Humberto Elizondo Movies
A tense examination of Mexico's multi-billion dollar drug trafficking business, director Brian J. Bagley's gritty crime drama follows a naïve business journalist as he travels south of the border to interview the leader of the country's most notorious drug cartel. Jules Land was looking to jump-start his career when he requested an audience with the murderous former priest-turned-drug kingpin who now oversees a substantial portion of the drug flow into the United States. But it doesn't take Jules long to realize that he's in over his head, and as the situation intensifies he goes from trying to understand the principals behind the cartel's success to simply trying to escape before disappearing into the desert sands. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
This film opens with a big fat close-up of a sweaty prisoner with a fly (on a string) crawling on his face. The prisoner quickly pops the fly in his mouth and spits it out. Then he leeringly laughs about it to the prisoner next door. Nope. This is not a bad undiscovered Sergio Leone spaghetti western. Rather it is the opening shot Deran Sarafin's Gunmen -- a brainless action film without an original thought in its head. Christopher Lambert is the fly-eater, a man named Dani Servigo, the brother of a dead smuggler and a prisoner in a South American jail, who holds the secret to the whereabouts of $400,000 in stolen drug money. The walls of the prison explode, and Cole Parker (Mario Van Pebbles) makes his entrance. Cole is a mercenary working with the DEA who is in this South American hellhole to mop up the drug traders and to avenge his father's death at the hands of the drug traders. He wants Dani to lead him to the gold. In this love-hate buddy film, the two thrown-together friends/enemies race through the Amazon jungle with ruthless assassins in pursuit, as they all gravitate towards the secret stash of money. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Lambert, Mario Van Peebles, (more)
Victor Manuel Castro's gender bending romantic comedy Hembra o Macho stars Lorena Herrara as an exotic dancer who hires a repressed lawyer after being involved in a traffic accident. Deciding to mess with the layer because of his homophobic beliefs, the dancer begins flirting with him while pretending to be a transvestite. Sure enough, the games get more complicated when the layer begins to fall in love. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 1990
After he is jailed for his involvement in a traffic accident, his next of kin are automatically notified so that bail can be arranged. In this comedy, based on Emilio Carballido's stage play, this is the first time the hapless chump's two wives find out about each other. After some initial sparring, the wifely hairdresser and translator pool their cash to try and spring their husband from jail. After they think about it a little while, they decide they like each other much better than the scoundrel who has been lying to them, so they leave him safely locked up and go on a holiday cruise together instead. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Olivia Collins, Patricia Rivera, (more)
The Spanish-language drama Arriba el Telón follows the exploits of many different actors and behind-the-scenes workers who make a living in the theater. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charly Valentino, Maribel Fernandez, (more)
Timothy Dalton is better in Licence to Kill than in his first James Bond endeavor (The Living Daylights), but he still seems uncomfortable on the right side of the law. This time around, Bond is working on his own rather than on behalf of the British Secret Service. His American friend Felix Leiter (David Hedison), an agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration, has been seriously injured by drug dealer Robert Davi, and 007 is out for blood. There is precious little time for the usual Bondian quippery and directorial campiness, resulting in a marked increase in bloodletting (including the "implosion" of secondary villain Anthony Zerbe). A climactic highway chase involving an oil tanker and a helicopter is stretched slightly beyond its value, but is still one of the best action setpieces in any Bond film. Licence to Kill was a refreshingly serious change of pace for the series, albeit one that tended to lessen Bond's box-office value. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Timothy Dalton, Carey Lowell, (more)
Pedro has moved to Mexico City with his son, and things seem to be going well until the boy is run over accidentally by a secret policeman. When Pedro discovers that the policeman's connections will enable him to escape without any punishment for his harmful deed, he loses his cool completely and winds up in jail just as his son is being released from the hospital. Thinking he has been abandoned, the boy joins a gang of similarly independent children. Meanwhile, Pedro is released from jail but has developed a very keen sense of injustice, which leads him into many conflicts. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Valentin Trujillo, Rodolfo De Anda, (more)
Based on the song Mack the Knife, the very popular Rubén Blades song Pedro Navajas was the inspiration for a very popular Mexican movie taking the song name as its title, about a pimp and prostitute whose love/hate relationship resulted in their mutual destruction. In this sequel, their son develops into a defender of women. Raised in the U.S., the lad comes to Mexico when he hears his mother has died and attempts to look for his father. He is shocked to discover that he, too, has died. He is motivated to learn how to use a switchblade with uncanny skill, and earns for himself the sobriquet "Navajas," or "Blades." ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Guillermo Capetillo, Sasha Montenegro, (more)
