pedro almodovar Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Indie Roundup gathers a selection of indie film news from the past seven days and offers a peek ahead to what's coming.

Deal. Do not despair that the first month of the new year will be filled solely with the expansion of award contenders. Distribution rights in the US for Sweetgrass have been acquired by The Cinema Guild, according to indieWIRE, and the documentary will open at Film Forum in Manhattan on January 6, followed by a rollout across the country.

Directed by Ilisa Barbasch and Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Sweetgrass "follows the last sheepherders to trail their flocks up into Montana's Beartooth mountains for summer pasture," per its official synopsis. After debuting at the Berlin Film Festival last year, the doc played the festival circuit quite successfully, picking up positive critical notices. Check out the splendid trailer in all its quiet, chud-chewing glory after the jump.

Online / On-Demand Viewing. Debuting on demand next Sunday, Clarkworld paints a portrait of filmmaker Bob Clark. Best known for his perennial holiday favorite A Christmas Story, Clark also made the groundbreaking Porky's, which set the tone for all raunchy teen comedies to come, and the significant slasher pic Black Christmas, another flick that was a trendsetter (or at least ripped off at will). Director Deren P. Abram talked with Peter Billingsley (former child star turned filmmaker), Kim Cattrall, Jon Voight, Denise Richards, Mary Steenburgen, John Saxon, Scott Baio, and other people who weren't even in any of his movies! We have the trailer for this one after the jump, too, which makes for an interesting contrast with the one for Sweetgrass. Look for the movie on cable systems via Cinetic FilmBuff.

After the jump: box office talk; trailers for Sweetgrass and Clarkworld.

Where there's one Pedro Almodovar, there's usually Penélope Cruz, and this time around is no exception. I'm not even referring to La Piel Que Habito (The Skin I Live In), which Christopher Campbell posted about in January. This is another new one, that's sending the famed director into the world of noir again after 2004's Bad Education. As Variety describes it, his next film will be Los abrazos rotos, which is as Almodovar himself says, a "four-way tale of amour-fou, shot in the style of '50s American film noir at its most hard-boiled."

Heading into pre-production after the ball drops to the new year, the film will star, of course, Penelope Cruz, along with Blanca Portillo (Volver) and Lluis Homar (Vicky Cristina Barcelona). I will include "characters who belong to the world of film," but in a '90s and current-day setting that mixes references to works like "Nicholas Ray's In a Lonely Place and Vincente Minnelli's The Bad and the Beautiful," with signature Almodovar themes: 'Fate, the mystery of creation, guilt, unscrupulous power, the eternal search of fathers for sons, and sons for fathers,'" as the director told Variety.

As for Cruz, she'll "exchange the era's aprons, cardigans, and the hairdos for an updated look, but one that mixes the transparent turbulence of Gene Tierney and the mistreated, challenging beauty of Linda Darnell in Otto Preminger's Fallen Angel." The director is currently finishing the script, and plans to shoot in the seasonal spring light next year. Personally, I'm hoping some of the aged noir style stays on the characters, as it can work really well even in modern pieces. How about you? Are you ready for Los abrazos rotos?

In a classic case of Arthouse vs. Grindhouse, Academy Award-winning Spanish director Pedro Almodovar has taken Academy Award-winning American director Quentin Tarantino to task for criticizing Italian films. You might have heard that Tarantino made disparaging remarks about the current state of Italian cinema last month ("Just depressing ... recent films I've seen are all the same") and that the film industry hit back (typical response: "Tarantino is a brute"). Even the classy Sophia Loren was quoted as saying: "How dare he talk about Italian cinema when he doesn't know anything about American cinema?"

In a delayed reaction, Almodovar has also stuck up for the Italians, reportedly saying: "Quentin is a good director, a passionate cinema enthusiast and great expert on all the world's trash. But you shouldn't take his comments too seriously because he suffers from a form of verbal incontinence and he is nostalgic for the Italian cinema of [Umberto] Lenzi, [Mario] Bava and [Lucio] Fulci. I don't think he was comparing the best auteur cinema of yesterday and today. I doubt he had the cinema of Luchino Visconti, Pietro Germi and Pier Paolo Pasolini in mind. And I don't think he knows Italy's auteur filmmakers of today."

The occasion was a ceremony in which Almodovar was awarded the title of Commendatore, a high honor in Italy, so maybe he felt it was incumbent upon him to defend the industry. It's all well and good that Almodovar is defending the Italians -- who doesn't like a little verbal scuffle between world-class film directors? But his argument appears to be more about sensibility than nationality. To take just one example, Almodovar appears to call Mario Bava a director of "trash," while respected critics like Tim Lucas have fought for many years to establish Bava's artistry. No doubt Tarantino will have more to say when he serves as "patron and presenter" of a retrospective of spaghetti Westerns at the Venice Film Festival in a couple of months.

