#Carlos Aguirre

[mariocki]

Misterios de ultratumba (The Black Pit of Dr. M, 1959)

"What happened during my trance?"

"Nothing. Something as ancient as mankind itself. Science's senseless struggle to break the barriers that separate us from God."

[pasparal]

El Chapulin Colorado Pintor: Diego Rolón

[elmartillosinmetre]

Mi crítica del concierto del Cuarteto Trifolium esta noche en la Maestranza.

[12endigital]

Salomé Pradas llama a la unidad de las comunidades de regantes, expertos, instituciones y sociedad civil "para defender cada gota de agua que necesitamos”

La consellera de Medio Ambiente, Agua, Infraestructuras y Territorio, Salomé Pradas, ha hecho un llamamiento a la unidad de las comunidades de regantes, expertos, instituciones y sociedad civil “para defender cada gota de agua que necesitamos y merecemos en la Comunitat Valenciana”. La consellera ha participado en el acto de entrega de los premios que otorga la Federación de Comunidades de…

[elchaqueno]

Llamado a un proyecto democrático alternativo al MAS para las elecciones de 2025

El pasado lunes, el gobernador Luis Fernando Camacho llamó a emprender una “gran cruzada” para poner en marcha “un proyecto democrático” que sirva como alternativa al Movimiento Al Socialismo (MAS) y sean resultado de un respaldo y aceptación popular. La asambleísta Paola Aguirre insistió en esa demanda de unidad, en el marco de una crisis económica, política y social producto del desmoronamiento…

[carlocarrasco]

SUV hits and runs over elderly street sweeper in Barangay BF Homes, Parañaque City; driver arrested

SUV hits and runs over elderly street sweeper in Barangay BF Homes, Parañaque City; driver arrested

This past weekend, a very tragic event happened inside BF Homes subdivision in Parañaque City when a 63-year-old street sweeper got hit and ran over by a sports utility vehicle (SUV) at the corner of Elizalde street and Aguirre Avenue. The tragedy was captured entirely by CCTV camera and the footage has since turned viral online. Already, the major daily newspapers Philippine Daily Inquirer and…

[sleepythug]

What are some movies that every aspiring cinephile should watch?

battleship potemkin (sergei eisenstein, 1926)

city lights (charlie chaplin, 1931)

M (fritz lang, 1931)

freaks (tod browning, 1932)

brief encounter (david lean, 1945)

out of the past (jacques tourneur, 1947)

the third man (carol reed, 1949)

late spring (yasijuro ozu, 1949)

kiss me deadly (robert aldrich, 1955)

a man escaped (robert bresson, 1956)

touch of evil (orson welles, 1958)

la dolce vita (federico fellini, 1960)

peeping tom (michael powell, 1960)

man who shot liberty valance (john ford, 1962)

the exterminating angel (luis buñuel, 1962)

shock corridor (samuel fuller, 1963)

kwaidan (masaki kobayashi, 1964)

dragon inn (king hu, 1967)

playtime (jacques tati, 1967)

once upon a time in the west (sergio leone, 1968)

two-lane blacktop (monte hellman, 1971)

aguirre, wrath of god (werner herzog, 1972)

touki bouki (djibril diop mambety, 1973)

the conversation (francis ford coppola, 1974)

the passenger (michelangelo antonioni, 1975)

nashville (robert altman, 1975)

the killing of a chinese bookie (john cassavetes, 1976)

mikey and nicky (elaine may, 1976)

sorcerer (william friedkin, 1977)

days of heaven (terrence malick, 1978)

blow out (brian de palma, 1981)

8 diagram pole fighter (lau kar-leung, 1984)

mishima: a life in four chapters (paul schrader, 1985)

tampopo (jūzō itami, 1985)

blue velvet (david lynch, 1986)

something wild (jonathan demme, 1986)

landscape in the mist (theo angelopoulos, 1988)

sonatine (takeshi kitano, 1993)

salaam cinema (mohsen makhmalbaf, 1995)

fallen angels (wong kar-wai, 1995)

taste of cherry (abbas kiarostami, 1997)

cure (kiyoshi kurosawa, 1997)

the thin red line (terrence malick, 1999)

beau travail (claire denis, 1999)

yi yi (edward yang, 2000)

all about lily chou chou (shunji iwai, 2001)

memories of murder (bong joon-ho, 2003)

dogville (lars von trier, 2003)

tropical malady (apichatpong weerasethakul, 2004)

silent light (carlos reygadas, 2007)

sparrow (johnnie to, 2008)

holy motors (leos carax, 2012)

phoenix (christian petzold, 2014)

personal shopper (oliver assayas, 2016)

[arc-hus]

Desert Interpretation Centre, Antofagasta, Chile - Emilio Marín & Juan Carlos López

[scuderlia]

I don’t know the sainz lore pls share the sainz lore

i keep getting asked about this, so here's ONE PIECE of sainz lore:

In 1995, Antonio Sainz Rebollo (Carlos' paternal grandfather) was put on trial for the death a man named Samuel Chiabuto, who attempted to steal his wife's purse. During the confrontation, a bullet fragment from a shot fired by Sainz ricocheted and hit Chiabuto, fatally wounding him.

Antonio was ultimately sentenced to six months and one day in prison for his role Samuel's death, with the primary question during the trial being whether or not his actions were in legitimate self-defense, or instead represented "reckless imprudence resulting in death." The prosecutor argued that "defending a purse could not be equated with defending a life," emphasizing the severity of the outcome.

The case remains relatively significant in legal discussions concerning self-defense and use of force in regard to human life.

(quotes from articles on the incident below—please note that the full publications are paywalled and that these are automated translations from the original Spanish text)

The prosecutor in the 'Sainz case' says that the theft of a purse cannot be compared to a life by Elsa Fernández-Santosel for EL PAÍS Madrid (June 1995)

Self-defense or reckless recklessness resulting in death? The trial against the businessman and consul general of Bolivia Antonio Sainz Rebollo, father of the former world champion Carlos Sainz, was heard yesterday for sentencing. Forensic evidence confirmed the indications: that Samuel Chiabuto, a 27-year-old Nigerian who tried to steal Sainz's wife's purse, was killed by the ricocheted bullet fragment. According to the prosecutor, there can be no talk of self-defense when what is on the table is a purse versus a life. Sainz repeated yesterday that that night has marked his life. "I only defended my wife. When I was little, I was taught that women are sacred," he added.

Six months for Carlos Sainz's father due to the death of a shooter by Begoña Aguirre for EL PAÍS Madrid (July 1995)

Businessman and honorary consul of Bolivia, Antonio Sain Rebollo, 69, father of former world champion Carlos Sainz, has been sentenced to six months and one day in prison for the death of 27-year-old Nigerian immigrant Samuel Chiabuto. Chiabuto was shot dead by him after snatching his wife's purse. The head of the 26th Criminal Court, Eva Isabel Gallardo Martín, considers Sainz guilty of a crime of reckless recklessness resulting in death. The popular action, exercised by Sos Racismo and the Association for Human Rights, requested a sentence of four years and two months. The prosecutor asked for a one-year sentence.

Antonio Sainz was carrying a gun because of a death threat from a mafia by Jan Martinez Ahrens for EL PAÍS Madrid (December 1995)

The acquittal of Antonio Sainz Rebollo, 69, consul of Bolivia and father of two-time world rally champion Carlos Sainz, yesterday unleashed the "indignation" of SOS Racismo, personified as an accusation in the process. This association described as "resounding contempt for life" the decision of the Madrid Court to revoke the sentence that condemned Sainz for the death, on February 5, 1994, of a Nigerian shooter after a shot that ricocheted off a terrace. That night, Sainz was carrying the gun because of the death threats made against him by a mafia of counterfeiters whom he had denounced.

[theladyheroine]

Miraculous Zorro AU! 🇲🇽

Okay this was actually an idea for an art piece that I came up with. But then I got too excited and decided to make a headcanon before that, like groundwork! I hope y'all enjoy!

┗━━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━━┛

Okay, now as for the time period I decided to go with the 1820s of Mexico, although I couldn't really think of a specific place for the AU? So let's just go with a port town or city maybe?

