Tag Archives: Raul Arevalo

Bayona’s “A Monster Calls” Wins Big at Spain’s Goya Awards

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J.A. Bayona is celebrating a monster night…

The 41-year-old Spanish filmmaker took home the Best Director prize at the Spanish Film Academy’s Goya Awards ceremony over the weekend, while his film A Monster Calls proved to be the night’s big winner with nine awards.

J.A. Bayona

Bayona’s tale of a boy who faces his mother’s illness with the help of a monster had received 12 nominations.

Bayona, won the Best New Director award in 2008 for his name-making film The Orphanage, celebrated each award for A Monster Calls as if it were his first successful film, instead of the third in a highly acclaimed trilogy centering on the mother-child relationship. He dedicated his award to all who suffer from cancer and to his father, who taught him the transformative power of culture.

Meanwhile, Raul Arevalo’s directorial debut Fury of a Patient Man took the top award, Best Picture, while the 37-year-old Spanish filmmaker won the best new director and best original screenplay prizes.

Pedro Almodovar was on hand to celebrate his lead actress Emma Suarez’s special night, as she walked away with two Goya statuettes for her roles in his films Julieta and La Proxima Piel. But Almodovar, who will be the first Spaniard to chair the Cannes Film Festival jury in May, didn’t win in any of the six other categories in which his film competed.

Here’s the complete list of winners:

Film
Fury of a Patient Man

Director
J.A. Bayona for A Monster Calls

New Director
Raul Arevalo for Fury of a Patient Man

Original Screenplay
David Pulido, Raul Arevalo for Fury of a Patient Man

Adapted Screenplay
Alberto Rodriguez, Rafael Cobos for Smoke and Mirrors

Original Score
Fernando Velazquez for A Monster Calls

Original Song
“Ai, Ai, Ai” by Silvia Perez Cruz for Cerca de tu Casa

Lead Actor
Roberto Alamo for May God Save Us

Lead Actress
Emma Suarez for Julieta

Supporting Actor
Manolo Solo for Fury of a Patient Man

Supporting Actress
Emma Suarez for La proxima piel

New Actor
Carlos Santos for Smoke and Mirrors

New Actress
Anna Castillo for El Olivo

Production Design
Sandra Hermida Muniz for A Monster Calls

Photography
Oscar Faura for A Monster Calls

Editing
Bernat Vilplana, Jaume Marti for A Monster Calls

Artistic Director
Eugenio Caballero for A Monster Calls

Wardrobe
Paola Torres for 1898. The End of the Philippines

Makeup and Hair
David Marti, Marese Langan for A Monster Calls

Sound
Marc Orts, Oriol Tarrago, Peter Glossop for A Monster Calls

Special Effects
Felix Berges, Pau Costa for A Monster Calls

Animated Feature
Psiconautas, los ninos olivdados

Documentary Feature
Fragil Equilibrio

Ibero-American Film
El Ciudadano Ilustre by Gaston Duprat, Mariano Cohn

European Film
Elle by Paul Verhoeven

Fiction Short
Timecode by Juanjo Giemenz Pena

Documentary Short
Cabezas Habladoras by Juan Vicente Cordoba

Animated Short
Decorado by Alberto Vazquez

Honorary Goya
Ana Belen

Almodóvar’s “I’m So Excited” to Open in New York & LA on June 28

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It looks like Pedro Almodóvar’s next film will be taking flight in the country’s two major markets this summer…

Pedro Almodovar

Sony Pictures Classics will debut the 63-year-old Spanish filmmaker’s “light, very light comedy” I’m So Excited in New York and Los Angeles on June 28, according to Exhibitor Relations.

Starring Javier Cámara, Cecilia Roth, Lola Dueñas and Raúl Arévalo, I’m So Excited – originally called Los amantes pasajeros – takes place entirely on an airplane.

I'm So Excited Poster

Almodóvar shared a trailer for the film during  retrospective of his work in London last December.

The film includes cameo appearances by Antonio Banderas, Penélope Cruz and Paz Vega.

Almodóvar Shares “I’m So Excited” Trailer at London Tribute

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Pedro Almodóvar is being heralded for his “heart as big as the Grand Canyon”…

The 63-year-old Spanish filmmaker was honored at an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences retrospective of Almodóvar’s work in London, which was attended by celebrities like Grace Jones, Kristen Scott Thomas and Miranda Richardson.

Pedro Almodovar

During the high-profile event, Almodóvar brother Agustin, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Stephen Frears and Sally Potter were among the people offering their tributes to the Oscar-winning filmmaker.

Quentin Tarantino even participated in special pre-recorded video to thank  Almodóvar  for having a “a filmography to beat.” Meanwhile, Frears enthused about Almodóvar’s ability to make everything seem natural.

“He creates a coherent world in which all of the elements fit,” he said. “It comes out of his imagination complete. I met him in New York when I was with My Beautiful Laundrette. I felt like an impostor; here was the transgressive real thing. Mine was a charade.”

A humbled Almodóvar admitted to being embarrassed by all the kind words.

“Tonight I know more about myself than ever,” he joked. “I’ve always strived to try and make life more livable with my films. It’s the homework of any kind of artistic expression. That was the lesson I learned from my mother.”

He even revealed that he’d tried and failed to nab the rights to books like The Hours, Silence of the Lambs, The Human Stain and The Reader, any of which would have been his first foray into English-language film. It’s a bridge he says he’ll likely not attempt to cross again.

“But you have to respect destiny. Perhaps I was not the one to make the movies that I now admire so much.”

And as a delight to the audience, Almodóvar shared a clip from his new film I’m So Excited, which Sony Pictures Classics will release next year. The film, which was originally titled Los Amantes Pasajeros, is the famed director’s return to comedy after a number of dramas like The Skin I Live In and Habla con ella.

The film’s all-star cast includes Javier Cámara, Cecilia Roth, Lola Dueñas, Raul Arévalo, Carlos Areces, Antonio de la Torre, Hugo Silva, Willy Toledo, Miguel Ángel Silvestre, Blanca Suárez, José Luis Torrijo, José María Yazpik and Laya Martí, with special collaborations from Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas and Paz Vega.

Sony Pictures Classics Acquires the Rights to Almodóvar’s Next Film

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The anticipation is definitely building for Pedro Almodóvar’s next film, even though production hasn’t even started on the project…

Sony Pictures Classics announced Tuesday that they have acquired all North American rights to Almodóvar’s new comedy currently titled I’m So Excited from El Deseo.

Pedro Almodovar

The film, an ensemble comedy written and directed by Almodóvar, is set to begin production in July and will be released next summer.

The all-star cast includes Javier Cámara, Cecilia Roth, Lola Dueñas, Raul Arévalo, Carlos Areces, Antonio de la Torre, Hugo Silva, Willy Toledo, Miguel Ángel Silvestre, Blanca Suárez, José Luis Torrijo, José María Yazpik and Laya Martí.

In addition, the film—which was previously known as Los Amantes Pasajeros—will include special collaborations from Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas and Paz Vega.

The Sony Pictures Classics team has a long history with Almodóvar that began with Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown at Orion Classics and has continued with seven films at Sony Pictures Classics , including Goya-winning film The Skin I Live In, Broken Embraces, Volver, Bad Education, All About My Mother and Talk to Her.

Vega to Star in Almodovar’s “Los Amantes Pasajeros”

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Paz Vega is reuniting with noted Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar this summer…

The 36-year-old Spanish actress has joined the cast of Almodovar’s latest film Los Amantes Pasajeros.

Paz Vega

Vega, who was born in Seville and began her acting career in Spain, starred in Almodovar’s Spanish-language film Talk to Her, which won the Oscar for best original screenplay and the a Golden Globe for best foreign-language film.

Los Amantes Pasajeros, which Almodovar also wrote, follows a group of travelers who are placed in life-threatening situation aboard a plane flying to Mexico City. The passengers are defenseless in the face of danger, which provokes colorful confessionals that are their way to put out of mind the possibility they might be about to die.

Vega, who made her U.S. debut in director James L. Brooks’ Spanglish, has starred in several Hollywood  films including The Spirit and the indie 10 Items or Less. She’ll next voice the character of Carmen in Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, which opens June 8.

Along with Vega, the movie stars Javier Camara (Talk to Her), Cecilia Roth (All About My Mother) and Lola Duenas (Volver). Spanish comedians Carlos Areces, Raul Arevalo and Jose Maria Yazpik are also in the cast.

Agustin Almodovar, the director’s brother, is producing the film. It is expected to shoot in Madrid this summer and will be released in spring 2013.

Vega joined a theater school at age 16 and made her acting debut on Spanish television. Her first big-screen role was in 1999’s Zapping.

The Goya Award-winning actress, who recently replaced Almodovar’s muse Penelope Cruz as the face of L’Oreal in Spain last year, is married to Orson Salazar, with whom she has three children.

Almodovar’s Next Project to Feature Familiar Faces…

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Pedro Almodovar‘s next film could be considered an all-stars project…

The 62-year-old Spanish director’s upcoming film will feature actors and actresses from some of his most noted films.

Pedro Almodovar

Almodovar’s Amantes Pasajeros (Standby Lovers) will feature Volver’s Lola Duenas, Talk to Her’s Javier Camara and All About My Mother’s Cecilia Roth in a “choral” cast.

They’ll work alongside well-known Spanish comedians Carlos Areces and Raul Arevalo and Mexican actor Jose Maria Yazpik, according to the film’s producer Agustin Almodovar.

The Almodovars are expected to start shooting Amantes Pasajeros this summer in  Madrid. The film will be a “pure comedy,” in the tradition of some of Almodovar’s old school classics like Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, harkening back to the films “we did back in the ’80s,” says Augustin. Rumors are swirling around the film indicate it is set on a plane and focuses on the relationships of passengers.

Almodovar’s production outfit El Deseo said it will look to release the film in the spring of 2013 in as many territories as possible at the same time “to avoid piracy.”