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11 articles from 2009

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Breaking Down Pedro Almodóvar

19 November 2009 9:08 AM, PST | ifc.com | See recent IFC news »

The pop art films of Spain's Pedro Almodóvar have certain trademark qualities (a vibrant, glossy look, melodrama blended with irreverent comedy and high camp, queer-friendly hedonism) that have made him an international critics' darling for over two decades. His filmography is peppered with modern arthouse classics like "Law of Desire," "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown," "All About My Mother," "Talk to Her" and "Bad Education," but, even having turned 60 this year, Almodóvar has no intention of slowing down.

A follow-up to 2006's "Volver," his fourth collaboration with Penélope Cruz is "Broken Embraces," a romantic, neo-noirish drama that flashes forward and back between the '90s and today. Lluís Homar stars as a middle-aged screenwriter who gave up his career as a filmmaker once a car accident rendered him blind. Through an outrageous series of recalled memories and time-fractured reveals, the shaggy tale of his affair with Cruz's »

- Aaron Hillis

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Penelope and Pedro: Broken Embraces

17 November 2009 8:00 AM, PST | TribecaFilm.com | See recent Tribeca Film news »

Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro. Josef von Sternberg and Marlene Dietrich. Federico Fellini and Marcello Mastroianni. Alfred Hitchcock and Jimmy Stewart. Billy Wilder and Jack Lemmon. Woody Allen and Diane Keaton... The cinema would be a lesser place without the classic films sprung from its great director/actor teams. Currently, the celebrated Spaniards, writer/director Pedro Almodóvar and his actress/muse Penelope Cruz, are on the verge of that mythic list, italics intended. That's not just a pun on Almodóvar's international breakthrough Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988), but also a winking acknowledgement of his latest feature Broken Embraces (Los abrazos rotos), opening this week in select cities. In a film within that new film, the director reenacts crucial scenes from his own Women on the Verge. Here's the fascinating revision: Cruz plays the Carmen Maura role from that classic Oscar-nominated comedy. I would hate to downplay »

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New on DVD: Almodóvar, "High School Musical" and shirtless dudes!

3 November 2009 2:09 PM, PST | AfterElton.com | See recent AfterElton.com news »

Like celebrity deaths, good things come in threes — at least they do this week on DVD.

Read on for more!

The films of gay Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar go in and out of print on DVD without any apparent rhyme or reason, so if you want to include his work in your home library, it's best to snap them up whenever you can.

This week sees three of his finest films getting new DVD releases. The Oscar-winning All About My Mother (newly remastered) still ranks as my very favorite of his movies, brilliantly mixing his gifts for outrageous comedy and tear-jerking melodrama. It's a "women's picture" in the very best sense.

Almodóvar's breakthrough in this country was the hysterical farce Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown — there's been talk for some time about turning this into a stage musical, so now's the perfect time to catch up with »

- alonsoduralde

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Penélope Cruz – Broken Embraces Photos

19 October 2009 5:25 PM, PDT | Alternative Film Guide | See recent Alternative Film Guide news »

Pedro Almodóvar’s noirish (in color) Broken Embraces, which was screened in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, opens in New York City on November 20 and in Los Angeles on December 11. Broken Embraces star several Almodóvar alumni: Muse Penélope Cruz (a potential Oscar 2010 contender in the best actress category), Lluís Homar of Bad Education, Blanca Portillo and Lola Dueñas of Volver, Rossy de Palma of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and Chuz Lampeavre of just about everything Almodóvar has ever directed. Also: Rubén Ochandiano (of Che), Tamar Novas (of The Sea Inside), Carlos Leal (of Chef’s Special), and José Luis Gómez (of Goya’s Ghosts). Broken Embraces Trailer. Photos: © Emilio Pereda & Paola Ardizzoni / El Deseo, [...] »

- Joan Lister

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The Mask of Zorro Comes to Bluray

27 September 2009 8:00 PM, PDT | MoviesOnline.ca | See recent MoviesOnline news »

The revered black-masked bandit goes blu when Sony Pictures Home Entertainment releases the high-definition Blu-ray Discâ„¢ of The Mask of Zorro on December 1, 2009 for an Srp of $24.95.   Expert action director Martin Campbell (Casino Royale) shepherds this incarnation of the Machiavellian marauder that stars Antonio Banderas (Evita, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) and Academy Award® winners Catherine Zeta Jones (Academy Award® for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Chicago, 2002) and Anthony Hopkins (Academy Award® for Best Actor in a Leading Role, The Si... »

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Review: Broken Embraces - Cruz stars but Almodovar shines