Also for those wondering, yes, I did take inspiration from the old Zorro movies lol. If anyone hasn't seen it I recommend it, although the sequel is kinda okay in my opinion. But the first one is better.

But anyways, going back in time, the Miraculous used to be in the hands of Mexican citizens during the 1820s. These heroes were known as La Mariquita and El Gato Oscuro, a pair of vigilantes set to stop the dastardly deeds of El Rey Pollillia. An underground crook who is known for sending out villains to do his work.

༻Characters༺

Rosita “Rosa” Sandoval is a local baker who works at her family's panadería in the middle of the city, as well as their delivery girl. While she is kindhearted and cheerful, she has a bit of an attitude. Whether it's with a customer or just anyone, she has a bit of trouble keeping to herself and doesn’t know when the right time to be honest is. This can lead to her coming off as brash at times, even without meaning to.

Enrique Aguirre is a Hispanic nobleman as well as the mayor's son. Since his father is a high political figure, Enrique does have a very formal demeanor but does his best to make others feel welcome. He has a big heart, although he can be a bit sensitive with other people. Leading him to be kind of timid. Especially about his occupation: he does not want his father's position.

Carlos Aguirre is the mayor of the city, who is also known as El Rey Pollillia. His son does not know he is a crook, but he tries his best to keep it from him.

༻Plot Line༺

When the two get their Miraculous, I had the idea of making their personalities similar to how Marinette and Adrien behave when they're superheroes. However, I added my own twist. Normally, Marinette acts a bit more confident when she is Ladybug, and the same can be said for Adrien when he is Chat Noir. Although I wanted my version of the character growth to be different since these Miraculous holders are different people.

Even though Rosa is headstrong, she learns to soften up and connect with someone close to her rather than just being “honest” with people. While Enrique learns that he has to stand up for himself in order to stand up for other people.

Because of this, I even had the idea to include the love square into the AU, but switched too lol. So to put it clearly, Rosa has a crush on her partner Gato Oscuro. Who she thinks is sweet and compassionate but also really cool. While Enrique has a crush on Rosa, who he meets at her bakery when he's trying to get away from his workload. Who he thinks is so passionate and brave.

༻Fun Facts༺

Instead of the piano, Enrique can play the guitar! Think of Manolo from the Book of Life; I can imagine Enrique sneaking out to go play with a mariachi band somewhere! 🤣

This idea I do wanna make an art piece of this if I can find a good reference, but I can imagine Mariquita and El Gato having a sword duel upon their first meeting. Kind of how Ladybug and Chat Noir met in the movie, but more bickering lol.

Maybe they both freak out at first, thinking the other is a bad guy or some kind of villain, and they have this epic sword duel jumping off of walls and barrels! Before realizing that they're the good guys destined to stop El Pollillia.

I can also imagine Plagg having the time of his life in Mexico due to all the food and epics! Like he sneaks into the kitchen at night to steal some leftover queso or even dessert.

[yosukeyamaguchi423]

THE PIANO ERA 2024 illustration

THE PIANO ERA 2024のメインビジュアルを担当しました。詳細はHPをご確認下さい。

I did an illustration for a main visual of THE PIANO ERA 2024.For more detail please check HP.

11/23（Sat/Holiday）, 11/24（Sun） めぐろパーシモンホール 大ホール Meguro Persimmon Hall, Tokyo

《Day1》11/23（Sat） バルモレイ（Balmorhea）*初来日 ハナキフ（Hanakiv）*初来日 原 摩利彦 feat. 坂本美雨（Marihiko Hara feat. Miu Sakamoto）

《Day2》11/24（Sun） カルロス・アギーレ（Carlos Aguirre） ビュシュラ・カイクチャ（Büşra Kayıkçı）*初来日 江﨑文武（Ayatake Ezaki）

TICKET 電子チケット《LivePocket》 t.livepocket.jp/t/pianoera2024

紙チケット 《めぐろパーシモンホールチケットセンター》 persimmon.or.jp/ticket.html

[goalhofer]

2024 olympics Chile roster

Archery

Andrés Gallardo (Santiago)

Athletics

Martín Sáenz (Santiago)

Hugo Catrileo (Saavedra)

Carlos Díaz (Santiago)

