Agata Lys Movies

Javier Domingo's dark comedy Mala Uva tells the tale of a retired professional killer who must come out of retirement, but attempts to keep his real profession hidden from his loved ones. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

In this Spanish language film, we are taken to the touching 55th birthday celebration of paterfamilias Santiago (Juan L. Galliardo). Among those attending are his wife Carmen (Amparo Munoz), his brother Ventura (Chete Lera) and Ventura's wife Sole (Agata Lys), and his children. As the film develops, we discover that all these people are actors whom Santiago has hired to ease him over the loneliness of this moment in his life. The imposture is particularly evident when Santiago is quizzing some of the actors to make sure they remember their parts properly. Things become tense when someone who knows Santiago slightly and is unaware of the day's impostures comes by and compliments him on the normality of his family life. There is yet more tension when Santiago beds Carmen, who is in reality Ventura's wife. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Sammy Bodean is the newest, most promising recruit according to the advertisement of the California Angels--and has to prove it come game time. Following the team's sale to young business whiz Gil Lawrence (Terry Kinney), ex-player Virgil Sweet (Edward James Olmos) has to prove himself as the team's talent scout to keep his job. Via a car break-down near a small farm-town in Idaho, Virgil stumbles across young Sammy Bodean (Jeff Corbett) who performs mean pitching skills in a rural sandlot. After bringing Sammy to LA where he pitches out the team's best, owner Gil begins a massive media campaign in which he appears in a press conference and not only brags of the boy's talent but of his intention to feature him--without warm-up or orientation--in the big game the following week. Virgil, though promoted to assistant manager, is upset at Gil's exploitative measures to save the slagging Angels at the expense of Sammy. Game day arrives and the pressure is on to keep the other team swinging, which causes young Sammy to choke. Or not. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi

Meant to reflect the harsh realities of segments of society in 1960s, Franco-era Spain, this slow-moving, drawn-out story is about a struggling, impoverished family who work on the estate of a wealthy aristocrat. Paco (Alfredo Landa) is the head of his small family who constantly tries to placate his irascible overlords and also teaches them how to hunt birds. His wife Régula (Terele Pávez) is as subservient as Paco. The family is rounded out by a mute, crippled daughter, a son away at military service, and Azarias (Francisco Rabal), an uncle whose mental stability is in question. These individuals are contrasted with Señor Iván (Juan Diego) who rules over them with a detached incomprehension that brands the family as not much different than the animals he hunts. The señor has no compunction about shooting Azarias's pet bird, or forcing Paco to continue with a bird hunt even though he has fallen and broken his leg. Given the insane behavior of the aristocratic Iván, the half-crazy Azarias might be the only one to get through to him on his own level. The 1984 Cannes Film Festival awarded Alfredo Landa and Francisco Rabal a shared "Best Actor" Award for their roles in this film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi