Pedro Almodóvar

La piel que habito (The Skin I Live In) (2011) by Pedro Almodóvar

Two years ago Broken Embraces reconciled me with Almodóvar’s cinema… The Skin I Live In is definitely putting an end to a decade-long Almodóvar fatigue.  

Sex, intrigue, melodrama, violence, death, passion, bondage & gagging, camp, style, all the usual and delightful tricks Almodóvar pulls out of his ass so brilliantly. [I miss the full-blown and outrageous slapstick of the old days though… In that regard, it’s too bad that the character of Zeta (Roberto Álamo) is given so little screen time..he was bringing up the funny and the grotesque… Ah well.]

I can’t explain why this one totally works for me while Volver and Bad Education for instance, didn’t (at all). It just does, so let’s leave it at that. 

Between Clarcke and Hilldate:

Señor Salme describes his work as a blend between comic-books, pop culture, symbolism and mythology. Find out more at his blog, here.

Balada triste de trompeta (A Sad Trumpet Ballad) (2010) by Álex de la Iglesia

Synopsis: “Javier and Sergio, two terrifyingly disfigured clowns, fight to the death for the ambiguous love of an acrobat during Franco’s reign.”

This looks very exciting.