Foreign Film Race: Ricardo Darín... Again. And More...

First comes Oscar. If you follow my charts and this race each year it's impossible to escape Argentinian movie star Ricardo Darín. Not only is he continually employed but whichever body chooses Argentina's Oscar submission each year has a huge crush. He's the star of their 2001 nominee Son of the Bride and their 2009 winner The Secret in Their Eyes and he's also principle cast in their submission titles that weren't nominated from 2002 (Kamchatka), 2005 (El Aura) and 2007 (XXY).

<--- Portrait of a Busy Actor.

The charts have been updated to include new submissions from Argentina, Costa Rica, Hong Kong and Portugal. The latter chose a transsexual film from the controversy baiting director João Pedro Rodrigues of O Fantasma (2000) fame. If you've ever seen that one, and if this one feels like it's coming from the same mind, you'll understand this is a brave if impossible choice.

Here are the trailers for the Argentina (in which Darín plays an ambulance chaser who gets involved with a doctor) submission and Portugal, too.

 
 

And once again the Oscar pages:

Afghanistan to France | Germany to The Netherlands | Norway to Venezuela

There's some missing info but I shall fill in as I find time. I'm off to the New Yorker Festival to see Pee Wee Herman and Jake Gyllenhaal. They can't be kept waiting.
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