In its first five minutes Machete serves up five beheadings, a dozen gunshot victims, a couple of severed limbs, a car crashing through a wall, and a beautiful naked woman stabbing someone then getting shot in the head herself. Oh, and Steven Seagal.

None of this is playfully teased off camera like most Hollywood action films. In Robert Rodriguez's latest shoot 'em up (and stab 'em up), the blood and guts fill the screen. Machete, the movie and title character, makes no apologies about using a man's disemboweled large intestine as a rope to escape from a tall building. No apologies for a priest blowing a man's head into tiny pieces with a pump-action shotgun. Certainly no apologies for a swimming pool threesome.

But that's the fun of this movie. It's so over-the-top and ridiculous that you can't help but come along for the bloody ride. No one in their right mind will confuse this for "serious" cinema or pedantic storytelling. The potential problem Rodriguez faces at the box office is that this movie also makes no apologies for the political sentiment strewn about this two-hour gore fest. And there are a lot of people walking around who aren't in their right mind.

As I exited the theater, another viewer commented that it was refreshing to see Rodriguez—the director of the Spy Kids franchise—getting political. The San Antonio native and Austin film hero has never shied from gore in his films (From Dusk Til Dawn, Once Upon A Time In Mexico). But this is the first time we've seen the gore used in a film that, to say the least, will make some audiences uncomfortable because of the perceived message of the movie.

In Machete, ultra-badass Danny Trejo portrays an ex-Mexican-federale-turned-undocumented-day-laborer who is double-crossed during an assassination attempt. He spends the rest of the film getting revenge—bloody, bloody revenge—against his wealthy, white betrayers.

There's lots of pseudo-Mechista language, including the clichéd, "We didn't cross the border; the border crossed us." If released in theaters a decade ago, Machete's faux-pro-Mexican war cries wouldn't be a big deal. The average moviegoer would get the irony of a militant Jessica Alba and the over-the-top nature of it all. But in the era of SB 1070 and fearmongering to sway elections, there are a lot of otherwise relaxed and easygoing people who will go all Rush Limbaugh after walking out of Machete. The Jan Brewers of the world—with their unapologetic lies and laughable disinformation—have planted enough doubt and paranoia into the minds of everyday people that this movie and its director might become a pariah over what is essentially a tribute to '70s retro-style exploitation cinema. The only headless bodies Arizona's governor has to worry about are the countless ones found in this movie.

In fact, the closest Machete comes to reflecting reality is having Lindsay Lohan in the role of a drug-addicted party girl. Everything else—from the killer Catholic priest to the corrupt senator to the Che Guevara-inspired She—is just entertainment. Pure mindless, totally fun and worth-your-money entertainment. Reading anything into it beyond that is just silly. So sit back and enjoy Trejo and Michelle Rodriguez kicking ass and taking nombres.

Don’t let the movie cover suck you into thinking the new straight-to-DVD release, Harlem Hostel, stars the smokin’ hot Julissa Bermudez (106 & Park, Mun2). While the Harlem Hostel marketing team was smart to make her the cover feature, it is a move that will only upset many expecting more of Bermudez, present company included. Despite the deception, Harlem Hostel was mildly entertaining and has a well-thought-out story line.

Harlem Hostel is based around the life of a young magazine writer named Benny (Rafael Sardina) and his dissatisfaction with life living at his mother’s house. Fed up, Benny decides to take up an offer from his two best friends Will (Ramon Rodriguez) and Rick (Steve Leon) to rent an apartment in Harlem, thinking that they will be “living it up” together. Of course you already knew the place was going to be less than luxurious and that it wasn’t going to be what Benny foresaw. It was all very predictable from the start.

It was at this apartment that Benny’s friend Will, who is the crazy one of the bunch with by the way, decided to get together with Rick and turn the place into a hostel while Benny was away for a week. Predictably again, Benny agrees to go with it once he sees it can make money. Surprisingly, Benny is not interested in the abundance of foreign females that his friends are so consumed with, only because his interest lies with his coworker, Julie (Julissa Bermudez), who wants to start their own magazine together. Later Benny predictably brings Julie back to the apartment during a wild party and she gets put off by the craziness and concerned about his work.

