FanFare

Jesús and Maria love each other, endlessly, magnificently, even though they sometimes just don't notice. But hey, now that their little lump of love is born, everything's going to work out. Sure, Maria still has a bit of a controlling streak in handling the household, calling all the shots when it comes to the color of their apartment walls, the name of the baby, the food they eat, the TV shows they watch, the thickness of the toilet paper and their holiday destination. Jesús, to prove to her and himself he ain't some spineless trilobite but that he has a will of his own, gets to pick the coffee table. A hard-won victory that he's cherishing by picking out the most aggressively ugly little thing imaginable, the furniture equivalent of Liberace getting lost in Ikea. An unbreakable wonder, says the salesman. Overpriced, says Maria. It will bring boundless happiness to their lives, says the salesman. Their worst nightmare, says us.... [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Aug 31, 2024 - 5 comments

Blanca, an 18-year-old foster home resident, is the key witness in a scandal involving kids, politicians and rich men taking part in sex parties. Yet, the more questions are asked, the less clear it becomes what Blanca's role in the scandal exactly is. [more inside]
posted by 2N2222 on Oct 16, 2023 - 0 comments

A young Mexican man's dream comes true when he gets the job of a lifetime at the hottest resort in Acapulco. But he soon realizes the job is far more complicated than he ever imagined. Staring Eugenio Derbez and Enrique Arrizon as old and young Maximo, supported by Fernando Carsa, Damián Alcázar, and Camila Pérez. Currently streaming on Apple TV and rated 100% on the Tomato Meter.
posted by autopilot on Oct 27, 2021 - 3 comments

The robbers begin to print the money while Arturo Román, one of the hostages, starts making plans for escaping, assisted by his secretary and mistress Mónica Gaztambide, who is pregnant with his child. She is caught with a concealed cell phone and Berlin orders Denver to kill her. Meanwhile, Rio makes a mistake that leads to his and Tokyo's identities being discovered by the police.
posted by Carillon on May 7, 2020 - 1 comment

n the aftermath of a failed bank robbery by a woman named "Tokyo," a man called "the Professor" saves her from being caught by the police and proposes her a heist of drastic proportions. After a brief outline of the planned heist, the Professor, artfully guides a group of robbers: Tokyo, Rio, Berlin, Nairobi, Denver, Moscow, Oslo, and Helsinki to invade the Royal Mint of Spain in red jumpsuits and Salvador Dalí masks and take hold of 67 hostages as part of their plan to print and escape with €2.4 billion. The police investigator Raquel Murillo is put in charge of the case, but she remains completely unaware that the mastermind behind the heist is sidling towards her and getting closer than she could ever have imagined.
posted by Carillon on May 2, 2020 - 15 comments

The agents travel to Spain and France in 1943 to ensure the success of Britain's "Operation Mincemeat" during WWII. A Spanish spy captured in Nazi-occupied France is revealed to be an important figure in the Ministry's past and its present. [more inside]
posted by zarq on Aug 9, 2018 - 3 comments

Amelia and Alonso are sent to the premiere of "Vertigo" at the 1958 San Sebastián Film Festival, to foil a plan by Russia to kidnap Alfred Hitchcock and force him to produce propaganda films. While the Ministry is under construction, a wheelchair-bound Salvador becomes suspicious of a Sony Walkman-wearing construction worker he observes through his office window. [more inside]
posted by zarq on Jun 28, 2018 - 4 comments

Season Finale: After the defeat of the Spanish Armada along the English coast in 1588, King Philip II decides to break the Ministry rules (imposed by his great-grandmother Isabella) and travel back in time to so the Armada will win the battle. When the Ministry refuses to help, Philip takes over, discovering that he can not only travel into the past but the future as well. Julián, Alfonso and Amelia return to 2016 from a mission to find history has been drastically changed. Philip is now King of the World, and the King of Time. [more inside]
posted by zarq on Jun 20, 2018 - 6 comments

Ortigosa and Natalia's wedding is complicated by a hidden time portal and a romantic legend from the 13th century. [more inside]
posted by zarq on Jun 19, 2018 - 5 comments

