By Will Cade

When I first came to Europe, I was amazed by how much my Erasmus friends knew about the U.S. I was even more amazed at how almost all of them who spoke English as a second language used more American slang than I did. When my friends started asking me questions, though, I discovered why. “Does everyone at American parties really drink out of red plastic cups” they would ask, “like in the movies?”

The American film and television industry spreads my native tongue across the continents, where the majority of countries just add subtitles to the original American English. Along with my favorite linguistic nuances, the industry also spreads a commercialized, well-packaged image of American culture. But this culture consists of more than red party cups, gas guzzling cars, and gun fights in the street: it has a darker side which rarely shows itself in the blockbusters exported to the rest of the globe.

Before seeing the prescreening for “An American Crime,” due out in Spain on June 13^th, I didn’t know anything about the film. Judging by the name, I expected another American cop and robber caper flick, slam-packed with hot blondes, fast cars, and catchy one-liners. It wasn’t until I saw “Based on the State of Indiana vs. Baniszewski (1966)” on the screen that I realized I was in for a totally different ride.

Two sisters, Sylvia and Jennie - whose parents are traveling carnival workers - are left to live with a poor mother of six, Gertrude Baniszewski, just outside of Indianapolis, Indiana during the mid 1960s. Mr. and Mrs. Likens may be traveling with the carnival, but Sylvia and Jennie find themselves in the middle of a circus. Instead of lions to tame and rings of fire to jump through, these sisters have to navigate a dysfunctional family overflowing with sickness, teenage pregnancy, and sexual perversion, topped off with a Baptist’s penchant for shame, repentance, and punishment. A few teenage misunderstandings take place, and gradually these horrendous tendencies snowball into one of the most emotionally disturbing films to have ever come out of the North American Continent. The physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual torture is as upsetting as “Schindler’s List,” yet it takes place within a family and a small town instead of an entire nation.

This family, however, represents many of the heinous tendencies underlying the glamor and success of American culture. This may not be obvious at first glance, but if you pay attention to some of the symbols in the film - like the basement and the coke bottle or the bibles and the cigarettes - it might become more clear. Just bear in mind that throughout its history American culture has been struggling with the same conflicting forces that originated from its first two colonies: Jamestown and Plymouth Rock. Essentially, Jamestown was an experiment in Capitalism, while Plymouth Rock was an experiment in Christian Extremism. Up until today, most political and social issues in the U.S. have strong traces if not direct links to these same cultural forces, sometimes intertwining in extreme and grotesque ways.

In any case, this is most definitely not a date movie, but if you want to stomach the inner demons of American culture for a few hours, never again able to see the U.S. in the same light, than I admire your courage - and if it weren’t for the weak American dollar, I might even buy you a ticket.

Don’t forget it is now possible to listen to all new European Vibe Magazine articles and download them for FREE to your computer and MP3 player.

The recordings are for everybody, but they are especially useful for learning English.
If you read European Vibe Magazine to improve or maintain your level of English, you can hear native speaker pronunciation and learn how to say all the new words you see.
There are many different accents to listen to. We record all the articles at least once, but we also try to have multiple recordings of the same article with different voices and accents.
To see the written articles the audio relates to, visit the main European Vibe site: http://www.europeanvibe.com or click the magazine links on this page.

¡Mejora tu inglés con los “listening” del podcast y lee los artículos de la revista!
Apropiado desde un nivel intermedio hasta muy avanzado, este material es 100% auténtico y una forma tan buena como amena de avanzar.
Hay una amplia gama de acentos: inglés, americano, irlandés, australiano, escocés, etcetera.
Lo bueno de leer una revista en inglés es aprender vocabulario nuevo, lo malo es no saber pronunciarlo.
Lo bueno de escuchar un programa de radio en inglés es escuchar la pronunciación verdadera de la lengua, lo malo es poder entender muy poco, no poder separar las palabras o no tener ni idea de como se escriben.
Hemos juntado todo lo bueno con una revista que puedes leer y escuchar a la vez, y a tu ritmo. ¡Puedes aprender un montón de vocabulario, saber pronunciarlo y llegar cada vez más cerca de la perfección del idioma!

Click here to get your own player.

by Khilen Mehta

As we hit the long weekend in Madrid, many of you will be wondering what there is to do if you stay here. Well, now into its 5th year, Documenta Madrid will be running from the 2nd- 11th May and is guaranteed to provide entertainment for people of all ages.

