Written by: Oliver Lyttelton – THE PLAYLIST
It’s always said that when it comes to breaking into the film industry, it’s not what you know, but who you know, and it’s hard to deny that nepotism is rife in the industry. But when it’s meant that talents like Sofia Coppola, Nicolas Cage, Peter Fonda, Drew Barrymore, John Huston and, uh, Clint Howard, to name but a few, it’s hard to complain too much. Today we’ve obtained an exclusive first image of a project that utilizes a number of members of famous film-making families, and it’s looking pretty promising.
First Look At Salma Hayek & Mathieu Demy In ‘Americano’
Actor Mathieu Demy comes from famous film-making stock, being the son of French film-making giants Agnes Varda and Jacques Demy, and he’s already racked up an impressive career in front of the camera, in films like “God is Great, But I’m Not,” “Aram” and “The Girl On The Train.” Now, according to a press release from BAC Films International, who’ve picked up all of the worldwide rights to the project, he’s made his directorial debut, on a self-penned project entitled “Americano,” and he’s attracted fellow filmmaking family members to the cast like Chiara Mastroianni, daughter of Marcello Mastroianni and Catherine Deneuve, Geraldine Chaplin, daughter of Charlie Chaplin and Carlos Bardem, the older brother of Javier Bardem. But the film will be toplined by Demy himself, opposite international star Salma Hayek.
Demy will play Martin, a man grieving from the death of his mother, and escaping a failing relationship, who returns to Los Angeles, where he grew up, to sort out his inheritance. Troubled by childhood memories, he goes off to track down Lola, a Mexican woman (Hayek) who he knew in childhood, eventually finding her down at the Americano club in Tijuana, where she works as a stripper. Mastroianni will play Martin’s ex-girlfriend, while Chaplin will play an old friend of the family who kicks off his quest.
Demy comments in the press release “”Americano” is a film I have been working on for years. I wanted to tackle a theme that directly relates to my history, my identity: transmission. What do you inherit from your parents? How do you deal with it? And how do you write your own story?” And it seems like he’s using the unique advantages of his own upbringing: “I used footage from one of my mother’s film, “Documenteur”, where she filmed me when I was 8 and was living with her in LA. Those images find a special echo in the film, and question our relationship to fiction and reality. But I also wanted to do a universal film, that will travel and please all type of audiences. That is why I decided to gather a very special cast, whom I must thank for their support and their faith in the project.”
The film’s now in post-production, having recently wrapped its multi-lingual, globe-spanning shoot—it lensed in Paris, L.A. and Tijuana, and will be in French, English and Spanish—and should apparently be ready for the festival season in the fall, so a bow in Toronto or Venice wouldn’t be out of the question. Les Films du Losange will distribute in France, and BAC Films will be the sales agent. It all sounds fairly intriguing, and Demy’s parentage alone is reason enough to make us very, very curious about what he’s come up with.
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Browse for Mexico Real Estate and Real Estate in Baja.
by AFP Relax news
A leading hotel booking website has revealed a sharp increase in interest in travel to Mexico, as the country struggles to rebuild its reputation after an escalation in drug-related violence.
Earlier this year, US college students were warned against spending their annual spring break in Mexico, a sign of how serious authorities in some states believed the situation has become.
But it seems that not all travelers are being discouraged by the headlines resulting from Felipe Calderon’s war on drugs, launched in 2006, which has prompted a surge in violent incidents as the army struggles to crush the country’s drugs cartels.
Expedia revealed last week that travel bookings made to Mexico from its portfolio of global brands, which includes the Expedia and Hotels.com websites, were up nearly 25 percent in the last 12 months.
The majority of the interest was from the US, Canada and the UK, said Expedia, which described the country as one of its top three destinations in terms of traveler feedback.
The online giant made its comments at Acapulco’s Tianguis Turistico (March 25-28), an annual event organized by Mexican tourism officials to boost the country’s profile as a top Latin American tourism destination, where Mexico’s Tourism Secretary Gloria Guevara Manzo said March 24 that the country had “made real and sustained progress in making Mexico safe and secure.”