When the host of a show about paranormal mysteries and conspiracies reveals the existence of the Ministry on the internet, Salvador tries to convince him that he is mistaken by inviting him on a tour of headquarters, while pretending that it is the dullest government office in Spain. [more inside]
posted by zarq on Jun 12, 2018 - 5 comments

In the present, Irene looks into a mystery involving "Las Sinsombrero," a group of avant-garde women artists and activitsts who have been forgotten. In the course of her investigation, it is discovered that the Vampire of Raval was not arrested when she should have been. She is free, and may be traveling through time. [more inside]
posted by zarq on Jun 6, 2018 - 6 comments

I'm enjoying watching El Ministerio del Tiempo with y'all. I've been watching it partially to help with my Spanish, and I'd like to find another equally addicting Spanish-language show to watch when we're through. Would anyone be interested in joining me? If so, does anyone have recommendations? Someone told me that Money Heist / La Casa de Papel was great, but I know nothing about it. [more inside]
posted by tofu_crouton on Jun 5, 2018 - 9 comments

A Velázquez painting is auctioned off in 2016. But the painting in question was one of many destroyed in a fire at the Alcázar de Madrid in 1734. Velázquez is given a mission: travel back in time with Irene to investigate the paradox. [more inside]
posted by zarq on Jun 5, 2018 - 5 comments

Salvador sends Alonso on a mission to save Julián from a lengthy battle during the Siege of Baler in the Philippines. [more inside]
posted by zarq on Jun 4, 2018 - 9 comments

While hiding out in the Philippines in the 19th century, Julián makes a promise to a dying soldier that gets him into a dangerous situation.
posted by zarq on Jun 4, 2018 - 2 comments

The team travels to 1920s New York into the world of magic and Houdini, as the Ministry's own existence is placed in peril. [more inside]
posted by zarq on Jun 1, 2018 - 6 comments

During a mission in 1918 to attend the birth of Carmen Amaya, Irene falls ill with the Spanish flu. New undersecretary Susana orders (against regulations)) that Irene be retrieved and returned to the Ministry, risking widespread exposure to a highly contagious disease that once killed millions and for which there is no vaccine. Soon, more personnel begin to show flu symptoms and the Ministry is forced to close its doors to prevent the disease from being spread through time. [more inside]
posted by zarq on May 30, 2018 - 6 comments

In 1808, Napoleon visited the Royal Convent of Santa Clara de Tordesillas, where the abbess convinced him to release three prisoners that were about to be executed. Unfortunately, the abbess has unexpectedly died before she met Napoleon. Now, the Ministry must send a replacement to convince him not to execute the prisoners, as one of them is an ancestor of Adolfo Suárez González, the first Prime Minister of Spain after the military dictatorship of Francisco Franco. Adolfo guided Spain through its transition to a democracy. His ancestor must survive! [more inside]
posted by zarq on May 29, 2018 - 4 comments

Pacino joins the team for the first time as they work to ensure that Miguel de Cervantes publishes "Don Quixote" in 1604. [more inside]
posted by zarq on May 24, 2018 - 5 comments

Salvador activates a protocol to have Julián detained and returned to the Ministry. Meanwhile, a cop from 1981 arrives in the present chasing a murderer who fled through a closet that turns out to have been a time door. His name is Jesús Méndez, nicknamed "Pacino" for his resemblance to the actor. In 2016, Pacino discovers that the he was declared guilty in absentia of the murders he was investigating. [more inside]
posted by zarq on May 22, 2018 - 6 comments

Season Premiere: Lola Mendieta is in prison. Julián is back after some rest and psychiatric therapy. A new case awaits: the discovery of dated remains that could belong to El Cid, who was thought to be buried in the Burgos cathedral. Alonso and Amelia are sent with Ambrogio Spinola to the eleventh century to lead the investigation... which means pulling Julián from the team. [more inside]
posted by zarq on May 22, 2018 - 12 comments

Season finale. When the Ministry discovers that a young Salvador Dali has designed a film poster in 1924 depicting a modern electronic tablet computer, the team is sent to investigate. [more inside]
posted by zarq on May 14, 2018 - 12 comments