Claudio Romero (Santiago)

Gabriel Kehr (Temuco)

Humberto Mansilla (Temuco)

Martina Weil (Santiago)

Natalia Duco (San Felipe)

Ivana Gallardo (Osorno)

Canoeing

Paula Gómez (Santiago)

María Mailliard (Viña Del Mar)

Karen Roco (Constitución)

Cycling

Mauricio Molina (Santiago)

Martín Vidaurre (Santiago)

Catalina Soto (Santiago)

Macarena Pérez (Santiago)

Equestrian

Agustín Covarrubias (Santiago)

Fencing

Arantza Inostroza (Santiago)

Golf

Joaquín Niemann (Jupiter, Florida)

Guillermo Pereira (Jupiter, Florida)

Judo

Thomas Briceño (Santiago)

Mary Vargas (Santiago)

Pentathlon

Esteban Bustos (Santiago)

Rowing

César Abaroa (Concepción)

Eber Sanhueza (Puerto Montt)

Antonia Abraham (San Pedro De La Paz)

Melita Abraham (San Pedro De La Paz)

Sailing

Clemente Seguel (Temuco)

María Poncell (Santiago)

Shooting

Diego Parra (Santiago)

Francisca Crovetto (Santiago)

Swimming

Eduardo Cisternas (Santiago)

Kristel Köbrich (Córdoba, Argentina)

Table tennis

Nicolás Burgos (Santiago)

María Vega (Concepción)

Zeng Zhiying (Iquique)

Taekwondo

Joaquín Churchill (Santiago)

Fernanda Aguirre (Santiago)

Tennis

Marcelo Barrios (Santiago)

Nicolás Jarry (La Barnachea)

Alejandro Tabilo (Santiago)

Triathlon

Gaspar Riveros (Providencia)

Diego Moya (Santiago)

Volleyball

Marco Grimalt (Linares)

Esteban Grimalt (Santiago)

Wrestling

Néstor Almanza (Santiago)

Yasmani Acosta (Santiago)

[thethistlegirlwrites]

Introducing another OC to the team today!

Detective Akela Carpenter has worked her fair share of supernatural crime. Being gifted with what her Hawaiian grandmother called “One eye in the land of the spirits” (quite literally; she wore a brown contact for years after she moved to LA, trying to pretend she was normal and hide the single shifting sea-green iris) made her an instant recruit to the city’s fae enforcement task force. She'd hated the Codes and what they did to the city's already vulnerable fae, but she’d found a place she felt like she was actually helping them, working drug busts on Damiana smugglers and dealers.

Getting abruptly reassigned after the biggest bust of her career has been a slap in the face. She’s been fighting her way through the ranks for a decade and a half. And now, instead of receiving a commendation for her success, she’s been transferred.

It’s hard not to be bitter about it. To wonder if she’s being shunted off so she can’t point the finger at whoever on her team was skimming evidence. If she had to guess, it’s Archer. His mother is a senator’s sister in law. He has protection. And powerful friends who can make a problem like her go away. 

Her new assignment is disconcertingly vague. She’s being assigned liaison to a hunter agency strike team code named “Polaris”. She knows nothing about it other than that.

She’d sort of like to strangle someone in the personnel office. Just because she’s worked fae crime for years does not mean she’s qualified to deal with vampires. People somehow seem to assume the two are similar just because they’re supernatural beings. 

She pulls her clunky ancient Crown Vic out of the detectives’ parking line. She can’t quite bring herself to give up the car that belonged to her mentor. Carlos has been gone for eight years, but she still feels like it’s her responsibility to take care of that old beater. After all, he left it to her. Specifically. In his will. She feels like that has to mean something. 

Her radio crackles, a re-direct from her original destination, the Chimera agency itself. Apparently ‘her’ strike team was scrambled to deal with a blood harvesting ring, and she’s being asked to help coordinate the arrest since that’s a crime that falls in the grey area between human and vampire justice systems. 

When she pulls into the warehouse lot, it looks like pretty much every other arrest she’s ever worked. Minus all the flashing lights and black-and-white cars. 

