Film

Essentially, Salma Hayek Pinault is in ‘Magic Mike’s Last Dance’ to give feminist cover to a debatable enterprise—while enjoying every minute of the spectacle. And there is something satisfying about watching Hayek Pinault take on the Richard Gere role in ‘Pretty Woman.’

During a recent episode of his podcast, Chicano icon George Lopez insulted up-and-coming comedian Ralph Barbosa by saying “nobody knows who he is.” Now that Lopez has apologized to Barbosa privately, can we go back to seeing him as the lovable TV dad who helps fellow Latinos?

Netflix’s ‘Against the Ropes’ is an unlikely love story. We’re talking a woman-centered wrestling show that’s primarily about the relationship between a mother and her 12-year-old daughter, plus a maximalist show that combines not just lucha libre wrestling, but also a drug ring, a bridal shop workplace, multiple romance plots, and more.

Writer-director Michelle Garza Cervera’s feature debut, ‘Huesera: The Bone Woman,’ exposes the Mexican cult of motherhood as a site of horror. The film follows Natalia Solián as Valeria, a young Mexican woman who’s convinced herself that she wants what society wants of her.

The Netflix series ‘On My Block’ was one of the rare high-school shows to center people of color. Now the show’s creators are back with a spinoff, ‘Freeridge.’ Set in the same L.A. neighborhood and the same school, the show follows a new set of friends, still four in number, still mixed gender, all people of color, and still fast-talking and mystery-solving.

Latino Rebels’ entertainment correspondent Cristina Escobar gives an account of her first covering the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah last month and discusses the gains made by Latinos in occupying such spaces and the need for more.

Latino Rebels speaks with Chilean filmmaker Christopher Murray, co-writer and director of ‘Sorcery,’ which is set on Chile’s Chiloé Island in 1880 and follows a 13-year-old Huilliche girl, Rosa, as she seeks revenge after a white man kills her father.

Latino Rebels speaks with Venezuelan director and co-writer Patricia Ortega, whose ‘Mamacruz’ is a subtle, complex comedy that never makes its aging protagonist the butt of its jokes, but instead invites us to sympathize with a woman who is finally learning how to be the hero of her own story in her third act.

Latino Rebels speaks with actor and producer Eugenio Derbez, who opened this year’s Sundance Film Festival with ‘Radical,’ which stars Derbez as a middle school teacher in Matamoros who rejects the discipline-based instruction favored by his colleagues.

Latino Rebels Radio host Julio Ricardo Varela welcomes back entertainment correspondent Cristina Escobar for a discussion on representation at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and in the Academy Award nominations announced earlier in the week.

Latino Rebels speaks with the directors of ‘Going Varsity in Mariachi,’ a documentary that follows a high school’s mariachi band in South Texas as it attempts to win the state championship. The film was shown at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Even though he’s not playing a Latino, Ramón Rodríguez, star of ABC’s new show ‘Will Trent,’ is still advocating for Latinx communities, saying “it is important to at least do my best to try to push the needle, open new doors, try to create opportunities.”

A roundup of the week’s top Latino news from around the world, written by Latino Rebels senior editor Hector Luis Alamo.

In Daniel Poliner’s ‘Come Find Me,’ Victoria Cartagena and Sol Miranda play a mother-daughter pair who yo-yo in and out of each other’s lives as they struggle romantically, personally, and professionally. Latino Rebels spoke with the filmmaker and the two Boricua actresses.

Here’s a preview of the Latinx films coming to the Sundance Film Festival this year.

In 2009, Venezuelan filmmaker Marianela Maldonado set out to tell an inspirational story of her country’s famed music program, known simply as El Sistema, or “The System.” After 10 years of filming, her documentary ‘Children of Las Brisas’ tells quite a different tale.

TV and film critic Cristina Escobar reviews her top 10 Latino TV shows of 2022.

When Debby Wolfe learned about the strained relationship between comedic legend George Lopez and his formerly estranged daughter Mayan, she knew it would make for a good story that everyone could relate to — and laugh with. The Salvadoran Gen-Zer now has a hit show on NBC.

This week’s wrap-up comes to you from the cozy confines of quarantine, as senior editor Hector Luis Alamo has managed to catch COVID for only the second time this year.

The recently announced Netflix series will follow three friends hoping to make it in the world of reggaetón. But when Netflix announced the show, no Boricuas appeared to be behind the camera—either as producers, consultants, or in its eight-person writers’ room.

Latino viewers have become accustomed to cancelations, when something like HBO’s ‘Gordita Chronicles’ earns strong viewership numbers, gets rave critical reviews, and still gets canceled. But Netflix’s ‘Wednesday,’ starring Mexican American and Puerto Rican actress Jenna Ortega, seems destined for a different fate.