In I’m So Excited, Pedro Almodóvar’s first comedy in years, a wildly eccentric (crazy) group of passengers on a flight from Spain to Mexico are stranded in the air, as one of the plane’s landing gears is broken. Three fabulously gay flight attendants attempt to ease the passengers’ fears by keeping the mood light, in any way they can (they even bust out a choreographed dance number set to the titular Pointer Sisters tune), though the situation remains dire. As the passengers’ worries bubble over, rampant sex and cocktail guzzling ensue.

Javier Camara plays one of the determinedly upbeat flight attendants, Blanca Suarez, one of the only characters not on the plane, speaks to one of the passengers (her ex-lover) via telephone, and Miguel Angel Silvestre plays a horny newlywed who can’t contain his libido. The three stars took time to talk with us about Almodóvar’s methods, what it’s like to work on a tiny set, comedic mathematics, Spain in the ‘80s, and more.

Review of I’m So Excited

How was it working on such a tiny set?
Javier Camara: Pedro told me that we (Camara and co-stars Raul Arevalo and Carlos Aceres) were going to work on a plane as flight attendants, so we took classes for a month. We learned all the signals, learned to prepare food. [The airplane set was to scale], so the aisles were very cramped. We thought, “We’re going to be here for two months with Pedro Almodóvar!” It was crazy.

So training was two months?
Javier Camara: One month training, one and a half months of rehearsing with the cast, and two months shooting.

Rehearsal was very important for this film, yes? Can you talk a bit more about the rehearsal process?
Miguel Angel Silvestre: We rehearsed both off and on set. I think Pedro enjoys the rehearsals, and he likes to rehearse everything. If you’ve seen any of his films, it’s his own world, his own code of acting. The rhythm of the lines [is very important.] He’s very specific about what he wants, and the way to [give him what he wants] is a lot of rehearsing and trust, trust in someone to lead you. He wants a specific nonsense in his characters.

Javier Camara: The place gives you a lot of information about your character, too. You’re passengers, and you’re going to die. It’s funny–your seatbelts are fastened, so you have to play your character without any movement. You’ll be talking, but you can’t see the passengers behind you, so there’s a missing connection there. It’s a funny thing. Pedro was worried that the setting of the doomed plane was so sad that the film couldn’t be as theatrical as he wanted, and he’d have to change everything. But, the rehearsals were amazing, because you’re close to the other actors during your monologues, but at the same time, you’re alone in your place. You’re acting very desperate, but it’s also a crazy comedy.

Comedy is very difficult to pull off.
Javier Camara: Yeah. I had to be very over-the-top, very flamboyant, very “queeny”, very crazy. My character has to hide that there was a big problem on the plane, so I’m drinking the whole time. (laughs)

Can you speak a bit about Pedro’s unique knack for dialog? What’s his process, the method to his humor? There’s no one else like him.
Blanca Suarez: I think when Pedro begins to write a script for a film, he gets into the mind of each character, both the dark side and the light side. Even in a comedy, he’s aware that even though a character may be over-the-top, they also have to have a dark side. Sometimes, his instructions seem contradictory to us at first. He’ll tell you, “You’re happy, but you’re also very sad.”

Javier Camara: “You’re smiling, but you have a big problem.” If you want the audience to love these characters, you have to empathize with them. There has to be a balance. You have to hook the audience with some good qualities along with the bad.

Blanca Suarez: That’s life.

It’s funny you say “That’s life”, because Pedro’s films are very surrealistic.
Blanca Suarez: That’s life, too! (laughs)

The way Pedro gets you guys to deliver dialog is hilarious. What’s one of your favorite lines in the film?
Miguel Angel Silvestre: I remember one by Cecilia Roth. It’s like, “A woman, two sons” (trails off). I can’t remember it…

Javier Camara: I remember the scene. I’m drunk, and [I’m trying to calm down] Cecilia Roth: “Don’t worry, the captain is the best man to manage this trip.” She says, “Of course! With a woman, two sons, a lover, and the co-pilot fucking him, of course he controls everything!”

