- Music News)
Coppola's first film in a decade to debut at Rome Film Festival Sep 28, 2007
The second annual festival, running Oct. 18-27, features 14 movies in competition, including La Deuxieme Souffle (Second Wind ), starring Daniel Auteuil and Monica Bellucci, and El Pasado (The Past ), with Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal. Other festival events include public meetings and conferences with Jane Fonda, Terrence Malick and Sophia Loren. (USA Today -- Life)
Rome boasts 11 world premieres Sep 28, 2007
Among other titles rounding off the competish are Jason Reitman's Sundance teen-pregnancy comedy "Juno"; Toronto opener "Fugitive Pieces"; Spanish helmer Julio Medem's "Chaotic Ana," starring Charlotte Rampling; and Hector Babenco's dark love story "The Past," with star Gael Garcia Bernal in tow. "The directors we selected have a particular type of courage in common: the courage to make high-quality auteur cinema, but with an audience in mind," said Competition section co-curator Giorgio... (Variety)
Spotlight: Spain and San Sebastian Film Festival Sep 20, 2007
With Ariane-Ariete, Sogecine also has Mateo Gil lensing Gael Garcia Bernal starrer "Pedro Paramo" in Mexico late 2008. Working for Madrid's Drive, Agustin Diaz Yanes ("Alatriste") will take Ariadna Gil, Pilar Lopez de Ayala and Victoria Abril to Mexico City next spring for a crime thriller, "Solo quiero caminar.". (Variety)
From In Front Of The Camera To Behind It Sep 14, 2007
The Toronto festival is showcasing a big collection of films by actors turned directors, among them the filmmaking debuts of Helen Hunt, David Schwimmer, Gael Garcia Bernal and Alison Eastwood, whose father, Clint Eastwood, is a paragon for performers who want to make their own flicks. On "Into the Wild," Penn adapts Jon Krakauer's best-seller about Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch), a young man whose bold, two-year trek around North America came to a tragic end in Alaska. (CBS News)
Festival showcases actors behind the camera Sep 14, 2007
The Toronto festival is showcasing a big collection of films by actors turned directors, among them the filmmaking debuts of Helen Hunt, David Schwimmer, Gael Garcia Bernal and Alison Eastwood, whose father, Clint Eastwood, is a paragon for performers who want to make their own flicks. advertisement. (MSNBC -- News)
Miramax buys rights to 'Blindness' Sep 9, 2007
The script is by Don McKellar, who won a Tony for "The Drowsy Chaperone." It stars Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Alice Braga, Danny Glover and Gael Garcia Bernal. The producers are Niv Fichman, Andrea Barata Ribeiro and Sonoko Sakai. (Variety)
Bovaira returns to indie filmmaking Sep 8, 2007
He will exec produce two films already set up at Sogecable production division Sogecine -- Mateo Gil's Mexico-set "Pedro Paramo," starring Gael Garcia Bernal, and Jose Luis Cuerda's post-Spanish Civil War drama "Los girasoles ciegos.". In the midterm, however, Bovaira will set up his own production company. (Variety)
Bernal to star in Moodysson pic Sep 6, 2007
VENICE/BERLIN Gael Garcia Bernal has agreed to star in Swedish director Lukas Moodysson's upcoming drama "Mammoth.". Garcia Bernal, who will next appear in Hector Babenco's Argentine drama "El Pasado" and Fernando Meirelle's "Blindness" with Julianne Moore, plays a successful New Yorker who decides to radically change his life while on a trip to Thailand with his wife and daughter. (Variety)
The Alphabetiff Sep 3, 2007
ETCanada's Studio Lounge at Casa Loma: Dficit, the much-buzzed about film from Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna. The Vanguard Party at The Drake celebrating innovative and bold filmmaking. (National Post)
They decide who gets in Sep 1, 2007
But the connections they forge are invaluable, both for themselves and TIFF. Sanchez first developed a relationship with Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal when he came to Toronto six years ago with Y Tu Mama Tambien. He's since returned a number of times, and will be at TIFF this year again he's already in the area, shooting the Canadian film Blindness to support three films to which he's connected: his directorial debut Deficit; Cochochi (on which he's executive producer); and the new Hector... (Globe and Mail)
Rome Film Festival unveils lineup Aug 26, 2007
The Rome Film Festival has announced a first batch of titles, including European bows of Sidney Lumet crimer "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" and Hector Babenco's Gael Garcia Bernal starrer "The Past," underscoring the tyro event's bent for mixing populist pics and artier fare. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke and Lumet are expected on the catwalk to tubthump the heist-gone-wrong-pic, which world preems in Toronto. (Variety)
Bon Cop, Away From Her to vie for film directing honours Aug 15, 2007
Mexican movie stars Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna, who starred together in Y Tu Mama Tambien, have launched their own production company focusing on documentaries. Quebec MP Jose Verner will replace Bev Oda as federal heritage minister, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Tuesday. (CBC News)
More of this story Aug 14, 2007
Tu Mama Tambien stars Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna said a gala dinner they are hosting Saturday will raise money to support human rights and shine light on poverty and injustice in Mexico. The 300-a-plate meal in the capital will benefit Mexico's Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights as well as Witness, an organization founded by singer Peter Gabriel that promotes the use of video and film to document human rights abuses. (Auburn Citizen, NY)
