Cecilia Suarez Movies
A woman invites a total stranger to join her on a vacation to a remote paradise in this romantic drama from director Ernesto Contreras. Marina has won a trip to Playa Salamandra, but the sad fact remains that the disheartened prizewinner has no one with whom to share her good fortune. Feeling that it would be better to explore paradise in the company of a stranger that with no one at all, Marina invites an unfamiliar man named Victor to accompany her on the upcoming trip. In the days that follow Marina and Victor will discover that an emotional connection is essential to fueling romance, and that the setting love blooms in is simply a matter of fate. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cecilia Suarez, Enrique Arreola, (more)
Four stories, representing the emotional principles of love, pleasure, sorrow, and happiness, come together in this episodic drama from first-time director Jieho Lee. A powerful crime boss, Fingers (Andy Garcia), subtly controls the destinies of four people whose circumstances have brought them to a crossroads in their lives. A quiet business executive (Forest Whitaker) is told that an upcoming horse race has been rigged and bets everything he has on his belief that the story is true. A noted pop singer (Sarah Michelle Gellar) discovers her career is hanging in the balance when she's forced to sever ties with her manager. A doctor (Kevin Bacon) must set aside a physician's traditional guidelines when circumstances demand he treat the woman he loves after a serious accident. And a criminal (Brendan Fraser) has a powerful vision of the future, but can't decide if his premonitions are to be trusted. The Air I Breathe received its world premiere at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Forest Whitaker, Brendan Fraser, (more)
A simple homeless man in search of a warm place to sleep is exploited by politicians eager to prove that poverty in Mexico has been eradicated in Herod's Law director Luis Estrada's caustic satire concerning the effect of globalization on Mexican citizens. A press conference has been held to proclaim that there are no more poor people in Mexico, but homeless Juan Perez (Herod's Law star Damian Alcazar) still can't seem to find a place to rest his weary head. After wandering into the World Financial Center headquarters and ending up on an elevated window ledge, Juan awakens to find that the public and press assume he is making a political statement against the powerful institution's neo-liberal stance. As Juan is swept up by the political machine that remains unwilling to admit to their claims of conquering poverty may have been made in haste, the wandering tramp is given a spotless home in the suburbs and thrust into the international spotlight. But fame is a fickle thing in the 21st Century, and rising to the top only means that one has farther to fall when the next media distraction takes center stage. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Damián Alcázar, Cecilia Suarez, (more)
- 2005
A man in love uses a woman's misfortune to get to know her better in this romantic drama. Dolores (Alice Braga) is a student from Brazil who comes to California to study at San Diego State University. Damian (Diego Luna) is a Mexican journalist who has become infatuated with the lovely Dolores. One evening, Dolores and a handful of her classmates head down to Tijuana for an evening of partying, and Damian tags along. While dancing at a nightclub, Dolores drops her passport; Damian finds it later on and is planning to give it back to Dolores the next day when he gets a phone call from her -- she needs to go to Mexico City as soon as possible to replace her passport, and wants to know if he'd be willing to give her a ride. While giving Dolores back her passport would mean seeing her for a few minutes, driving her to Mexico would mean spending a day or maybe two with her, so he volunteers to give her a lift, wondering when or if he should tell her the truth. Sólo Dios Sabe (aka Only God Knows) received its North American premiere at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diego Luna, Alice Braga, (more)
- 2005
- R
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Veteran screen star Tommy Lee Jones makes his directorial debut with the fractured tale of murder and injustice on the U.S.-Mexico border scripted by Amores perros and 21 Grams screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga. Mike Norton (Barry Pepper) is a fresh-faced Border Patrol officer in Cibolo County, Texas whose dedication to his new job leaves his lonely wife Lou Ann (January Jones) with little to do but spend her days at the local diner, where she strikes up a friendship with waitress Rachel (Melissa Leo). Despite her own status as a married woman, Rachel is unfulfilled in her marriage and is intimately involved with both rugged rancher Pete Perkins (Tommy Lee Jones) and local Sherrif Belmont (Dwight Yoakam). Soon after Pete hires Mexican illegal Melquiades Estrada (Julio Cesar Cedillo) as a ranch hand, the growing bond between the pair is suddenly shattered when, in a moment of panic on a routine patrol, Mike hastily guns down the innocent Melquaides. When an enraged Pete learns that Mike had unceremoniously buried the illegal immigrant in an unmarked desert grave and local authorities opt to overlook the case, he kidnaps the crooked lawman and sets out to ensure that justice is served with or without the involvement of the local police force. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Lee Jones, Barry Pepper, (more)
Filmed in Mexico and the Dominican Republic, this massive biography of Cuban leader Fidel Castro begins in the 1950s, when the title character, then a young and hungry lawyer, bristles at the iniquities and corruption of the Batista political regime. Inspired by the words by left-wing radio commentor Eddie Chibas (Hector Elizondo), Fidel becomes active in a revolutionary movement aimed at toppling Fulgencio Batista (Tony Plana). In 1959, Castro and his followers stage a spectacularly successful coup, one that is staunchly supported by thousands of idealists and Cuban expatriates in the United States. Unfortunately, to paraphrase cartoonist Bill Mauldin, no sooner has Fidel come down from the hills like Robin Hood than he begins behaving like the Sheriff of Nottingham, killing scores of his political enemies in round-the-clock executions, routinely snatching away the basic human rights that he had promised his followers, and embracing Communism with a fervent passion. Although the film does not shy away from showing the darker side of Castro, it is essentially sympathetic to its subject, balancing the Cuban dictator's political outrages with his many acts of benevolence, and attempting to provide "motivation" for what seem to be appalling contradictions. Victor Huggo Martin and Honorato Magaloni are cast respectively as the younger and older Castro, with Maurice Compte as his brother Raul and Gael Garcia Bernal as the ill-fated Che Guevara.Fidel was originally telecast in two parts over the Showtime cable network on January 27 and 28, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor Huggo Martin, Gael García Bernal, (more)
The romantic foibles of two young couples in Mexico -- whose professional success has not led to personal satisfaction -- forms the basis of this comedy with serious undertones. Carlos (Victor Hugo Martin) is a student of new age spirituality, while his wife Ana (Susana Zabaleta) is a good bit more interested in the pleasures of the flesh, leading to no small amount of conflict. Tensions increase when Tomas (Demián Bichir), an old friend of the couple and Ana's former lover, comes to pay an extended visit. Elsewhere in the neighborhood, Andrea (Cecilia Suarez) is angry with her husband Miguel (Jorge Salinas), who doesn't appear to put much stock in monogamy, and she's even more annoyed when he announces that his former girlfriend Maria (Monica Dionne), who has just left her husband, will be their house guest for a while. After a great deal of arguing and soul searching, a temporary agreement is reached between the two couples and their friends -- the men will stay in one apartment while the women will stay in another until cooler heads prevail. Sexo, Pudor Y Lagrimas/Sex, Shame and Tears was written and directed by Antonio Serrano, who adapted his own successful stage play. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Demián Bichir, Susana Zabaleta, (more)
Directed by Fernando Sariñana, Todo el poder centers around the politics and corruption that shroud the Mexican police system. Featuring Demián Bichir as Gabriel, a filmmaker whose career has left him assaulted and robbed in broad daylight more times than he cares to remember, the film itself was inspired by Sariñana's personal experience with urban crime oftentimes perpetrated by the police themselves. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
