91% (3) Pan's Labyrinth 118 min, R, [Drama, Fantasy, War] [Guillermo del Toro] [19 Jan 2007]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 82%, Rotten Tomatoes: 95%, Metacritic: 98%, External Reviews
Awards: Won 3 Oscars. Another 99 wins & 105 nominations.
Actors: Ariadna Gil, Doug Jones, Ivana Baquero, Maribel Verdú, Sergi López
Writer: Guillermo del Toro
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Website Language: Spanish Country: Spain, Mexico, USA
Plot: In 1944 falangist Spain, a girl, fascinated with fairy-tales, is sent along with her pregnant mother to live with her new stepfather, a ruthless captain of the Spanish army. During the night, she meets a fairy who takes her to an old faun in the center of the labyrinth. He tells her she's a princess, but must prove her royalty by surviving three gruesome tasks. If she fails, she will never prove herself to be the the true princess and will never see her real father, the king, again.
Rotten Tomatoes: Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro returns to the phantasmagorical cinema that defined such early fare as Cronos and The Devil's Backbone with this haunting fantasy-drama set in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War and detailing the strange journeys of an imaginative young girl who may be the mythical princess of an underground kingdom. Her mother, Carmen (Ariadna Gil), recently remarried to sadistic army captain Vidal (Sergi Lpez) and soon to bear the cruel military man's child, shy young Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) is forced to entertain herself as her recently-formed family settles into their new home nestled deep in the Spanish countryside. As Ofelia's bed-ridden mother lies immobilized in anticipation of her forthcoming child and her high-ranking stepfather remains determined to fulfill the orders of General Francisco Franco to crush a nearby guerilla uprising, the young girl soon ventures into an elaborate stone labyrinth presided over by the mythical faun Pan (Doug Jones). Convinced by Pan that she is the lost princess of legend and that in order to return to her underground home she must complete a trio of life-threatening tasks, Ofelia sets out to reclaim her kingdom and return to her grieving father as Vidal's housekeeper Mercedes (Maribel Verd) and doctor (Alex Angulo) plot secretly on the surface to keep the revolution alive. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
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85% (3) Y Tu Mamá También 106 min, R, [Adventure, Comedy, Drama] [Alfonso Cuarón] [26 Apr 2002]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 77%, Rotten Tomatoes: 92%, Metacritic: 88%, External Reviews
Awards: Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 37 wins & 45 nominations.
Actors: Ana López Mercado, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal, Maribel Verdú
Writer: Carlos Cuarón, Alfonso Cuarón
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Website Language: Spanish Country: Mexico
Plot: In Mexico City, late teen friends Tenoch Iturbide and Julio Zapata are feeling restless as their respective girlfriends are traveling together through Europe before they all begin the next phase of their lives at college. At a lavish family wedding, Tenoch and Julio meet Luisa Cortés, the twenty-something wife of Tenoch's cousin Jano, the two who have just moved to Mexico from Spain. Tenoch and Julio try to impress the beautiful Luisa by telling her that they will be taking a trip to the most beautiful secluded beach in Mexico called la Boca del Cielo (translated to Heaven's Mouth), the trip and the beach which in reality don't exist. When Luisa learns of Jano's latest marital indiscretion straight from the horse's mouth, she takes Tenoch and Julio's offer to go along on this road trip, meaning that Tenoch and Julio have to pull together quickly a road trip to a non-existent beach. They decide to head toward one suggested by their friend Saba, who seems a little confused himself of this beach's location. On the road trip, which ends up not being totally harmonious, the three go on a trip of discovery. For Luisa, she has to figure out what to do with her immediate future based on the news from Jano and a secret she is keeping. And Tenoch and Julio have to figure out what their friendship really means as they grow up.
Rotten Tomatoes: Alfonso Cuarón directed and co-wrote this sexy art-house hit from Mexico. The funny and moving coming-of-age story centers on two immature teens who get an education in love when they take a sexy road trip with a liberated, unhappily married woman (Maribel Verdu).
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68% (3) Tetro 127 min, R, [Drama] [Francis Ford Coppola] [26 Jun 2009]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 69%, Rotten Tomatoes: 70%, Metacritic: 65%, External Reviews
Awards: 1 win & 4 nominations.
