2008 Woodie Awards
Some Latin Flavor to Savor
John Mango '10
Issue date: 10/4/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment
So now you might be asking me, John Mango, how could you possibly be recommending me to consider visiting the LAFF when you didn't like the movie and seem to have learned very little from the festival itself? Well, I reply to you by saying, despite all of this, it was a lot of fun. Instead of talking at you about the cultural significance and beneficial educational qualities of the festival, take my figurative hand and let me walk you through my exciting experience.
I was dropped off at the Columbus Theater at about 6:00 p.m. last Friday by my section editor (how's that for power, my editor = my chauffeur) to be greeted by a crowd of Latin American townies salsa dancing to a live band. So, after writhing my way through the crowd and shouting "ariba" to the band, I made my way into the theater itself.
The main hall had a pleasant musk of moth balls and sawdust, so I was tempted to linger and enjoy the natural aromatherapy, but instead decided to purchase my ticket for the film. After a lengthy negotiation with the ticket woman (she kept asking for dolores and centavos, but I just couldn't understand what she was trying to get at), I attempted to engage in friendly conversation with the man punching tickets. This ended in me somehow purchasing three copies of a samba CD.
On my way to the showing room I spotted a snack stand and decided to indulge myself with an authentic Latin American meal of Goobers and popped maize. It was good; I especially recommend the popped maize. Finally, I made it into the showing room, which resembled a cross between one of those really long cathedrals and the theater from King Kong. I kind of felt like I was about to become a part of an Are You Afraid of The Dark? episode (this was affirmed when I almost sat on that spider that Hagrid raised as a babe).
The movie itself wasn't immensely provocative. It followed the trials and tribulations of a Latin American father and son. The son was a rising comic book artist and the father owned a local general store that was having financial problems. After an incident that leaves the father a paraplegic, the protagonist is forced to decide between his comics or his father. You can probably guess the choice he makes. The movie ends with a scene in which an aspiring bowler is knifed by a local hood which seemed to be taken directly from West Side Story.
I was dropped off at the Columbus Theater at about 6:00 p.m. last Friday by my section editor (how's that for power, my editor = my chauffeur) to be greeted by a crowd of Latin American townies salsa dancing to a live band. So, after writhing my way through the crowd and shouting "ariba" to the band, I made my way into the theater itself.
The main hall had a pleasant musk of moth balls and sawdust, so I was tempted to linger and enjoy the natural aromatherapy, but instead decided to purchase my ticket for the film. After a lengthy negotiation with the ticket woman (she kept asking for dolores and centavos, but I just couldn't understand what she was trying to get at), I attempted to engage in friendly conversation with the man punching tickets. This ended in me somehow purchasing three copies of a samba CD.
On my way to the showing room I spotted a snack stand and decided to indulge myself with an authentic Latin American meal of Goobers and popped maize. It was good; I especially recommend the popped maize. Finally, I made it into the showing room, which resembled a cross between one of those really long cathedrals and the theater from King Kong. I kind of felt like I was about to become a part of an Are You Afraid of The Dark? episode (this was affirmed when I almost sat on that spider that Hagrid raised as a babe).
The movie itself wasn't immensely provocative. It followed the trials and tribulations of a Latin American father and son. The son was a rising comic book artist and the father owned a local general store that was having financial problems. After an incident that leaves the father a paraplegic, the protagonist is forced to decide between his comics or his father. You can probably guess the choice he makes. The movie ends with a scene in which an aspiring bowler is knifed by a local hood which seemed to be taken directly from West Side Story.