Lupe Ontiveros Movies

Forest Whitaker and Carlos Mencia headline this culture-clash comedy centered on the conflict between two headstrong fathers whose children are about to be married. With just two weeks to go before the big day, the disagreeable dads struggle to put aside their differences long enough to plan the perfect wedding. America Ferrera, Regina King, and Fred Armisen co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Bizarre occurrences plague a home, but it remains unclear if they signal a manifestation of evil or the illusory products of a woman's mental breakdown in Dark Mirror, director and co-screenwriter Pablo Proenza's tense supernatural thriller. The tale begins when a family of three -- photographer-cum-mother Deborah (Lisa Vidal), her husband, Jim (David Chisum), and their son, Ian (Joshua Pelegrin) -- move into a house with a number of oddities attached, including not only a shady history, but creepy aesthetic touches such as mirrors that reflect to infinity and panels made of beveled glass. Deborah begins to work toward rebuilding her career behind the camera, but everyone who appears in her photographs suddenly and inexplicably dies. On an even more unsettling note, Deborah begins to suspect that the two women closest to her -- her best friend and her mother -- are in fact the walking dead, or zombies. The occurrences in the house seem to manifest themselves as omens, beckoning Deborah to interpret everything, but the signs conflict -- and threaten to drive Deborah beyond the point of comprehension when she discovers an odd book left behind by the prior owners, and filled with strange, cryptic diagrams and notations. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

A tightly knit New Mexico community devoted to God, family, and fresh Mexican food is unexpectedly thrust into the national spotlight when the face of Jesus Christ appears on a tasty tortilla as the owner and head cook prepares for the Sunday lunch rush. Isidor Navarro (José Zuñiga) is the owner and proprietor of Tortilla Heaven -- a modest Mexican restaurant located in the remote town of Falfurrias. Though Tortilla Heaven may indeed have the best food in all of New Mexico, the only people aware of the restaurant are the 72 other residents who live in Falfurrias. All of that changes one fateful Sunday, however, when the citizens of Falfurrias file into church to pray the Lord's Mass and Isidor steps into the kitchen to make some fresh tortillas. When the dough that morning proves especially hard to handle and Isidor curses the difficult mixture before slamming it down on the grill, the God-fearing cook is suddenly taken aback when the face of Jesus Christ appears on the burnt tortilla. Of course, in a tiny town like Falfurrias it's impossible to keep a secret, and the very next day curious citizens are filing into Tortilla Heaven to find out if there is any truth to the rumors concerning a divine flatbread. As Isidor realizes the moneymaking potential of the culinary anomaly and begins to charge admission, worshipers begin to appear from all corners of the state and Tortilla Heaven soon begins to turn a tidy profit. Later, after a series of incredible miracles are attributed to the tortilla, a shady city slicker named Gil Garcia (Miguel Sandoval) appears at Tortilla Heaven throwing around such words as "expansion" and "franchising." It doesn't take much for Gil to convince Isidor to sign on the dotted line, and it's only when greed begins to plague the citizens of Falfurrias that the true miracle comes to light. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A presentation of the daily PBS Kids programming block, Maya & Miguel was a Latino-flavored educational cartoon series geared for children aged 5 through 11. Maya Santos was a lively 10-year-old Hispanic girl who was insatiably curious about the world around her, and who also came up with a million and one ideas to help those around her--in short, a well-meaning busybody, who invariably learned an important Life Lesson, or a new aspect of Latino culture and history, the end of each half-hour episode. Maya was accompanied in her exploits by her twin brother Miguel, her 7-year-old Mexican cousion Tito, and her ethnically diverse friends, among them Chrissy, Maggie, Theo and Andy. The adult characters included Maya and Miguel's incredibly supportive parents Miguel and Rosa, the kids' warm-hearted grandmother Abuela Elena, and friendly neighborhood mailman Senor Felipe. The Hispanic characters all spoke bilingually, switching from English to Spanish and back again with exhilarating abandon. Produced by Scholastic Productions and funded in part by a cooperative agreement between PBS, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the US Department of Education, Maya & Miguel debuted October 1, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Already anxious to hide her clandestine romance from her husband, Carlos (Ricardo Antonio Chavira), Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) is further confounded by the arrival of her troublesome mother-in-law, Juanita (Lupe Ontiveros). Susan (Teri Hatcher) impulsively dates Officer Rick Thompson (Steven Eckholdt), who is investigating a break-in in the neighborhood -- for which Susan's erstwhile beau Mike Delfino (James Denton) may be responsible. And Lynette (Felicity Huffman) and her husband, Tom (Doug Savant), enroll their contentious twins in a private school -- as if that will solve the problem! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Having already made trouble for Susan (Teri Hatcher), Mrs. Huber (Christine Estabrook) now turns her sights on Bree (Marcia Cross) -- who has plenty of marital headaches already. As for Susan, she is kept busy spying on Mike (James Denton) during his tête-à-tête with the toothsome Kendra (Heather Stephens). Elsewhere, Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) finds herself vying with Bree's daughter (Joy Lauren) for the attentions of hunky gardener John (Jesse Metcalfe). Bree's shiftless son, Andrew (Shawn Pyfrom), causes an accident that puts Gabrielle's mother-in-law (Lupe Ontiveros) in the hospital. And Lynette (Felicity Huffman) is secretly partaking of the medication prescribed for her twins. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A woman learning to trust men again finds herself falling for a man who may not be trustworthy in this romantic comedy. Celia Amonte (Sofia Milos) is a beautiful woman of Portuguese-American heritage who lost her husband, a fisherman, to an accident at sea. Eight years after his death, Celia remains loyal to her late husband's memory, even though her equally lovely teenage daughter, Vicky (Emmy Rossum), frequently encourages her to start dating again, and has even tried fixing Celia up with eligible men. Unknown to her mother, Vicky has become a frequent visitor to a local gambling casino, where she meets a handsome Englishman named Charlie Beck (Jason Isaacs), who gambles for a living. Vicky urges Charlie to see Celia perform at a local nightclub, where she sings the passionate Portuguese songs of the fado style. Charlie is immediately taken with her, but Celia isn't especially interested in him. Vicky makes a deal with Charlie -- if he'll show her how to cheat at blackjack, she'll persuade Celia to go out with him. In time, Charlie's charm eventually conquers Celia's reservations, and a romance begins to bloom, However, Charlie has made the mistake of telling Celia he's a fisherman, and he's not sure how much longer he can keep up the charade. Passionada also features Theresa Russell, Seymour Cassel, and Lupe Ontiveros. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Series creator Peter Murrieta based the weekly, half-hour sitcom Greetings From Tucson on his own experience growing up in a multicultural household. When he received a promotion on his job, Mexican-American patriarch Joaquin (Julio Oscar Mechoso) moved his family into a slightly more upscale Tucson neighborhood. Despite his new surroundings, the rule-bound Joaquin remained loyal to the "old values" passed down from his homeland, and tended to keep his children -- son David (Pablo Santos) and daughter Maria (Aimee Garcia) -- on very short leashes. Slightly more liberal in her parental behavior was Joaquin's feisty Irish-American wife Elizabeth (Rebecca Creskoff), while Joaquin's peppery mother Magdalena (Lupe Ontiveros) and indolent brother Ernesto (Jacob Vargas) could easily be described as overraged hippies. Much of the humor was of the culture-clash variety, with Joaquin's Mexican traditionalism, Elizabeth's Irish pragmatism, and daughter Maria's self-imposed Spanish nationalism all brought into play. After a bit of pre-release script tinkering (including changing the family's name from Campos to Tiant and changing the series' title from Just for You), Greetings From Tucson finally premiered on September 20, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A man thinks he's found the woman of his dreams until he discovers someone else already had the same idea in this romantic comedy-drama with a primarily Hispanic cast. Mike (Jaime P. Gomez) is employed at a psychiatric hospital in California, where he meets Gabriela (Seidy Lopez), a young woman who is also working there while she completes her degree. Mike finds Gabriela to be sweet, charming, intelligent, and very beautiful, but there's a problem -- Gabriela has a fiancé, Pat (Zach Galligan). While Pat and Gabriela's relationship is hardly perfect -- she's very busy with work and school, and he's very devoted to his career -- Gabriela takes it very seriously, and Mike tries to resign himself to the fact that he and Gabriela are never going to be anything more than friends. But as they spend more time together, sparks begin to fly between Mike and Gabriela, forcing her to choose one man over the other. Completed in 2000, Gabriela found a distributor in 2001, when it was picked up by the independent distribution firm Power Point Films. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Three tales of unusual erotic delights are brought together in this home video release, which collects episodes from the popular Showtime series Red Shoe Diaries. In "Temple of Flesh," a married couple want to do something different to celebrate their anniversary. They meet up with an uninhibited man and woman who indulge in a sexy escapade in their limousine, which prompts the marrieds to expand their own sensual boundaries. A woman finds herself transfixed by a muscular masked wrestler in "Juarez." And in "The Farmer's Daughter," a young woman who helps tend her father's vineyard discovers a ruggedly handsome bicycle rider she's had her eye on has been injured in a traffic accident. She brings him home to patch his wounds, and as his broken bones heal, he becomes enamored of her wholesome sensuality. Anya Longwell, Neith Hunter, and Irina Grigorieva star in these three episodes; David Duchovny narrates. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi