Since the Government of Mexico, prodded by the US and Canadian Governments, has shut down the country, socially, economically and culturally, why not just curl up in front of the TV with a cold cerveza or two (max limit) and see what being a Latino is all about, cinematically speaking.

TCM—RACE AND HOLLYWOOD: LATINO IMAGES IN FILM

Throughout the month of May, TCM’s “Race and Hollywood: Latino Images In Film” will showcase 40 films, past and present, that show the progression of how Latino characters and culture are depicted in cinema. Joining TCM’s Robert Osborne in hosting the festival will be UCLA professor Chon Noriega, author of Shot in America: Television, the State, and the Rise of Chicano Cinema.

“As has been shown in our past ‘Race and Hollywood’ editions, the way in which Hollywood depicts different cultural groups can have a tremendous impact on how those groups are viewed in society as a whole,” said Charles Tabesh, senior vice president of programming for TCM. “We’re proud that TCM has the library and resources to delve deeply into issues like racial and cultural identity in a way that no other network on television can. We are also thrilled to welcome the participation of noted scholar Chon Noriega as co-host with Robert Osborne for this project.”

TCM’s “Race and Hollywood: Latino Images In Film” festival will take place Tuesday and Thursday nights in May, beginning at 5:00PM (PT). Each night’s collection of films will be centered on a particular theme, such as a look at depictions from the silent era, views of border towns and small ethnic towns, musicals, stories featuring interracial relationships, explorations of social problems and Latino representations in past and current westerns. Also included in the festival line-up will be several contemporary films making their first appearance on TCM, including The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), La Bamba (1987), The Mambo Kings (1992), Stand and Deliver (1988), The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1983) and Lone Star (1996). In addition, each evening will feature a specially chosen film for late-night movie fans.

Chon A. Noriega, who will co-host the festival with TCM’s Robert Osborne, is professor of cinema and media studies at UCLA and director of the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center. He is author of Shot in America: Television, the State, and the Rise of Chicano Cinema and editor of nine books, including Visible Nations: Latin American Cinema and Video and I, Carmelita Tropicana: Performing Between Cultures. Since 1996, he has been editor of A Journal of Chicano Studies, the flagship journal for the field since its founding in 1970. Noriega has curated numerous media and visual arts projects, including Phantom Sightings: Art After the Chicano Movement, which is currently traveling to venues in the U.S. and Mexico. He has also helped recover and preserve independent films, including the first three Chicano-directed feature films, which have been restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive. Noriega has received the Getty Postdoctoral Fellowship in the History of Art and the Rockefeller Foundation Film/Video/Multimedia Fellowship. He is co-founder of the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (est. 1999) and served two terms on the Board of Directors of the Independent Television Service. He is currently completing a book on Puerto Rican multimedia artist Raphael Montañez Ortiz.

Past editions of TCM’s “Race and Hollywood” festival series include explorations of how Hollywood has portrayed African-Americans in 2006 and Asians in 2008. In addition, TCM looked at Hollywood’s depiction of gay images in film in 2007.

The following is a complete schedule of TCM’s “Race and Hollywood: Latino Images In Film” (PT). An asterisk in parentheses (*) designates which movies are making their TCM debut. Please check TCM’s website for Eastern listings. http://www.tcm.com/2009/lif/index.jsp

All films are in English. In Puerto Vallarta, TCM is channel 54, Telecable.

Tuesday, May 5

Spanish Dons and Señoritas in the Silent Era

• 5:00PM Ramona (1910) (*)
• 5:30PM The Mark of Zorro (1920)
• 7:00PM Old San Francisco (1927)

The Old West

• 8:45PM Big Stakes (1922) (*)
• 10:00PM In Old Arizona (1929) (*)

Overnight Feature

• 1:45AM The Gay Desperado (1936) (*)

Thursday, May 7

Border Films

• 5:00PM Bordertown (1935)
• 6:45PM Border Incident (1949)

Boxing Films

• 8:30PM Right Cross (1950)
• 10:15PM Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962)

Overnight Feature

• 1:00AM Revenue Agent (1950)

Tuesday, May 12

Small Ethnic Towns

• 5:00PM Tortilla Flat (1942)
• 7:00PM …And Now Miguel (1953) (*)
• 8:15PM The Milagro Beanfield War (1988)
• 10:30PM Salt of the Earth (1954)

Overnight Feature

• 12:15AM The Garment Jungle (1957)

Thursday, May 14

Miscegenation

• 5:00PM Mexican Spitfire (1940)
• 6:30PM My Man and I (1952)
• 8:30PM Giant (1956)

Overnight Feature

• 1:00AM The Texican (1966) (*)

Tuesday, May 19

Social Problems

• 5:00PM The Lawless (1950) (*)
• 6:30PM Trial (1955)
• 8:30PM Cry Tough (1959) (*)
• 10:00PM The Young Savages (1961)

Overnight Feature

• Midnight Blackboard Jungle (1955)

Thursday, May 21

Musicals

• 5:00PM Greenwich Village (1944) (*)
• 6:30PM West Side Story (1961)
• 9:15PM La Bamba (1987) (*)
• 11:15PM The Mambo Kings (1992) (*)

Overnight Feature

• 1:15AM Cuba (1979)

Tuesday, May 26

Youth and Gangs

• 5:00PM Stand and Deliver (1988) (*)
• 7:00PM Walk Proud (1979) (*)
• 9:00PM Boulevard Nights (1979) (*)
• 11:00PM Badge 373 (1973) (*)

Overnight Feature

• 1:00AM Strangers in the City (1962) (*)

Thursday, May 28

Families

• 5:00PM Popi (1969)
• 7:00PM My Family (1995) (*)

Western Revisions

• 9:15PM The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1983) (*)
• 11:15PM Lone Star (1996) (*)

Overnight Feature

• 1:45AM Terror in a Texas Town (1958)

Televisa Cuts “Nonessential” Kisses From Telenovelas, Sparking Outrage Among Old Women, Bloggers Everywhere

1 May 2009, 6:00 PM. By Camilla Rowan

Thanks to the Mexican government recommending its citizens avoid close contact, Televisa has said they will cut all “nonessential” kisses from their telenovelas. What don’t you ruin, swine flu!?

Televisa says it’s merely following the mandated hygienic precautions but we think they’re trying to ruin our fun. If they were really worried they would make the actors wear tongue-condoms or cancel filming all together but instead they’re just being giant cock-teases. A spokesman for Televisa made an unofficial statement, “when the script of a telenovela requires a kiss, the kiss will be give in accordance with the guidelines so as not to expose the actors to any risk,” which we’re guessing means a whole lot of panting and eye-fucking but no licky licky. Lame.

ORIGINAL SOURCE