There’s a matte-black van, an older model with a battered left side panel, parked next to a silver classic. She can’t ID it on sight, vehicles have never really been her thing, but it’s definitely a few decades older than the usual commuter car.

A string of cuffed people are standing in a line against the van, being watched by a petite woman with long dark hair that appears to have escaped a ponytail at some point in the scuffle. She turns around when Akela pulls into the lot, the gun in her hand coming up from against her leg to train on the car. 

Akela steps out of the car, slams the door hard enough the temperamental latch will actually catch, and holds out her badge. “Detective Akela Carpenter, LAPD.”

The woman holsters her gun and takes Akela’s hand with the slightly less bloody of her own, wincing. It looks like she fell onto shattered glass and caught herself on her hands. “Sierra Aguirre-Stoker.”

She gestures to the others. “Pete Jemison.” A blond man with wire-rimmed glasses and a bruised cheek waves shyly before turning a notebook so the woman next to him, her brown skin mottled with pale scars, her dark hair tangled, can see it. “He and Saanvi Desai are our accountants.” 

“Hi, I’m Vi,” The woman says. She waves, then turns back to the paper, pointing to something and talking animatedly to Pete.

A woman steps away from the van and walks toward them, sheathing what appears to be a collapsible bo staff at her back. “This is Wren.” The name is a dead giveaway she’s fae. So are the thorn vines curling over the staff. Her silver-blond braid is also studded with fragments of glass and plaster. There’s a deep gash on her cheek and she’s limping slightly on her left side, as if she’s turned an ankle.

Maybe this is why Akela is here. Someone wants her dealing with a team with a fae on it.

“Sierra?” Someone steps out of the building, then leans against the silver car with an air of familiarity. He’s big, skin pale, almost too pale, and his eyes don’t look human. 

“And that’s Shay.”

He’s not fae. But Sierra is being as cagey with his name as she was with Wren’s. 

All of them are wearing leather jackets, with varying patches and logos, but they all have the Chimera’s three-headed emblem on the left chest, and a patch with a white four-pointed star, like a compass rose center, with the words “Polaris” below it, on the right shoulder. Well. Almost all.

Shay only has the “Polaris” patch. Not the Chimera. 

Maybe he’s some other liaison. LAPD can’t be the only one who wants a finger in the pie of a new hunter strike team. But he doesn’t give her the sense of being FBI or DEA or any other law enforcement. Especially not with how often he’s glancing over at her with vague apprehension. 

He does look familiar. But like…wanted poster on the wall familiar. 

A second van pulls up, and a short woman steps out, flanked by two burly-looking men, all of them also wearing leather jackets with the Chimera logo. 

“Stoker. Barrett.” Sierra and Shay both snap around to look at her. “Want to tell me why you disobeyed a direct order not to engage?”

Barrett?

Shay. Shane Barrett.

Ho-ly shit.

No wonder LAPD wants someone watching out for this team. 

Akela slips her badge back into her pocket. She can see what the play is here. If this team succeeds, LAPD can claim they have partial responsibility, putting a rising star like Akela on the job. If it fails, they’re perfectly fine with sending her career down in flames.

So she’s going to make damn well sure that this succeeds.

You can read this story and more from this universe on my WorldAnvil here!

@nade2308 @catwingsathena @whumptober

[elmartillosinmetre]

"Tocamos con instrumentos originales porque hay que ser coherentes con la época"

[De izquierda a derecha, Aguirre, Mesana, Gallifa y Suárez, el Cuarteto Trifolium / IGNACIO EVANGELISTA]

El próximo martes el Cuarteto Trifolium presenta en el Salón de Carteles de la Real Maestranza de Caballería de Sevilla su cuarto álbum, dedicado a músicas de Haydn y Mozart

El violinista Carlos Gallifa fundó el Cuarteto Trifolium junto al también violinista Sergio Suárez, el viola Juan Mesana y el violonchelista Javier Aguirre con la idea de acercarse al repertorio del Clasicismo con instrumentos de época. Sus primeros trabajos discográficos estuvieron dedicados a compositores que trabajaron en la corte madrileña en la segunda mitad del siglo XVIII. Ahora han dado el salto al Clasicismo vienés.

–¿Ya tocaba?

