#gregory nava

[allweknewisdead]

El Norte (1983) - Gregory Nava

¿Será que sólo muertos encontraremos un lugarcito?

[lobbycards]

A time of Destiny, French Lobby Card. 1988

[thishadoscarbuzz]

241 - Selena (with Luis Rendon!)

And we’re back! We hope you all enjoyed the 100 YEARS, 100... SNUBS! May miniseries, but regular episodes are returning and did we come back with a special one! The Mixed Reviews co-host and journalist Luis Rendon joins us to talk about one of the most beloved musical biopics of all time, 1997′s Selena. The film follows the rise and sudden tragic end of Tejano music legend Selena Quintanilla, and catapulted actress Jennifer Lopez in a major way. Lopez stayed in the conversation to earn a Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy nomination at the Globes, but the Oscars overlooked her now-treasured performance that is often remarked on for her ability to recreate the real life icon that she played.

This episode, we discuss the many phases on Jennifer Lopez’s career from her breakout in 1997 to her emergence into a music career and triumph at the Super Bowl Half Time Show with Shakira. We also discuss the massive casting search that landed her the role, the film as a tool of healing in the immediate aftermath of Selena’s murder, and the visual style of Tejano music videos brought to the film.

Topics also include the 1997 Best Actress race, the tradition of post-Drag Race on VH1 cinema, and character actress legend Lupe Ontiveros.

Links:

The 1997 Oscar nominations

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[theoscarsproject]

El Norte (1983). After their family is killed in a government massacre, siblings Enrique and Rosa flee Guatemala and embark on a perilous journey to "El Norte": the United States.

This has some of the most gorgeous cinematography I've seen in a while, and matched with the haunting story makes it a pretty special viewing experience. Deeply empathetic and deeply tragic, it takes on the American Dream and finds it wanting. Really powerful film. 8/10.

[d-criss-news]

Darren Criss, Tika Sumpter, Cyndi Lauper, Lil Kim, Christian Siriano, Tiffany Haddish, Selma Blair, Maia Reficco, Christina Hendricks, Alex Newel, Ashley Longshore, Cody Belew, Nava Mau and Leigh Lezark at Christian Siriano show, Backstage, Spring Summer 2025, New York Fashion Week, USA - 06 Sep 2024 ( Photo by Gregory Pace/Shutterstock, Miguel McSongwe/BFA.com/Shutterstock)

[vertigoartgore]

Top 30 Movies that I discovered in 2023 (but not released in 2023) :

Pandora and The Flying Dutchman (Albert Lewin, UK, 1951)

Summertime (David Lean, USA/UK, 1955)

Tea and Sympathy (Vincente Minnelli, USA, 1956)

Murder by Contract (Irving Lerner, USA, 1958)

Nothing But a Man (Michael Roemer, USA, 1964)

Scattered Clouds (Mikio Naruse, Japan, 1967)

Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (John D. Hancock, USA, 1971)

The Hired Hand (Peter Fonda, USA, 1971)

The effect of Gamma rays on man-in-the-moon marigolds (Paul Newman, USA, 1972)

Chilly Scenes of Winter (Joan Micklin Silver, USA, 1979)

Being There (Hal Ashby, USA, 1979)

El Sur (Víctor Erice, Spain, 1983)

El Norte (Gregory Nava, UK/USA, 1983)

Vigil (Vincent Ward, New Zealand, 1984)

Choose Me (Alan Rudolph, USA, 1984)

Desert Hearts (Donna Deitch, USA, 1985)

Anguish (Bigas Luna, Espagne, 1987)

The Vanishing (George Sluizer, France/Netherlands,1988)

Chameleon Street (Wendell B. Harris Jr., USA, 1989)

Proof (Jocelyn Moorhouse, Australia, 1991) 

Ninja Scroll (Yoshiaki Kawajiri, Japan, 1993)

Suture (Scott McGehee & David Siegel, USA, 1993)

What Happened Was... (Tom Noonan, USA, 1994)

Leaving Las Vegas (Mike Figgis, USA, 1995)

August in the Water (Sogo Ishii, Japan, 1995)

Shall We Dance ? (Masayuki Suo, Japan, 1996)

Made in Hong Kong (Fruit Chan, Hong Kong, 1997)

Bullets Over Summer (Wilson Yip, Hong-Kong, 1999)

To the Left of the Father (Luiz Fernando Carvalho, Brazil, 2001)

Dead End (Jean-Baptiste Andrea & Fabrice Capepa, France/USA, 2003)

[steveyockey]

On-screen and in life, there’s a false narrative that trans women are tricking men into having sex with us. Watching Aysha and Sky aggressively pursue these boring men, I realized this is an offshoot of that same narrative.

