Latin America & Caribbean Challenge (Official, October 2019)

blocho · #1

Latin America & Caribbean Challenge

Bienvenido al desafio de America Latina y Caribe. This is one of the largest challenges in terms of geographic area, and it includes a rich and varied cinematic history.

Goal:
Watch as many movies from Latin America and the Caribbean as you can in October.

Challenge runs 1 October 2019 - 31 October 2019.

List of eligible countries/territories

Anguilla
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Aruba
Barbados
Belize
Bolivia
Bonaire
Brazil
British Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Cuba
Curacao
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
French Guiana
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Guyana
Guatemala
Haiti
Honduras
Jamaica
Martinique
Mexico
Montserrat
Nicaragua
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Puerto Rico
Saba
Saint Barthelemy
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Martin
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Sint Eustatius
Sint Maarten
Suriname
The Bahamas
Trinidad and Tobago
Turks and Caicos
United States Virgin Islands
Uruguay
Venezuela

Rules:
- Rewatches allowed.
- A feature film (at least 40 minutes) counts as one point.
- A total of 60 minutes of short films (less than 40 minutes) count as one point.
- For mini-series, each part (at least 40 minutes) counts as one point. If less than 40 minutes, then the short films rule applies.
- A total of 120 minutes of TV Episodes count as one point.

Stats & Formatting:
- Title (Year, Country) is the preferred format. Submissions that do not mention the country will not be counted for Bonus Challenges #1-2.
- New posts are preferred over edited posts.

Official Lists:
Cien Anos Sin Soledad: The Greatest Latin American Films of All Time
Cinema Tropical - Top Ten Latin American Films of the Decade (2000-2009)
Abraccine's the 100 Best Brazilian Films
Ariel Award
UNESCO's Memory of the World: National Cinematic Heritage (See movies 54-85, 114-128, 144-159, 204-214, 478-492, 553-567, 598-625, 803-817)

Unofficial Lists:
ICM Forum's Favorite Latin American and Caribbean Movies
Caribbean Classics
Contracampo's Top Brazilian Cinema
Arcadia's Greatest Latin American Films
Directory of World Cinema: Latin America
Museo del Cine's Top 100 Argentinian
Condor de Plata Best Film
CineChile's 50 Best Chilean
Semana's Best Colombian
SOMOS' 100 Greatest Films of Mexican Cinema
ACCU Top Uruguayan Movies
Bolivian Ministry of Culture's 12 Essential Films
Festival de Valdivia's Best Latin American Films from 1993 to 2013
Latin American Films nominated for Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award

Doubles and Triples

For doubles with the They Shoot Pictures lists, have a look at the list I put together here. There are hundreds of potential doubles with horror. Max has contributed this list for out benefit. There are probably only two triples, though that depends on how one defines horror: Santa Sangre and El Espinazo del Diablo.

Bonus Challenge #1: Every Country/Territory

See something from every country and territory. The maximum possible score is 52. I don't anticipate that anyone will accomplish this, but the person in the lead at the end of the month will win. To participate in this bonus challenge, make sure to indicate which country/territory your entry is from. You may only rely on imdb country listings. If multiple countries are listed on imdb, you choose which one to list in your entry. For this challenge, a movie, short, TV episode, and miniseries will count for a country. (Random youtube videos, like someone's vacation to St. Barts, will not count.)

Bonus Challenge #2 - Individual Country Champions

This is multiple challenges in one. Individual races for the most watches for each country/territory, so long as the leader for each country/territory has at least five watches. Same rules apply as for Bonus Challenge #1, except shorts don't count.

Bonus Challenge #3 - La Ultima Cena

See Tomas Gutierrez Alea's 1976 masterpiece La Ultima Cena.
https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/la+ultima+cena/
It's really great.