25 September 2009 6:43 AM, PDT | t5m.com | See recent t5m.com news »

I have arrived late to Almodovar’s Broken Embraces but it was worth the wait…I think. Like so many of the Spanish auteur’s films his latest is a hyper-stylised, luxuriant and lavish affair, dripping in sensuality, and if you reach the end with a slight feeling of heady drunkenness it is only because you have been so thoroughly seduced by the extravagance of it all.  It’s rather like Christmas lunch. Delicious at the time, noticeably uncomfortable afterwards, but you know you’ll be going back for more far sooner than you should. In brief (and with apologies): a blind writer, once a director, takes us on a series of flashbacks to a time when a corrupt financier funded one of his films in exchange for casting his mistress as the star. The director, bewitched by her beauty agrees and he and the mistress embark on a passionate affair. »

- Nick Clarke

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Tiff ‘09: Broken Embraces

24 September 2009 8:25 PM, PDT | SoundOnSight | See recent SoundOnSight news »

Abrazos Ratos (Broken Embraces) Directed by Pedro Almodovar After Live Flesh, All About My Mother and Volver, director Pedro Almodóvar and his muse Penelope Cruz unite for a fourth time with Broken Embraces, a film about film-making. Broken Embraces is a film within a film that jumps back and forth between past and present and evokes genres as far apart as noir and melodrama. Sugar coated on top are enough film references waiting to be spotted that is sure to put a smile on Quentin Tarantino's face. Only Almodovar's references are at times too easily recognizable, art imitating art, and in case you didn't catch it the first time, he's sure to have his characters name off each movie title for you. In one of the more interesting subplots, a young filmmaker stalks his stepmother (Penelope Cruz), hoping to expose her affair. His character is a caricature of Carl Boehm's Peeping Tom, »

- Ricky

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Tiff ‘09: Broken Embraces

16 September 2009 9:53 PM, PDT | SoundOnSight | See recent SoundOnSight news »

Abrazos Ratos (Broken Embraces) Directed by Pedro Almodovar After Live Flesh, All About My Mother and Volver, director Pedro Almodóvar and his muse Penelope Cruz unite for a fourth time with Broken Embraces, a film about film-making. Broken Embraces is a film within a film that jumps back and forth between past and present and evokes genres as far apart as noir and melodrama. Sugar coated on top are enough film references waiting to be spotted that is sure to put a smile on Quentin Tarantino's face. Only Almodovar's references are at times too easily recognizable, art imitating art, and in case you didn't catch it the first time, he's sure to have his characters name off each movie title for you. In one of the more interesting subplots, a young filmmaker stalks his stepmother (Penelope Cruz), hoping to expose her affair. His character is a caricature of Carl Boehm's Peeping Tom, »

- Ricky

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Women on the Verge of a Bad TV Show?

25 April 2009 9:19 AM, PDT | FilmExperience | See recent FilmExperience news »

Have you heard the news that Pedro Almodóvar's comedic 1988 classic Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, the film that first won him a major following in the Us and his first trip to the Oscars, is going to become an English language TV series for Fox?

Pass the gazpacho!

When I read the headlines I felt like I had downed a pitcher of glee. Smashing news, especially since Almodóvar himself is producing. But ... then I read the fine print. There's always fine print.

Apparently it's Not a comedy but a "suburban drama" (huh?) And it's about women who've known each other a long time (what? no complex comedic interweaving of strangers?) And it's being written by a Grey's Anatomy writer? (oy!) This doesn't sound anything like the movie and it sounds way too much like a soapy redux of Desperate Housewives. Next thing you know we'll be »

- NATHANIEL R

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Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown The TV Series? -- Series being developed based on Pedro Almodovar’s classic Spanish-language film

24 April 2009 | Collider.com | See recent Collider.com news »

Written by Nicole Pedersen Fans of the eccentric Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar probably never dreamed they’d see the day when one of the director’s films would be deemed worthy of its own television adaptation - at least not outside of Showtime or the like. But, according to The Hollywood Reporter, that is exactly what may come to pass. Fox TV Studios is in the process of developing Almodovar’s first international hit, “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown”, into a television series! Who knew any studio with “Fox” in its title could be so cool, right? Now let’s bring the mood down for a moment. First of all, Fox TV Studios is not the same as the Fox TV Network. They produce series for cable stations (like the excellent “Burn Notice” and the less excellent “Saving Grace”) with a special eye for the ... »

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Pedro Almodovar lands TV series

24 April 2009 5:16 AM, PDT | digitalspy | See recent digitalspy news »

Pedro Almodovar has landed his own TV series, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Spanish filmmaker will executive produce a series adaptation of his first international hit, Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown. The English language hour-long project is being developed by Fox TV Studios, while Mimi Schmir has been tapped to pen the script. "Pedro Almodovar (more) »

- By Dan French

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11 articles from 2009

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