Delia Casanova Movies

Filmmaking duo Andres Leon Becker and Javier Solar took home top prize at the Guadalajara and Montreal Film Festivals for this visually inventive tale the warm relationship shared between a seven-year old girl and her single mother, and what becomes of their bond when the imaginative daughter becomes convinced that mom has been possessed by a vampire. Alicia and her mother live alone in a small apartment, yet despite the absence of a father figure, their close relationship between the pair provides all the emotional nourishment that a mother and her daughter could ever hope for. When mom unexpectedly comes home with one boyfriend, and then another, however, Alicia becomes convinced by a classmate that the depression and romantic problems that her mother are currently experiencing are a surefire sign that that a nefarious supernatural force is at work. Soon convinced that her sickly old neighbor is in fact a devious bloodsucker who has cast an evil spell on her once-happy mom, Alicia boldly determines to sneak into the apartment of the "vampire" and break the curse by placing a crucifix on the old man's chest. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Mexico's most famous bandito rides again only to find himself defeated in the war between the sexes in this romantic comedy from debuting director Sabina Berman, the author of the play on which the screenplay is based. Gina, a forty-something year-old divorcee is ready to settle down again. Unfortunately, her free-thinking intellectual of a boy friend Adrian wants commitment free sex and nothing more. It just so happens that Adrian is writing a book about Pancho Villa and has come to embrace the outlaw's macho values when it comes to women. Finding his macho attitudes decidedly unfulfilling Gina dumps Adrian in favor of a sensitive, New Agey and much younger man, Ismael. To staunch the copious bleeding of his wounded pride, Adrian immediately embarks upon a campaign to win Gina back. The spirit of Villa comes to Adrian's aide, giving him advice at every turn. Unfortunately, Villa's attitudes died many years ago and every time his suggestions fail, a horrible, bloody wound appears on his ghostly body. Will Adrian ever learn his lesson and let his macho posturing die with his hero? ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This Mexican drama is a faithful adaptation of Nobel-laureate Naguib Mahfouz's novel, only it is set in contemporary Mexico City instead of 1940s Cairo. The film is comprised of three overlapping "chapters" that come together in the fourth chapter. Each segment, centering on a different character, takes place at the same time in a rundown neighborhood. The disparate characters all have one thing in common--none of them get what they want. Chava, the son of tavern-owner Rutilio, wants to go to the US. The fiercely independent and beautiful Alma is thinking about marrying a wealthy shop keeper. The impoverished young barber Abel is in love with Alma. Then there is the spinster Susanita who owns an apartment house and spends her spare time involved in unhealthy love affairs. After killing his father's mistress in a fit of moral outrage, Chava ends up on the lam for two years. Abel takes off for a long time and Alma ends up becoming a drug-addicted prostitute whom Abel cannot save. Susanita gets married to young Guicho and learns that he is robbing her. She is just about to toss him out when she discovers that her really loves her after all. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this experimental variation on the action-thriller theme,all the action elements are retained, only the story is discarded. As a consequence, most viewers will have considerable difficulty figuring out what is going on. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Police Captain Balbuena (Mario Almada) is taken off the case when he uncovers police involvement with notorious drug smugglers in this action drama. When he loses his job, Balbuena gathers a group of outlaws to go after the gangsters. El Loco Ordonez (Jorge Luke) is recruited to lead the vigilantes after the captain and his family are gunned down. The feature contains effective slices of comedy and violence and is a good action programmer. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Adeptly manipulating images and scenes, director Claudio Isaac has fashioned an existential story about the aspirations of Pablo Rueda (Humberto Zurita), born on the day that Pedro Infante died. (Infante was a popular, well-loved Mexican singer and actor who died in a 1957 plane crash.) Rueda's birth on that day, as a mythical star went out, was symbolic in itself but in that same year, the angel of the Independence Monument also fell down during an earthquake. As Rueda reaches adulthood, he is dedicated to drawing and writing and in his relationships with friends, relatives, lovers, and editors, the full scope of his vision of the world and himself is revealed. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

A prison drama full of juvenile-delinquent blood and violence. Spanish. ~ Rovi