Participants

Rank	Participant	Number of Points	# Countries/Territories	La Ultima Cena?	Individual Country Leader?
1st	72aicm	116	12	Not Yet	Brazil (33), Mexico (32), Chile (24)
2nd	jeroeno	46	9	Yes!!!!	Argentina (13), Cuba (5)
3rd	sol	39	29	Yes!!!!	---
4th	sortile9io	33	11	Not Yet	---
5th	morrison-dylan-fan	29	4	Not Yet	---
6th	Straka	25	6	Not Yet	Colombia (10), Panama (5)
7th	jdidaco	18	5	Not Yet	---
8th	maxwelldeux	12	8	Not Yet	---
9th	blocho	10	4	Not Yet	---
10th	max-scl	8	3	Not Yet
11th	Cinepolis	6	6	Yes!!!!	---
12th	albajos	5	3	Not Yet	---
13th	blueboybob	4	3	Not Yet	---
14th	hurluberlu	3	3	Not Yet	---
14th	3eyes	3	2	Not Yet	---
14th	frbrown	3	2	Not Yet	---
14th	ororama	3	1	Not Yet	---
14th	flavo5000	3	1	Not Yet	---
14th	cinephage	3	2	Not Yet	---
20th	sebby	2	2	Not Yet	---
20th	RogerTheMovieManiac88	2	1	Not Yet	---
22nd	AB537	1	1	Not Yet	---
22nd	allisoncm	1	1	Not Yet	---

72aicm · #2

All in! Obrigado for the hosting blocho.

Under ‘official lists’ you have
https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/cont ... a/baalman/
^ that’s the old official Brazil list. Not official anymore.

blocho · #3

72allinncallme wrote: ↑September 28th, 2019, 6:05 am All in! Obrigado for the hosting blocho.

Under ‘official lists’ you have
https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/cont ... a/baalman/
^ that’s the old official Brazil list. Not official anymore.

Will change. Thanks for pointing it out.

maxwelldeux · #4

Here's the list of doubles with Horror:

https://trakt.tv/search/movies/?genres= ... y,ve,vg,vi

blocho · #5

maxwelldeux wrote: ↑September 28th, 2019, 10:21 pm Here's the list of doubles with Horror:

https://trakt.tv/search/movies/?genres= ... y,ve,vg,vi

Thanks Max, added it to the OP.

lynchs · #6

72allinncallme wrote: ↑September 28th, 2019, 6:05 am ... Obrigado ...

That's Caribbean?

max-scl · #7

sol · #8

First in.

It starts!

1. The Mansion of Madness (1973) Mexico

This horror film from the director of Alucarda circles around the experimental treatments at an outskirts insane asylum in which the doctors let their patients live out their fantasies under supervision. In the midst of this is a reporter taken on a tour. Some of the vignettes are interesting, but the film feels like more of a collection of bizarre ideas rather than a solid narrative, though the story finds some direction with a twist in the final half-hour.

sol · #9

Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol

1. The Mansion of Madness (1973) Mexico

2. The Last Supper (1976) Cuba

The dinner itself is very well done here - everything set up like Da Vinci's famous painting and with the conversations between slave and master becoming friendlier as the owner becomes drunker. The slaves have quite a few interesting philosophical thoughts of their own (freedom near the end of one's life is not freedom at all) while their master keeps falling back on religious doctrine and how the Heavenly Father loves those who suffer.

maxwelldeux · #10

1. The Devil Lives Here (2016, Brazil)
Some friends visit a friend's farmhouse.. that's possessed by the devil. Weird things happen. Not great, but had a decent creepy vibe to it.

And on another note, MUBI (US, at least) is doing a Martin Rejtman exploration - they currently have three of his films up.

maxwelldeux · #11

sol wrote: ↑October 1st, 2019, 1:50 pm Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol

Can I interpret your spoiler tag as you complaining about things in your place of residence?

72aicm · #12

1. Noite Vazia / Men and Women (1964, Brazil)
2. Los guantes mágicos / The Magic Gloves (2003, Argentina)
3. Eles Não Usam Black-Tie / They Don't Wear Black Tie (1981, Brazil)

maxwelldeux · #13

E pluribus maxwelldeuxnum

1. The Devil Lives Here (2016, Brazil)

2. Alucarda (1977, Mexico)
Nuns are good, demons are bad, so the nuns must work hard to banish the demons. Religioius/demonic horror movies never do it for me.