Miguel Angel Silvestre: I remember she was playing it one way, but Pedro wanted a specific intonation.

Javier Camara: There’s a specific rhythm that he’s going for. Comedy is mathematics—I constantly talk about that. There’s a rhythm that you have inside yourself. Pedro will tell you to take a breath [at an odd moment], which kind of breaks the rules, but it works. He gives you a lot of tools. Sometimes, actors don’t understand what he’s trying to tell them, but [his requests are practical.] He gives us the tools. Breathe. Count to three. Say the phrase. Pause. Look at him. Say the next phrase. It works! If you trust in Pedro, he’ll show you the way.

I’m So Excited is very theatrical…
Javier Camara: One day, I was shooting [the central dance number] with Carlos (Aceres), and he was being stupid. “Carlos! It’s not the right foot, it’s the left!” Pedro arrived, and he yelled at me. “What are you doing?! Are you directing my film!?” I said, “I’m sorry, Pedro. We’re supposed to start with the right foot, and he’s starting with the left!” He said, “Do you want to direct this film like it’s theater!” I remember we were talking for a couple weeks about making the film a play, because it’s the perfect theatrical play.

Blanca, your scenes are different because your character isn’t on the plane.
Blanca Suarez: My story is necessary because it gives you a breather. The audience is in this plane for a long time, and suddenly you’re on the ground, breathing the air, seeing the reality on the ground. It gives the audience a break.

Pedro makes a few statements about Spain in the ‘80s throughout the film.
Javier Camara: I think the film is an homage to Spain in the ‘80s. Now, Spain is very different. Pedro started making films in the ‘80s, and it was amazing, because Spain had just finished 40 years of dictatorship. There was a generation of artists, with Pedro at the head, invented a new kind of culture that connected with Luis Bañuel or Goya. They invented a very specific kind of Spanish cinema, talking about our reality, our past, and a huge, wide-open feature. This film recalls that liberty.

Returning to his absurdist comedy roots after taking years off, Pedro Almodóvar keeps it (mostly) playful with his unfiltered, druggy, cocktail-crazy sex party in the sky, I’m So Excited.

90 percent of the film is set on an airplane stranded in the clouds—one of the landing gears has been damaged (by the bumbling Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz in the film’s brief tone-setting prologue). The pilots search desperately for a solution for their dire predicament while three unflappably optimistic, gay flight attendants (Javier Camara, Carlos Areces, and Raul Arevalo, like a bitchy three-headed dog of fabulousness) attempt to keep the business class passengers’ spirits high despite the morbid situation that needles them. The economy class passengers? They’ve been drugged to sleep, ignorant of the impending danger (Almodóvar’s take on the Spanish proletariat).

Now, back to the business class folks. They’re a pill-popping, sex-starved freak show of sleaze. Lola Dueñas, an Almodóvar alumnus, plays a perpetually grinning 40-year-old-virgin psychic who can “smell death” and enhances her “powers” by groping a pair of male genitalia like a forklift driver. The rest of the weirdos include an assassin, a whore queen, and young newlyweds who have sleepwalk-sex right in their seats. “Shhhh!” the young husband—afraid his wife will be jostled from her sleep-state—snips to the vocally curious Dueñas, who is sitting right by them, fascinated by their lovemaking. From her inexperienced sexual perspective, she sees the couple’s amorous display as an impromptu sex-ed class. “What is it?!” the husband snips, hilariously, in between moans. “Are you doing it from the front or the back?” inquires Dueñas. That’s Almodóvar for you. Bawdy moments like this are plentiful and infectiously funny.

The film’s title refers to its brilliantly camp, wildly choreographed dance number performed by the three flight attendants, set to the classic Pointer Sisters tune. The trio is so committed to their flamboyance and semi-synchronized dance moves that you’ll be dying to jump into the screen, grab a Valencia cocktail, and join in on the fun. It’s joyously sloppy Cabaret.