Even the cis people who don’t see us as traps are still comforted by the idea that trans women are the ones doing the chasing. They can’t fathom the Lukes of the world choosing to watch a trans dancer. They can’t fathom the Dylans seeking us out on a queer commune. They imagine we are forcing ourselves on people when they themselves are proof of the opposite. To paraphrase Mariah Carey and Regina George, “Why are you so obsessed with us?”

Whether it’s to fuck or to make movies, cis people are the ones doing the chasing. Cis people might not share their lusts publicly; cis people who make movies about us might do a bad job. But there is no shortage of cis people who want to own a piece of us — our bodies, our stories, their idea of our stories.

The good news is we’re telling our stories too. I’ll say it again: we are in an abundant era for trans cinema. There are low-key indies like Mutt, Something You Said Last Night, and Summer Solstice. There are dreamy fantasias like L’immensita, Death and Bowling, and Playland. There are documentaries pushing the boundaries of non-fiction filmmaking like Framing Agnes, Kokomo City, Queenmaker, and The Stroll. There are auteurs who have broken into arthouse film culture like Isabel Sandoval and Jane Schoenbrun. There are trans filmmakers who have created incredible short form work who will continue to amaze in that medium and probably move on to features like Tourmaline, Rain Valdez, Nava Mau, and Nyala Moon. There are so many more trans filmmakers in features, in shorts, in television who are telling our stories and telling them well. And, just like there are cis people who do share their romantic desires publicly, there have been movies made by cis directors that are great like The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future, Dos Estaciones, Bad Things, and Alice Júnior. Some cis people actually can see our humanity.

We don’t have to settle for mediocrity. We don’t have to settle for being the catalyst in someone else’s story. I want nothing less than abundance. Let’s demand it.

Drew Gregory, “TIFF 2023: Trans People Deserve Better Than ‘Unicorns’ and ‘National Anthem’,” September 15, 2023.

[owlsfilmjournal]

‘Mi Familia’ (1995) - Gregory Nava

Seeing Mi Familia in class, I was thoughtful of the manner in which the movie handled ideas of family, identity, and place. This is something that most people, no matter background, can identify with. My experiences, though different in comparison to those of these characters, theirs was a universal in handling the challenges that come with being in a state of duality. The tensions arising from differing generations, alongside the inclination to maintain cultural traditions while simultaneously adjusting to a novel context, prompted reflections on the complexities families encounter when navigating the dichotomy between historical legacies and contemporary realities, as well as the struggle between clinging to the past and embracing change. Furthermore, the film underscored the influence of race and ethnicity on perceptions and treatment, an aspect that does not consistently demand my attention in my personal experience. The positional opposition provided very deep insights, especially into the influence of the power structures over the relationships within the family and the identity of individuals. This reflection has elevated my awareness, demonstrated the system of privilege, and illuminated how so easily one can overlook the nuances of another person's experience without intentional consideration. All told, the film is more than a single family's story; it challenges me to think on identity beyond what appears at face value and the amount that I have to learn through stories that are not my own.

[harrison-p-d-m]

Best of July:

Down by Law (Jim Jarmusch, 1986)

Le Bal (Ettore Scola, 1983)

Permanent Vacation (Jim Jarmusch, 1980)

Dusty and Sweets McGee (Floyd Mutrux, 1971)

Bush Mama (Haile Gerima, 1979)

The Dream [المنام] (Mohammad Malas, 1987)

Seven Chances (Buster Keaton, 1925)

Chop Shop (Ramin Bahrani, 2007)

The Clone Returns Home (Kanji Nakajima, 2008)

A Man (Kei Ishikawa, 2022)

Stranger Than Paradise (Jim Jarmusch, 1984)

The Enemy (Živojin Pavlović, 1965)

How to Be Loved (Wojciech Jerzy Has, 1963)

Waiter (Alex van Warmerdam, 2006)

El Norte (Gregory Nava, 1983)

Les rives du fleuve (Eric Pauwels, 1991)

Salt of the Earth (Herbert J. Biberman, 1954)

The Tribulations of Balthazar Kober (Wojciech Jerzy Has, 1988)

Black Sabbath (Mario Bava 1963)

It Is Good to Live (Fumio Kamei, 1956)

A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies, (Martin Scorsese, Michael Henry Wilson 1995)

The Great Buster: A Celebration (Peter Bogdanovich, 2018)

The Dark Side of the Heart (Eliseo Subiela, 1992)

Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2004)

The Cool World (Shirley Clarke, 1963)

Bless Their Little Hearts (Billy Woodberry, 1983)

The Tree of Guernica (Fernando Arrabal, 1975)

Memoirs of a Sinner (Wojciech Jerzy Has, 1986)

La Vie de Jésus (Bruno Dumont, 1997)

Emperor Tomato Ketchup (Shūji Terayama, 1971)

Fando y Lis (Alejandro Jodorowsky, 1968)

Wham! (Chris Smith, 2023)

[thewomanofrevelation]

800., Selena/dir. Gregory Nava/1997.

[radca-s2025]

La Familia (1995) - Gregory Nava

This film resonated heavily with me as a Latina. A lot of the stories told during the film about deportation, family, and the struggles being Latino in America, were very reminiscent of the stories that were told to me as a child. The film did a wonderful job highlighting the importance of family and the struggles of immigration and assimilation, and a lot of heavy topics that are discussed on a national level, but almost never at a familial or interpersonal level. It is empowering as a Latina woman to be able to hear the stories of family members that came before me and struggled to make their way through the world and who struggled to make their lives and the lives of their family members better. It provides a sense of pride to be Latina and makes me feel that through struggle and effort can come success. The importance of family also stuck out to me. No family is without their issues but to be able to see that their family stuck around through the conflict, the arguments, and the bad times was eloquent. 

[lobbycards]

A time of Destiny, French Lobby Card. 1988

[glebxoc]

Chapter 6

Matronas POV

God, Paris was beautiful, just beautiful. All of the big houses, and shops. The dresses some of the women wore seemed like I could never buy. But I obviously didn't just look around, I got some information about a Countess Lily Malevsky-Malevitch she was close to the Empress and I just put two and two together. There were also talks about a Nava club and like it seems it was a small club where some of the old Russians go to drink on the old Russia, pathetic, but I can't blame them.

I already looked at the club, walking by, and I needed to get inside tonight so I went back to the hotel, I bought me a night dress it should do, it was a dark blue with silver necklaces as holder since it was armless it emphasized my chest. Inside the empty room, Gleb wasn't here, if he found out the same information, maybe he is the deputy commissioner so. I put down the bag with my dress, I started to do my hair, which is not my favorite activity. Finished after what felt I looked into the mirror, God, I would have never recognized myself, I look good… I put on some high shoes that I bought with the dress and made my way to the Nava club.

Gleb POV

I walked up to the club,

"Welcome to Paris, Comrade!" The bouncer said.

"I beg your Pardon?" I ask confused why he would say that.

"Only just off the train Russians wear shoes like yours" he said pointing at my shoes, I looked at them before looking at him again.

"I had the same pair" he said. I just wanted to say that I wanted to go inside, but he cut me to it.

"Try the Russian tea shop on the Rue de Bac number 17" he said. I turned away, just started walking.

"Last I heard they were hiring" he said.

I stopped, what was that, I turned around.

"I'm not looking for work, comrade" I said, slightly annoyed. But he didn't even look at me.

"Good Morning Countess Lilly" the bouncer greeted the shorter woman with a bow, I stood at the side, so she was the Countess I'm looking for.

"The only thing good about it is that it means one day less" she said. Oh, exactly my humor. I say to my self sarcastic.

"I'm being Russian, Sergey" she told him.

"I love live" she now said with a sarcastic undertone.

" Count Gregory! How was the ballet ?" She asked the man coming up.

"Dreadful! You never heard such a racket." he answered, not surprising.

"Le Sacre du printemps" The woman next to him said, probably his wife if I had to guess.

"Gregory renamed it Le Sacre du merde" she said happily.

"Thank god for Swan lake next week" he said, "Real Russian Music, not this, ah, Stravinsky" the two women nodded enraged.

"You will be there, Lily, with her imperial Majesty?" He asked, now that's interesting.

"Well of course" she said, crackpot. "A lady-in-waiting's live is never rove"

"Marvelous, I haven't seen the Dowager Empress since the Russian opera season" the wife said. They went inside with another pear. Once inside, the bouncer went up to me.

