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Cine Latino: Seven Action-Packed Films to Watch this Holiday Season

Cine Latino covers, well, all things relating to Latino culture and the movies, every Friday.

From Holy Motors to the last Twilight Saga, here’s a look at a few movies we hope you enjoy this holiday season.

Flight (Nov. 2)

Denzel Washington returns to the big screen in Robert Zemeckis’ drama, Flight, in theaters today. The film, already getting Oscar buzz, follows a commercial airline pilot with a substance-abuse problem. Puerto Rican newcomer Nadine Velazquez co-stars as Denzel’s love interest. The two quickly steam things up in the film’s opening scene as they appear without clothing. When asked about her onset moments with Denzel, Velazquez said the Oscar winner advised her not to rehearse.

“Don’t rehearse. Life isn’t about being rehearsed. It’s about the moment. You can plan a scene, but you don’t know what’s going to happen even in the scene. You don’t know if something’s going to fall off the dresser that you’ll have to react to. ’Cause you have to react to everything. You never know what’s going to happen in the moment because you just never know what the next moment is,” said Velazquez to Redeye.

Skyfall (Nov. 9)

Javier Bardem’s off-white hair, eerie smile and stoic glances make him one creepy looking villain in Sam Mendes’ Skyfall. The Spanish actor joins Daniel Craig, Helen McCrory, Judi Dench and Berenice Marlohe as the evil Raoul Silva. A few weeks ago Bardem spoke with MTV News about his character and the 50^th anniversary of the Bond franchise.

“We knew that this is the movie that celebrates 50 years, so we knew in some way, there must be something classic about the Bond villain to do this little and humble homage,” said Bardem. “[Silva] was open to different interpretations. It was Sam’s idea for the word ‘uncomfortableness’ that made the imagination be triggered in me. It set the look and the behavior and the tone. Silva will remind us what Bond villains used to be in the early times.”

Holy Motors (Nov. 16)

Holy Motors stars French actor Dennis Lavant, who plays a man that travels between different lives, including that of a murderer, beggar, CEO, monstrous creature and father. The film is directed by Leos Carax, who returns to the screen after a decade long absence. Eva Mendes co-stars as a fashion model kidnapped from a photo shoot in Pere-Lachaise cemetery and get this…Medes sings in this film. Shhh.

Here’s what the actress told me earlier this year about her Amy Winehouse look-a-like character.

“I play this crazy woman with a flaming red wig and nails that were four-inches long. It was actually really difficult to eat with them on. She doesn’t speak a word in the movie, not a lick of dialogue, but I had the best time,” said Mendes.

Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (Nov. 16)

Argentinian actress Mia Maestro and newcomer Marisa Quinn help closeout one of the highest grossing franchises in Hollywood as vampires in the highly anticipated Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2. Quinn recently spoke with Latina magazine and confessed which team she really roots for.

“I was Team Edward all the way from the start. I never understood what everyone always saw in Jacob. He was too muscular for me, but then I happened to be walking to set one day not looking where I was going and literally ran into Taylor Lautner! He flashed this beautiful smile at me and asked if I was ok, and I was literally speechless! I changed my mind after that day. They’re both just so amazing in different ways. I can now simply say I’m Team Jakeward!”

Check out our exclusive red carpet video interview with Marisa Quinn, here.

Heleno (Dec. 7)

It took five and a half years to get Heleno off the ground thanks to actor turned producer Rodrigo Santoro. The Brazilian stud proudly admits this is his fondest project to date. Heleno is based on the life of Heleno de Freitas, a popular Brazilian soccer player who died of syphilis. I got a chance to talk with Santoro earlier this year and he couldn’t help but rave about his latest project.

“I dropped about 28 pounds. I actually lost more than I needed to but it was for the story. We wanted to authentically portray things and be respectful to the story,” said Santoro. “I’m happy with it. It was a long process, it took me five and a half years to develop it, and it’s a passion project for me. Shooting took two months for the first part and then we stopped so I could drop weight for a month and a half and then we came back and shot the last part of it. I produced the film as well so I’m excited about it.”

Zero Dark Thirty (Dec. 19)

Zero Dark Thirty is Katherine Bigelow’s follow up to Hurt Locker and this time she’s taking a close look at the manhunt and killing of Osama bin Landen. Joel Edgerton leads the cast with Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong and Edgar Ramirez, who recently played the god of war in Wrath of the Titans.

Here’s the latest trailer to hit the web.

The Impossible (Dec. 21)

Currently screening at AFI, The Impossible is Juan Antonio Bayona’s attempt to re-create the catastrophic Indian Ocean tsunami that struck eight years ago. The film stars Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor. Bayona reassembled the dream team that brought us The Orphanage and him to international fame. He uses 3D sound technology to immerse audiences in one of the most terrifying of natural disasters.