Theatricality is the name of the game here, as all of the scenes on the plane feel like a filmed stage play (in a good, kinetic way, though not terribly cinematic). Almodóvar feels like early ‘80s Almodóvar, the guy who directed outlandish shock-fests like Pepi, Luci, Bom… This is a good thing, but while the in-your-face crudeness of his early work is very much present and potent here, the dramatic beats—there are more than you’d expect—don’t leave a lasting impression. The scattered tender moments (however melodramatic) are constantly elbowed aside by the gags, which are tastier and easily digestible. Even the parabolic commentary on Spain (something Almodóvar spends much time on) is overshadowed by the raunchy, “Fuck you, you’re gonna love this shit” humor. There’s a love story mixed up in here somewhere, but all I can think about is the scene when Lola Dueñas rapes a guy (gasp)!

Has Almodóvar’s filthy comedic mind lost its edge during his extended respite? No—his edge is sharp, and he’s still fiendishly provocative, no question. He had me constantly shaking my head in disbelief at the dirty things he got me to laugh at. What keeps I’m So Excited from being one of his very best is that the narrative threads running throughout the film, while ambitious and well-acted, ultimately add very little to the overall experience. Though the film’s half-hearted narrative is underwhelming, the rowdy airborne shenanigans, bitch-fest dialog, and irresistible cast will grab you by the face and give you a big smooch you won’t soon forget.

Oh, Pedro Almodovar. It is slightly embarrassing that the first film I saw from the legendary director was his 2011 puzzling thriller The Skin I Live In. That film ended up being my favorite films of 2011 and consequently encouraged me to follow his other work. Most of his recent films have been more of the perverse thriller variety but his newest film, I’m So Excited, looks be much more of a true comedy. Although, given that it is Almodovar behind the camera, I would expect the film to have some colorful twists in store.

According to IMDB, at this time the plot is still unknown but the cast list has been released. Many of Almodovar go-to actors are present such as; Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, Lola Dueñas and Javier Cámara. Others include; Cecilia Roth, Paz Vega, Hugo Silva and Blanca Suárez.

Teaser trailer for I’m So Excited:

Back in 2005 the talented Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar made a film called Bad Education, which contains a film within a film and a story within a story based on the characters past without knowing much about their present. Yes, it is as complex as it sounds but the veteran director handles it with precision care. Like most of his other films, you will get the most out of Bad Education with each subsequent viewing of it.

One day in 1980 a successful Madrid-based filmmaker named Enrique Goded (Fele Martínez) gets a visit from a former grade school classmate named Ignacio (Gael García Bernal). The two have not seen each other in 16 years but it proves to be impeccable timing. Enrique has ran into a creative wall and is desperate for story ideas. It just so happens that Ignacio is an actor (who now prefers to go by his stage name Ángel) and brought with him a script of a story named “The Visit”.

We visually get to see what Enrique is reading of “The Visit”, which are flashbacks to their school days that include Ignacio getting sexually abused by Father Manalo (Daniel Giménez Cacho). It also recounts adolescent first love between Enrique and Ignacio. It turns out that the abuse that Ignacio received was directly tied to trying to get Enrique out of trouble.

As the story unfolds many storylines and ideas overlap each other thus making it fairly confusing in the beginning. You may think you have it figured out near the start but the characters have more depth that you may think. This is done intentionally but by the end of the film Almodóvar clears up much of the mystery.

One thing that I found particularly interesting is that when the script was being read, the aspect of the film would change. So it was as if we were watching the script of the film that was being read by Enrique. Trying to decipher what is the truth and what is made up is part of what makes Bad Education such a fun watch. But it also makes it hard to review as to not give away spoilers. Some characters are hustling other characters but it is likely not who you think it is.

It is films like Bad Education that give Pedro Almodóvar such deserving high praise. His ability for storytelling puts him in the company of Hithcock, Spielberg, Scorsese and Kubrick. During his film he shows slowly reveals pieces of a puzzle that only come together at the end and when they do they are remarkable.

