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Alcarras – movie review

The sophomore feature from Spanish filmmaker Carla Simon (Summer 1993) Alcarras is a lyrical, leisurely paced, beautifully observed slice-of-life drama. The plot concerns a family of peach farmers whose livelihood is under threat from developers. The film was Spain’s official submission for the Best International Film at the 2023 Oscars. The film is set in…

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Official Competition – movie review

This Spanish/Argentinian co-production stars Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas and was one of the hits at the recent Spanish Film Festival. There have been many films that have explored the filmmaking process, from Singin’ In the Rain through to The Player (Robert Altman’s star-studded two-finger salute to Hollywood) and the Coen brothers’ recent Hail, Caesar….

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The Good Boss – movie review

Javier Bardem seems like Spain’s equivalent of Hugh Jackman. Despite being an international superstar, he still finds time to appear in productions from his homeland. So after his recent appearance in the sci-fi epic Dune, it shouldn’t come as a great surprise that his next appearance is in a small Spanish film set in a…

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Parallel Mothers – movie review

Director Pedro Almodóvar and actor Penélope Cruz are a match made in heaven. The pair have been mainstays of Spanish cinema for decades, and their collaborations stretch back to Live Flesh (1997). Along the way, they’ve given audiences classics like All About My Mother (1999), Volver (2006) and Broken Embraces (2009). The latest Almodóvar film…

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