Here's me breathing a sigh of relief. Almodovar has made another masterpiece, a work of art. “Dolor y Gloria" is sublime. I’d become disillusioned with the El Deseo boss. “Broken embraces” and “La Piel que lo habito” were colorful, if shoddily-written, films that lacked substance and felt saturated with false emotion. Those were films, I could but only deduce, made by a filmmaker in professional ... more >
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DRAMA/MYSTERY: “Murder on the Orient Express
By now, film adaptations based on the oeuvre of the two most prolific British writers of crime fiction, Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, form a respectable body. Of the latter, probably the best-known work remains “Murder on the Orient Express.” Today comes a new version by the, himself now almost venerable, Brit actor, Kenneth Branagh. From the get-go in this iteration, the ... more >

I’m So Excited
Pedro Almodovar’s “I’m So Excited” received a largely underwhelming response earlier this year in the director’s native Spain, as well as a few cranky complaints here; IndieWire, for instance, called it his worst film. Notably absent are the standard Almodovar themes of a sexual predator preying on the powerless (“Talk to Her,” “The Skin I Live In”), or murderous sexual jealousy playing itself out ... more >

To Rome with love
Woody Allen continues his European wandering, this time taking on four stories centered around love, infidelity and fame and set in beautiful Rome, la bella città. Only the narrative is so slight and the comedy so unfunny that "To Rome with love" quickly grows tiresome. This is the first time that Allen has gone in front of the camera in a while and it helps because he gives himself all the ... more >

Editor’s log: Volver
In 2006 while at the Cannes Film Festival I attended a press lunch for Volver (Pedro Almodovar); Almodovar and his lead actress Penelope Cruz would be answering questions from the press seated at a lunch table festooned with plates of seafood and prosciutto. I was running late. The lobby of the Carlton Hotel was swarming with well-heeled clients laden with shopping bags from Hermes and ... more >