“Freaks” meets “X-Men” in this twisted, politically incorrect sci-fi satire from outlaw Spanish auteur Alex de la Iglesia (“The Day of the Beast”) and producer Pedro Almodovar. A band of handicapped and mutant terrorists attacking society’s standards of physical beauty kidnap a pretty socialite. The outlaws take her to a distant planet in hopes of getting big dough from her bakery tycoon father, but all hell breaks loose when they discover their leader has his own plans for the hostage and the ransom.
Tag: SPAIN
In 1941, two Polish brothers escape a Soviet gulag. Their only escape route is through the impossible mountains of Afghanistan and the KGB is on their tail.
An anthology film drama featuring a poetic mirror structure based on existential identity. In “The Immortals,” adapted from a Helder Prista Monteiro play, two famous doctors, an 80-year-old father, and his 60-year-old son, contemplate senility and death. “Suzy,” from an Antonio Patricio story, is set in the ’30s when a young courtesan dies on the operating table. “Mother of the River” is from an Agustina Bessa-Luis fable about eternal life.
Don Pedro, a widowed poet, makes his living penning love letters for those who are too hesitant or tongue-tied to express their heart’s devotion. However, trouble arises when he is hired to scribe sweet nothings to the beautiful Maria, the lady love of a besotted but blundering hot air balloonist named Juan. Before long, the writer falls for the deceived Maria, which results in a troubling love triangle.
Sheherazade is promised to a powerful Sultan as a gift in exchange for free passage to the Holy Land. When the Sultan’s underling saves her from certain death, she falls madly in love with her hero.
The inhabitants of a strange desert Barcelona are gradually leaving the city in a panic group. The victims of a serial killers seem to feel strangely attracted by their executioners. Only Gim, an attractive blonde advertising model, decides to face her destiny.
A few men are gathered for a day’s rabbit hunting. The place looks as desolate and barren as it is possible to imagine, and the heat is obviously intense. The men have memories of this godforsaken gulch, since it was a battlefield in the Spanish Civil War. As the day goes on, the scorching sun frays the men’s nerves and sends them toward delirium, bringing out their inner weaknesses and their personal conflicts, normally concealed beneath a veneer of politeness.
In a town near Salamanca, an eccentric widower, aged 60, is captivated by an imp, a precocious 13 year old. Alejandro is wealthy and alone, passing time with music, chess, and his shotgun. Gregoria (Goyita) the daughter of a weak-willed policeman and his bullying wife, is a budding naturalist who conspires to meet Alejandro. Even though he knows the village is talking, Alejandro spends time with Goyita, on walks, horseback rides, and dinners. He’s enchanted and tells his friend the village priest that he’s living for the first time. Goyita makes new demands on Alejandro, and he must decide how to be true to his ethics and to this Platonic yet highly-charged relationship.