–Nuestro principal interés era recuperar la música de cámara completamente desconocida en el entorno ibérico, compositores que se asentaron en España y desarrollaron aquí toda su actividad musical. Quizás el caso más excepcional sea el de Boccherini porque, cuando llega a España ya tenía una dilatada experiencia como cuartetista, compositor y violonchelista, y un importante número de obras. Brunetti en cambio llegó muy joven a España y permaneció aquí toda su vida, y Almeida Mota, lo mismo, llegó muy joven a Galicia, su primer punto de destino en España. Entendimos que tanto para nosotros como para el público era necesario establecer la comparativa entre la música que se estaba haciendo aquí y el gran canon vienés, que llegaba a España de una manera muy rápida, como está bien documentado.

–¿Y por qué estos dos cuartetos en concreto, el KV 387 de Mozart y el Op.74 nº2 de Haydn?

–Buscamos obras no demasiado grabadas con instrumentos de época. Del de Mozart conocíamos la grabación clásica del Cuarteto Mosaïques y otra del Ensemble Aurora, que es el grupo del violinista Enrico Gatti. Del de Haydn no conocíamos grabación alguna, aunque luego descubrimos que había una de los años 80, de un cuarteto húngaro, el Festetics, que, a pesar de que se interpreta con instrumentos de época, no consideramos que se trate de una interpretación muy historicista.

–El cuarteto de Mozart es uno de los que dedicó a Haydn. Pero ¿la relación del de Haydn con el de Mozart, cuál es?

–Haydn compone este Op.74 a la vuelta de su primer viaje a Londres. En diciembre de 1790, antes de su marcha, parece ser que se encontró con Mozart por última vez, y hemos querido fijar ahí el contacto. Es un momento crucial para Haydn por la actividad que se encontró en Londres, con cuartetos y grupos profesionales, formados por virtuosos de sus instrumentos. Es inspirado por el virtuosismo de esos intérpretes que compone esta Op.74. Seguramente no estaba acostumbrado a algo así, porque en Esterháza la música de cámara estaba reservada para el consumo doméstico de la corte. Seguramente grabar alguno de los cuartetos de las Opp.20 y 33, que son los que Mozart conoció y en los que se inspiró, hubiera sido más congruente, pero son cuartetos muy grabados y no nos motivaron tanto. Pero este del Op.74 ya lo habíamos tocado bastante y nos interesa mucho, porque forma parte de estos cuartetos no tan escuchados.

–Son cuartetos especialmente densos, parecen pedir ya una orquesta...

–Más que denso es de una sonoridad muy orquestal, sí, esa espectacularidad que Haydn se encontró en Londres. El Presto final del que hemos grabado parece en efecto estar concebido para una obra sinfónica.

–¿Cuáles son sus referentes en esta música?

–Todos hemos bebido del Cuarteto Mosaïques como inspiración. Fue el cuarteto fundador de esta forma de abordar el repertorio camerístico, y después, el Chiaroscuro, que ha grabado, aunque no de forma sistemática, algunos de los opus de Haydn.

–¿Qué le aportan los instrumentos de época a esta música?

–Tocamos con instrumentos de época porque creemos que hay que ser coherentes con la época en la que fueron concebidas las obras. Pensamos que los instrumentos que existían en la época de Mozart y Haydn nos dan acceso más coherente a la forma de articular y de frasear que se usaba en su tiempo.

–¿Piensan dar el salto a Beethoven y Schubert?

–Hemos tocado ya obras de la Op.18 de Beethoven. 2027 es Año Beethoven y al año siguiente hay efeméride de Schubert también. Estará todo muy comprimido. Estamos manejando una idea de disco para Beethoven, aunque a lo mejor habrá algo más que música escrita para cuarteto de cuerda. Pero por ahora no puedo decir más.

–¿Qué actividad de conciertos tiene ahora Trifolium?

–Vamos a estar ahora en Sevilla, en este concierto del Festival de Primavera de Juventudes Musicales, y este verano tendremos un par de conciertos en Clásicos en Madrid. Tras el verano haremos algunas cosas de promoción del disco. Pensamos que nuestra aportación es importante, porque en España no hay cuartetos estables que toquen con instrumentos originales y en general se han hecho pocas grabaciones. Nosotros tenemos ya una trayectoria detrás importante, hemos grabado todo lo que hemos podido y en España eso no es muy frecuente.

