Live Flesh (1997)

Not among Almodovar's best, but still an interesting human drama about a pizza delivery boy who falls for a drugged out girl. He confronts the girl after she has a change of heart and doesn't want to see him anymore and somehow the cops show up to arrest him. There's a struggle for a gun and a cop is shot. The boy goes to jail for six years. Now that he is out he wants revenge. The story is from a novel by British author Ruth Rendell. A young, almost handsome Bardem plays the cop. He's eclipsed by the pretty Liberto Rabal who plays the boy. Oh, but both girls and boys get naked in this flick.

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On another topic: bad artsy foreign films. Looking at foreign films' dvd covers, those films typically seem better than they actually are. Sure, you probably don't recognize the actors or maybe even the director, so you don't have that to go on. Foreign film cover art always shows awards from random film festivals. Still, when you watch these films, many suck donkeys. I am starting to realize how to figure out if you've got one of these bombs early on. First off, they take only single words from critics reviews, like: 'beautiful', 'stunning' and put them on the cover (probably even if the critic said: "any movie would be more beautiful than this piece of sh*t", the word beautiful gets put on the cover). Then if they waste a ton of film on a scene where a person is doing something mundane and uninteresting, and they shoot that mundane thing for the first 5 minutes of the movie after the titles. Then you know to skip the movie entirely or at least run it at 60:1 speed.

Talk to Her (2002)

As with all Almodovar films, the music is great. It seems Almodovar likes to use some of the same players -- a couple actors in Talk to Her are also in Volver. Overall a very interesting story about women in comas and the men who take care of them, partially told in flashbacks.

Minor spoilers: One interesting theme in the movie is that one lover is sad and cries when he sees something beautiful without his beloved because he can't share it with her. There are interesting extensions to this used to great effect, such as what does it mean that he doesn't cry at something beautiful. Here is also an interesting reversal of common stereotypes. A man who lives with his mother, is a hairdresser and a nurse is straight! Also, looking back, you will realize why it is that the nurse wanted a hug from his friend.