It would be very difficult to write a review of Bad Education without discussing the exquisite performance that Gael García Bernal gives. Without giving too much away, Almodóvar pushes Bernal to the acting limit by playing several roles. Often he is scantily clad but there is one role which includes him dressing up in drag. If for some reason you did not appreciate Bernal before, this film should change your mind.

Because I first discovered Almodóvar from my favorite film of 2011, The Skin I Live In, I am in the unique position of watching his films in reverse sequence. So for me, I can see how each one of his later works has been influenced from Bad Education. Just like in Volver (and all of the films I have seen of his) his color palette consists of vivid color schemes. Broken Embraces was similar to this film in the fact that there is a film within a film. And finally The Skin I Live In contained a perverse natured erotic storyline which Bad Education certainly had some of.

David Lynch fans rejoice, soon there will be nearly an hour of deleted scenes from Blue Velvet. Deleted scenes from the cult classic 1986 noir Blue Velvet were found on the blu-ray edition of the film but have recently made their way to YouTube. [Dangerous Minds]

Penelope Cruz has been confirmed for upcoming Ridley Scott and Pedro Almodovar films. Her extensive previous work with director Pedro Almodovar makes the news less surprising but still welcoming. The name of the film will be called Standby Lovers. She will join the cast of Ridley Scott’s The Counselor which is comprised of huge names including Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, and Javier Bardem. [The Playlist]

Images from Michel Gondry’s upcoming French production Mood Indigo surfaced this week. Audrey Tatou (Amelie) will be the lead in the adaptation of Boris Vian’s 1947 novel Froth On The Daydream. The stills definitely appear to have Gondry’s creative touch to them. [Twitch]

Philip Seymour Hoffman goes agentless after leaving Paradigm after 18 years with the agency. Aside from appearing Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master he just finished a role which director Mike Nichols has said may be the most taxing stage role on an actor. [Deadline]

Rumors have been circling that Emma Watson and Ray Winstone could star in Darren Aronofsky’s Biblical epic Noah. According to Deadline Ray Winstone may get a villain role in the film to go opposite of Russell Crowe. Emma Watson is apparently in talks to play Ila, a young woman who befriends Noah’s son, Shem. [Deadline]

The special animated companion to Moonrise Kingdom is now available to watch online for free. This Wes Anderson animated short does not contain any spoilers to Moonrise Kingdom therefore do not be hesitant to watch it if you have not seen the film yet. [EW]

The female cast from Your Sisters Sister sat down for an interview with Coming Soon to talk about the process of developing characters and how much of the film was improvised. One of the most amazing facts is that the entire crew for the film was only 16 people (and the film was shot in just 12 days). The whole interview is worth reading and if you haven’t read our review of Your Sisters Sister check it out now. [Coming Soon]

Volver could probably pass as a good Spanish soap opera. The film by talented director Pedro Almodóvar is about a predominantly female family and how they deal with situations that unfold. This melodrama contains all of Almodóvar’s trademarks; female focused, flawed human beings, consistent color palette, and plot twists. It just was not comprised together as well as his other films.

We are introduced to the entire family at the beginning of the film. Standing over their mother and father’s grave are sisters Raimunda (Penélope Cruz) and Sole (Lola Dueñas). They are trying to keep the grave clean of flying debris on a day that is about as windy as the day their parents died from the strong wind blowing fire that led to their death.

The two sisters and Raimunda’s daughter Paula (Yohana Cobo) leave the cemetery to go visit Aunt Paula (kind of confusing, I know). Aunt Paula can barely see or walk so it is to their surprise when they see an exercise bike in her bathroom. How could see use it if she can hardly walk? As they leave there are handmade deserts she prepared for them. But how could she bake if she can hardly see?

These are questions that Pedro side steps for the first act of the film. They are hinted at but not revealed until later. Although, the answer to this is not necessarily a spoiler, it is better to let Pedro do the answering.