You guessed it. The party or hostel doesn’t last and Benny returns to his mother’s house. He saves his job and friendship with Julie all while learning a lesson. That lesson is you have to grow up sometime and always use your best judgment no matter what your friends try to sucker you into. What saves the movie and will keep viewers from turning it off completely is the humorous screenplay and how well the actors actually deliver it. They are put in some funny scenarios and viewers are introduced to some interesting characters. Based on the cover alone, aside from Julissa Bermudez as the focus, viewers should know exactly what they are getting with Harlem Hostel... a good rental for when there is not much else to choose from. It won’t be winning any major movie awards, but there are certainly plenty of big box office movies that are worse than Harlem Hostel.

If a nation's political landscape is any reflection of its culture, then ballot initiatives like California's Prop 8 and legislation like Arizona's House Bill 2281 indicate two things about life in the American Southwest in 2010: It sucks to be a gay man in love or a Latino proud of his heritage.

Yet, both of these are issues that get addressed with unflinching candidness in writer/director Peter Bratt's feature film La Mission. Peter is the brother of award-winning actor Benjamin Bratt, who stars here as the reformed convict and slick San Francisco lowriding-homeboy-by-night/selfless-single-father-by-day, Che Rivera. Don't let Che's barrio swagger and smooth one-liners give you the wrong impression: He has a straight-A student son, Jesse, who he's sending off to UCLA in the fall, and he's building him a customized car as a high school graduation present.

But what Che doesn't know will tear at the bonds between a father and son. After a night of partying in San Fran's gay neighborhood, the Castro district, Jesse comes home with Polaroid pictures of himself and his boyfriend dancing at a gay club. When the machismo-driven Che finds the photos, he flips out and disowns his son in a tearful rage. The film deals with the father's machismo, old-country view of life and his son's American experience as an independent-minded gay male.

We applaud the Bratt brothers' nuanced and thoughtful film for portraying Latino lowrider culture in a positive but ultimately honest manner and for portraying the gay community as real people with real emotions, not just flamboyant caricatures.

That said, we realize this film will be controversial for people outside of Latino culture who won't like the idea of a Mexican-American ex-con shown as a caring single father. It will also be controversial within the Latino community, as it challenges our gente's homophobic views and tendencies. But this kind of dialog is needed if we want to grow as a people.

Cast and crew members from La Mission recently visited Austin to talk about getting the film made, the bumps along the way and the response they've gotten from homeboys and gay men alike. The following is a selection of moments from an audience question-and-answer session at Austin's Dobie Theater, where the film is currently screening.

Why take on the issue of homosexuality as it relates to Latino culture?

Peter Bratt (writer/director): Benjamin and I were born and raised in San Francisco, so it was always a dream of ours to make a film in the Mission. The film was based on a real-life guy named Che, and he started one of the first lowrider clubs in the neighborhood, back in the '70s, '80s. I think the film has a bit of nostalgia from that time. As a writer I was interested in drawing a character who was familiar to audiences, in that a lot of our iconic male heroes are men who use violence to resolve conflict. I wanted to have a character who was like that but to be forced into a situation to find some other way to resolve that conflict that he found himself in. So really, it was an exploration of violence and different ideas of power, and how that informs our masculinity—not just within the Latino culture but the culture at large.

There are many ways to show estrangement between a son and father. What was the motivation for choosing homosexuality as that cause of the tension?

Peter: With an alpha-male like Benjamin's character, he is this masculine, powerful figure who has really earned his stripes as this badass dude who can get down if he has to. And so what I found was that the ultimate threat to that identity is having a gay son. It completely thwarts and challenges who he is, especially if this is his only child. Often times, most men see our sons as reflections of ourselves, so what does that say about us? And within the neighborhood and within the cultura you often hear gay Latino men demeaned and referred to as women in derogatory terms. It speaks to the homophobia we have within the culture, but it really speaks to how we regard women. When we really want to humiliate another man, we refer to him as a woman. It says a lot about who we are. Thematically, it seemed like one of the most powerful things you could do.

Benjamin and Jesse Borrego bring back their chemistry from Blood in Blood Out, once again playing brothers. Was the intention to evoke Blood in Blood Out?

