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Reviews
Las delicias del poder (1999)
Rather weak...
This is another one of Maria Elena Velasco's starring as "La India Maria" and her clumsy antics. For those of you who have seen her previous works, you will not be surprised as many of the same type of jokes and plots are repeated. The worst part is that, unlike her previous movies, you will fall asleep and will NOT laugh a single time.
It's basically another "Twin-Switch, Prince and the Pauper" with a twist of the "My Fair Lady", but also the "Evil, Greedy Gringo." Let me give you a little introduction: Many years ago, a rich man was campaigning for mayor in a predominantly Native Indian in southern Mexico. During one of his rallies, a pregnant Indian (not Hindu, of course) woman begins to give birth to twin girls, but dies after doing so. Not as a gesture of humanitarianism, the man adopts one of her daughters while the other one is raised by her relatives. The adopted one grows up a very educated and cultured woman who creates her own party centered around Women's Rights. She is now running as mayor of her town and is being successful, but gets into an accident and falls into a coma.
Her campaign strategists and friends are afraid she will have to forfeit the election, but one of them remembers she had a twin sister and try to get her to take her place. Eventually they succeed and win the election.
The scene you will remember the most is when the "Evil, Greedy Gringos", complete with cheesy "Gringo"-accented Spanish, come to town and are trying to transform some Indian ruins and temples into an amusement park, complete with a dancer who looks and dances like Micheal Jackson. What a ridiculous stereotype! No wonder some Mexicans have that attitude against Americans! She as a Nationalistic Mexican, refuses their offer. Ironically, she later quotes one of JFK's famous quotes, but gives no credit. Which one is it? See for yourself.
I turned it off about 20 minutes after the "Gringo" scene as I expected nothing else besides more yawning.
Aventuras de la pandilla (1959)
A funny, but overlooked Mexican comedy
I am not a big fan of Mexican movies since most of the latest movies stink. I am not very fond of black-and-white movies from the 50s either.
One day when about nine years ago, I came across this movie. At first it failed to catch my attention, but as the movie ran I just couldn't stop laughing and watching.
It's a comedy about a group of neighborhood children (ages 3-15) who are always looking for fun and games. They are like the Mexican version of "The Little Rascals." But if you expect to see nothing but brown children, you will be wrong. The oldest girl "La Cachuquis", played by Angelica Maria, and some of the kinds including "El Gringo" looked more like white. The oldest boy in the group, who acts kind of like the co-leader, is of African ancestry. But they always get into trouble with the neighbors and two bullies, who look more like the average American teens of the 50's with their Elvis hairstyle and the other like a young James Dean.
One of the scenes that cracked me up was when the children see how their crazy inventions turn to disaster leaving one of the nieghborhood mother with a mustache and another bald. But there's much more.
This movie is an example of Mexico's Golden Age of movies, unlike the horrible movies of today.
10 out of 10!