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Llévame en tus brazos.When the Locarno Film Festival announced that its 2023 Retrospective section would survey Mexican popular cinema between the 1940s and 1960s, it meant not only that the canon of Mexican film history would also necessarily be the subject of major revision—or, at least, debate—but also that a considerable amount of resources would be expended on the digitization and restoration of films long omitted from official histories. The 36-film program, “Spectacle Every Day—The Many Seasons of Mexican Popular Cinema,” precipitated new digital versions of many varied genre movies produced between 1941 and 1966, some well-known today, but the majority rescued from obscurity. Unlike previous retrospectives put on by the Locarno Film Festival, and reflecting recent shifts in the accessibility and quality of scanning and restoration technologies, this year’s series primarily featured digital copies of the films with only a few notable celluloid exceptions. When I first perused the festival program,...

Since any New York City cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.

BAMcinématek

A number of Oshima and Godard films play together in a new series.

Metrograph

Films from Keaton and Bergman have screenings.

Garrel’s Les Hautes Solitudes has been held over; Midnight Cowboy and Chungking Express also play.

Museum of the Moving Image

The Scorsese series continues with a The Color of Money–The Hustler...

MoMA's week-long series Mexico at Midnight: Film Noir from Mexican Cinema’s Golden Age opens today. "Twice in this series," notes Alan Scherstuhl in the Voice, "in Julio Bracho's Crepúsculo (Twilight) and Roberto Gavaldón's La Diosa Arrodillada (The Kneeling Goddess), horny swells decorate their homes with a life-size nude sculpture of the woman they cannot have, a clever way to work some nipples onscreen in a Catholic country: In Diosa, María Félix stands fully clothed beside her own stone rendition, seemingly amused at how much she outclasses the art department's chiseling. Those eyebrows, black swoops that suggest distant bird-wings at sunset—those can't be bought." » - David Hudson...

MoMA's week-long series Mexico at Midnight: Film Noir from Mexican Cinema’s Golden Age opens today. "Twice in this series," notes Alan Scherstuhl in the Voice, "in Julio Bracho's Crepúsculo (Twilight) and Roberto Gavaldón's La Diosa Arrodillada (The Kneeling Goddess), horny swells decorate their homes with a life-size nude sculpture of the woman they cannot have, a clever way to work some nipples onscreen in a Catholic country: In Diosa, María Félix stands fully clothed beside her own stone rendition, seemingly amused at how much she outclasses the art department's chiseling. Those eyebrows, black swoops that suggest distant bird-wings at sunset—those can't be bought." » - David Hudson...

While the name Gabriel Figueroa may not be a familiar one to many, even those with a stronger affinity for filmmaking and the art behind it, New York’s own Film Forum is hoping to change that.

On June 5, the theater began a career spanning retrospective surrounding the work of iconic cinematographer and Mexican film industry legend Gabriel Figueroa. Taking a look at 19 of the photographer’s films, the series is running in conjunction with the new exhibition at El Museo del Barrio, entitled Under The Mexican Sky: Gabriel Figueroa – Art And Film.

Best known as a pioneer of Mexican cinema, primarily with his work alongside director Emilio Fernandez, Figueroa’s work was as varied as they come. His work with Fernandez is without a doubt this retrospective’s highlight, particularly films like Wildflower. One of the many times Mexican cinema’s “Big Four” worked together, the film saw the...

Cineteca Nacional's 55 Muestra Internacional de Cine begins its activities tonight in Mexico City with a special free screening of the recently restored 35mm print of Julio Bracho's classic Distinto Amanecer (aka Another Dawn), which is celebrating its 70th anniversary. The Muestra is Christmas in advance for Mexican cinephiles and, like I said in a previous piece, this year's lineup is one of the very best in recent memory. And now Twitch has ready for you a selection with 10 must-see films from it! Out of the 22 titles the Muestra 55 offers I have seen only 9 so far, so the picks displayed in the gallery below are both recommendations and some of the most anticipated films.For prices and schedule, visit the official site....

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Ramon Novarro: Mexican-born actor was first Latin American Hollywood superstar Mexican-born actor Ramon Novarro, the original Ben-Hur and one of MGM’s biggest stars of the late ’20s and early ’30s, has his Turner Classic Movies’ "Summer Under the Stars" day on Thursday, August 8, 2013. First, The Bad News: TCM will not be presenting any Ramon Novarro movie premieres. And that’s quite disappointing. (Photo: Ramon Novarro ca. 1925.) There’ll be no The Midshipman (1925), the first time Novarro was billed above the title (back then the official recognition of True Stardom) and featuring one of Joan Crawford’s earliest film appearances, or Forbidden Hours (1928), a vapid but great-looking The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg redux, with the always charming Renée Adorée as the commoner loved by His Majesty, Michael IV — that’s Novarro. Excellent prints of The Midshipman and Forbidden Hours can be found in the Warner Bros. film...

While the name Julio Bracho may not be widely recognised in Australia, his contribution to Mexican cinema history is vital. Bracho played a significant role in shaping the nation's theatre scene in the 1930s, becoming founder of Teatro Orientacion, Teatro de los Trabajadores and Teatro de la Universidad, before turning to the cinema. He wrote and directed films during the golden age of Mexican cinema, which spanned from the 1940s to the late 1950s when national cinema was reaching new heights and sprouting a whole new generation of filmmakers.   The 4th Hola Mexico Film Festival is celebrating Bracho's career in filmmaking, which extended for over thirty years.