In 1843, Isabella II of Spain became Queen at the age of 13 (with her mother Maria Christina assuming regency). A year later, she demanded to visit the Ministry of Time. Former Ministry agent Armando Leiva, who recruited Irene back in 1960, has escaped from a Ministry prison in the Middle Ages and plans to kill the Queen during her visit. With the very existence of the Ministry at stake, Ernesto, Amelia and Alonso are sent to foil Leiva's plans. [more inside]
posted by zarq on May 11, 2018 - 9 comments

The Ministry is called to investigate when archaeologists find a cell phone belonging to a missing 21st century corrupt executive in a room that was sealed off in 1520. Julián, Amelia and Alonso travel to the past and meet the novella-inspiring Lazarillo de Tormes. Meanwhile, Irene interrogates Paul Walcott who has been captured by the Ministry and locked in a 1053 prison in Huesca. [more inside]
posted by zarq on May 10, 2018 - 4 comments

Julián, Amelia and Alonso travel to 1981 to ensure a Picasso painting is returned to Spain. [more inside]
posted by zarq on May 9, 2018 - 9 comments

Salvador sends the team to 1491 to save the first discoverer of the time doors from the Spanish Inquisition. Amelia hides her job at the Ministry by telling her 1880 parents that she has a boyfriend. [more inside]
posted by zarq on May 7, 2018 - 5 comments

The Ministry sends agents to 1940 after a man being chased by Nazis promises to show Heinrich Himmler how to travel in time if he'll spare his life. Amelia, Julián and Alonso travel to Montserrat. Ernesto and Irene go to Hendaye, where Hitler and Franco negotiate Spain's participation in WWII. [more inside]
posted by zarq on May 3, 2018 - 10 comments

El Ministerio del Tiempo (The Ministry of Time) is the best kept secret of the Spanish state: an autonomous government institution whose patrols guard the doors of time and preserve Spain's past. Now, the Ministry's newest recruits: an Army of Flanders soldier from 1956, (Alonso de Entrerríos,) a female college student from 1880 (Amelia Folch) and a modern day SAMUR paramedic (Julián Martínez,) must prevent two Frenchmen in 1808 from altering a war's outcome.
posted by zarq on May 1, 2018 - 16 comments

Is anyone interested in a FanFare discussion of Ingobernable? All 15 episodes are available (on Netflix) for bingeing, so it might do well as a full-season post. [more inside]
posted by expialidocious on May 3, 2017 - 3 comments

aka "Il Raggio Infernale" A scientist invents a death ray--purely for peaceful purposes of course--and wouldn't you know it, its inventor gets kidnapped. It's up to James Bond expy Bart Fargo (Bart Fargo Bart Fargo Bart Fargo) to rescue him, to the tune of an unusually catchy soundtrack. Ba dup ba dup ba da da! While not as silly as 504 SECRET AGENT SUPER DRAGON or 508 OPERATION DOUBLE 007, that darn soundtrack, and the guys' fixation on it, help carry us through. YouTube (1h32m) Premiered January 7, 1995. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Mar 9, 2017 - 7 comments

This week (11/7):

• The final pre-Election 2016 segment! Contains a couple of old Daily Show clips, of John Oliver 1. begging Donald Trump to run for the comedy potential, and 2. claiming the Cubs will never win.
• And Now: The Inevitable, Sad Consequences of Morning Shows Celebrating Halloween
• Main story: Multilevel marketing companies like Herbalife, Kyäni and "Nu Skin," and their suspecious similarity to pyramid schemes. With LWT's own pyramid scheme at the end -- money isn't involved, but passing a video around to five of your friends is. Because MLM companies are now targeting the Latino community, the segment is offered on YouTube with Spanish subtitles. English - Spanish subs (both about 32m))

[more inside]
posted by JHarris on Nov 7, 2016 - 3 comments

THE SPIRIT OF 99 VIEWING CLUB - Following the death of her son, Manuela goes to tell the sad news to her boy's father, who is living as a woman, amid a heartfelt encrustation of classic Hollywood tropes and references. [more inside]
posted by The Whelk on Nov 12, 2014 - 1 comment

[REC] was made in 2007 by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza, and stars Manuela Velasco, Ferrán Terraza, Jorge-Yaman Serrano, Pablo Rosso, David Vert, Vicente Gil and Martha Carbonell.
posted by tel3path on Nov 2, 2014 - 13 comments