by Jade Conroy

She’s the leading lady of Spanish cinema, the face of L’Oreal and has just become the second Spaniard to receive an Oscar, for her role as the psychotic María Elena in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. It has to be said that Penélope Cruz’s CV appears to be faultless, not to mention being one of the most beautiful women in the continent. So why do so many Spaniards feel hostility towards their “Spanish sweetheart”?

Penélope has a considerable filmography with an assortment of both international and Spanish films. Starting at a mere 17 years old she quickly became the Spanish girl-next-door, with director Pedro Almodóvar being her ticket to worldwide fame. Her recent Oscar victory for Best Supporting Actress has consolidated her international success so it seems somewhat of a contradiction that she is criticised so avidly by her own people. Many believe that she is overly praised for acting skills and that she plays the same roles, like a Spanish version of Hugh Grant. All of her characters are plagued with either vulnerability or emotional turmoil. She has in fact admitted, “I’m always drawn to play people who suffer because I feel more for them”. Whatever her choice in roles, she does play them well. Besides winning 3 Premios Goya, she was nominated for Best Actress for her part as Raimunda in Volver and this year managed to receive her first Academy Award. The only other Spaniard to have ever received an Oscar is in fact her current boyfriend, Javier Bardem.

Perhaps this is why she is disliked so much. Despite stating that Madrid will always be her home, Penélope also lives in Los Angeles. She has embraced the Hollywood scene wholeheartedly, maybe something that the Spaniards find hard to grasp and resent, which is strikingly similar to French bitterness towards Juliette Binoche. Some feel that other Spanish actresses like Carmen Maura or Blanca Portilla are more deserving of an Oscar- which may be true- but this does not devalue Penélope’s performance.

Penélope’s often talked about personal life may also be a source of ill feeling because she represents the peninsula on an international stage. Her string of relationships form an obvious pattern (she is renowned for dating her co-stars); Matt Damon, Tom Cruise, Matthew McConaughey and not to mention an alleged liaison with Nicolas Cage after Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. Now she is currently dating her male counterpart from Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Javier Bardem, and the couple have created a “Posh and Becks” style of hysteria in Madrid. Yet Penélope refuses to disclose any information about her personal life to the press, including her partners and thoughts on motherhood, which in my opinion is an admirable trait.

Whether you love her or hate her, no one can deny that Penélope has got that exotic va-va-voom so many up and coming actresses today lack. Funnily enough, on asking my flatmates and work colleagues if they liked her, they all said yes, stating that the hatred people feel towards her stems from a little something we like to call the Green Eyed Monster…

Ruthie Rambles… The Ritz, Madrid….

Press Conference with Danny Boyle.

by Ruth Kenny

“ Why so serious, you all look so serious?” (The Dark Knight) were the opening words from Danny Boyle whose Press Conference I attended a fortnight ago. Boyle was in Madrid for the premiere of Slumdog Millionaire which cleaned up at this years Academy Awards Ceremony. The film won 8 Oscars with Boyle deservedly winning Best Director. Slumdog showcases Boyles talent and captures the megalopolis of verve and sparkle that is Mumbai.
Its Oscar victory provided a fairytale ending for the production with a rags-to-riches story that mirrored its own chronicle of a Mumbai street boy heading for the jackpot on the Indian version of TV quiz show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
Last summer, Slumdog Millionaire was without a distributor in the US and seemed to lack the criteria that lead to Oscar success. Not only does it have no well-known actors, but most of the cast had never appeared in another film. Also, about a fifth of the dialogue is in Hindi and sub-titled in English. The savvy Danny Boyle exuded charisma and charm and provided a wealth of amusing anecdotes on the production.

Speaking about the film Boyle said: “The reception of the film has been extraordinary.”
The film is based on the vibrant Indian narrative ‘Q and A’ by novelist and diplomat Vikus Swarup. Swarup has also been forthcoming in his praise of the film , saying that it was, “Beautiful and the plot was riveting”. They took the central idea of a kid who wants to be a millionaire from the novel but all of the episodes are invented by screenwriter Simon Beaufoy.

The core of the film centres around the underdog and rooting for the underdog. Similar to the Rocky story it is a kid from nowhere with nothing but a dream. The gameshow is merely a pretext ; the spine of the story centres around Latika (Freida Pinto) and Jamal’s (Dev Patel) mission to be reunited against the odds.

The crew was mainly comprised of Bollywood actors and Boyle affirmed that the reservoir of talent in Bollywood was vast. The crew were surprised that the film was shot in a real slum. Normally for Bollywood they build a ‘clean slum’ on set but this would not suffice for Boyle who executed the production with panache.

Boyle explained that young male actors in Bollywood are normally very built-up, but he wanted someone who looked like a loser for the role of leading protagonist. Acting upon the advice of his daughter, Londoner, Dev Patel (stars in U.K series Skins) was cast!

The most interesting time for Boyle was editing the film, as he claimed the film seemed to edit itself. There is no device in the film for mixing time but rather time is mixed very freely as in the mind. The only live bit is at the end of the film, everything else is a memory. This type of construction is normally used by an old person looking back, however in this case Jamal is only 18 when the film ends, so his memories set him free, which makes the film uplifting.

Boyle referred to Suketu Mehta’s book “Maximum City” about Mumbai as being a great source of information on the city. Mehta’s book is a textured portrait of the city of contrast and culture that is modern-day Mumbai. It captures the underbelly of the city with the inquisitiveness of a voyeur and is well worth a read for those who want to learn more about this changing city.

