Having opened the Moro Spanish Film Festival earlier in the year and now screening in general release is the movie industry satire, Official Competition. The film, which stars two of Spain’s most famous actors, Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas, is largely a dig at weird, egotistical actors and the slightly ridiculous world they inhabit. Penelope Cruz plays lauded arthouse director
Read moreSplashed with vivid colour and featuring stories about relationships, solidarity and conflicts between women – particularly mothers and daughters – Pedro Almodóvar’s films are immediately recognisable. HIs moving new film Parallel Mothers has all the unmistakable Almodóvar traits, but in exploring women’s lives this time, he links the personal and the political in a story about confronting the raw truth
Read moreFor nearly 40 years, Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar’s films have intrigued, infuriated and delighted audiences. His provocative but highly personalised subject matter, idiosyncratic style, striking images and ability to draw searing performances from his cast have made his films the arthouse equivalent of event cinema. His latest film, Pain And Glory, the third in a semi-autobiographical trilogy, features most of
Read moreKidnapping drama Everybody Knows sees an impressive confluence of talent with esteemed Iranian director Asghar Farhadi at the helm and a cast led by Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem. The film often lives up to the promise offered by this dream team but a little too frequently slips into soap operatic drama. Cruz plays Laura a mother of two who
Read moreThe original Zoolander was a genuinely funny, inventive comedy that affectionately mocked the bizarre world of high fashion. With its endearingly silly humour, excellent use of music and its unusually striking pop-art visual style, the film melted audience cynicism and ensconced itself in that list of repeat watch DVD’s. It greatest triumph, though, was to create indelible characters who have
Read moreSome films look amazing on paper but suck on the big screen. The Counselor is one such film. Helmed by one of Hollywood’s most artistically inspired directors in Ridley Scott, scripted by one of the most acclaimed authors of the last 50 years in Cormac McCarthy and featuring a dream team cast of Michael Fassbender, Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Cameron
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