Jesse Borrego: I think that speaks more to the relationship between Benjamin and I on screen. It's really being familiar with each other, like Michael Jordan and Scotty Pippen. This is Phil Jackson. [pats Peter on the back]

Benjamin Bratt: It is an exploration of a milieu that doesn't typically get this kind of treatment. Blood in Blood Out was a good film; it's got a lot of heart in it, but at the end of the day it's about gangsterism. This film is a similar milieu, in that it's really heavy in the Chicanismo. It's an earnest attempt to portray the heart and the soul that exists within this kind of community. But even though it's that culturally and geographically specific, it's something that is not only pan-Latino but it's pan-humano. If you come from a family and understand what love is, the movie's gonna speak to you. It's the attempt to create something honest, and I think people are responding to it, which is the greatest compliment.

Jesse: What I love is, I'm very proud that Peter and Benjamin have shown the Chicano culture and lowriding culture to be positive, to be about family, to be about tradition. I thank you for that, because mainstream cinema is not doing that.

To actor Jeremy Ray Valdez, what was it like portraying a young gay Latino and dealing with the intensity of the dramatic scenes?

Jeremy Ray Valdez: It was an intense shoot, an intense process. But I'll tell you what I had trouble with the most was talking to my father about doing this role, because my father is the quintessential macho Chicano male. When I booked the role, I was psyched. I was getting ready to go up to San Francisco, and when I got there I still hadn't told him I'd got the role. I really didn't know how he was going to react, because he walked out of Brokeback Mountain. He said, "I'm never going to watch a movie like that again." And so to tell my dad, who raised me to be macho, it was a very tough thing. I called him and told him "I got this role and I'm very proud of it." He says "Tell me about it." And I say "I'm playing a gay character." There's a pause. He said, "Well, do what you gotta do. You're an artist. Give it your best, and we'll see how it turns out." Then his first time seeing it was at Outfest (gay and lesbian film fest in Los Angeles). I flew my parents to Outfest. I got the greatest validation when he said "You did a really good job and I'm proud of you."

Peter: So many stories from audience members. I did a Q&A in San Francisco about 10 days ago, and there was this brother, he told me he'd just been in prison for a year. And he was so emotionally distraught; he waited 'til everyone left. He had the tattoos, just like Che. And he said "That was me. That character was me. My son is not gay, but I used to beat him. I haven't spoken to him in eight years." He started crying. He says, "I just called him. He lives in Bakersfield and I'm driving down to see him tomorrow." I said, "Tell him you love him."

Has there been backlash for dealing with the theme of homosexuality and Latinos?

Peter: Our audience so far has been, I'd say, 90 percent Latino, and half of that are veteranos and homies coming in huge numbers to see the film. And some, when they firs hear about it, with reservations—"Hey, I heard this is about jotos." I've even been confronted with some hostility by some veteranos. Then when they see it, they have a whole different take. Like, "Wow, we need to get this to the barrio and to the prisons."

What difficulties have you had in getting this movie made and distributed?

Benjamin: I encouraged Peter to go the traditional route, which was based on my 20 years in the business as an actor. I thought it would get done in a snap: great story, great characters. There would be no problem funding the movie. But everyone said no, for various reasons. We had to be creative; we went up to San Francisco and found three individuals who believed in the movie.

Peter: The bake sales came later.

La Mission is now playing throughout Texas in the following movie theaters:

Austin: Cinemark Tinseltown at 5501 Ih 35 | (512) 326-4408
Austin: Landmark Dobie at 2025 Guadalupe Street | (512) 472-3456
Dallas: AMC Grand 24 at 10110 Technology Blvd | (214) 350-7096
Houston: AMC Studio 30 at 2949 Dunvale | (713) 977-4431
Houston: AMC Gulf Point at 11801 Sam Houston Pkwy E | (888) AMC 4FUN
Houston: AMC Deerbrook at 20131 Highway 59 | (888) AMC 4FUN
Houston: Angelika Houston at 510 Texas St. | (713) 225-1470
San Antonio: Santikos Bijou at 4522 Fredericksburg Rd. | (210) 734-4552
San Antonio: Santikos Mayan Place at 1918 SW Military Drive | (210) 924-6535

I think we all know, deep inside (maybe not that deep), that women are a little crazy. Being a woman, I’m a’ight with that—it’s the truth. Leave it to Mexican film Amor, Dolor y Viceversa to give us an exciting, excellently made psychological thriller (and part comedy, if you think about it) on the complexity of love and the differences between man and woman.