Ahead of the conference, financial giant Visa also noted that the amount spent on its cards by inbound visitors had gone up from $4 billion in 2009 to $4.4 billion in 2010, describing Mexico as a “sought after destination.”
No surprise then, that country’s beautiful beaches and rich cultural heritage are continuing to attract hotel chains, who are betting on an eventual end to the drug wars — at which point they believe the country is set to be a lucrative destination, thanks to its excellent location in the Americas.
Later this year, Sol Melia will open two flagship resorts, Paradisus La Esmeralda and Paradisus La Perla, both on the country’s stunning eastern Caribbean coastline.
Last month, Ritz-Carlton announced that it will open a Ritz-Carlton Reserve in Los Cabos, a 124-villa complex with views across the Sea of Cortez and private infinity pools, butler service and outdoor fireplaces.
By Jeff Barnes, Editor, Mission Times Courier
(Mission Times Courier, San Diego, CA) – If safety concerns have kept you from visiting Baja California, the State wants you to know security has been stepped up across the region with your safety in mind.
Baja California Responds To Safety Concerns And Eyes Rebound In Tourism
The mayors of Tijuana, Rosarito, Ensenada, Mexicali and Tecate recently invited media on a three-day tour of the region to discuss the changes that have been made to ensure the safety of tourists. The Mission Times Courier was one of several media outlets from California, Arizona and Nevada that joined government officials on the tour.
Tijuana’s new mayor and police chief say public safety for tourists is a top priority. Mayor Carlos Bustamante says media reports of crimes involving drug cartels over the past several years have led many to believe Tijuana has turned into “a crime city”. Today, officials say that perception couldn’t be farther from the truth. Police Chief Gustavo Huerta credits heightened enforcement and training for turning the city back into a safe place for residents and tourists. Thanks to greater coordination among federal, state and local law enforcement, the city has seen a higher number of seizures of drugs. The city has seen a 30% decrease in crimes involving cartel members and a 40% decline in violent crimes and robberies.
The police chief says new training standards and procedures have also been implemented to make sure officers are fulfilling their obligation. More than 500 officers have been fired for failing to comply.
“We’re not going to put up with any corruption,” Chief Huerta said.
A new “tourist police” force has been put in place in tourist areas, including Avenida Revolución, a downtown area known for its restaurants and shopping. The bilingual officers are more easily recognized and are eager to help tourists during their stay.’ read more »
By Susan A Mahalick
Las Gaviotas, Rosarito Beach, Mexico Sees Rising Home Values and Sales Once Again
In the last 6 months, 7 homes have sold in this little Mexican style village know as Las Gaviotas. Amazingly homes are selling from the low $200.000 to well over the million $$$ mark. Many people live there full time. Or they spend half the year living there, or even use it for a second home if the weather is bad at their primary residence. Las Gaviotas has a old world charm with stone streets and Architecturally interesting homes….298 homes in all line a sandy coastline with semi private beach . Almost everyone has a good view of the ocean. Lots of social activities and even a Spanish class on site in a setting that has been called the Beverly Hills of Rosarito.
Baja sales, just like the US sales were slowing down to almost none. With the cost of living on the rise in the US, and the cost of living here low, Mexico just makes good sense. read more »
By Larry French
The partners of Marena Development, in 1989, decided to take beautiful piece of the Baja coast in a well know cove, south of Rosarito, to create the most luxurious, premium, residential resort that the area had ever seen. Originally Villas Marena the resort was the first to develop a top flight condominium community and today still stands as one of the absolute best addresses in Baja.
Club Marena- Luxury Living in Relaxed Riviera Style
A VISION OF LUXURY REALIZED
The land was originally owned by the Cota family and was a popular camping spot from as far back as the 1940’s. Surfers from around the world would set up camp to sample the smooth pealing point waves. Surfing Legends the likes of Skip Fry, Corky Carroll and Jerry Lopez would dawn the point for pleasure and even a few completions. Marena’s decision to transform this idyllic piece of Baja into the Coast’s first true luxury development turned out to me a monumental one.