"Don't loiter. They won't like it" he said

"There isn't a problem here is it Gentlemen" A woman's voice came from the side, I turned around, It was Matrona and she looked good…

Matrona POV

I walk to them, I overheard a little, I put emphasis on swaying my hips. As I was standing before them, I put my hand on Glebs shoulder.

"You will let inside won't you Sergey" I ask looking him up and down. He seemed surprised. I let my hand go lower, staying on Glebs bicep.

"Of Course, sorry sir, have a good night miss" Sergey said bowing still a little surprised.

We walked in, we Gleb stopped me in the corridor

"How much did you catch ?" He asked.

"Everything from the Countess Lily telling that the Empress will be in the ballet next week to you being told to be an off the train Russian looking for work" I say, a smile on my face as his face crouched together.

"So everything" he said, rubbing his eyes.

"Yes" I say

"and you could have come earlier ? "He asked, slightly annoyed.

"No, it was way too funny to see you being called that, you're like a poor Russian that just came to Paris for Money" I say walking inside the actual club I hear a small dammit behind me that makes me chuckle. It was quite full, a bar on one of the sides, a chair as well as benches on the other.

"Now I could use a good drink after finding out that we have to wait a week to actually find Anya" I say. And going to the bar

"One Vodka please" I say, the bartender gets me a small shot glass and a Vodka bottle.

"I can't have you drunk" Gleb said right beside me,

"I'm a little hurt you think I can't hold my liqueur" I say. Taking the bottle and glass to one of the seat with a table and sitting down. He sat right across from of me.

"What are these people doing here ?" Gleb asks.

"Living in the land of yesterday, old Russia where they had their titles, power, money. " I answer,

"This makes me ashamed of being Russian" Gleb answer.

"Well, can you blame them ?" I ask. Looking at him, he already looked at me questionable.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't support what they are doing, we should never live in the past, but the present isn't beautiful ether. What I mean is yes for some of them everything was perfect before the revolution, and they now think it ruined they live. But if you ask me, we have to see that a revolution is a new beginning, we start at nothing and to become something we have to work, a new Russia needs work from everybody, or it will never be the beautiful Russia that they miss" I explain lowering my gaze to my glass taking a shot.

"That… I never looked at like that" he said quietly.

"Not many do, they just think that everything will fall in place one day, but without doing something they can wait forever. " I say

"I never asked, how did you meet Anya ?" Gleb asked. I looked at him, not sure if I should tell him. He looked in my eyes with a hopeful? Look.

"I Meet in an ally just a few years a go, she walked in an ally all cold and alone she looked lost, so I asked her who she was and if her mother was anywhere," I pause to swallow "She told me she didn't know who she was or if she had a mother, she told me she had amnesia and that the people at the hospital gave her the name Anya, I felt sorry for her, so I took her in I gave her food and after that I stayed with her." I tell him.

"You think she really might me Anastasia ?" I ask him, He looked at the table.

"I don't know" he said

" Me too, I don't know if I should be happy that little Anastasia survived or if I should be sad that she forgot everything and now has to remember that she lost everybody she ever loved, I shouldn't even have to think about it if…" I stop, don't know if I should end my sentence, I fill up my second glass and down it.

"What are you saying ?" Gleb asked, a kind of rage in his eyes.

"I'm saying that the Romanov's should have lived" I say, staring him dead in the eye.

"Matrona the Romanov took everything and gave nothing back." He said now standing up.

"Sit down and let me explain. " I say, and he does, which surprised me a little.

" I'm not saying that what the guards did was wrong, Nicholas was an Ass, his decisions in the war were foolish and not well thought." I explain.

"But that the children didn't do anything they had now said in this, they had they hole live before them, they should have lived to live they deserved and not get …" I couldn't even say it, it hurt me just to think about the screams that I heard that day, the image of my dead mother.

"And if they hadn't come into the place that day like that, she would have survived. " I say drowning my third shot.

"Who ? "Gleb asked.

"My Mother"

[noticlip]

Capturan a uno de los implicados en el asesinato de un joven en Tucacas

A solicitud del Ministerio Público (MP) fue privado de libertad Eudi Rafael Lugo Navas (26) por su presunta responsabilidad en el homicidio de Gregori Alfonso Herrera Sánchez (24). El hecho ocurrió el 9 de julio en la parroquia Tucacas, municipio José Laurencio Silva del estado Falcón. A través de denuncias telefónicas realizadas por los habitantes del sector, se iniciaron investigaciones que…

[criticalbennifer]

2021