Actors: Alden Ehrenreich, Maribel Verdú, Silvia Pérez, Vincent Gallo
Writer: Mauricio Kartun (verse "Fausta"), Francis Ford Coppola
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Website Language: English, Spanish, French Country: USA, Argentina, Spain, Italy
Plot: The week of his 18th birthday, Bennie, who's a waiter on a cruise ship, has a layover in Buenos Aires. He seeks out his older brother, Tetro, whom he hasn't seen in years. Tetro, who lives with Miranda, is a burned-out case; he's hot and cold toward his brother, introducing him as a "friend," refusing to talk about their family, telling Bennie not to tell Miranda who their father is. Thoughts of their father cast a shadow over both brothers. Who is he, and what past has Tetro left behind? Bennie finds pages of Tetro's unfinished novel, and he pushes both to know his own history and to become a part of his brother's life again. What can come of Bennie's pushing?
Rotten Tomatoes: On the heels of the self-financed, modestly budgeted 2007 drama Youth Without Youth -- his first directorial outing after a ten-year hiatus -- filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola remains situated in the director's chair for this semi-autobiographical family drama concerning an artistic family of immigrants whose fierce rivalries span several generations. Vincent Gallo stars with newcomer Alden Ehrenreich, with Carmen Maura, Maribel Verdú, and Alden Ehrenreich rounding out the cast. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
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69% (2) Empowered 87 min, [Comedy] [Santiago Segura] [02 Mar 2018]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 62%, Rotten Tomatoes: 71%, External Reviews
Actors: Diego Martín, Maribel Verdú, Rafael Spregelburd, Toni Acosta
Writer: Diego Ayala (original script by), Marta González de Vega, Benigno López, Nicolás López (original screenplay), Santiago Segura
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: Spanish Country: Spain
Plot: After to visit a Hindi guru healer, Paz loses control over what she says and starts speaking out everything that comes to her mind.
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62% (1) Golden Balls 95 min, [Comedy, Drama] [Bigas Luna] [18 Feb 1994]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 62%, External Reviews
Awards: 4 wins & 3 nominations.
Actors: Elisa Tovati, Javier Bardem, Maria de Medeiros, Maribel Verdú
Writer: Cuca Canals, Bigas Luna
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: Spanish Country: Spain, Italy, France
Plot: Benito González works construction in Melilla and dreams big - of building the tallest building in Benidorm, a great phallic symbol of power, González Towers. Over several years, we see Benito's rise and fall, much like the construction of his tower. Through force of personality, he puts the financing together, taking advantage of women who love him - Claudia, a model who wants to be a star, and Marta, the US educated daughter of a banker whose loan Benito needs. Can his force of personality - his huevos de oro - compensate for shoddy building materials, no permits, and undercapitalization? Nature may have her own power and surprises in store for Benito.
Rotten Tomatoes: In this soft-porn drama, the oversexed hunk Benito Javier Bardem) spends a good portion of his military service in north Africa dreaming of sex, money and power - but mostly sex. He can barely keep himself in control, and is constantly grabbing his crotch. Somehow, when he is released from the service, he marries the daughter (Maria de Medeiros) of a real moneybags, and he uses some of those resources to build a gigantic skyscraper in the form of a phallus. After a car crash leaves him partially paralyzed and very despondent, his ill-used wife kicks him out and he moves to Miami, where he picks up a woman who (in a reversal of roles) loves 'em and leaves 'em. For some reason, this circumstance cuts our previously almost irrepressibly priapic hero to the heart, and he sobbingly realizes the extent of his losses. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
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58% (2) Abracadabra 96 min, R, [Comedy, Drama, Fantasy] [Pablo Berger] [15 Sep 2017]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 60%, Rotten Tomatoes: 100%, External Reviews
Awards: 1 win & 23 nominations.
Actors: Antonio de la Torre, Javier Antón, Maribel Verdú, Priscilla Delgado
Writer: Pablo Berger
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: Spanish Country: Spain, France, Belgium
Plot: A housewife struggles with her husband after he is possessed by a ghost.
Rotten Tomatoes: Housewife Carmen (the wonderful Maribel Verdú) lives with her alpha-male husband Carlos and their daughter Toñi in Madrid. At her nephew's wedding, Carmen's cousin Pepe, an amateur hypnotist, tries out his skills on Carlos but the results don't quite have the desired effect. However, Carmen soon embarks on a quest to find out who - or what - has taken over her husband. From the director of the stylish Blancanieves (LFF2012) comes this madcap woman's melodrama, employing more than its fair share of genre-hopping narrative digressions, absurdist inflections and some glorious retro-pop aesthetic for very good measure. This isn't a film for the faint-hearted - prepare to throw good taste out of the window on a rollercoaster cinematic ride where mayhem and magic fuse to formidable effect.
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