The charm of the architecture and the well planned layout of this location are exceptional and were unprecedented, at the time, in this sleepy village in the area south of Rosarito know as Bahia Descanso, “restful bay”. This area represented the premium Rosarito Real Estate and a unique geography on this section of the coast at the time of construction.
People who know the area are very cognizant of the unique micro-climate in this locality. Southern orientation, with coastal hills, keep the winds side shore, the weather patterns a little sunnier and the area more temperate than just 15 minutes up the coast.
read more »
Email inefficiency is probably a major contributor to the technology Stress that some of us experience. My wife and I have often joked, sometimes seriously, about clever auto-responders to help filter the daily load. Here’s a couple of funny ones that I, ironically, got in a junk email:
1. You are receiving this automatic notification because I am out of the office. If I was in, chances are you wouldn’t have received anything at all.
2. Thank you for your email. Your credit card has been charged $5.99 for the first 10 words and $1.99 for each additional word in your message.
3. Thank you for your message, which has been added to a queuing system.
You are currently in 352nd place, and can expect to receive a reply in approximately 19 weeks.
4. I will be out of the office for the next 2 weeks for medical reasons. When I return, please refer to me as ” Sharon ” instead of “Steve”.
5. Hi, unfortunately I am out of the office sipping margaritas on a beach somewhere in Baja-Mexico. I’ll be back, Month Day, Year, tanned, relaxed and likely avoiding your email then.
If you want to have an auto response like number five, please contact Miguel Sedano Miguel.sedano@bajaREgroup.com 858-433-0561. We can help you escape from daily stress, here in beautiful Baja.
Lobster & Art Festivals Highlight This Weekend in Rosarito Beach
ROSARITO BEACH, BAJA CALIFORNIA , MEXICO—This Sunday (October 17), from noon to 7 pm the XVIII edition of the Lobster Festival will be held in Puerto Nuevo, the famous lobster village 12 miles south of downtown Rosarito on the Free Road .
A large art festival will take place the same weekend in downtown Rosarito.
The lobster festival will take place on the Puerto Nuevo’s main Rentería Street and will feature the restaurants Puerto Nuevo II, The Lobster House, Villa Ortega’s, Restaurant Playa Delfines, Ortega’s Original and Sandra’s.
The Rosarito and Puerto Nuevo restaurant associations plus its Convention & Visitors Bureau are sponsoring the event which marks the start of fresh lobster season in one of the city’s main tourist destinations.
The lobster fest will cost $ 260 pesos or $20 and includes a lobster dish with rice, beans and flour tortillas, plus three drinks per person. Live music and a raffle also will be featured.
Puerto Nuevo, which was a small fishing village in the 1940s, has grown to one of the world’s most famous destinations for lobster lovers, with more than 30 restaurants and a million of the tasty crustaceans served yearly.
Puerto Nuevo-style lobster is widely served in Mexico and California .
“It is important for restaurateurs in Puerto Nuevo to participate in this event that has become a tradition,” said Rosa Maria Plascencia, who is part of the Festival Organizing Committee and belongs to one of the founding families of Puerto Nuevo.
Also featured at the event will be LA Cetto and Santo Tomas wineries, Corona Beer, Rosarito florists, regional products (cheese, olives, olive oil), Mexican candy, etc. Live music will be provided by Tijuana ’s The Moonlights and other groups.
Meanwhile, more than 60 artists from this city’s thriving art community and beyond will be featured on Saturday and Sunday (Oct. 16 and 17) at the first Rosarito Art Fest.
The huge free exhibition and sale of paintings, sculpture and other works will be held each day from 11 to 6 on Boulevard Benito Juarez, directly in front of the landmark Rosarito Beach Hotel in the downtown tourist district.
Rosarito in recent years has become home to a thriving colony of artists, many of whom work from Popotla Boulevard studios and show their work at galleries there and elsewhere. A Rosarito Art Association works to promote them and regional culture.
The art festival will highlight established as well as emerging artists. Music and food also will be featured at the festival that organizers plan to make an annual event highlighting the region’s rich art and culture.
