Out Oscar-winning filmmaker Pedro Almodovar has been one of the great unique voices in cinema for over thirty years, and has inspired countless other writer/directors, both real and … imagined.
From his early cult films (Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls on the Heap), (Labyrinth Of Passion ), to his first taste of worldwide acclaim (Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown), to his later arthouse award-winners (All About My Mother, Talk To Her), Pedro has always marched to his own drummer. Even rare misfires, such as last year’s I’m So Excited, are still more interesting than most of the dreck that comes out of Hollywood.
And if there’s one thing Pedro knows, it’s how to fill his films with hot guys. He’s never shied away from male nudity and sex scenes, be it gay or straight, and because two of Pedro’s strongest visual assets are pop and gloss,...
From his early cult films (Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls on the Heap), (Labyrinth Of Passion ), to his first taste of worldwide acclaim (Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown), to his later arthouse award-winners (All About My Mother, Talk To Her), Pedro has always marched to his own drummer. Even rare misfires, such as last year’s I’m So Excited, are still more interesting than most of the dreck that comes out of Hollywood.
And if there’s one thing Pedro knows, it’s how to fill his films with hot guys. He’s never shied away from male nudity and sex scenes, be it gay or straight, and because two of Pedro’s strongest visual assets are pop and gloss,...
- 9/25/2013
- by snicks
- The Backlot
.
Ja from Mnpp here, briefly wishing the director Pedro Almodóvar a happy 60th birthday today. His latest film, Broken Embraces starring Penny Cruz, opens here in NYC in 57 days! Coincidence? Well that'd be a lousy coincidence if so since there's nothing much coincidental about it besides the vaguest proximity of numbers. Anyway! Embraces opens here on November 11th, in Los Angeles on December 11th, and presumably trickles inward from there. Not that we Americans are precisely on the winning end of its release schedule - it's been out in Spain since March! But at least we're not Australia or heaven forbid Japan! Heaven forbid.
I know that Almodóvar is an actressexual's dream director and lavishes his female muses with the juiciest of roles and story-lines and outfits (oh those outfits), but I am going to take this moment to give a little affection towards something a little different that's integral...
Ja from Mnpp here, briefly wishing the director Pedro Almodóvar a happy 60th birthday today. His latest film, Broken Embraces starring Penny Cruz, opens here in NYC in 57 days! Coincidence? Well that'd be a lousy coincidence if so since there's nothing much coincidental about it besides the vaguest proximity of numbers. Anyway! Embraces opens here on November 11th, in Los Angeles on December 11th, and presumably trickles inward from there. Not that we Americans are precisely on the winning end of its release schedule - it's been out in Spain since March! But at least we're not Australia or heaven forbid Japan! Heaven forbid.
I know that Almodóvar is an actressexual's dream director and lavishes his female muses with the juiciest of roles and story-lines and outfits (oh those outfits), but I am going to take this moment to give a little affection towards something a little different that's integral...
- 9/24/2009
- by JA
- FilmExperience
Film review: 'Live Flesh'
"Live Flesh" finds Spanish director Pedro Almodovar working in a more conventional style than usual. But he still manages to work his obsessions into a relatively conventional thriller plot line.
Although lacking the giddy outrageousness that marks the filmmaker's best work, the film contains enough comedy and eroticism to connect with audiences, and may well be his biggest grossing item in years. The closing night attraction at the New York Film Festival, the picture has been picked up for distribution by MGM.
"Live Flesh" begins with a prelude set in Madrid during Franco's reign, where a young prostitute gives birth on a city bus to a boy. Flash forward 20 years, when the now grown-up Victor (Liberto Rabal) is a young man who has a one-night stand with a saucy blond named Elena (Francesca Neri).
A week later, Victor shows up at her apartment hoping to connect again, but Elena is more interested in scoring drugs than repeating the experience. A fight ensues, which attracts the attention of two policeman. During the scuffle that occurs when they intervene, one of them, the handsome David (Javier Bardem, recently seen in "Mouth to Mouth") is shot.
Flash forward again. Victor has served his time in jail, while David, now confined to a wheelchair is married to a newly demure Elena. Victor, still hung up on Elena and also seeking revenge, attempts to insinuate himself into their lives, setting off a complicated chain of events that ends in violence.
Almodovar invests his usual flair and humor into the proceedings, although he is clearly working in a more muted style than usual.
The film suffers from its overly contrived and often ludicrously melodramatic plot line, which the director is only partially able to compensate for through his typically colorful visual design and his talent for wrestling juicy performances from his actors. He also manages to infuse the film with his trademark eroticism, most notably in a torrid sequence between Rabal and Neri.
All of the performances are passionate and convincing, and tech credits are solid, particularly the gorgeous wide-screen lensing.
LIVE FLESH
MGM Distribution
A Goldwyn Films Release
Director, screenplay Pedro Almodovar
Executive producer Augustin Almodovar
Photography Affonso Beato
Editor Jose Salcedo
Music Alberto Iglesias
Color/stereo
Cast:
Victor Liberto Rabal
David Javier Bardem
Elena Francesca Neri
Clara Angela Molina
Sancho Pepe Sancho
Running time -- 100 minutes...
Although lacking the giddy outrageousness that marks the filmmaker's best work, the film contains enough comedy and eroticism to connect with audiences, and may well be his biggest grossing item in years. The closing night attraction at the New York Film Festival, the picture has been picked up for distribution by MGM.
"Live Flesh" begins with a prelude set in Madrid during Franco's reign, where a young prostitute gives birth on a city bus to a boy. Flash forward 20 years, when the now grown-up Victor (Liberto Rabal) is a young man who has a one-night stand with a saucy blond named Elena (Francesca Neri).
A week later, Victor shows up at her apartment hoping to connect again, but Elena is more interested in scoring drugs than repeating the experience. A fight ensues, which attracts the attention of two policeman. During the scuffle that occurs when they intervene, one of them, the handsome David (Javier Bardem, recently seen in "Mouth to Mouth") is shot.
Flash forward again. Victor has served his time in jail, while David, now confined to a wheelchair is married to a newly demure Elena. Victor, still hung up on Elena and also seeking revenge, attempts to insinuate himself into their lives, setting off a complicated chain of events that ends in violence.
Almodovar invests his usual flair and humor into the proceedings, although he is clearly working in a more muted style than usual.
The film suffers from its overly contrived and often ludicrously melodramatic plot line, which the director is only partially able to compensate for through his typically colorful visual design and his talent for wrestling juicy performances from his actors. He also manages to infuse the film with his trademark eroticism, most notably in a torrid sequence between Rabal and Neri.
All of the performances are passionate and convincing, and tech credits are solid, particularly the gorgeous wide-screen lensing.
LIVE FLESH
MGM Distribution
A Goldwyn Films Release
Director, screenplay Pedro Almodovar
Executive producer Augustin Almodovar
Photography Affonso Beato
Editor Jose Salcedo
Music Alberto Iglesias
Color/stereo
Cast:
Victor Liberto Rabal
David Javier Bardem
Elena Francesca Neri
Clara Angela Molina
Sancho Pepe Sancho
Running time -- 100 minutes...
- 10/13/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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