¡Peeeedro! #08

8. Bad Education (La Mala Educación)

Bad Education was the first film by Almodóvar I ever saw. I saw it when it opened in theaters. I was 15 years old, discovering my sexuality and it was possibly the first film in which I saw sex scenes with two men (the first film not involving a weak plot with a fireman or a plumber or something like that and 5 lines of dialogue altogether). And I remember having a huge... crush on Gael García Bernal. The film is exquisite specially when I revisited it knowing something about film noir. Almodóvar is a master at making his very diverse genres and this film is no exception. Filled with vibrant colors, drag queens, religion, filmmaking and, of course, the tensions between fiction and reality, this movie is greatly great. I mean García Bernal is a Femme Fatale!! How genius is that? And it is also remarkable how the lack of women is not deadly pernicious in an Almodovarian film...

¡Peeeedro! #09

9. Talk to Her (Hable con Ella)

To be fair, I must say that I don't recall this film perfectly. Nevertheless, even though the first time I was reluctant to some of its parts (the shrinking man comes to mind), the second time I watched it everything felt right into place (the shrinking man is almost the most important scene in the film). I would say it is the first film by Almodóvar to be consciously mature. And that is so great... The movie is exuberant in all its color, smart in all its script and the performances are unbelievably good. For me, Javier Cámara was an annoying "funny" guy up until this film. Leonor Watling does little acting outside the bed and the little she does is precious. Darío Grandinetti is one of the best Almodóvar boys and one of the less recognised. And Rosario Flores, who up until then was a singer in whose music I had not (and still don't have) the least interest, gives a solid and powerful performance, one of those that lingers on the viewer's mind long after seeing the film. And of course, a song: Cucurrucú (o Cucurrucucú, isn't that right Davigüi?) Paloma...