Placido Domingo

The unrivaled divo Placido Domingo  joins voices with Puerto Rican soprano super-star Anna Maria Martinez  to sing Verdi’s tale of Simon Boccanegra.  Power and treachery abound in this tale of the unbreakable bond between a father (Domingo) and his illegitimate daughter (Martinez) in Verdi’s poignant score.

Placido Domingo and conductor James Conlon join forces for the verdi masterpiece.  The unrivaled Plácido Domingo fulfilled a lifelong dream when he first performed the baritone title role in Simon Boccanegra. Now he brings his celebrated interpretation of one of opera’s most complex characters to his home company. Anna Maria Martinez also joinsDomingo on stage in the role of Amelia along the rest of the stellar cast.

Simon Boccanegra is a grand-scale study of power and treachery that finds an emotional center in the tender and unbreakable bond between father and daughter. Verdi’s poignant score brings his characters to vivid life in a series of striking encounters that spans two generations.

Simon Boccanegra opens at the LA Opera, located at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Music Center of Los Angeles. The address is:  135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA, 90012.  Performances are at  7:30pm on Saturday, February 11, 2012, and running for a total of seven performances through Sunday, March 4.  For all show info: www.LAOPERA.com.

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By Roman Morales

Let’s start out with the obvious question: Is ex-MMA star, Gina Carano, worth a damn as an actress? The fact that this is such a prevalent concern in a movie that stars Michael Douglas, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Antonio Banderas and Bill Paxton would almost seem laughable if it weren’t for the trailer. Yes, the trailer. If you have yet to see said trailer, here it is for your viewing pleasure:

Now that we have gotten that out of the way, let’s talk about a couple things. Let’s start with the aforementioned Gina Carano and the most basic of questions. Is she a good actress?

In a word, no. She is not. That’s not to say she couldn’t be or that she won’t be a good actress, but in this film she is not.

Another question: Does this hurt the quality of the film?

Surprisingly, not in the least. Gina might not show signs of being the next Meryl Streep, and I certainly don’t see a Best Actress nod in her near future, but she does give us the two things you would want from her based on the way she is presented in the trailer. She kicks ass, and she looks good doing it. And when I say she “looks good” I mean this in both the physical and artistic sense.

Steven Soderbergh has been acting as his own cinematographer for quite a while now, and the film world is much better for it. Having first taken the visual reigns in his experimental, yet highly watchable, film Schizopolis in 1996, you could tell he had the skills. But it was with Traffic, his next attempt as a feature DP, where we realized his style was more than just a simple fluke. As was the case in each subsequent venture up to, and including, Haywire. Soderbergh is able to present images that perfectly capture tone and place.

This leads me to my other point of discussion: Expectations.

Having seen the trailer, one would expect that this film would be very much of “The Bourne” school of action/spy thriller with lots of physical action, kinetic pacing and a score to kick ass to. In Haywire this is not the case. Haywire would have more in common with ’70s-style spy and detective films than anything of this generation. The music is subdued and the pacing is a far cry from the intense shaky-cam sequences to which we have become accustomed, and the film is much better for it.

Antonio Banderas on his role in Haywire courtesy of I Am Rouge:

To put it simply, the film is more Bond than Bourne, with one major exception. When Mallory (Gina Carano) unleashes on her attacker, it is gloriously ugly. There are no musical cues to cushion the blows and there is no traditional, beautifully choreographed scenes that you might see in martial arts films. No – Carano brings pain. Lots of it. This is fighting in its purest form and Soderbergh makes you watch, or better yet, hear each blow. Whether it is a windpipe being crushed between Mallory’s thighs or a steady stream of punches to an adversary’s face, you feel brutality.

Does this mean that this is all the film has to offer? Hardly. My description might actually be as misleading as the trailer. Haywire is a slow burn until it isn’t. Haywire is not built on action set pieces. It is built on good drama, highlighted by some intense fight sequences. This leads me back to my earlier discussion about expectations.

If you are expecting a fast-paced balls-to-the-wall action film, this might not be your film. On the other hand, if you are looking for a solid spy thriller that delivers more than a bloody nose, I think Haywire is your ticket.