People all over the world are unhappy with Hollywood's domination of foreign box office. It gives audiences worse movies, which must appeal to all of the world. It influences a number of cultures to be more like American. And, most devastatingly, it ruins the production and the identity of national cinemas. Last year we saw a major protest in South Korea because the government was eliminating a quota that mandated theaters to show a certain amount of domestic product per year. This week there was another protest, this one in Spain, but it had an opposite demand. The Federation of Spanish Cinemas (like our own National Association of Theatre Owners) is upset with a proposed "Cinema Law", which is currently moving through the Spanish parliament, mandating that theaters must show one Spanish film for every three imports they show. As a sign of protest and criticism of the law, the Federation shut down 93% of the nation's cinemas Monday, though just for the one day.

Because there are about 230 theaters that aren't a part of the Federation, some people in Spain were able to find a movie if they really tried, but with around 3770 cinemas closed, I feel bad for anybody doing the trying. It wouldn't be surprising if representatives from Hollywood head over to Spain to support the protest, and maybe even bully convince the government, as they have a lot to lose from the law. The Federation apparently has a lot to lose, too, because Spanish films don't perform nearly as well at the box office as Hollywood fare. But last year the nation's top15 highest grossing films included three titles that were at least Spanish co-productions, with Alatriste being all the way up at number 4 (it does star Viggo Mortensen). In 2005, the same position held a Spanish film, Torrente 3: El Protector. Of course, this isn't that great considering most of the other titles are from Hollywood, and so Hollywood is where most of moviegoer's money is going. Plus, so far this year, the highest grossing Spanish film of 2007 (El Ekipo Ja) is all the way down at number 40.

Back in 2003, actor Kevin Spacey became the new artistic director of London's Old Vic Theatre. Since then, he has been merging cinema and theater by not only casting a number of notable names from Ian McKellen (who played Widow Twankey in Aladdin) to Mary Stuart Masterson and Steven Weber, but also bringing notable films to the British stage. In 2005, it was The Philadelphia Story. This September, Spacey will produce the first theatrical adaptation of Pedro Almodóvar's Oscar-winning film, All About My Mother, once again making me wish I could fly worldwide for free.

The movie is about a woman named Manuela whose teenage son dies in a car accident, prompting her to search for his transvestite father named Lola. It should be an interesting and worthwhile adaptation since the director has retained final approval on script and casting. While there is no word on the who is penning it, Lesley Manville is rumored to be in final negotiations for the lead role. The actress has been in a slew of British media, and you might recognize her from the recent Vera Drake. That's the only casting news so far about the production; however, there is already talk about the play that will follow. The theater has grabbed Stephen Fry to adapt Cinderella for the Christmas season. To top that off, they hope to convince him to be the production's narrator. That, however, is probably a tall order since his last stage job was Cell Mates, which he walked out of due to his struggle with depression.

For your reading pleasure...

• Remember that Suspiria remake that died a year ago? Scott Weinberg posted about screenwriter Steven Katz saying that there would probably be no remake because they can't find "a reason for the witches to be using a dance academy for their evil-doings." It looks like someone has found a way around it -- the latest word from Cannes is that Italian production house First Sun had grabbed the rights to the remake, which will be an English-language flick. Unfortunately, there's no further word on the project other than a quote about the company's excitement about the project. Apparently, there's a gothic resurgence going on.
• I really know nothing much about this next bit of news, but I had to include it because of its great Swedish name that's giving me flashbacks to Frusen Glädjé. Last year, Swedish writer Sara Kadefors released a book called Fågelbovägen 32, which is now going to be adapted into a feature film. I'm assuming that she'll be adapting the book, since the author is going to make her feature directorial debut with the movie. Fågelbovägen is psychological thriller about a woman who is in danger after she befriends another woman. Pernilla August, who played Anakin's mom in Episode I, is set to star.
• I never thought I'd type this, but Pedro Almodóvar is sort of following in the footsteps of James Cameron, and is gearing up to help put some ancient ruins on film. His production company, El Deseo has began production on a docudrama about the discovery of the ruins of an ancient Peruvian rule -- El Senor de Sipan. Jose Manuel Novoa is directing the movie, which will detail the life of the man who ruled Peru 1,700 years ago, a reign that includes "sackings, murders and intrigue" by combining dig discoveries with elaborate sets and re-creations. Sounds pretty funky to me.
  

"Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels."

In graduate school, I had a roommate get all over my case for videotaping a Pedro Almodovar movie I'd seen the year before and wanted to watch again, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (pictured above). She asked me to please not watch it when she was in the apartment. "I don't see how you can possibly want to watch something that is so degrading to women," she told me. She was also disgusted that I liked Midnight, the 1939 movie in which a female character says she doesn't disapprove of a man beating his wife.

A few years later, I was having lunch with a female coworker and told her the story about how I loved A Clockwork Orange so much the first time I saw it, that I went back to the theater the next night to watch it again. And once I went to the Paramount to see it when I had a fever of 102. She looked at me like I was insane. "I didn't know I had a fever at the time," I explained. "It's not that," she said. "But you liked A Clockwork Orange? I wouldn't see it myself, I heard it's terribly misogynistic." "Well, yes ... but it's very good," I replied. And this week, acquaintances have been giving me the hairy eyeball because I admitted to liking a movie advertised with a poster featuring a woman in chains: Black Snake Moan.

For its 60th year anniversary, the Cannes Film Festival will premiere new films from many past winners of the Palme d'Or. It isn't known how many of these winners will have new material this year, but apparently festival president Gilles Jacob and artistic director Thierry Frémaux tried to get many of the living "Golden Palm" vets -- winners and nominees, both -- to contribute to a special project.

Each participating filmmaker has directed a short film of 2-3 minutes in length that will be shown together as a feature-length film at a gala event on May 20. Variety reports that those known to be included are Ken Loach ('06: The Wind That Shakes the Barley), Gus Van Sant ('03: Elephant), Lars von Trier ('00: Dancer in the Dark), Theodoros Angelopoulos ('98: Eternity and a Day), Abbas Kiarostami ('97: Taste of Cherry), Chen Kaige ('93: Farewell My Concubine), Wim Wenders ('84: Paris, Texas) and non-winners (though often-nominated) Wong Kar-Wai, Michael Cimino, Amos Gitai, Manoel de Oliveira, Hou Hsiao-hsien and Tsai Ming-liang. There are 30 shorts in all, so obviously a lot of other contributors are as yet unknown. Only Pedro Almodóvar (also a non-winner, and never a nominee) is known to have declined the offer.

Not that he should care about the Oscars, but Pedro Almodóvar should be appreciative of Penélope Cruz for garnering Volver its single nomination. How should he show is thanks? By casting her as much as possible in an attempt to keep her from doing more Hollywood movies. The director and actress are expected to team up for a fourth time for Almodóvar's next project, which is likely to be La Piel Que Habito (The Skin I Live In). The director's brother, producer Agustín Almodóvar, says the chance of this being next is 70%-80%.

As Erik reported last month, La Piel Que Habito is a departure from his usual work, which he says needs a change toward less personal material. Based on Thierry Jonquet's novel Mygale, the film will follow a Death Wish type of plot in which a plastic surgeon takes revenge on his daughter's rapists. I assume that Cruz would get the role of the daughter, though I think it would be interesting for the surgeon's gender to be switched so that the actress could play a vengeful mother.

The Almodóvars and Cruz won big this past weekend at Spain's Goya Awards (some call it their equivalent to the Oscars, but I call it better), with Volver picking up statues for best film, best director, best actress, best supporting actress (Carmen Maura) and best original score (by Alberto Iglesias). Pedro didn't attend the ceremony, though, because he was too nervous.

Award ceremonies are in love with Pedro Almodóvar this year. Almodóvar's Volver has snagged two Golden Globe nominations, two wins out of three nominations at Cannes Film Festival, and five wins out of seven nominations at the European Film Awards. Now Almodóvar has been honored with fourteen nominations for Volver at his homeland's version of the Academy Awards, the Goyas.

The incredible amount of nominations comes as no surprise. Volver -- about a deceased mother coming back to her homeland to resolve issues that she was unable to rectify during her life -- is yet another masterpiece by Almodóvar. The man really has a way with portraying humanity that I, as an audience member, eat up every time.

The competition at the Goyas is a stiff one. Almodóvar definitely isn't a shoe in for any particular win. One Spanish filmmaker -- Agustíne Díaz Yanes -- has received one more nomination than Almodóvar at the Goyas for his film Alatriste. This film is particularly important in Spain due to the production's extravagance. Pic is a portrayal of a former soldier who became a mercenary during Spain's 17th century imperial wars. Sounds interesting ... but I'm still dreaming for some wins for Almodóvar!

It certainly has been a great year for Almodóvar and the people involved in his film -- Penelope Cruz in particular. Her work in her native films is always exceptional and I'm glad people are finally taking notice. We'll find out in January how Almodóvar fares -- but win or lose, fourteen nominations is still a great honor to me.