dia de los muertos

My friend’s new movie, ‘The Book of Life,’ is lush, hilarious (photos)

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MariachisThe Book of Life opens today in theaters nationwide. This lush and hilarious Day of the Dead-inspired movie is by my friend Jorge Gutierrez and film giant Guillermo del Toro.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to the flick’s “red carpet” premiere Sunday, and I had the time of my life. It was a “bucket list” experience, and I want to share some of the images and sounds from that morning of movie madness.

Highlights included photobombing the stars, taking a selfie with Diego Luna, and making Ice Cube snarl.

Mas…My friend’s new movie, ‘The Book of Life,’ is lush, hilarious (photos)

NPR Audio: ‘The Book of Life’ is spooky fun for whole familia

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bol150The Book Of Life movie premiere was this weekend, and POCHO Jefe-in-Chief Lalo Alcaraz was there. He thinks it is a beautiful, lush and fun familia film.

Lalo spoke to National Public Radio’s national reporter Mandalit del Barco after the film.

Check out this brilliant report that explains the origins of the pelicula and features writer and director Jorge Gutierrez, executive producer Guillermo del Toro and Lalo at the end, talking about the whole Disney/Pixar Day of the Dead trademark flap.

 

Viva Muerto Mouse!

Mas…NPR Audio: ‘The Book of Life’ is spooky fun for whole familia

Tia Lencha’s Cocina explains El Dia de Los Muertos for you pochos

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Happy Day of the Dead! Is Tia Lencha here. Many people ask me questions about Dia de Los Muertos. I answer the questions today.

Question numero one: Tia Lencha wass this Dia de los Muertos? Is it the Mexican Halloween?
Gwell, kind of, I say. Except that the Day of the Dead celebrations come from the indigenous pagan rituals that trace back 2,500 to 3,000 years ago. Way before Duane Reade sold Halloween candy.

Question numero two: Tia Lencha, wassup with the calaveras (“skulls” for you pochos)?
Bueno, before Jesus came along, people used to keep skulls of their loved ones (and maybe not so loved ones) as trophies. They showed off the skulls during the rituals as symbols of death and rebirth. Kind of heavy, no? I never say my history was all tequila shots and tacos.

Also, calaveras can be short poems, like epitaphs like to mock your friends. Like you can make fun of them on their tombstones. Like for mijo’s daddy, I wrote a calavera about him call “Oscar Meyer” because he like to stick his weenie ebrywhere! He no think it was so funny.

Mas…Tia Lencha’s Cocina explains El Dia de Los Muertos for you pochos

Disney Day of the Dead faux pas: Latinos turned noise into news (audio)

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From NPR: When Disney tried to trademark Dia de los Muertos for their new movie merchandise inspired by the Mexican holiday, Latinos picked up their own mice, went online and turned things back around.

For this week’s News or Noise, Latino USA guest host Luis Antonio Perez speaks with POCHO Jefe-in-Chief Lalo Alcaraz and Kety Esquivel, a digital media strategist, about how Latinos online retaliated against the entertainment giant.

Ñewsweek: Halloween, Day of the Dead, Chavo del Ocho Style

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Ghosts and skeletons and ghouls that go bump in the night?

It was a spooky ñewsweek at POCHO — the most popular entries on the site were not the newsiest.

Pochos liked this week’s entries about Halloween, Chavo del Ocho Gangnam Style, The Simpsons‘ Mr. Burns’ endorsement of Gov. Mitt Romney  and Lalo Alcaraz’s Sandy toon.

Los links:

Mas…Ñewsweek: Halloween, Day of the Dead, Chavo del Ocho Style

Dia de Los Muertos Argentine mutants are people too, my friend (video)

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The band: El Mató a un Policía Motorizado. The video: Día de Los Muertos. We don’t know why, exactly, but one of the mutants from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Total Recall is involved, and he is not muerto. We advise you, therefore, that the events depicted in this video are probably not a true story but rather a sequence of images strung together to go with the music. That’s how they roll in Argentina.