All About My Mother 1999 R, 101 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Pedro Almodovar Cast: Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes, Penelope Cruz, Eloy Azorin, Candela Pena, Antonia San Juan, Rosa Maria Sarda, Toni Canto, Fernando Fernan Gomez, Cayetana Guillan Cuervo, Juan Jose Otegui, Carlos Lozano, Fernando Guillen, Manuel Moron, Jose Luis Torrijo
Seventeen-year-old Esteban (Eloy Azorin) has been keeping a journal he calls "All About My Mother." One evening, Esteban and his mother, Manuela (Cecilia Roth), attend a play, and moments after the play's end Esteban is killed by a car while he chases down the star for her autograph. The tragedy sets in motion Manuela's search for Esteban's father. The quest includes entering the worlds of a pregnant nun, lesbians, and transsexuals. But each character gives Manuela a sense of purpose in the healing process following her son's death. An Academy Award was received for Best Foreign Film.
|  | |
Bad Education 2004 N/R, 105 min. Genre: Foreign / Drama / Thriller / Mystery / Romance
Director: Pedro Almodovar Cast: Gael Garcia Bernal, Fele Martinez, Daniel Gimenez Cacho, Lluis Homar, Javier Camara, Francisco Boira, Juan Fernandez, Petra Martinez, Nacho Perez, Raul Garcia Forneiro, Alberto Ferreiro, Roberto Hoyas, Francisco Maestre, Agustin Almodovar, Leonor Watling
Childhood friends Ignacio Rodriguez and Enrique Goded (Gael Garcia Bernal and Fele Martinez) meet after 16 years when Ignacio arrives at Enrique's office in Madrid. Enrique is now a successful filmmaker, and Ignacio is an aspiring actor who goes by the stage name Angel Androde. Ignacio has written a semi-autobiographical manuscript that he presents to Enrique hoping that Enrique will use it for a film and cast Ignacio in a starring role. Ignacio's story is about sexual abuse encountered when a pedophile priest, Father Manolo (Daniel Gimenez Cacho), at St. John's Catholic school intervened in the sexual love Enrique and Ignacio shared as boys. Enrique decides to make the film but has questions about starring Ignacio.
|  | |
Broken Embraces 2009 Genre: Drama / Thriller / Romance
Director: Pedro Almodóvar Cast: Penelope Cruz, Blanca Portillo, Lluis Homar, Jose Luis Gomez, Ruben Ochandiano, Tamar Novas, Angela Molina, Chus Lampreave, Kiti Manver, Lola Duenas, Mariola Fuentes, Carmen Machi, Kira Miro, Rossy de Palma, Alejo Sauras
Fourteen years ago, Mateo Blanco–now known as Harry Caine (Jose Luis Gomez)–was blinded in a car crash that killed his beloved Lena (Penelope Cruz). Harry's collaborator Judit Garcia (Blanca Portillo) and her son, Diego (Tamar Novas) now help Harry make a living as a successful screenwriter. After Diego is injured in an accident, Harry takes care of him, and, one day, Diego asks Harry why he changed his name. Harry is compelled to tell the story, and, through flashbacks, the story of the love triangle involving Harry, his producer Ernesto Martel (Jose Luis Gomez), and Ernesto's mistress Lena is told.
|  | |
The Flower of My Secret 1995 R, 102 min. Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Pedro Almodovar Cast: Marisa Paredes, Juan Echanove, Carmen Elias, Rossy de Palma, Chus Lampreave, Imanol Arias, Kiti Manver, Joaquin Cortes, Manuela Vargas, Gloria Munoz, Nancho Novo, Jordi Molla
Leo (Marisa Paredes) writes trashy romantic novels under the pseudonym "Amanda Gris." She has not been doing well in her professional life, and her personal life has hit a new low with her marriage in trouble. As if that weren't bad enough, Leo is now hired to write a negative article about "Amanda Gris."
|  | |
Kika 1993 PG, 115 min. Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Pedro Almodovar Cast: Veronica Forque, Peter Coyote, Victoria Abril, Alex Casanovas, Rossy de Palma, Santiago Lajusticia
Kika (Veronica Forque), a cosmetologist, is called on to provide makeup for a "corpse" (Alex Casanovas) who, in turn, was actually in a coma from which he emerges. From there, Kika resumes her affair with the father of her customer, is raped by the housekeeper's cousin, and suspects that her lover murdered his wife. Enough said!
|  | |
Live Flesh 1997 R, 100 min. Genre: Foreign / Thriller
Director: Pedro Almodovar Cast: Javier Bardem, Francesca Neri, Liberto Rabal, Angela Molina, Jose Sancho, Penelope Cruz, Pilar Bardem, Alex Angulo, Mariola Fuentes, Yael Be
A sex-filled thriller aptly describes this foreign film in which an accidental shooting leaves one man (Javier Bardem) paralyzed and another (Liberto Rabal) in prison. Years later, upon his prison release, fate brings the men together again–in a very mixed-up world.
|  | |
Talk to Her 2002 R, 112 min. Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Pedro Almodovar Cast: Javier Camara, Dario Grandinetti, Leonor Watling, Rosario Flores, Mariola Fuentes, Geraldine Chaplin, Lola Duenas, Beatriz Santiago, Paz Vega, Fele Martinez
Journalist Marco (Dario Grandinetti) and nurse Benigno (Javier Camara) spend much of their time at a clinic where important women in their lives are in comas. Their conversations, fueled by loneliness, provide the basis for their unfolding stories. An Oscar was received for Best Writing (Original Screenplay).
|  | |
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! 1990 NC-17, 105 min. Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Pedro Almodovar Cast: Victoria Abril, Antonio Banderas, Loles Leon, Julieta Serrano, Maria Barranco, Rossy de Palma, Francisco Rabal, Lola Cardona, Montse G. Romeu, Emiliano Redondo
Newly released from the mental hospital, Ricky (Antonio Banderas) kidnaps ex-porn star Marina (Victoria Abril) and ties her up. The objective of his actions: talk Marina into marrying him and raising a family.
|  | |
Volver 2006 R, 120 min. Genre: Foreign / Comedy / Drama aka: To Return
Director: Pedro Almodovar Cast: Penelope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Duenas, Blanca Portillo, Yohana Cobo, Chus Lampreave, Antonio de la Torre, Carlos Blanco, Maria Isabel Diaz, Nues Sanz, Leandro Rivera, Pepa Aniorte
The definition of "Volver" is "To Return," and the theme of being haunted by the dead is carried out in this story by two sisters, Raimunda (Penelope Cruz) and Sole (Lola Duenas), who lost their parents in a fire years ago in La Mancha. Raimunda and Sole now live in Madrid but return to La Mancha regularly to visit their Aunt Paula (Chus Lampreave). After Aunt Paula dies, Sole learns that their mother, Irene (Carmen Maura), has been hiding with her sister, and, with the loss of Paula, the past returns with more than a few twists and turns. Penelope Cruz received a Best Actress Oscar nomination.
|  | |
What Have I Done to Deserve This? 1984 N/R, 100 min. Genre: Foreign / Comedy
Director: Pedro Almodovar Cast: Carmen Maura, Luis Hostalot, Ryo Hiruma, Angel de Andres Lopez, Gonzalo Suarez, Veronica Forque, Juan Martinez, Chus Lampreave, Kiti Manver, Sonia Anabela Holimann, Cecilia Roth, Pedro Almodovar
Gloria (Carmen Maura) works hard to keep some sort of order in a wildly dysfunctional family. Husband Antonio (Angel de Andres Lopez) is a cabbie (and forger on the side) and is infatuated with an aging opera star for whom he was once a chauffeur. His current issue revolves around two writers who have written a manuscript that is intended to be the memoirs of Hitler–if Antonio will copy it in Hitler's handwriting. One son sells heroin while the other moves in with a gay dentist. Meanwhile, the mother-in-law is perhaps the most weird. A fun romp.
|  | |
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown 1988 R, 89 min. Genre: Foreign / Comedy / Drama
Director: Pedro Almodovar Cast: Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas, Julieta Serrano, Rossy de Palma, Maria Barranco, Kiti Manver, Guillermo Montesinos, Chus Lampreave, Yayo Calvo, Loles Leon, Angel de Andres Lopez, Fernando Guillen, Juan Lombardero, Jose Antonio Navarro, Ana Leza
Actress Pepa Marcos (Carmen Maura) gets dumped by her lover, but that's only the beginning of her story. When her ex-lover's son, Carlos (Antonio Banderas), arrives at Pepa's apartment, she takes him in along with his wife. Carlos proceeds to have an affair with Pepa's good friend, Candela (Maria Barranco), who Pepa has also taken under her wing because she is a fugitive from justice. When they talk to a lawyer, she just happens to be the new lover of Pepa's ex-lover. And the plot keeps twisting and turning.
|  | |
| 1. All About My Mother (1999)
2. Bad Education (2004)
3. Broken Embraces (2009)
4. The Flower of My Secret (1995)
5. Kika (1993)
6. Live Flesh (1997)
7. Talk to Her (2002)
8. Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990)
9. Volver (2006) aka: To Return
10. What Have I Done to Deserve This? (1984)
11. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
In The News
|