- 1987
All in one majestic sweep of bad luck, Valentin lost a horse race he was riding in and was arrested on a trumped-up charge for murdering his best friend. He survives quite a few years in prison, and returns to his hometown to ride again. His successes on the race track mirror his restoration to favor within the community. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Valentin Trujillo, Mario Almada, (more)
This fast-paced tale of a bloody feud between two families is compelling in its action and characters. Julian Carrera (Valentin Trujillo, also the director) and his brother run an auto repair shop, both are well-adjusted and normal young men. One day their beloved father is robbed and murdered. Julian vows revenge on his killers, and a vendetta is set in motion. The first act of violence begets another and starts a flow of blood. Along the way, friends and female relationships, as well as music, add needed dimensions to the story. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Valentin Trujillo, Mario Almada, (more)
- 1986
This melodramatic, three-handkerchief tortilla Western features good acting by Pedro Infante, Jr. as Reynaldo and Arturo Martinez, Jr. as Lauro. Both men are romancing Marsela (Monica Prado), whose main interest lies in the number of pesos she can put in the bank and how to ascend the social ladder. Marsela refuses to marry her beloved Lauro because he cannot afford to tie the knot in the splendid Basilica of Guadalupe. As a gang of bandidos wreaks havoc in the community, wedding plans continue for Marsela's marriage to Lauro's best friend, Reynaldo. But considering the number of bodies piling up in the war of the bandits, it looks like the bride may have to wear black. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pedro Infante, Jr., Arturo Martinez Jr., (more)
Jorge Torres (Miguel Angel Rodriguez) is a former boxing champ who takes a job as a truck driver in this routine sex farce. He hires two other drivers to help him deliver gas to homes and businesses. The oversexed delivery men provide most of the comedy as they encounter willing women on the route. Rafael Inclan and Roberto (Flaco) Guzman play the hired hands, with Sasha Montenegro as Jorge's financially complaining wife who inspires him to take the delivery job. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, Sasha Montenegro, (more)
"Lalo el Mimo" or Eduardo de la Peña stars in this unusual comedy as a lottery ticket winner. Instead of investing in stocks or huge houses, Rafael Lara (the character el Mimo plays) has set up four of his friends in auto repair businesses. In addition to that, though, he has a fondness for the ladies, and can't seem to stop marrying them. Before long, he has four wives and four separate (and very elegant) homes for them. Eventually the authorities get wind of these illegal goings on (one wife per customer, please) and put him in jail. However, he has fulfilled the secret dreams of many of those who put him in jail, and he is much admired by them. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sergio "El Comanche" Ramos, Julio Alvarado, (more)
- 1983
- NR
This tantalizing blend of eroticism and mysticism was adapted from a novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Erendira (Claudia Ohana) has a strange and wondrous vision; shortly afterward, her grandmother's house burns down. The grandmother (Irene Papas) gets her revenge by forcing Erendira to become a prostitute. As the "johns" become increasingly prosperous (along with grandma), Erendira keeps her wits about her by experiencing even more bizarre visions. Veteran European character actor Michel Lonsdale has an effective cameo as a hypocritical senator. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irene Papas, Claudia Ohana, (more)
- 1983
Originally telecast as a two-hour movie TV movie, the two-part A-Team pilot episode begins as Amy Allen (Melinda Culea), intrepid girl reporter for the "Los Angeles Courier", conducts an investigation to find out if the notorious A-Team, a group of Vietnam vets who'd been unjustly imprisoned after the war for pulling off a government-ordered bank robbery, have actually escaped prison and are still at large. She soon comes face to face with the members of the A-Team, who have regrouped as soldiers of fortune dedicated to helping deserving people and righting wrongs throughout the world--all the while keeping one step ahead from the relentless Col. Lynch (William Lucking), who has vowed to put the team behind bars again. Most of Part One is devoted to introducing the individual team members: Hannibal Smith (George Peppard), team leader and master of disguise; B.A. (Mr. T), the sullen, combustible mechanic; "Howling Mad" Murdock (Dwight Schultz), versatile air pilot and habitual mental-hospital resident; and Faceman (played in the pilot only by Tim Dunigan), the resident suave, silver-tongued con artist. Promising not to reveal the team's whereabouts, Amy presses them into service to rescue her colleague Al Massey (William Windom), currently being held hostage by Mexican drug dealers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
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Based on a true story, the Mexican adventure film Juan Charrasqueado y Gabino Barrera tells the tale of the two title characters who fought for the heart of the same woman. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
