Almodovar's Broken Embraces

[Watashi]

I'm not really an Almodovar fan. I just can't get into his works no matter how much cleavage Penelope Cruz shows.


Teaser Trailer (http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/02/20/teaser-trailer-pedro-almodovars-broken-embraces/)

It's a pretty silly (vague) trailer.

[Stay Puft]

What all have you seen from Almodovar?

[Watashi]

What all have you seen from Almodovar?
Talk to Her and Volver.

[Stay Puft]

Talk to Her and Volver.

Well, the former is my favorite of his... :)

Try All About My Mother. I think that one is widely regarded as his best.

[lovejuice]

Talk to Her and Volver.

TtH is very hard to get into, and Volver, i'll say, is among his lesser endeavors. yes, try All About My Mother. it's not exactly my favorite, but it's very recommendable.

[EyesWideOpen]

I think you should give Bad Education a shot also.

[Ezee E]

I saw anything. The only movie of his I haven't liked is Live Flesh. The others are good-great.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I remember really liking Volver when I saw it. Now all I remember about it is Penelope Cruz. She has never looked better than in that film.

[Boner M]

I always find Cruz attractive, but when Almodovar photographs her she suddenly becomes a great big all-engulfing supernova of mega-hotness.

[Boner M]

That said, I agree w/ Wats' meh-ing of Almodovar, Talk to Her aside.

[Raiders]

Well, I love (OK, really like) Almodovar, and I'd cite Bad Education and Matador as my favorites.

[lovejuice]

my favorite is the flower of my secret.

[Ezee E]

Well, I love (OK, really like) Almodovar, and I'd cite Bad Education and Matador as my favorites.
I really want to see Matador, but it's not on Netflix.

[Pop Trash]

Talk to Her is superb. Bad Education is very good. Women on the Verge... is a lot of fun. Volver and All About My Mother are OK. What Have I Done to Deserve This? is umm...interesting?

[DavidSeven]

I guess I'll be the first in this thread to say that Volver was outstanding.

[Sycophant]

I guess I'll be the first in this thread to agree with DavidSeven.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I would agree if I remembered anything about it. I know it was in my top ten last year, but I really can't remember much about it now. Maybe I'm just getting old. I sure hope not. I always used to make fun of my dad when I'd ask him if he'd seen something and he'd say "... I don't know...". Here's to hoping I haven't caught that disease already.

[Lasse]

I guess I'll be the first in this thread to say that Volver was outstanding.

I don't know about "outstanding", but I really enjoyed it, and I want to see more Almodovar films after that one.


I would agree if I remembered anything about it. I know it was in my top ten last year, but I really can't remember much about it now. Maybe I'm just getting old. I sure hope not. I always used to make fun of my dad when I'd ask him if he'd seen something and he'd say "... I don't know...". Here's to hoping I haven't caught that disease already.

Hah! I can relate to that a lot. I'll forget plots from films I watched just days before. I thought I was just having a hard time focusing, or some thing like that... but maybe I'm just getting old?

[Sycophant]

Good teaser, although I do want to see more.

[ledfloyd]

this may be my new favorite almodovar.

[B-side]

It's pretty great. Not breaking any new ground for Almy, but he still pulls this off very nicely. Teaser: Cruz shows her rack.

[Pop Trash]

Teaser: Cruz shows her rack.

I've seen them before but still: :eek: :pritch: :eek:

[B-side]

I've seen them before but still: :eek: :pritch: :eek:

Oh, they're a delight. She's sexy as hell in this.

[Ezee E]

I've seen a movie called Don't Move where they tried to make Penelope Cruz not seem sexy. They failed.

[KK2.0]

Talk to Her is superb. Bad Education is very good. Women on the Verge... is a lot of fun. Volver and All About My Mother are OK. What Have I Done to Deserve This? is umm...interesting?

Pretty much the same for me. Also Matador is ok, Atame! is really cool and Kika is probably my least favorite.

But even the weakest Almodovar still has moments of brilliance.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Almodovar is great. One of my favorite directors working today. I have no idea what this movie is, but I'll probably see it opening weekend should I have the time.

[Boner M]

Wow, I actually really enjoyed this; easily my favorite PA film after Talk to Her. I never felt the film's long-ish running time, it's full of exquisite scenes (Cruz lip-syncing the silent footage of herself, esp.), and its portrait of people living fuller lives through their art was surprisingly haunting. The whole film was a pleasant surprise, in fact.

[Ezee E]

Seeing this in a hour.

[Ezee E]

This is very, very good. Boner basically nails as to why it is so good as well.

Post 2000, I've liked everything by Almodovar a great deal actually. Pre 2000, not much at all.

I'd have to rewatch them to rank them properly, but this is on par with Talk to Her for sure.

[Adam]

Eh, it was okay. Nice to look at and all, but it really is just the director treading water. Almost like he wanted to make a candy-coated career retrospective and homage to all things Almodovar, but got bored halfway through and started tossing in stuff like taking a 5 second detour to show a teardrop falling on a tomato. And despite its self-referential themes and pitch-perfect performances (i especially enjoyed the dynamic between Portillo and Homar), the film's totally hollow on an emotional level. So, yeah, blah. I do feel like I maybe should have dug it more, but I'm just finding Almodovar's personal print a little too stale these days. I wish he'd switch it up a bit. Why doesn't he make that vampire movie the kid was putting together in Broken Embraces? That'd be more interesting, at least

[Ezee E]

Eh, it was okay. Nice to look at and all, but it really is just the director treading water. Almost like he wanted to make a candy-coated career retrospective and homage to all things Almodovar, but got bored halfway through and started tossing in stuff like taking a 5 second detour to show a teardrop falling on a tomato. And despite its self-referential themes and pitch-perfect performances (i especially enjoyed the dynamic between Portillo and Homar), the film's totally hollow on an emotional level. So, yeah, blah. I do feel like I maybe should have dug it more, but I'm just finding Almodovar's personal print a little too stale these days. I wish he'd switch it up a bit. Why doesn't he make that vampire movie the kid was putting together in Broken Embraces? That'd be more interesting, at least
It's already made. I call it Thirst.

[Grouchy]

Eh, it was okay. Nice to look at and all, but it really is just the director treading water. Almost like he wanted to make a candy-coated career retrospective and homage to all things Almodovar, but got bored halfway through and started tossing in stuff like taking a 5 second detour to show a teardrop falling on a tomato. And despite its self-referential themes and pitch-perfect performances (i especially enjoyed the dynamic between Portillo and Homar), the film's totally hollow on an emotional level. So, yeah, blah. I do feel like I maybe should have dug it more, but I'm just finding Almodovar's personal print a little too stale these days. I wish he'd switch it up a bit. Why doesn't he make that vampire movie the kid was putting together in Broken Embraces? That'd be more interesting, at least
I think Almodóvar's point is that that's the sort of movie he would have made at the age of 20.

[Chac Mool]

This is a good, but not great, Almodovar film. It's intelligent, well-written, superbly acted, cinematically savvy and directed with the quiet elegance that has become the Spaniard's hallmark.

But -- it lacks genuine drama and intensity, whether of the subterranean type (see: Talk to Her) or the volcanic (All About My Mother, Bad Education). The film feels more like Acts 1 and 2 of what could have been a great Almodovar movie...