Based on Blas Valdez’s short story “Violanchelo” this movie tells the story of a man and a woman subconsciously connected through their dreams. Bárbara Móri stars as Chelo, who dreams about the perfect man. We soon find out this perfect man actually exists, and he too finds himself thinking about Chelo—in his nightmares. This movie teaches us that the term “stalker” actually isn’t thrown around that loosely.

In an almost Elizabethan twist, we are submerged into the questionable path a person in love is willing to take to find their supposed soulmate. After many gasps and “oh, so that’s what’s going on’s,” the relationship between Chelo and her perfect man begins to unravel. And let me tell you here and now—Amor, Dolor y Viceversa is the Fatal Attraction of the decade. No offense to Glenn Close, but at least now we get a pretty girl to look at while men are shaking in their seats.

With great photography and amazing music to build up the plot, this film shows the passion and desperation human beings have for any type of contact. Desperate for love, for attention, for a connection, we fear the dark threat of loneliness and will do anything to avoid it. Amor, Dolor y Viceversa is far more complicated than I fessed up to be—the cinematic capacity to fuse reality with fantasy is amazing. And trust me, it’s one of few films that’ll have you gasping and at the same time, chuckling lightly at the end of it. Oh, and no—I didn’t give it a rave review just ‘cause I’m Mexican. I can’t help it if we’re awesome.

Good thing we were warned we’d be confused as hell for the first 70 minutes of this film. Director Miguel Gomes took up quite a risky task in Aquele Querido Mes de Agosto (Our Beloved Month of August), the hectic hybrid of documentary and fiction set in the villages of Portugal’s interior. An extraordinary hodgepodge of ordinary things, the first half of this film introduces us to reality. Real people, not actors, as per the director’s request, rambling on about stories that go down through generations. Small-town myths and intriguing, vivacious characters, hilarious flashes of chickens and music and arguments between man and wife and... chaos. Pure chaos.

In between scenes of ritual celebrations and beautiful scenery, we are introduced to the filmmakers, who—faced by insufficient funding and clashing ideologies—bicker much to the audience’s amusement.

What might seem confusing about this film, which, to be honest, can appear overwhelmingly long, is that people who have once appeared as actual townsfolk reappear as fictional characters. After more than an hour of madness, we meet the complicated relationship between father Domingos, daughter Tania and her cousin Hedler, who travel as a popular music group. Their lives become the basis for unforgiving rumors and misunderstood (extremely taboo) love.

This whirlwind of reality and fiction is honest in that it teaches its viewer about the magic of film—storytelling through music and characters and foreign yet such familiar places. A true challenge for those who cannot imagine the cinematic realm of possibilities, the characters in this film are raw and real—are they acting? Is this dialogue scripted? Are we still in documentary, is this fiction, was this planned, was that shot accidental? Frustrating, but Our Beloved Month of August works its magic. After watching this film, everyone will think what I believe many have thought for years—we each should have a sountrack to our life. It just makes everything all the more incredible.

Some things are very uncomfortable to watch, but one can’t help it. It’s morbid, almost. Picture Jack Nicholson’s Melvin Udall in As Good As It Gets meets an Argentinian Bridget Jones and you’ve got Soledad—the charming yet klutzy heroine from Amorosa Soledad, which opened the Cine Las Americas Film Festival on Wednesday.

I can imagine a lot of women in the audience watched this movie and thought, “Scary…how’d they know?” This film speaks to women afraid of being alone the way Sex and the City spoke to women who used independence as an excuse for being alone, you know, because “I can’t find myself no mans” just sounds bad.

Soledad is a late-20-something hypochondriac (that alone is funny enough) who finds herself on her own after being dumped by her boyfriend, who needed “time to focus on his career.” She makes the decision to be single for two to three years. But then of course, she gets locked out of her apartment. And then she feels a strange pain in her arm which might lead to heart failure. And then her dress zipper gets stuck. And then her toilet breaks down.

And then she meets Nicolas. Oh, what’s a hopeless hypochondriac single gal to do? At the very least, check out if there’s a hospital by his house (there is—score!).

