The Visitor (2007)
Thomas McCarthy is a man of many talents. He has a lucrative TV acting career with stints on "Law & Order", "Boston Public", and "The Wire". He appears in many a quality films made States-side (Syriana (2005), Meet the Parents (2000) and Good Night and Good Luck (2005)). He is also apparently responsible for the story of Up. And lest we forget he directed The Station Agent (2003) - a directorial debut that is as good as they come.In his second directorial output, McCarthy strikes an even more poised and poignant tone with The Visitor, in which Richard Jenkins's bored-out-of-his-mind economics professor, Walter Vale, comes to his s

Hurt Locker (2008)
I remember reading a post-modernist pop-cultural mishmash, called "Heroes" by the Spanish author Ray Loriga back in college. The book was full to the brim with references to popular movies, musicians, and artists. The title of the book was a David Bowie song. The narrator / protagonist / "experiencer" was a huge fan of Kathryn Bigelow and, in particular, her 1995 film, Strange Days. It was quite refreshing that an obscure Spanish novella made references to a mildly successful sci-fi extravaganza. The fact that Bigelow was namechecked is proof enough of her subtle but concrete place in modern cinema and pop culture in general: Near Dark (1987) is probably still the most interes

Broken Embraces [Los abrazos rotos] (2009)
"El Deseo presenta ..."As soon as these three words appear on the screen, I get goosebumps all over. This is my fandom and if there is one filmmaker for whose films I would camp outside days before they are released, it would be Pedro (well, Coens too). Whatever the flaws his films might have, you always leave the cinema satisfied. And that's the key word here. His films have hardly been 'perfect' (whatever that implies), but you always get the sense that you got the maximum experience from a film. Underneath the colourful palette of his films (be it the set design, characters, dialogue, etc.) lies a great understanding of what a 'good' story is (whatever that implies too).

Life Sucks ... And Then There Are Movies
This year sucked in general. Everytime life throws a punch in the nether parts of my body, I descend into misery. But then, the movies alleviate the pain. Or, some of it at least. There haven't been many films that totally blew me away this year. Yet. The coming months will see a plethora of new films that I just cannot wait to see. For instance this Friday we will blessed - once again - by those immortal words on the screen: "El Deseo, S.A. presenta". Kathryn Bigelow's new flick, Hurt Locker, is the best-reviewed film of the year so far. The second instalment of the brilliant Mesrine is also coming out. Or, is it out already? Down the line we have Peter Jackson's latest, Lovely B