Raimunda is headed home from her shift from the airport when she is greeted by Paula. This is not a regular occurrence so she knows that something is wrong but the real give-away is the blank face Paula has on her face. She cannot form the words to construct a sentence but when she is does it is haunting.

She explains to her mom that her drunken father came on to her in the kitchen. He recites that he is not the father in order to somehow make it justifiable to have sex with her. She pleads with him to stop but when he does not she pulls out a knife and ends up stabbing him to death.

As if Raimunda does not have enough to deal with she receives a phone call about another death that is close to her. Sole informs her that their Aunt Paula has passed away. She can barely focus on the news as the dead man on the floor of her kitchen remains her top priority.

You would assume that the film is leading you down the path of a murder-mystery-cover up but that tangent fades about as quickly as it begins. Instead Volver splits into a few directions, Raimunda successfully runs a restaurant but without permission. Sole gets help with her illegal hair salon business from a person you would least expect. The common centerpiece is the interactions amongst the family members.

Pedro loves to use the color of red, the color was all over Broken Embraces and Volver was no exception. From purses, to buses, clothing, tomatoes, furniture, and vehicles, the red hue is everywhere. The reasoning here is obvious, the red symbolizes blood and passion. It is becoming a trademark of Pedro’s.

Penelope Cruz was nominated for an Oscar for her performance as Raimunda. However, the entire cast did so well that the female ensemble shared the Best Actress award at Cannes. Also at Cannes, the film itself was nominated for the Palme d’Or.

Volver is ultimately a melodrama about how death can be dealt with by forgiveness and acceptance. The biggest issue with this film for me was not that it was not as hard hitting as his other work but that it went off on some unneeded tangents. It may not be the most solid Almodóvar script but that does not mean the film is not worth a watch.

Broken Embraces is a foreign film from the highly acclaimed Spanish director Pedro Almodovar about passion and obsession. The film centers around a filmmaker who falls in love with an actress who is the producer’s mistress. The plot slowly unravels itself in a way that would make Hitchcock proud. It is shot in a way that you not only are watching one Almodovar film but two as there is a movie-within-a-movie.

Mateo Blanco (Lluis Homar) is a famous director who was fantasized being another person. He created an alter ego of Henry Caine when he became blind and transformed into being a writer. Caine relies on Judit (Blanca Portillo) and her son Diego (Tamar Novas) to take care of him at his home. Judit has always been by Caine’s side, even before he became blind as she was a production manager for him on his films.

At the very beginning we learn that a wealthy man named Ernesto Martel has died but have no clue as to who that person is. The film then jumps around from past and present to learn about Ernesto Martel and why his death is so important to Caine. During all the flashbacks we are introduced to a host of side characters and the different sides of Mateo Blanco/Henry Caine.

One day a young name named Ray X (Ruben Ochandiano) makes an appointment to talk to Caine about making a screenplay for him. Ray X insists that Caine should do the screenplay but Caine was not sold on the story and tells him that he is not the right person to write it. After he leaves he has Diego look at old production photos because he has a hunch that he has met Ray X before. Sure enough, there is a photo of the two together on a set.

Back when Caine went by Mateo Blanco, he was beginning his work on what would be his final film Girls and Suitcases. This is when he was introduced to Ernesto’s mistress, Lena (Penelope Cruz). Lena has been living with the wealthy Ernesto Martel for the past two years but wanted to get back into the working environment. Mateo fell in love with Lena at first sight.

Martel is nervous that he is losing Lena so he hires his son to follow Lena around on the set of the film. Armored with a video camera himself, the son is follows orders by filming Lena becoming an actress. Although the reason for this is so that Martel can keep an eye on Lena, the son makes a documentary out of it.

His suspicions turned out to be accurate as Lena falls for Mateo. The footage his son captured of the two proved that. Being that Martel is the producer of the film, makes the whole situation very messy. Martel’s passion for Lena does not go unnoticed.

Almodovar deliberately uses the color red virtually everywhere throughout the film. It is found in obvious places such as lipstick but also in more carefully selected places such as the paintings, furniture and a lot of the clothing. The liberal use of the color red is no doubt in effort to show how much love and passion all the characters possess.

I have started backwards in viewing Pedro Almodovar’s work, the first film I saw of his was his most recent film The Skin I Live In which ended up being my favorite film of 2011. He has incredible talent in filmmaking and storytelling that makes it easy to see why he is one of the most acclaimed Spanish directors of all time. He is becoming one of my favorite foreign directors. I eagerly wait to see Vovler, Bad Education and Talk To Her which are the next three films in the reverse order I am viewing them in.

The first 90 minutes of Broken Embraces was brilliant, character development heavy with a great thriller plotline. In the last 30 minutes of the film the story arc was mostly completed thus the rushed ending failed to be climatic. It was a little disappointing that the last part of the film did not finish as strong as it began. The film still was impressive to watch thanks to Almodovar’s magnificent style.

The Skin I Live In is a foreign psychological thriller from the highly acclaimed Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar. His work is often compared to Alfred Hitchcock’s and it is easy to see why. Even though it was shot and set in present time the film looks like it could be from the 60’s when Hitchcock was around. As the title slightly suggests, the film is about how you still remain the same inside even if your outside has been completely changed.

Robert Ledgard (Antonio Banderas) is a brilliant plastic surgeon according to his colleagues. His specialty is facial and skin transplants. Brilliant he may be but we soon find out that his work closely resembles that of Frankenstein. The goal of Robert’s experiment is to create the perfect female body, he calls her Vera.

Vera Cruz (Elena Anaya) is locked up in a room in Doctor Robert Ledgard’s large mansion but we do not know why. She receives her food and reading material via a dumbwaiter. Surveillance cameras watch her every move and he handles her with tremendous care. She tries to commit suicide but again we do not know why. We must wait for Almodóvar’s masterfully crafted narrative to unfold for answers to such questions.

The new artificial skin Robert has created is resistant to every insect bite thus it can prevent diseases such as malaria. This is because it smells different from normal human skin so it repels mosquitoes from wanting to bite it. Also it cannot be burned easily due to using some pig cells to strengthen it. After he reveals his secret of using pig cells, the president of the institute of biotechnology informs him of how the bioethics of doing such a thing is forbidden then threatens to report him if he continues with this experiment.

While Robert is pondering what to do with Vera as her skin has been successfully healed from his transgenic therapy experiment, another part of the storyline develops. The primary servant of Robert, Marilia (Marisa Paredes), is reunited with her son Zeca (Roberto Álamo) who is trying to hide from local police for stealing jewelry. Zeca’s plan is to have Robert operate on his face so that he will not be recognizable by the police but Marilia quickly scolds him saying that Robert would never do the operation.

You get a sense that Marilia is afraid of her son just by their conversation which is then confirmed when she pulls a gun on him and instructs him to leave. She says to him, “You’re not my son. I just gave birth to you.” Zeca grabs the gun from her and notices Vera on the surveillance screen. Somehow she looks familiar to him. This is one of many plot thicken scenes that keep you engaged until the credits roll.

The difficult part of doing this review is not to give away any big clues. As with any good thriller/mystery, figuring out what happens is what makes it so entertaining. Almodóvar tells the story in a beautiful yet crafty way methodically giving you clues here and there. The thriller at times treads close to the line of horror but never quite crosses the line.

Almodóvar’s previous work has proven him as a cinematic artist whose eye for beauty is rarely surpassed. The Skin I Live In is no exception to that. It would be hard to walk away from the film without vivid images burned into your head, the styling is top notch (the perverse nature of the film adds to this as well).

The Skin I Live In would have ended better if it did not explain itself in the very last scene. I did not think it was needed, unless you were not paying attention during the film as it was alluded to on multiple occasions. That is really is my old compliant, and a small one at that, it ended about a minute too long. The film is an amazing yet bizarre thriller that involves a mad scientist creating perfect beauty as a way of filling a void in this life that results in a disturbing vengeance.