Thursday, September 24, 2009

60 Spectacular Almodóvariffic Years

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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 to my appreciation of the Almodóvar Cinematic Experience - mainly, these three somethings-a-little-different:

Gael Garcia Bernal in Bad Education

Liberto Rabal in Live Flesh
Oh yes. Liberto Rabal in Live Flesh was especially important to my conversion as that was the first Almodóvar film I saw and looking at Rabal I knew straight away that in Almodóvar I had found someone that shared my... interests. So thanks for these and the many other pleasures your films have given us, Pedro! And here's to many, many more to come.
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8 comments:

Wayne B said...

Bernal is brutally hot in Bad Education. He makes such a beautiful woman during his performance of "Quizas, Quizas, Quizas." Now I want to watch it again. :)

Jon said...

I forgot about this! I think tonight I'm gonna watch Talk to Her to celebrate. That movie never ceases to amaze me.

Fernando Moss said...

Love Almodóvar... happy birthday to him ;D

Fernando Moss said...

OT: Mexico's submission to the Oscars is BACKYARD... iugh...

Howler said...

Looking at these makes "Broken Embraces" look even colder, and it's already freezing cold for Almodóvar. I've just seen it and I don't have any idea what to think about it, but it's certainly not the Almodóvar you fall in love at first sight.

Karen said...

Antonio Banderas was hottest in Desperado. Just saying.

NATHANIEL R said...

i must disagree Karen. For me the all time hottest BANDERAS was neither Law of Desire nor Desperado but...

TIE ME UP! TIE ME DOWN!

anytime Antonio, anytime.

George P. said...

I think "Live Flesh" ended up being my first Almodovar film as well (in a film class). Rabal was so hot in it!

I wonder what he's been up to now?