Presently the city’s most widely attended film festival, Documenta Madrid is an international film festival which is dedicated exclusively to the screening of documentaries. According to the producers of the festival, the main aim is, ¨For the purpose of strengthening and disseminating the documentary genre, insofar as it understood to be a reflection of the social, cultural, economic, artistic, environmental, and other realities that exist in the world.¨

Through the selection of films, the festival provides an annual meeting point for workers, producers and the general public to whom the documentaries are aimed towards. The organisers aim to try and make the viewers relate to what is being portrayed on the screen and therefore all the films are subject to qualititive criteria and all critical opinions and viewpoints are considered.

The festival is divided up into three different blocks of activites, which means there is something for everyone to enjoy: screenings (in both public and private screening rooms, and in their original language and formats), parallel activities (publications, exhibitions, presentations, gatherings, round tables, DVD releases, etc.), and training activities (conferences, instructional classes, workshops, etc.).

During the last five years, Documenta Madrid has established a reputation of being one of the most influential documentary festivals worldwide. The films portray a strong image of a modern day issue whcih the audience can then relate to. The organizers hope the audience will then reflect upon these issues and possibly even act upon them to make a change in the world.

So if you are stuck for something to do this long weekend, head down to one of the screenings or workshops where you could witness something that could take your breath away!

http://www.documentamadrid.com/

By Ryan Craggs 

Going into a press screening of an Al Pacino film, I had only seen the trailer and a brief synopsis on IMDB. That said, I expected an intense character study out of the film’s star—this is Al Pacino, after all.

The story goes something like this: Pacino portrays Dr. Jack Gramm, a forensic psychologist living in Seattle. Nearly ten years prior, Gramm’s testimony played a crucial role in finding Jon Forster (Neal McDonough) guilty in a string of serial murders. A lack of physical evidence made Gramm’s testimony all that much more important. The crux of the film take place today, the day of Forster’s execution.

Gramm receives a phone call telling him he has 88 minutes to live, hence the title. The majority of the film finds Gramm running around, trying to find out who made the call and how that person plans to kill him. In the meantime, Forster seeks a stay of execution, claiming innocence.

The premise alone makes the film a thriller, but at the same time it’s one of its shortcomings. It’s gimmicky, having only 88 minutes to solve this mystery, and at times it seems that Gramm isn’t as focused as one would be with under an hour and a half to live. The cast itself is well rounded, with a few familiar faces, but somehow every woman in Gramm’s life is beautiful. At times, the dialogue is stiff and sounds contrived, especially when Kim (Alicia Witt) talks to Gramm. It’s also curious why Special Agent Frank Parks, played by William Forsythe, disappears throughout most of the film. It would make more sense for an FBI agent to help with some of the legwork.

Pacino portrays a bombastic, egotistical character, a part he pulls off with ease; larger-than-life characters are his specialty. The problem is that we know this is a man approaching 70 in real life, and seeing him run around to take on the world is a little tough to swallow. Action films shouldn’t be his forte at this point. A scene where Gramm clamors around a parking garage attempting to stop cars driven by a murderer doesn’t make much sense. Why would a murderer stop to talk?

Though 88 Minutes isn’t Pacino’s finest hour (or hour and twenty eight minutes, to be precise), the film should leave most guessing who the murderer is throughout. That alone may make the film worth seeing for many—just don’t go in expecting anything more.

Out on 4th April, The Contract is just one of a few new releases our Yelmo cinema tickets competition winner might choose to see.
Jenny Balu came out of the hat to scoop her prize of five tickets to use at Madrid multiplex Yelmo Cine Ideal.
She correctly answered the following questions:

Daniel Day Lewis won an Academy Award in 1989 for Best Actor for which film?
My Left Foot

Name the film which Daniel Day Lewis was nominated for Best Actor for the part as Gerry Conlon in 1993?
In The Name Of The Father

Well done to her, another five cinema tickets can be won in April’s cinema competition in European Vibe Magazine.

by Khilen Mehta

The Cim&Art Foundation was set up to organise and operate an International Film Festival with the aim of making the film Festival one of the world’s leading cultural focal points.  This year from the 28th March- 5th April 2008 the festival will be taking place in Madrid. FilmaMadrid will be a film festival dedicated exclusively to feature films with the objective of portratying cinema as a pure form of culture, as opposed to mere spectacle.

The festival will be small with a maximum of 20 films to be shown; the party atmosphere typically associated with such events to be removed and focus instead on both the high level of films shown and on the audience in attendance. Teatro Arenal, located on calle Mayor, will be hosting the festival, as well as holding press conferences, film screenings and movie premieres. This will be the first editon of the Madrid International Film festival. The first edition will have three sections, the Official section, the International Opera Prima section and the Second developing Spanish project.

