Lethal Crisis (Crisis letal) is Santiago Segura’s fourth Torrente movie; the actor-director says it will be his last: the character is “killing” him, although it’s not clear whether the Spanish comic is referring to the 40 kilos he puts on for the role, or his chances of ever winning an Oscar. Torrente 4 trots out the same smutty jokes and seul entendres as its successors, but is made all the more, well, smutty, for being in 3D (That said, this reviewer was surprised, not to say disappointed, that Segura didn’t use the costly Avatar technology at his disposal to shove the abundant breasts and genitalia liberally on display throughout in the audience’s face). It’s hardly worth … [Read more...] about Torrente, saviour of the Spanish film industry
González Sinde
Industry infighting spices up Spanish cinema awards
Sunday Bloody Sunday, Star Wars, and perhaps Gunfight at the O.K. Corral: this year’s Goya cinema awards ceremony on February 13 looks like producing more off-stage drama than the content of all those movies put together. Topping the bill in this very public spat is Ángeles González-Sinde, a scriptwriter and director herself and former president of the Spanish Cinema Academy, who in her current role as culture minister is trying to push through legislation against P2P downloading sites along the lines of that in place in France, the UK, and the United States. The new legislation has been dubbed the “Sinde Law” in her honour. In her quest to protect what she calls “Spain’s … [Read more...] about Industry infighting spices up Spanish cinema awards
Lost at sea in the fight against digital piracy
In recent years, Spain has won itself the dubious honour of being labelled a haven for illegal downloading, to such an extent that international distributors have voiced doubts about continuing to supply the country with material such as DVDs. The government has attempted to tackle this issue with a raft of anti-piracy measures. Known as the Sinde Law, after Culture Minister Ángeles González Sinde, they were confusingly tacked onto an Economic Sustainability Law unveiled last year. The specific details of the legislation were not approved until March and Congress is expected to put the act into effect over the next couple of months. Production companies, content providers and the … [Read more...] about Lost at sea in the fight against digital piracy