Amorosa Soledad is a clever and endearing film—with a wonderful soundtrack to boot—that would be kinda sad if it weren’t so damn funny. Inés Efron, who stars as Soledad, is eerily believable as this gawky, lovable woman whose idea of a fun time is playing some sort of illness/symptoms guessing game with her 12-year-old neighbor. This film deals with fear—fear of living, fear of loneliness and the fear of illnesses that never seem to come... so basically, just a regular day for the Single Woman. Or anyone who’s ever had a hard time being in a relationship with oneself.

Amorosa Soledad was co-directed by Martín Carranza and Victoria Galardi and written by Galardi. Watch the trailer below.

By Justin Stevens, guest reviewer

Time Crimes, the first feature length film by Spanish director Nacho Vigalondo, takes the road less traveled by most time travel films. In its eighty-eight minutes, the film stays away from the scientific explanations behind meddling with the space-time continuum and instead focuses on the effect of returning to one’s past, even for a few hours, and its ramifications on the time stream.

Funny in some ways, a scene in the woods where the past and present meet up is wonderfully light, and interestingly dark in many others, Time Crimes begins with main character Hector, actor Karra Elejalde, on his way home from a day of shopping. His persona comes off as oafish and forgetful, highlighted as shopping bags litter the driveway because Hector forgot to close his trunk. After which comes a day of bird watching with a set of pivotal binoculars, in the near by woods.  It is here that the mystery of the next hour and half begins. Hector spots a young woman undressing and goes to investigate; like the character that checks on a strange noise coming from outside, it’s obvious that he is in for more than he was expecting.

What comes next will not be spoiled in this review but what can be said is Vigalondo is setting out to reshape a genre that when done right recalls memories of flux capacitors and U-haul storage time boxes (Primer, for the uninitiated) but one that can easily trip itself on its own story and the complications of the back and forth of time travel.

What we have is the former, a smart and complex story that allows the audience to work out the series of events along with Hector and his newly acquired acquaintance, El Joven (the youth) played by director Nacho Vigalondo. The design of the movie is very tight and confined, even when touring a science lab we never see more than is needed, which creates an atmosphere of never quite knowing what is coming around the corner. This building of tension through the cinematography and sound design mounts to a high, especially during one of the film’s chase sequences, and brings to the table a hybrid horror/sci-fi film without stepping too far in either one direction.

Enhancing this nod to horror is the “villain” (a loose term at best) of Timecrimes, the bandaged man, whose visage is echoed in each movie poster. The costume design is creepy and foreboding and though his motives are genuine, his addition to the screen and the small ensemble is impressively pulled off without bordering on hokey or too far fetched is far from this, harkening back to characters like the Invisible man and even Darkman. His first appearance will get a quick fright but the depths to which he creates problem after problem will ingrain him as a figure that this film could not do without. His usage of scissors alone will make you think about just how much damage shears can do.   

The film is not without its flaws, Hector’s reaction and constant disillusionment towards his situation can be off putting and rather aggravating especially when we, as a whole, have seen enough time traveling stories to know and get the gist of what’s happening to Hector. Many times I wanted to shake Hector and tell him, “you go do this and stay put or you’ll keep messing up the space-time continuum” but in respect to this character flaw, it is what makes his character arch that more believable. The pacing also lags in certain spots, though not for long, but when the story slows or a revelation takes two scenes too many, it shows the weakness in a director who has only done short films before; though when the action picks up again, it hits all the right marks and begs to offer itself into the mantle of great time travel movies.

Timecrimes or Los Cronocrimenes, its original Spanish title, is a without a doubt a film that you should look for whether it is at the theater or in your living room, it hits DVD shelves this on March 31. So grab a lot of your friends, this is one film that will have you thinking and discussing the ins and outs of Hector’s dilemma for days to come.

Also, if you are lucky enough to catch the film at the Alamo Village, in Austin, then get there early as you will be treated to several of Vigalondo’s short films including his 7:35 de la Manana which received the Bronze Moon of Valencia at the Cinema Jove - Valencia International Film Festival and the Prix UIP Drama at the Drama Short Film Festival. My favorite was Back to the Future 4, very fitting, and Gremlins 3. But don’t worry if you miss them, some of Vigalondo’s short films will making an appearance on the Timecrimes DVD.

Check out Alamo Village for show times and Time Crime's official website for more information about the movie.