Make sure you look out for any famous stars making an appearance near you…

by Helen Macrae

Nothing like a good old bodice-ripper on a Monday evening. When we went to see “The Other Boleyn Girl” (starring Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson and Eric Bana) I was half-expecting yet another plodding historical drama, but instead was pleasantly surprised when the film turned out to be more like an episode of Jerry Springer from the 16th century. The film (”Las Hermanas Bolena” in yet another bizarre example of Spanish film title translation) is an adaptation of the book of the same name by Philippa Gregory, and is a tale of romance, intrigue and backstabbing set against a defining moment in British history.

Portman and Johansson play sisters Anne and Mary Boleyn, who are suddenly thrust from their quiet existence in the country into the world of London court life by their ambitious father, in the hopes of attracting the attentions of the King. Both actresses do a sterling job, especially Portman, who for the most part comes across as a complete and utter bitch who will stop at nothing until she is Queen of England. Eric Bana on the other hand plays a macho and rather unsympathetic Henry Tudor who will do anything to get Anne into bed (creating the Church of England, anyone?).

Although certain historical elements are glossed over, such as religion and the break with the Catholic Church, director Justin Chadwick manages to create a cohesive and enjoyable film, beautifully produced and clocking in at just under two hours running time (perhaps just a little bit too long?). For those of you who remember the “divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived” rhyme from school, you can probably guess what happens at the end, but this only adds to the drama!

Last week’s entertainment headlines in Spain were dominated by the success of Javier Bardem, in becoming the first Spanish actor to win an Oscar. His winning the Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role was no great surprise, as he had been hotly-tipped and the win came after a succession of other prestigious awards had gone his way.

At European Vibe, we ran our own competition in our February issue to predict the winners of five Oscar categories: Best Male Actor, Best Male Supporting Actor, Best Female Actor, Best Female Supporting Actor and Best Film. The vast majority of entrants correctly predicted Bardem’s success in his category, whereas the big ‘coupon-busters’ were in the two female categories.

It was a tough competition; not a single person managed to get five out of five right and there were even a couple of people who got no correct answers. The majority got one or two correct answers and there were lots of people tied on three winners each. However, just when we thought we would need to put all of those with three correct answers into a hat, we realised there was one stand-alone winner with four predictions come true.

Curran Reid had entered the competition early in the month, choosing not to wait and study the odds in the final days like most others. His correct predictions were: Daniel Day-Lewis, Javier Bardem, Marion Cotillard and No Country for Old Men. The only one that held him back from a clean sweep was Ruby Dee, who lost out in the Best Supporting Female category to Tilda Swinton. Still, he bagged himself the five tickets to Yelmo Cines Ideal; not an Oscar, granted, but more useful than a statuette.

Check out this month’s European Vibe Magazine for another film competition, and also a competition to win two flights to Ireland and back!

By Maja Gojkovic

Los Angeles was the host of yet another spectacular Oscar awards ceremony last night in what was the 80th Academy Awards ceremony.

European Vibe staff have all made their predictions, now lets see who got the predictions spot on:

The winners in the Oscars 2008 were:

Performance by an actor in a leading Role: Daniel Day Lewis - There will be Blood

Performance by an actor in a supporting Role: Javier Bardem-No Country for Old Men

Performance by an actress in a leading Role: Marion Cotillard- La Vie en Rose

Performance by an actress in a supporting Role: Tilda Swinton- Michael Clayton

Best Film- No Country for Old Men

The predictions at the European Vibe Office ended in a tie between Luc and Tomek, who both got three out of the five categories correct.

For those of you who entered the competition in the Feburary edition of European Vibe Magazine to win 5 cinema tickets to the cinema, the winner will be announced shortly.

by Luc Ciotkowski

Heath Ledger’s tragic death due to an accidental overdose on prescription drugs in January of this year rocked the entertainment world.
Thousands of fans mourned his untimely end in disbelief and incomprehension.
He began his last film shoot in December 2007 and when he died filming was suspended indefinitely. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, directed by fantasy specialist, Terry Gilliam, is an adventure movie about the leader of a travelling theatre troupe, who strikes a deal with the Devil and takes members of his audience through a magic mirror into imaginary worlds. The troupe is joined by a mysterious stranger (Heath Ledger) and they set out to rescue the leader’s daughter, who has been taken by the Devil.
The future of the project looked black, but three big name actors have stepped in to replace Ledger as different incarnations of the character in the imaginary worlds: Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell have all signed up to continue the role.
These three Hollywood heavyweights, along with the last appearance of the departed Heath Ledger, will ensure an enormous interest in the film, scheduled for release in 2009.