3. The House at the End of Time (2013, Venezuela)
This could have been an OK sci-fi/horror film if they went that way, but they didn't. It came off as a mediocre ghost-ish story.

sol · #14

maxwelldeux wrote: ↑October 1st, 2019, 5:18 pm
sol wrote: ↑October 1st, 2019, 1:50 pm Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol
Can I interpret your spoiler tag as you complaining about things in your place of residence?

Er, lol - that was simply the best spoiler tag that I could come up with for this gigantic region.

I might change to another movie title if I find something more fitting.

P.S.: How can I be losing this Challenge already?

I posted two films before anybody else and completed the bonus challenge before everybody else. Looks like we have a competitive bunch here this month!

maxwelldeux · #15

sol wrote: ↑October 2nd, 2019, 2:11 am
maxwelldeux wrote: ↑October 1st, 2019, 5:18 pm
sol wrote: ↑October 1st, 2019, 1:50 pm Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol
Can I interpret your spoiler tag as you complaining about things in your place of residence?
Er, lol - that was simply the best spoiler tag that I could come up with for this gigantic region. I might change to another movie title if I find something more fitting.

P.S.: How can I be losing this Challenge already? I posted two films before anybody else and completed the bonus challenge before everybody else. Looks like we have a competitive bunch here this month!

I'm currently interpreting your spoiler as the description of the experience you have eating spicy food. I'll update as I have more ideas.

I can't speak for others, but with Hoopla (another library streaming service that also does books/music), I get 10 borrows a month, and on the evening of the 30th I borrowed all the horror films from Latin America I could. So I have a couple days to watch I think 9 LA Horror films.

sol · #16

maxwelldeux wrote: ↑October 2nd, 2019, 3:14 am I'm currently interpreting your spoiler as the description of the experience you have eating spicy food.

Okay, I don't get that. Maybe I'm just slow today. I believe that the Portuguese roughly translates as "god and the devil in the land of the sun", though the film is of course better known as Black God, White Devil. I guess it's up to me now to find a better spoiler tag before you do.

sol · #17

I know more Portuguese than max does

1. The Mansion of Madness (1973) Mexico
2. The Last Supper (1976) Cuba

3. Young and Wild (2012) Chile

Alicia Rodríguez is excellent in the lead role here and the film is made with a plethora of interesting (if overly showy) techniques, such as typed words appearing on screen and unusual colour filters. The film is pretty tame overall though. There are quite a few boundary-pushing images/ideas early on (animation of a Jesus doing more than turning water into wine) - but these become fewer and further between as the film becomes more sentimental.

blocho · #18

sol wrote: ↑October 2nd, 2019, 4:40 am
I know more Portuguese than max does
1. The Mansion of Madness (1973) Mexico

Oh sol, que el bribon!

maxwelldeux · #19

sol wrote: ↑October 2nd, 2019, 4:36 am
maxwelldeux wrote: ↑October 2nd, 2019, 3:14 am I'm currently interpreting your spoiler as the description of the experience you have eating spicy food.
Okay, I don't get that. Maybe I'm just slow today. I believe that the Portuguese roughly translates as "god and the devil in the land of the sun", though the film is of course better known as Black God, White Devil. I guess it's up to me now to find a better spoiler tag before you do.

Hah! I had the literal translation - I just stubbornly refuse to acknowledge that "sol" could refer to anything other than you. So I'm interpreting "god and the devil in the land of sol" in fun ways. Metaphors, if you will.

And

at your spoiler - though probably accurate.

sol · #20

Heh, yeah, it's an interesting name from that point of view. I have my own TV show too, or so it seems (IMDb tells me that I am in development: "development unknown").

sortile9io · #21

In but definitely not for the competition, I'll just try to get a bit closer to gold on the "Cien años sin soledad" list and watch some titles in my backlog.

sol · #22

I still know more Portuguese than max does

1. The Mansion of Madness (1973) Mexico
2. The Last Supper (1976) Cuba
3. Young and Wild (2012) Chile

4. Black Ermine (1953) Argentina

This Argentine melodrama is very atmospherically shot in stark black and white. Several images feel directly influenced by noir with their low lighting and shadows, while the lethargic dissolve editing is just breathtaking to view. Alas, all of the magnificent visuals are squandered on a soap opera level tale of betrayal, anguish and lust - and the teen protagonist comes off as a bit of spoiled brat, ruing the fact that his promiscuous mother is so pretty.

And with that check, I should be on Page 1 of users for the Ain't Blues list next time that the rankings update.

sol · #23

I know more Portuguese than max does. Maybe more Spanish too.

1. The Mansion of Madness (1973) Mexico
2. The Last Supper (1976) Cuba
3. Young and Wild (2012) Chile
4. Black Ermine (1953) Argentina

5. The Brainiac (1962) Mexico

The plot is messy here with a sorcerer's return from the dead via meteor and the whole transforming into a brain-sucking monster never really properly explained, but the film offers an entertaining second half after a muddled build-up. There is a great sequence in which he invites all the descendants to a fancy dinner party And There Were None style, and while his monster suit is a little hokey in close-up, it is actually rather unnerving at a distance.

max-scl · #24

1. La noche de 12 años (2018) Uruguay
The story of 3 Tupamaros that are imprisoned by the military dictartorship of Uruguay during 12 years, one of them is Pepe Mujica, who later became the president of the country.

blocho · #25

max-scl wrote: ↑September 30th, 2019, 5:54 pm I'm in
Some other lists:
Argentina Top 100: https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/top+ ... ulanarchy/
Argentina's Silver Condor Award: https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/cond ... m/max-scl/
Chile Top 50: https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/cine ... /joachimt/
Colombia Top 50: https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/sema ... ma/mjf314/
Mexico Top 100: https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/somo ... ma/mjf314/
Uruguay top 10: https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/top+ ... ulanarchy/
Bolivia Top 12: https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/boli ... waynathan/
Latin America's best from 1993 to 2013: https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/fest ... 3/max-scl/
Latin Ameircan films nominated for a FLF Academy Award: https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/lati ... d/max-scl/

Added to OP

jeroeno · #26

01. Cordero de Dios (Argentina, 2008)
02. Jogo de Cena (Brazil, 2007)
03. Iracema - Uma Transa Amazônica (Brazil, 1975)
04. Os Fuzis (Brazil, 1964)

Straka · #27

1. La Patagonia rebelde (Héctor Olivera, Argentina, 1974)
2. Rompiendo la ola (Annie Canavaggio, Panama, 2014)

blocho · #28

Because I'm tracking it already, I added another bonus challenge for the championship of individual countries (what I judged were probably the seven most popular film-making countries in the region). I'll update with the right numbers later today.

See the OP for details.

maxwelldeux · #29

blocho wrote: ↑October 2nd, 2019, 6:45 pm Because I'm tracking it already, I added another bonus challenge for the championship of individual countries (what I judged were probably the seven most popular film-making countries in the region). I'll update with the right numbers later today.

Fun!

max-scl · #30

Cool bonus, although I wouldn't pur Uruguay there, its filmography is tiny compared to Perú or Venezuela for instance.

blocho · #31

max-scl wrote: ↑October 2nd, 2019, 7:07 pm Cool bonus, although I wouldn't pur Uruguay there, its filmography is tiny compared to Perú or Venezuela for instance.

That's a fair point. I'll add/subtract any country whose leader does not reach 5 movies.

blocho · #32

Whoops - double post.

72aicm · #33

4. Baixio das Bestas / Bog of Beasts (2006, Brazil)
5. O Signo do Caos (2005, Brazil)
6. Stellet Licht / Silent Light (2007, Mexico)

Spoiler

1. Noite Vazia / Men and Women (1964, Brazil)
2. Los guantes mágicos (2003, Argentina)
3. Eles Não Usam Black-Tie / They Don't Wear Black Tie (1981, Brazil)
4. Baixio das Bestas / Bog of Beasts (2006, Brazil)
5. O Signo do Caos (2005, Brazil)
6. Stellet Licht / Silent Light (2007, Mexico)

maxwelldeux · #34

E pluribus maxwelldeuxnum

1. The Devil Lives Here (2016, Brazil)
2. Alucarda (1977, Mexico)
3. The House at the End of Time (2013, Venezuela)

4. Warawara (1930, Bolivia)
This is a Bolivian silent from the UNESCO list about an Incan woman who falls for a Spanish conquistador. I think I appreciated it more than I liked it. It was really cool to see the landscapes from the time and the costuming was engaging. The restoration on it was fantastic, too. But as a narrative silent film, I had a few problems, like the over-reliance on title cards. All in all, a cool watch clocking in at just over an hour.

max-scl · #35

2.Las herederas {The Heiresses} (2018, Paraguay) This won awards and was acclaimed at the Berlin festival. It's about a wealthy woman that is having personal and economic problems. It's good and a great effort coming from Paraguay, a country that barely makes movies.

AB537 · #36

1. Monos (Alejandro Landes, 2019, Colombia) 6.5/10 ... This year's Colombian entry for the Oscar International Film award. Last year's, Birds of Passage, was far superior and made it to the shortlist (IMO should have been nominated).

sol · #37

Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol

1. The Mansion of Madness (1973) Mexico
2. The Last Supper (1976) Cuba
3. Young and Wild (2012) Chile
4. Black Ermine (1953) Argentina
5. The Brainiac (1962) Mexico

6. From Afar (2015) Venezuela

With deep and longing eyes, Alfredo Castro makes for a mesmerizing middle aged protagonist and Luis Silva is okay as an aggressive teen who gradually comes to love his much older companion (or does he?). There are a couple more plot complications, but the film is mostly just a portrait of a romance of sorts in which we are unsure who really loves who. If not exactly dull, there is not a lot of content for 90 minute feature and it is very slowly paced.

maxwelldeux · #38

E pluribus maxwelldeuxnum

1. The Devil Lives Here (2016, Brazil)
2. Alucarda (1977, Mexico)
3. The House at the End of Time (2013, Venezuela)
4. Warawara (1930, Bolivia)

5. Come Out and Play (2012, Mexico)
A pretty creepy "kids are scary" movie. More comments in the Horror thread, but after a slow build, this was violent and creepy and quite enthralling.

sol · #39

Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol

1. The Mansion of Madness (1973) Mexico
2. The Last Supper (1976) Cuba
3. Young and Wild (2012) Chile
4. Black Ermine (1953) Argentina
5. The Brainiac (1962) Mexico
6. From Afar (2015) Venezuela

7. 7 Boxes (2012) Paraguay

While the plot here is riddled with convenient coincidences, the film is carried through for the most part by the mystery of what exactly is in the boxes our protagonist is transporting. The film loses some its edge after resolving the mystery, but enough bits and pieces work for the film to be interesting until the end. Especially notable is the protagonist's obsession with movies and being filmed and the final scene works very well along these lines.

72aicm · #40

7. A Hora da Estrela / Hour of the Star (1985, Brazil)
8. Pastorela (2011, Mexico)
9. Hamaca paraguaya / Paraguayan Hammock (2006, Paraguay)
10. O Céu de Suely / Love for Sale (2006, Brazil)

Spoiler

1. Noite Vazia / Men and Women (1964, Brazil)
2. Los guantes mágicos (2003, Argentina)
3. Eles Não Usam Black-Tie / They Don't Wear Black Tie (1981, Brazil)
4. Baixio das Bestas / Bog of Beasts (2006, Brazil)
5. O Signo do Caos (2005, Brazil)
6. Stellet Licht / Silent Light (2007, Mexico)
7. A Hora da Estrela / Hour of the Star (1985, Brazil)
8. Pastorela (2011, Mexico)
9. Hamaca paraguaya / Paraguayan Hammock (2006, Paraguay)
10. O Céu de Suely / Love for Sale (2006, Brazil)