Emilio Martínez-Lázaro Movies

Spanish writer-director Emilio Martínez Lazáro's bawdy musical comedy romance Both Sides of the Bed (Los Dos Lados de la Cama, 2006) constitutes a sequel to that director's earlier musical The Other Side of the Bed (AKA El Otro Lado de la Cama, 2002). Just as that first film plays out the farcical romantic shenanigans of a group of single young men and their lovers, the sequel offers more of the same, but adds greater depth to the proceedings. The story finds Javier (Ernesto Alterio) and Marta (Veronica) celebrating their pending nuptials in a nightclub, on the evening before their wedding. They are accompanied by two friends romantically involved with one another, Pedro (Guillermo Toledo) and the chanteuse Raquel (Lucia Jimenez). The plans of each couple are soon undone by Marta's hesitation - the product of her undeclared lesbianism and carnal involvement with Raquel (evident when the women quietly slip off to the ladies' room and have intercourse). A third friend, Carlota (Pilar Castro), happens to stumble onto the women making it, but says nothing to the boys. The next morning, Marta jilts Javier, Raquel leaves Pedro, and the remainder of the film has the men gradually coming face-to-face with the girls' lesbianism, while forging a deeper bond with Carlota. Throughout the film, Lazáro laces his picture with bubble-gum music (predominantly breezy 1970s and 1980s Spanish pop hits) and electric choreography, performed by an ensemble of twenty dancers. In lieu of employing musical asides, the director integrates the musical numbers into individual scenes. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Film noir and comedy are successfully thrown together in this off-beat story about Germain (Antonio Resines), a stage producer trying to put together the two leads and backing for his next drama. Germain is looking for a man to play a psychotic obsessed with his mother and a woman to play a seductress. For the male lead he finds Rufo (Imanol Arias) who depends on robbery for a living, takes care of his drug-addict mother, and has hallucinatory visions about the Pope. The female lead has three contenders: Germain's ex-girlfriend Nena (Amparo Munoz), his ex-wife Amelia (Assumpta Serna), and Lola (Patricia Adriani) a beguiling vamp he met in a taxi one day. Germain soon finds that casting can be a nightmare when Nena's husband (his potential backer) lusts after Lola, Nena has her amorous sights set on Rufo, and Germain's ex-wife Amelia runs after a soccer player. Add in a murder, and absurdity rules the day. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

When he realizes that he now has no real connection with anyone, Maximo Gascon (Ignacio Fernandez de Castro) tries to reach out to his daughter. Everyone else he felt connected to is dead or has left him behind. Despite many attempts to break through the invisible barrier which cuts him off from genuine emotional communication, he is unsuccessful. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi