Zaide Silvia Gutierrez Movies

Mexican director Fernando Sarinana's comedy Charm School (aka Niñas Mal) represented the first feature to be produced by Columbia Films Producciones Mexico. This Spanish-language teen film follows the adventures of 18-year-old Adela (Martha Higareda), a terminal misfit whose parents ship her off to Mexico's only remaining preparatory school for young ladies. They want to prevent her misbehavior from standing in the way of her father's election as governor of Mexico City. Upon enrollment, Adela experiences an endless series of comically outrageous clashes with the school's headmistress. Camila Sodi and Blanca Guerra co-star. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

In this Mexican comedy, a business man with shady ties named Enrique is kidnapped and his wife, Elena, is sent a video tape of him with his mistress. The mistress, Rita, after speaking with Elena decides that Enrique is not worth the trouble of rescuing and the two women become friends. Now the big question that hangs in the air is who will take care of Enrique's money laundering activities while he is held prisoner? ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi

Death and the Compass is a loose adaptation of a Jorge Luis Borges short story from eccentric British writer-director Alex Cox (Repo Man). Treviranus (Miguel Sandoval), disheveled and haunted by the past, narrates the story of the last great case of a famous detective, Lonnrot (Peter Boyle). In a vaguely futuristic unnamed metropolis (most of the film was shot in Mexico City), Lonnrot investigates the case of a murdered rabbi, who was a Kabala scholar. Treviranus, Lonnrot's commander, quite rationally believes the murder was a botched robbery, and the work of the insane masked local crime lord Red Scarlach. But Lonnrot finds the last words the rabbi wrote, "The first letter of the name has been spoken," and thinks there was a more complex, kabalistic motive to the crime. Lonnrot asks a journalist, Zunz (Christopher Eccleston), to help him unravel the mystery. Soon, another murder and a disappearance lend credence to Lonnrot's mystical theory, and the clever detective believes he can predict and prevent the next crime. As the disgraced Treviranus tells the story, his jealousy and resentment of Lonnrot's powers of deduction and his popularity with the public become evident. After making El Patrullero (Highway Patrolman), Cox was commissioned by the BBC to do a short Borges adaptation for television. He later got additional funding (partly for directing The Winner, which he later disavowed after the producers made changes without his consent) to expand Death and the Compass into a feature. He added all the scenes of Treviranus' narration, and an elaborate scene in which he himself plays a blind detective cut down by Red Scarlach. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

In this supernatural thriller, an American painter has been living in Mexico and has an affair with a witch's daughter while there. However, when he hears that his former girlfriend is pregnant, he returns to the States to be with her. The jilted young woman, a witch herself, sends him ever more potent evidences of her displeasure, and he is hard-pressed to survive and maintain his sanity. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

After discovering that his terrorist brother has committed suicide, Marco (John Savage) travels to Columbia to investigate, in this action film. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Firewalker stars Chuck Norris as Max Donigan, an ex-Marine, and Louis Gossett, Jr. as his buddy, Leo Porter. Both set out to help Patricia Goodwyn (Melody Anderson) find a lost Aztec city and a temple filled with gold. After a few misadventures, their nemesis "El Coyote" (Sonny Landham) comes into view for awhile to make it clear that they are not without serious competition. Barroom brawls and a capture by hostile Native Americans throw roadblocks in their path, but the fearless trio forge onward toward the temple and their destiny. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

El Norte is a realistic picture of both the Guatemalan government's oppression of the Quiche Indians and the hard life of illegal immigrants in the United States. After the Guatemalan army destroys their village of San Pedro, two teenage Quiche Mayan Indian siblings journey north (hence El Norte) through Mexico to the United States to start a new life. The film opens with the destruction of the village and the peasants' pointless appeals to the authorities for justice. Realizing that the government is seizing their land, Enrique and Rosa make the difficult decision to leave their people behind. As they journey through Mexico, the siblings encounter a number of helpful individuals who direct them towards the U.S./Mexican border. There they find a "coyote" (a professional human smuggler) and make the frightening run across border. Once across, Enrique and Rosa are introduced to the impossible realities of life as an illegal immigrant in Los Angeles. Living in constant fear of deportation, they struggle to survive as they are exploited by a series of employers. Eventually, their luck takes a turn for the better when the manager of their motel offers Enrique a job. ~ Brian Whitener, Rovi