Counter-Programming Note: If you would like to see a ’70s blaxploitation-inspired Soderbergh joint, watch Out of Sight. It has two of my favorite performances from Albert Brooks and Don Cheadle, not to mention a small reprisal of Michael Keaton’s Ray Nicolette character from Jackie Brown! Yes, he is still kind of a shit.

Top 10 Weekend Box Office Week Ending February 3-5, 2012

Chronicle (20th Century Fox): $22.0 million  opening weekend

The Woman in Black (CBS Films): $21.0 million  opening weekend   

The Grey (Open Road): $9.5 million  2 wk total $34.8 m

Big Miracle (Universal): $8.5 million opening weekend

Underworld Awakening (Sony): $ 5.6 million 3 wk total $54.4 m

One for the Money (Lionsgate): $ 5.3 million 2 wk total $19.7 m

Red Tails (20th Century Fox): $ 5.0 million, 3 wk total $41.3 m

The Descendants (Fox Searchlight): $4.6 million 12 wk total $ 65.5 m

Man of a Ledge (Summit Entertainment): $ 4.5 million, 2 wk total $14.7 m

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (Warner Bros.): $3.9 million, 7 wk total $26.8

Source: Rentrak

National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts Releases 9-Month News Media Study 

Washington, D.C. – Last March 2011, the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts (NHFA) launched the Art of Politics Impact Project to address the lack of Latino commentators and guests on the four network Sunday news shows: ABC’s This Week, CBS’s Face the Nation, FOX News Sunday, and NBC’s Meet The Press. The Art of Politics Impact Project is being implemented in collaboration with the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), Being Latino (BL), The Libre Initiative (TLI) and 16 other national Latino organizations.

After reviewing 149 broadcasts over 9 months, NHFA found that only 10 Latino men were invited as guests and commentators. Most of them appeared more than once and some were invited both as guest and commentator. The individual breakdown by show is as follows: ABC’s This Week included 5 Latinos; CBS’s Face the Nation had 2; FOX News Sunday had 4; and NBC’s Meet The Press had 7.

Felix Sanchez with Eva Longoria at one of the organizations gala

Latinos accounted for 5 percent of the combined number of appearances in these four shows. However, if Juan Williams, a regular FOX commentator, is subtracted from this equation, Latino appearances on Sunday morning shows drop to 2 percent.

NHFA and its key partner organizations met individually with the executive producers of each Sunday show and in three instances with the staff of the broader news divisions. “While all networks expressed a desire to include more Latino guests and commentators,” said Felix Sanchez, NHFA Chairman and Co-founder “the networks have not kept pace with the demographic reality of the Nation. For example, in 2010 the Latino vote had a greater impact on Congressional and Senate races than the Tea Party, but that analysis came after the mid-term elections, not before,” said Sanchez.

The Sunday news shows summarize the week’s top political stories and preview the upcoming week’s news narrative. These network centerpiece news shows impact and influence the top national political issues of the day.

“Decision 2012 is upon us and every Sunday morning Latino voices are absent from key interviews and from political discussions,” said Esai Morales, actor and NHFA Co-founder. “Not only are the networks missing an important part of the story, but they are passing up an opportunity to increase Hispanic viewership across all news shows,” concluded Morales.

For nine months, NHFA categorized the guests and commentators on the four network news shows. The extensive findings are included in our report available at www.artofpolitics.us

“While Latinos occasionally appear on these shows, the networks are inconsistent in whom they book as Latino guests or commentators,” said Gretchen Sierra-Zorita, NHFA’s Director of Media Diversity Initiatives, “Although there are minute fluctuations over the 9-month period, the data clearly shows that Latino presence on network Sunday talk shows is flat.”

About NHFA: The National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts (NHFA) is a non-profit organization founded in 1997 by actors Esai Morales, Sonia Braga, Jimmy Smits, Merel Julia and Washington, D.C. attorney Felix Sanchez to promote Latinos both in front of and behind the camera.

Premieres Thursday, March 1 (10p) on NBC

At the recently concluded semi annual meeting of the Television Critics Association (TCA) in Pasadena, CA, sitcom vet Wilmer Valderrama (That ‘70s Show) is enjoying his opportunity to discuss his participation in an actual drama program, NBC’s Awake, a fantasy crime drama series that is scheduled to debut Thursday, March 1 (10p), created by Kyle Killen, exec produced by Killen and Howard Gordon. Valderama chuckles, “You know, after doing eight years and 200 episodes of easily the silliest character anybody could ever create, I was very excited to explore the rest of my skills.

“I was able to do it with certain films, like Fast Food Nation, The Dry Land and Larry Crowne; but returning to television is something that is exciting for me, especially being able to be a part of something that is so unique, different and mysterious. I didn’t want to do another comedy, especially with the type of character I had played. I feel like closing that chapter and show the world and my fans a different side of me. I was very blessed that Howard and Kyle were able to see me as this character.”

Awake may be one of the more complex police drama on television. The central character, Police detective Michael Britten, played by Jason Isaacs, is involved in a car accident, along with his wife Hannah (Laura Allen) and son Rex (Dylan Minnette).   Michael moves back and forth between two realities: In one, Rex survived while Hannah is dead; in the other, Hannah survived but Rex did not. Trying to keep both his loved ones alive, Michael starts living a “double life,” moving back and forth between the two realities, dealing with different personal conflicts and police partners.

“I actually play a character that exists in both aspects of his life,” says Valderama.  “I play an LAPD officer in one reality, and I play his partner in the other. The fun part about this show is that it’s so unpredictable.”

Thirty-two-year-old Valderama, who was born in Florida but lived his early years in Venezuela, moved to Los Angeles when he was thirteen, eventually graduating from Taft High School. He was a junior in school when he landed the role of exchange student Fez on FOX’s That 70s Show.  He was also able to segue his Latino persona into animation, voicing the character of Manny in the PBS children’s series, Handy Manny.  And it seems he is not leaving his comedy roots too far behind, since he is scheduled to guest on the new sitcom, Are You There, Chelsea?, also on NBC, starring former cast mate Laura Prepon and produced by Tom Werner, both from That ‘70s Show.

“Yeah, Laura and Tom gave me a little call, and they said, ‘There’s something really funny for you to do there.’ And I thought it would be fun to be on the same network and stay in the same family. I’ve been very proud of everything everyone in the ’70s Show cast has done since the series ended. But I’m even more excited about this new chapter, specifically being mentored by such an incredible cast and being able to have the opportunity to play with a brand new family.

Kiki Melendez surrounded by her Hot Tamales Live! Showtime Special Cast

Hollywood, CA — The critically acclaimed Kiki Melendez’s Hot Tamales Live! has inked a deal with Emmy award winning producers Agustin and Phillip B Goldfine to produce the TV show Hot Tamales Live 3 and 4, as well as a new franchise Fried Bananas Live!, a multicultural male version of the show.

The wildly successful show, which has delivered great ratings and garnered great critical acclaim and various awards, will be shooting its new television specials this coming Spring.

The Hot Tamales Live! is the longest running and possibly the only all-female comedy stand-up show in the world. It has had a track record of launching new stars and showcasing women of all races on one stage. Past alumnus include: Eva Longoria, Loni Love, Thea Vidal, Kira Soltonavich, Monique Marvez, Nadine Rajabi, and many more.

Kiki Melendez, creator and host, and her production company Latin Hollywood Films, are proud to have found partners that will enable the showcase to continue building the brand and breaking out new female stars. “This show is blessed by the Gods, it has more than nine lives, we are uniting races through laughter and this has always been positive for our culture,” said Melendez.

The new Hot Tamales specials are a follow-up to the successful Kiki Melendez’s Hot Tamales Live! which aired on Showtime Networks.

A male version of the show—Fried Bananas Live!—will introduce a new brand of comedy. Fried Bananas Live! will bring to the stage today’s top multiethnic male stand-up comics sprinkled with celebrities trying out their stand-up chops!

Producer Goldfine, known for his eclectic producing interests, including the highly anticipated Maximum Conviction starring Steven Seagal and wrestling star turned movie star Steve Austin, will be partnering again with Agustin. Their pervious partnership, El Vacilon, garnered one of the many Emmys for them both in 2011.

Goldfine added, “In addition to being great live entertainment,Hot Tamales! is a proven brand and Agustin will make this the most successful and exciting Hot Tamales yet!”

Creator Kiki Melendez will serve as executive producer and host. Agustin will serve as executive producer and director, and Phillip Goldfine as Executive Producer.

Hot Tamales Live! is a trademark of Latin Hollywood Films Inc.  Fried Bananas Live! is a trademark of Latin Hollywood Films Inc. and Duende Media Group

By Bel Hernandez

Hollywood, CA — ABC orders up the new one hour pilot of the dramedy Devious Maids from the creator of the ABC hit Desperate Housewives, Marc Cherry. The show centers on four Latina maids who work as maids to the wealthy in Beverly Hills.  If all goes well, the show is scheduled to air in the fall.

Will Marc Cherry be able to do for Latina maids what he did for Latina housewife Gabrielle Solis, played by Eva Longoria? Or will the show draw criticism from the Latino community as has been the case with ABC’s Work it! or CBS’ Rob (Work it! has since been canceled but Rob is hanging in there).

Devious Maids is loosely based on the Mexican series Ellas son…la alegria del hogar (The Disorderly Maids Of The Neighborhood) which was originally produced, directed and starred Eugenio Derbez (currently starring on CBS’ Rob). Carolina Rivera and Anahi Lopez co-wrote alongside Derbez.

Part of the cast of Ellas son...la alegria del hogar

With a run of 13 episodes, the Telesiva show first premiered on cable in April of 2009 on Canal One, then went on to premiere on regular television on January in 2010; subsequently airing in the U.S. on the Univision network.

The original Televisa format revolves around five housekeepers who work in a quiet residential condominium where nothing ever happens until one of tenants mysteriously disappears, a suitcase full of money appears – along with a dead body at the bottom of the half-finished pool – and Silvia, Maribel, Adela, Carmela and Guillermina find themselves in the middle of it all.

A writing staff has not been announced, but with the topic of Latina maids and the past record of Hollywood producers resorting to stereotypical fodder, a Latino writer, who can bring an inside perspective to the story lines, might make for a good addition.

At the TCA Press Tour

Univision Orchestrates Minimal Questions by Press to Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony 

By Julio Martinez

At the recently completed winter meeting of the Television Critics Association (TCA), held at the Langham Hotel in Passadena, it appeared that Univision, the major network for U.S. Latinos, would pull a scheduling coup by holding a Saturday morning breakfast session for the press, featuring the much-publicized husband-and-wife producing team of Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez. The couple had announced the formal separation from their seven-year marriage on July 15, 2011, but remain contractually entwined in many projects, including the televised transcontinental Q’Viva competition, which is scheduled to premiere Jan 28 on Univision. Anthony, Lopez and Jamie King serve as creators and producers of the series, which conducts a talent search for singers, dancers, musicians and other performers throughout Latin America.

The dissatisfaction with this press event occurred for the assembled 100-plus TCA members when it became obvious Univision had orchestrated the one-hour session so Anthony and Lopez would not be subjected to a Q&A from any TCA member. The first 30 minutes were taken up with breakfast, followed by a short interview opportunity with Dave Broome and Emilio Estefan, producers of Univision’s weight-loss challenge series, Dale Con Ganas (“Give It All”). The two did reveal the interesting fact that Latinos lead all other ethnic groups in propensity for obesity. With about 10 minutes to go in the session, Univision offered a clip of Q’Viva, followed by the couple of the hour, Anthony and Lopez, actually taking the stage with 5 minutes left in the session. Unfortunately, instead of opening up for questions from the assembled press, Lourdes Estafan, host of Univision’s primetime entertainment magazine series, Sal y Pimenta (“Salt and Pepper”) and not a TCA member, immediately launched into her own Q&A.

At that point Jonathan Storm, television critic from the Philadelphia Enquirer stood up and demanded Estefan cease and that the TCA members be allowed to ask the questions. Estefan put down her mike. Anthony shrugged and replied, “O.K. man, ask away.” The press learned that Anthony and Lopez are committed to stay on as producers of Q’Viva, which is executive produced by Simon Fuller, no matter how many seasons it is on the air or what might be going on in their personal lives. The TCA members would have loved to ask more questions, but suddenly the doors to the room flew open and the TV critics were bombarded with singing and dancing talent from the series, whether they wanted to be or not. When the performance ended, Anthony Lopez left the room. No more questions asked.