Mexican actors focus on 'abuses' Aug 13, 2007
Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal held a gala dinner as a way of raising money to support human rights causes. And they promised to make documentaries raising awareness of issues such as the unsolved murders of more than 300 women in the border city of Ciudad Juarez. (BBC News -- Americas)
Mexican stars do good deeds también Aug 13, 2007
Mexican stars do good deeds tambi;n - 08/13/2007 - MiamiHerald (The Miami Herald)
Canadian poet Margaret Avison dies at 89 Aug 13, 2007
Canadian poet Margaret Avison, described as "one of the great religious poets" of the 20th century, has died at age 89. Avison died last week in Toronto. (CBC News)
Big names add clout to TIFF doc series Aug 1, 2007
TIFF also added eight new titles to its provocative Vanguard program, including Paranoid Park by Gus Van Sant, and Deficit, a directorial debut for actor Gael Garcia Bernal. Search the News Search. (Globe and Mail)
Benicio del Toro to take on Che role in Soderbergh's biopic Jul 22, 2007
This marks the second biopic about the revolutionary in recent years, following 2004's The Motorcycle Diaries, starring Gael Garcia Bernal as a young Che, and directed by Brazilian Walter Salles. Del Toro made his mark in the 1995 film The Usual Suspects as the mumbling Freddy Fenster. (CBC News)
Naqaab is a watchable thriller Jul 16, 2007
A friend nudged me in the direction of Matthew Parkhill's 2003 film, Dot The I, starring Gael Garcia Bernal. The plot synopsis reads quite the same, so while our Director Duo seem to have faithfully filched a decent thriller, the problem lies in the reworking. (Rediff)
MEX MIX MAKES FLICK CLICK Jul 11, 2007
"Drama/Mex" - which just happens to have as its executive producers the hunky stars of "Y Tu," Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal - takes two unconnected stories, both unfolding on the same hot day in Acapulco, and slowly merges them. In the first, a nymphet named Fernanda (Diana Garcia, in an awesome screen debut) has trouble deciding between two young men, one of whom, Chano (Emilio Valdes), ripped off her well-to-do dad. (New York Post -- Entertainment)
Thompson on Hollywood Jun 28, 2007
In the doc competition, Gael Garcia Bernal narrates Saint Death, a look at Mexico's Death cult. Working Title picked up narrative rights to Young at Heart, the doc about seniors making music, which is building some buzz. (Variety)
Disney-ABC Television Group with Anne Sweeney, Entravision's Walter Ulloa, Ugly Betty's America Ferrera and Writer Cynthia Cidre to Receive Top Honors at 22nd Annual Imagen Awards Saturday, July 28 at Walt Disney Concert Hall Jun 20, 2007
Gael Garcia Bernal, Babel. Tony Plana, Goal. (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
Ruffalo, Moore tapped for Canadian film Jun 13, 2007
Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal plays the evil King of Ward 3. Toronto's Maury Chaykin is his partner in crime, a corrupt accountant. (Globe and Mail -- Entertainment)
Surf's Up: The Truth Behind The Real Story Jun 12, 2007
Monday, June 11th, 2007 - Danny Glover, Gael Garcia Bernal, and Alice Braga join the apocalyptic drama. Monday, June 11th, 2007 - Richard Ledes' corporate thriller about a company whistleblower. (MovieWeb)
Web-exclusive commentary May 26, 2007
Before, you could find yourself boogieing with Danny DeVito, or getting escorted into a black-tie dinner by Gael Garcia Bernal, or talking movies with Martin Scorsese or Curtis Hanson. Now you get waved away by Ellen Barkin like an annoying gnat and shoved by her bodyguard for good measure. (Newsweek)
The HeldenFiles - Yet Another Reason Why Child Stars Should Never Get Older May 25, 2007
But it wasn't love at first F-bomb; US says they didn't start dating until recently, after she broke up with Gael Garcia Bernal. More Natalie. (Akron Beacon Journal, OH -- Entertainment)
* Gael Garcia Bernal rides the Latin American new wave May 24, 2007
Gael Garcia Bernal rides the Latin American new wave ... Gael Garcia Bernal PHOTO: NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE ... Gael Garcia Bernal, the doe-eyed Mexican star of Amores Perros, The Motorcycle Diaries and The Science of Sleep, was walking through Whitechapel in the East End of London with a couple of friends. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World Business)
Trash Cannes May 20, 2007
Gael Garcia Bernal is here as the face of the Critic's Week section, and that's where he will premiere Deficit, his first film as a director. His YTMT co-star Diego Luna is starring in Harmony Korine's Mister Lonely and has announced that he too has a directing project up his stylish Zegna sleeves - bringing the life of Mexican boxer Cesar Chavez to the big screen. (Guardian Unlimited -- Film)
Spanish Cinema / Cine Espaol May 20, 2007
Mexico has the so-called Los Tres Amigos (Del Toro, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Alfonso Cuaron) and actor/ now-producer Gael Garcia Bernal who can accelerate international financing, tap talent and gain festival berths. Spain still has a knack of turning out small, quirky pics that slowly carve out niche sales abroad. (Variety)
Universal pacts with Mexican trio May 19, 2007
has started pre-sales in Cannes on the first of these, Carlos Cuaron's "Rudo y Cursi," starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna. Pic is in pre-production. (Variety)
