Eli and I are Movie People, the kind who watch trailers for fun, read reviews and scour IMDB. So the other night, we were watching Couples Retreat and stumbled across Carlos Ponce, who plays the token hypersexual Latino (Hollywood still has a lot of evolving to do). It turns out he's doing a movie called Rio, and when I first saw a description my first thought was, "Oh no, this cannot be good." But I did some research, and it actually looks like it could be great fun.
The movie is directed by Carlos Saldanha, a Brazilian director: born and raised in Rio, he went to school in New York and went on to make the Ice Age movies and Robots. Now, he's working on a new animated feature film which will be made in 3D, about a dorky parrot from Minnesota who escapes his cage and goes on an adventure in Rio de Janeiro. It sounds a bit like a contemporary version of the classic Disney cartoon of Donald Duck in Brazil.
According to the Hollywood rags, Anne Hathaway, Rodrigo Santoro, and Neil Patrick Harris are set to star in the movie as the voices for the main characters. Saldanha reports that it has been his dream to create a movie about Brazil, and that there will be lots of music in the film. The movie is set to be released in April 2011.
Is the room for cliches and stereotypes? Probably. But with a Brazilian director and in the context of a musical children's movie, I think there's lots of potential for sharing Brazilian culture abroad in a fun and effective way.
ahahahah. i will definitely be seeing that (probably without a choice to) here. funny enough the only movie i've actually seen here in the theater was ice age....cartoon people :P
Posted by: mallory elise | February 15, 2010 at 08:31 AM
I <3 Carlos Ponce. When I was younger I used to watch him on "Control" on Univision and I'm mostly a fan of his work on several super-corny telenovelas (currently "Amores Perros".) I'm curious to see how he pulls of this movie...
Posted by: Jackie | February 15, 2010 at 10:13 AM
main question for me is: can epic win NPH (♥) even things out in a movie with epic fail Rodrigo Santoro?
Posted by: brazinglish | February 15, 2010 at 10:31 AM
I don't think this is a good idea...
Brazilians seem to be super-sensitive about the media images of Brazil abroad, especially in films from "oly woodjie".
No matter what's in the film, or how innocent and well-intentioned it is, it'll be interpreted as offensive, condescending, 'stereotypical' etc; people will be up in arms, demanding official apologies, or even threatening legal action.
I think its better to just not make films about Brazil.
Posted by: Tritone | February 15, 2010 at 03:49 PM
Not Amores Perros...Perro Amor (sorry about that, just finished watching Amores Perros for a Latin American culture class so its floating around my head.)
Posted by: Jackie | February 15, 2010 at 09:22 PM
Tritone: LOL
Rachel: Great to know about this! You are fantastic in finding interesting news. I am also a film lover. In fact, I've been watching so many films lately that I started a blog about it (also for a class I am taking)
Have you heard of Manda Bala? Not sure if you have, but if you haven't, you should see it online (it's free on Google) as the director is an American (son of a Brazilian and Argentinian) who is from NY and portrays a few stereotypes - the ones Brazilians usually "hate". But I love the story on corruption and the fact the director claims "the movie can't be shown in Brazil"
I agree with Tritone, I think a majority of Brazilians are super-sensitive. I just hope this (negative) image of Brazil often portrayed in films change with time. We have the right to be pissed off if in every major film the positive things about Brazil are often left aside or not considered as the main focus. It got to be more balanced and this movie, hopefully, will help that.
Posted by: Simone | February 15, 2010 at 11:03 PM
Thanks, Simone. I might be remembering this wrong, but is it possible you saw Manda Bala on here? I published it right around the time you started reading, I think. In any event it's here, I think maybe around September. :)
Posted by: Rio Gringa | February 16, 2010 at 07:47 PM
Really? Yeah I might have seen it here somewhere. But this movie I watched a while ago when I took another class (Latin America gov.) though. I remember well learning about this film from a Meetup site, for there was an event to see the film as a group (in Tribeca, if I'm not mistaken) but I didn't go back then.
By the way, you might know this but anyway, every year we have a Brazilian Film Festival in Tribeca and also films at MOMA in the Summer. Last year here was quite fun with some Brazilian artists performing as well. You should check it out!
Sem contar os filmes no Central Park - I am sure you have heard of it.
Also, here in Queens (at the Museum of Moving Image) and BAM (in Brooklyn) there are Brazilian movies in the Summer. You can't really feel saudades here. :)
Posted by: Simone | February 16, 2010 at 10:19 PM