Lola Dueñas

A distinguished and openly gay chef from Madrid is forced to reevaluate his own morals and values when the children from his former marriage suddenly come knocking on his door and a handsome ex-football player from Argentina moves in next door. Maxi owns one of the most popular restaurants in the gay-friendly neighborhood of Chueca. But while Maxi is currently out of the closet, that doesn't mean that he doesn't have anything to hide. Years ago, Maxi fathered several children while involved in a sham marriage. Now Maxi's children want to get better acquainted with their long-lost father, but in order to truly connect with his kids Maxi will first have to come clean about his new lifestyle. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Thematically, Javier Rebollo's Lola joins such classics as Nicolas Roeg's Bad Timing (1980) and Patrice Leconte's Monsieur Hire (1989) in its acute psychological exploration of one man's obsession with a local woman, and couples this with an extended meditation on loneliness. Michael Abiteboul is Leon, a fortysomething loser who lives with his bedbound, rapidly-deteriorating mother (Lucienne Deschamps) in a constantly overcast Parisian suburb. The depressed and taciturn Leon and his mother occasionally speculate on the neighbors whose life stories are projected audibly through the razor-thin walls, but Leon otherwise lives in a state of silence, depression, and inertia. Eventually, his mother dies, but he klutzily spills her ashes all over the apartment floor. The first glimmer of hope in his life arrives in the form of Lola (Lola Dueñas), a comely Spanish neighbor who stops by the apartment to ask for some ice; Leon instantly recognizes her as an actress on a local porno channel. Days later, Lola catches Leon's eye again, in a local bar, and he takes increasing, then obsessive interest in her goings-on, rifling through her mail and tracking her involvement with various men. When she passes out, drunk, Leon carts her home; he also starts leaving money on the ground for her to find. After she becomes involved in a seriously dysfunctional relationship with a cabbie, who knocks her up and abandons her, she high-tails it back to Spain -- little realizing that Leon isn't far behind. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Two of the most talented figures in contemporary Spanish cinema -- actor Javier Bardem and director Alejandro Amenábar -- collaborate for this powerful drama, based on a true story. Ramón Sampedro (Javier Bardem) was a fisherman and part-time poet who, at the age of 26, suffered an accident while diving that left him a bedridden quadriplegic. Now 54, Ramón must depend on his family to survive -- his macho brother José (Celso Bugallo), José's wife, Manuela (Mabel Rivera), and their son, Javi (Tamar Novas). While grateful to his family and friends for their help, Ramón was always an active person, and as the years wore on, he has come to see his life as frustrating and pointless and wishes to die with what remains of his dignity. José, however, is bitterly opposed to the notion of assisted suicide, and Spanish laws would implicate anyone who helped Ramón end his own life, which is something Ramón does not want to do. Through Gené (Carla Segura), a friend who works with a "Right to Die" organization, Ramón is introduced to Julia (Belen Rueda), a lawyer he hopes will help him persuade the courts to let him end his own life. Julia is dealing with her own mortality issues since being diagnosed with a degenerative disease, and Ramón hopes her condition will make her arguments more persuasive. As Ramón and Julia work together on his case and help to prepare a book of his poems for publication, Ramón finds himself falling in love with his attorney, who happens to be married, but while his infatuation gives Julia second thoughts about the case, Ramón remains convinced that the greatest gift to him would be an end to his life. Javier Bardem's performance in The Sea Inside (aka Mar Adentro) earned him the Best Actor award at the 2004 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Stones is a film about shoes which functions on the old Native American proverb, "Never judge a man until you've walked a mile in his moccasins." The shoes, in this case, belong to an ensemble of wacky characters whose lives are anchored to a brothel on the outskirts of Madrid. Adela is a long-suffering madam who must balance whoring with motherhood; Anita is her disabled, dog-obsessed daughter; Joaquin is one of Adela's most loyal clients, a tango-dancing businessman; Maricarmen is a taxi driver who can't get over her husband's death; Isabel is an eccentric rich woman fascinated by a foot-reading fortune teller; and Leire is a washed-up shoe designer. Together, this motley crew struggles to scrape through life and stay happy, learning to look beyond the quality of the shoes that they wear and to appreciate their quirky personality traits. This first feature film by Spanish director Ramón Salazar shows many influences from the films of Pedro Almodóvar, which often feature an ensemble cast in a slice-of-life situation where the rules of the normal world need not apply. ~ Connor McMadden, All Movie Guide

The admonition "neither a borrower nor a lender be" takes on new meaning in this drama from Spain, which looks at the unexpected effects of a loan on three friends. Carlos (Sergi Calleja) has dinner every few weeks with two close friends from his college days, Marta (Marta Belaustegui) and Santiago (Joel Joan). One night, Carlos asks a rather large favor of them; he's having a cash-flow problem with his new business and asks them to loan him 20,000 dollars each to cover bills, promising to repay the money as soon as possible. Marta and Santiago agree, but it's six months before Carlos can make good on his payment. In the meantime, much changes for the three friends; Marta and her husband Guillermo (Jose Tome) split up, Santiago calls off his relationship with Sol (Paz Gomez) to take up with Letitia (Ana Duato), and Carlos' wife Ainhoa (Lola Duenas) finds herself tempted into infidelity. Las Razones de Mis Amigos had its North American premiere at the 2000 Toronto Film Festival, where it was well received. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A Spanish comedy about the love lives of a group of friends, Todo Me Pasa a Mi centers on the exploits of a group of urban hipsters who live in the same apartment building. Angel and Edu share a flat. Angel, who is handsome and strait-laced, is planning to get married, and as his marriage draws closer, Edu, a sloppy punk, begins to resent Angel's impending union with suspicious voracity. Meanwhile, in the flat downstairs, Txell and Aina are a lesbian couple whose relationship is faltering. They share their lodging with Elena, an obnoxious heterosexual who has the habit of annoying everyone with her inability to shut up. Elena is looking for love, and soon sets her sights on Oscar, Edu's prospective new roommate. Oscar, however, doesn't return Elena's advances; instead, he's got a jones for Aina, who, it soon becomes apparent, shares the attraction. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

A "mensaka" is a motorbike messenger. In this Spanish drama, mensaka David (Gustavo Salmeron) is a drummer in a band about to sign a recording contract. Problems arise when drug dealer Ricardo (Guillermo Toledo) moves in with David and his girlfriend Bea (Laia Marull), while band member Javi (Tristan Ulloa) falls for junkie Cristina (Lola Duenas). Salvador Garcia Ruiz directed the Luis Marias screenplay, adapted from Jose Angel Manas's novel. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide