Cesar Vea Movies
- 2007
His childhood pal Suso having recently died from a drug overdose, likeable dolt Cundo returns to the Asturian village where the pair grew up intending simply to attend the funeral, but gradually delving into a larger mission after discovering an odd collection of Suso's sketches. It's been nearly a decade since Asturian native Cundo (Javier Camara) moved away to Argentina, but upon receiving word that his old pal has passed he decides to venture back home and pay his respects. Later, after touching base with the old gang, Cundo happens across a series of Suso's drawings. It seems that Cundo's old friend had a serious obsession with towers, a revelation that leads the well-intending mourner to plan a memorial tower in memory of his old friend. As all the old gang gradually comes on board, Cundo begins to feel as if Suso engineered the plan to help his old friends out of their current rut. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Javier Camára, Gonzalo de Castro, (more)
Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro returns to the phantasmagorical cinema that defined such early fare as Cronos and The Devil's Backbone with this haunting fantasy-drama set in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War and detailing the strange journeys of an imaginative young girl who may be the mythical princess of an underground kingdom. Her mother, Carmen (Ariadna Gil), recently remarried to sadistic army captain Vidal (Sergi López) and soon to bear the cruel military man's child, shy young Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) is forced to entertain herself as her recently-formed family settles into their new home nestled deep in the Spanish countryside. As Ofelia's bed-ridden mother lies immobilized in anticipation of her forthcoming child and her high-ranking stepfather remains determined to fulfill the orders of General Francisco Franco to crush a nearby guerilla uprising, the young girl soon ventures into an elaborate stone labyrinth presided over by the mythical faun Pan (Doug Jones). Convinced by Pan that she is the lost princess of legend and that in order to return to her underground home she must complete a trio of life-threatening tasks, Ofelia sets out to reclaim her kingdom and return to her grieving father as Vidal's housekeeper Mercedes (Maribel Verdú) and doctor (Alex Angulo) plot secretly on the surface to keep the revolution alive. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ariadna Gil, Ivana Baquero, (more)
- 1996
- R
A Spanish family's seaside vacation becomes a tense, seriocomic exploration into xenophobia when they stumble across an illegal African immigrant stranded upon the beach after an accident destroyed his raft and left his traveling companion dead. When patriarch Antonio, a somewhat dim-witted taxi driver, sees the miserable Ombasi huddled around a campfire, he is immediately suspicious and frightened for his family. Unfortunately, they lose their car keys and have no choice but to remain with the mysterious foreigner, who speaks no Spanish. At first, the film takes a humorous look at the family's struggle to communicate with the stranger, but then three racist skinheads arrive and the story takes a much darker turn. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
