Isabel Ampudia
- 2008
Three guys who've devoted their lives to doing nothing discover it's not as easy as it used to be in this independent comedy from Spain. Grabi (Ivan Massague), Nandi (Dario Paso) and Roberto Carlos (Juanfra Juarez) are three thirty-something layabouts who still live with their parents, avoid gainful employment and devote their days to drinking beer and sharing whatever thoughts they have with one another. Robert Carlos is engaged in a lackadaisical romance with shop manager Mercedes (Mercedes Hoyos) until he meets the prettier but moody Sunci (Pilar Crespo). Grabi has a sister (Ana Cuesta) who is dating a neighborhood bully named Kevin Manuel (Jesus Carroza); Garbi doesn't care for Kevin and tries to break up their relationship, only to incur Kevin's considerable wrath. And while Nandi's friends are busy with women and musclemen, he strikes up a friendship with a lonely kid who lives nearby, Isabel (Isabel Ampudia). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ivan Massague, Dario Paso, (more)
Released back onto the streets after serving her time behind bars, a woman determined never to keep out of trouble crosses paths with a shady old friend who might just drag her under in this drama from first-time director Jesus Ponce. Isabel (Isabel Ampudia) had barely been out of the joint for a day when she went to the local hostel to rent a room and ran across her old pal Rufo (Sabastian Haro). Though Isabel knew that she would have to jettison her past in order to build any kind of sustainable future, the fact remains that she has no home to speak of so she reluctantly accepts Rufo's offer to become roommates. Rufo is an AIDS-afflicted junkie who earns a meager living by parking cars, but while he's a generous soul at heart he's still an unpredictable addict willing to do anything for his next fix. Upon moving in with Rufo, Isabel begins to connect with a number of her new neighbors in the barrio - including friendly shop assistant Manuela (Mercedes Hoyos). At first it seems as if Isabel may be mindful enough to live on the streets without succumbing to the dangers that such a life implies, but when Rufo nicks a handbag and kills his dealer any sense of low-rent stability quickly dissipates. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Isabel Ampudia, Sebastian Haro, (more)
- 2001
A good woman falls for a bad man and is at once unwilling and unable to break free in this intense drama. Rosa (Isabel Ampudia) is an attractive and sensible woman who waits tables at a coffee shop; she's engaged to be married, and she and her fiancé are saving their money with an eye toward buying a market. One day, Rosa meets a handsome man named Ivan (Alberto Jimenez), and all her plans go out the window; Rosa is immediately attracted to him, and once she's gone to bed with him, she leaves her fiancé behind without looking back. Rosa and Ivan go into business together running a bar, but she soon discovers that beneath his glossy surface, Ivan is a louse -- he's unfaithful, throws their money away, sells drugs on the side, and gambles compulsively. But Rosa is as addicted to Ivan as he is to games of chance, and no matter what he does, she's willing to pay his bills and take him back, becoming more deeply obsessed the more he hurts her. In time, Ivan has run up debts so high that Rosa opens a brothel to pay off the bills; in the process, Rosa becomes a shrewd business woman and independently wealthy, but she still can't bring herself to walk away from Ivan. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Isabel Ampudia, Alberto Jiménez, (more)
Alex Cox directed this comedy-fantasy screenplay by Tod Davies in a variety of locations (American Southwest, Hong Kong, Rotterdam). With a plot premise reminiscent of Martin Scorsese's After Hours, American art dealer Bennie (Miguel Sandoval) arrives in Liverpool and gets to his hotel with great difficulty, while British art dealer Frank King (Cox) has no such problem. Abandoned by the waiter in the hotel's restaurant, the two head out into the rainy Liverpool night but find mostly closed restaurants, eventually choosing a Greek restaurant where Bennie has an anxiety attack. They move on but find no satisfaction at a Chinese restaurant or a Japanese restaurant. Hunger pangs surface as they travel about via subway, bus, ferry and taxi. Eventually, they arrive in the middle of a desert where they meet another lost and hungry businessman, Leroy Jasper (Robert Wisdom). Shown at the 1998 Hamptons Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Miguel Sandoval, Alex Cox, (more)