[Diario de Sevilla. 9-06-2024]

EL CD EN SPOTIFY

[bestmoviesnitflix]

El Chapo

2017 | Maturity Rating:18+ | 3 Seasons | Thrillers

This drama series chronicles the true story of the rise, capture and escape of notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán.

Starring:Marco de la O, Humberto Busto, Alejandro Aguilar

Creators:Silvana Aguirre, Carlos Contreras

Watch the Latest Movies Online for Free. Enjoy subbed or dubbed Movies in ultra HD quality without any registration or payment. Link: https://shorturl.at/iADJN

[allieatthemovies]

Movie Review: The Killer is One of 13 (1973) d. Javier Aguirre - 2.5 / 5 Stars

Going all the way back to movies like The Thin Man and After the Thin Man and as recent as movies like Knives Out, I just have a soft spot for the “large group of people stuck in a location together and accused of murder” trope. It’s not something I ever really thought much about, but watching this it occurred to me I like these sorts of mysteries a lot - no matter how contrived they might be. This movie falls neatly into that category.

The Killer is One of 13 is by no means the best of its kind, but is serviceable enough if you find yourself in need of something new. The film centers around the character Lisa who brings together a group of thirteen people she believes may have killed her husband, Carlos, two years prior. She disguises this inquiry as a reunion weekend and accuses her guests while they sit around the dinner table the first night. This... genre, i suppose, of mystery / horror inherently comes with a lot of talking - exposition is a key factor - and this movie exposits excessively. For me, I enjoyed the barbed accusations and meandering theories postulated in every scene about Carlos’ murder, but even I will admit it does start to drag at times. There’s very little variation to the scenes, very little movement. The scenes at the dinner table are either wide shots of people looking around confused and offended or tight headshots that cut back and forth between the characters speaking. This applies to most of the movie and the lack of energy from the characters and cinematography hurt it in the long run.

The plot itself is suitably convoluted to this type of story. Theories are proposed and abandoned, character flaws are revealed only to go nowhere. It all serves to steer the audience away from the real motivation. But with so many branching possibilities proposed it becomes a little disappointing how few of them actually come into play by the climax, and for all the talking and theorizing the climax comes extremely abruptly. There isn’t a single death until around the 60 minute mark of this 90 minute movie, but once they start they happen in quick succession. The kills themselves are adequate, but not particularly memorable. When the false killer is revealed - five minutes before the end of the movie no less - it’s frustrating because we, as the audience, know this cannot possibly be the killer. The reveal of the actual killer doesn’t offer a satisfying “a ha!” moment, but rather more of an exasperated sigh moment. It’s not really set up well enough despite the exorbitant amount of exposition, it’s cliche, and half the dinner guests have already left the estate.

So the plot itself leaves much to be desired, but the characters can be interesting and most of the actors still manage to pull off decent performances. These sorts of movies always rely heavily on the interplay of character relationships, and I did enjoy watching the lines drawn between each of them. The standout character was Lisa’s aunt, Bertha. She’s the manipulative and doting mother of Lisa’s cousin who displays a sharper mind than most of the dinner guests and has the air an older femme fatale. In between emasculating her son her efforts to uncover the killer are equal parts the most disturbingly earnest and engaging. I also felt for Guillermo who was probably the most sympathetic and believable dinner guests of the thirteen. The discovery of his wife’s infidelity is probably the most engaging of the subplots threaded throughout the film. Everyone else plays their parts well for as one note as they are: Harry is suitably unlikable as the playboy, Arlen is serviceably awkward, the wives are all perfectly catty, Elena is just naive enough, Henry the Butler buttles expertly, and Ernest feels like he was written only as an excuse to hire Paul Naschy.

It’s the character dynamics that really save this from being a complete slog for me. While it will never be high on my list of recommendations, if it ever is, I can’t say I regret watching it or didn’t enjoy it in parts. I’ll probably revisit it once in a blue moon when I’m going through my movies and trying to remember if I liked it or not.