Speaking about film-making in general, Boyle said that your first film is always your best because of its freshness. Before shooting, Boyle had never been to Mumbai or India. This facilitated his crisp perspective in capturing India and its irrepressable energy so compellingly.
He said that films have a tendency to pick you, “Like stray dogs they follow you home, you end up making the same film time and again.”

Also discussed was the British obsession with toilets! Two pivotal scenes of the film take place in the loo. The first when Jamal falls into the toilet before getting the autograph of Amitabh Bachchan and the second being when he is fed the wrong answer to the penultimate question by the gameshow host.

I adored the film’s soundtrack, which brings the rhythm of India to life. AR Rahmen, India’s answer to Timbaland, became the first Indian to win a Golden Globe for and an Oscar for best original song Jai Ho. Commenting upon the music scene in Mumbai, Boyle said that, “The fusion of music styles in Bollywood is never subtle..it is bang-bang music to be noticed,” and the musical score of the film encapsulates this with flourish.

The film ends with a vibrant dance scene at the train station,which for me captures the essence of the film. To truly enjoy this film one must be prepared to throw preconceptions aside and go with it. The rich and vibrant setting of Mumbai provides a fitting backdrop for this multifaceted love legend.

With the kaleidoscopic views of Bombastic Bombay and the energy injected into its production… you’re in for a treat… However, there is no room for scepticism in this is a coming-of-age fairytale so my advice to the cynics…stay at home!

Slumdog’s Oscar Success:
1. Best Director: Danny Boyle
2. Best Picture
3. Best Adapted Screenplay
4. Cinematography
5. Sound mixing
6. Film Editing
7. Best Original Score
8. Best Original Song : Jai Ho

MOVIE REVIEW
Quarantine (Spain release 9 January 2009)

by Tim Anderson

For those who remember the creepy Spanish film from last year [REC], you may be surprised to see a remake out so quickly, but then it’s Hollywood, so making a quick buck is never a long conversation. So here it is, repackaged for the Americans as Quarantine, an atmospheric and sometimes gory horror flick, which relies on its hand-held camera direction to create the tension and shocks rather than any logical sense of story development.
Reporter Angela Vidal (Jennifer Carpenter) takes on the story of her childhood dreams to follow around a fire crew on a typical night shift in downtown LA. Things go swimmingly until they receive a distress call from an apartment block where screams have been heard from one of the apartments. What follows is a discovery that takes the story into a question of survival and escape as Angela and her faithful cameraman record the all the action of the unfolding events.

Seen solely through the reporting cameraman’s lens, there are direct influences from The Blair Witch Project which so successfully captured the claustrophobic atmosphere and nervous hands of the recorder in setting the scene. The pacing is steady, and while the explanations merely confuse each other, thankfully more time is spent watching characters is panic freefall.

Quarantine is great undemanding horror entertainment. After leaving, I found myself quickly questioning why some characters and plot twists happened (surely it’s easier to run without trying to film the guy chasing you!) but instead of noticing the holes greater than a Wall Street balance sheet, I decided to revel in its generally well acted and moody flow. A few jumps and shocks is all you really ask for seeing this film, and it’s all you really get.

by Tim Anderson

Cocktail, clever gadgets, beautiful woman, meglomaniacal bad guys, fast cars, exotic locations, gambling and the most cheesy of pick up lines and kill lines around. If you don´t know what I am talking about yet, get your head back in the sand. Male escapists’ paradise, James Bond. What else could an action fan want?

Apparently something else.

Ever since Jason Bourne arrived as the latest big screen action spy, there have been predictions of the demise of the Bond franchise, 45 years of iconic images been finally expelled in a new era of action film heroes. Bourne was faster, smarter, darker and represents a return to the troubled gritty action hero, rather than the smooth, it-all-comes-too-easily high-flying world of Pierce Brosnan’s MI6 agent.

But then re-invented Bond came back,imperfect and impervious, with muscles for action and a dislike for pleasure, troubled by his conscience, a cold hearted killer making good mileage on his Licence to Kill. Although being touted as potentially the worst choice for a Bond ever, Daniel Craig made Casino Royale a huge success.Bond had become just an ordinary spy again, sorting out the extraordinary world around him.

And if Casino Royale re-introduced James Bond to the world again, Quantum of Solace looks likely to cement him as the hardest spy on the block (although whoever came up with that title ought to be killed off in a brutal opening credits scene).

Bourne will have his turn for stealing back his mantle but he’ll be against it. Let’s face it , he’s always running away anyway, so maybe they should send 007 to get him, a sort of spy- off. Here’s the plot…

James Bond is hunting rogue agent Jason Bourne, who after losing his memory somewhere in transit, starts planning the downfall of the world from his secret mountain hideout in Morocco. But this time it´s personal for Bond, because Bourne stole his latin goddess,  Lotti Luvin, from under his nose while he was at the bar collecting martini´s. So Bond is on a mission. Though Haiti, Madagasca and Berlin via India he tracks down the elusive Bourne. First he takes out the cheating girl by tripping her up while she´s carrying the Pina Colada´s to the pool, skewering herself with the cocktail sticks in her eyes leaving her with 2 pineapples for eyeballs. “You don’t want to pin-a- colada to your face darling!” He laughs sarcastically.  Then Bourne is on the run again.

Cue numerous chase scenes in Aston Martins, a fight with gondola paddles and an escape from an aligator pit by running on their long noses (wait, that was done somewhere already..).

Bond will have to win though. He’d been around the longest, has the better female company and the baddest enemies to fight. Oh, and the best introduction line…. “The name’s Bond……”

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.

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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…

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!