Additional details on these events plus some great hotel packages and rates are available on the Convention & Visitors Bureau website: www.rosarito.org
MEDIA CONTACT:
Ron Raposa
619-948-3740
ronraposa@hotmail.com
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Browse for Real Estate in Mexico and Real Estate in Rosarito.
The Five Best Baja Peninsula Beach Towns
Dear International Living Reader,
Live in Mexico and work in the U.S.? That’s one solution many expats are trying…and with a place less than an hour’s drive from much more expensive San Diego, why not?
Mexico’s Baja Peninsula is a geographical wonder. Bordered on one side by the Pacific Ocean and on the other by the Sea of Cortez, this long, thin strip of land features some of the most spectacular oceanscapes—and some of the most incredible beaches—on the planet.
The Baja is really two states: Baja Norte and Baja Sur. Both have their distinctive charms. Much of Baja Norte, particularly the famous (and infamous) Tijuana, is drive time from the U.S., and has been popular with U.S. expats and tourists for many years. Baja Sur, and especially its famous playground, Cabo San Lucas, has a character and lifestyle all its own.
But there is much more to Mexico’s Baja Peninsula than Tijuana and Cabo. All along both sides of this incredible stretch of land are beautiful and affordable options for retirement, vacation, second homes, and rental opportunities.
That’s what this report, Baja Peninsula Beach Towns—Mexico: Dream It, Find It, Live It, is all about. We’ve chosen five locations that we feel hold themost potential for the would-be expat. Each of our picks offers you a lifestyle most people only dream about with great weather, plenty to do and see…and established expat communities to make your transition easier. read more »
Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico.
A race for the 'bold and fearless' - and Kitty James
Kitty James would have loved it.
Even as many of her old sailing favorites were sweeping into Mexican waters in the Newport Ocean Sailing Association’s 63rd Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race Saturday, the longtime editor, writer and photographer for the former Santana magazine lost her battle with cancer.
James, 65, never missed trekking south to report the race for the bible of Southern California sailboat racing until the popular publication slipped from the scene a few years ago. At the start of Sunday’s awards ceremony NOSA Commodore Doug Jones led the crowd in the sun swept courtyard of the Bahia Hotel in paying tribute to her before the distribution of exotic hardware started.
Then every other winner seemed to be from James’s old home ports in Orange County: eight first places in all, including four for Dana Point Yacht Club.
One of the latter was collected by Cindy Wynne’s team on Sol Mate, a Beneteau 35S, as the best of three all-woman crews among the 217 boats entered, 198 of which started and 192 finished.
The last racing division boat to finish was Steve Ginder’s Exit Strategy, a Jeanneau 46.5 from Dana West YC that also posted the slowest corrected handicap time when it crossed the line at 5:58:27 Saturday afternoon—a double whammy that clinched the booby prize, the coveted Brass Spittoon.
A day earlier, Taxi Dancer, owned by Dick Compton, Jim Absley and Tom Parker of the Santa Barbara YC, showed it hasn’t aged in about a quarter-century of competition. The sleek bright yellow Reichel/Pugh 68 finished 70 1/2 minutes behind Lorenzo Berho’s faster Peligroso but that was close enough to correct out on handicap time to win the Maxi class—and, as final tallies showed Sunday, to outscore all the racing division boats on corrected time and collect a $6,500 Lamborghini diamond watch.
They’ll have to share the watch three ways, but one had to wonder how all of those other venerable rival ultralight sleds felt about choosing to do another race on the same weekend.
Parker said, “I think a lot of people worry about Mexico, but it was fun.”
In other strong classes, Mike Warns’s Fifty-One-Fifty, a Santa Cruz 50 from Ventura Sailing Club, won PHRF-A and Bill Gibbs’s Afterburner catamaran from Pierpont Bay YC won the ORCA class for multihulls. read more »
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(619)-200-7408 &
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Spectacular Views!
Spectacular views in this spacious 5 bedroom 4 bathroom ocean front home in the privacy of Las Gaviotas. This vacation rental comes fully furnished, with appliances and even cookware. Just bring your towels. Long term and daily rates available. Book this home today!
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