Pedro Party: The Music of Alberto Iglesias

We're celebrating Pedro Almodóvar all week. Here's Chris Feil on Pedro's standby composer...

Here at The Film Experience, ruminating on Pedro Almodóvar’s list of frequent collaborators would most likely find an actress’s name come up first. But aside from his onscreen talent, there is one now prolific relationship the director has that’s equally worth celebrating: composer Alberto Iglesias.

The Almodóvar/Iglesias collaboration is now ten films deep, dating back to 1995‘s The Flower of My Secret without a single gap film since. His work is inextricable from what Almodóvar creates on screen, a cohesive piece of the melodrama that enhances the tone rather than defining it. Let's discuss five favorites from his work after the jump...

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Bask in the Glow of "The Beguiled" Poster

Chris here. Like I'm sure many of you will relate, Sofia Coppola's The Beguiled is among my most anticipated of the Cannes lineup. The festival kicks off this coming Wednesday, but we'll have to wait for these repressed southern ladies until the back half of the festival according to the just released festival schedule. Cry not, readers, because we'll be hearing about Todd Haynes's Wonderstruck right out of the gate.

Also to dry your tears is a brand new poster in all its gauzy glory to knock you sideways - literally:

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Today's 5: 'You do an eclectic celebration of the dance!"...

Five Life-hacking / mood-boosting / homework assignments -- whatever you want to call them -- pulled from showbiz history each day. Here are your assignments for May 11th! 

2007 It's the tenth anniversary of Georgia Rule, which featured Lindsay Lohan as the wayward granddaughter of strict religious Jane Fonda, the last time Lindsay would lead a reputable mainstream film (whatever one may think of its actual quality). She was just 20 years old...

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Take a Mental Health Break with Jeff Bridges

Swap a dwarfed existence in shrink-wrapped suburbia for a never-ending news diet of jaw-dropping political quandaries and it’s never felt easier to relate with Carol White’s environmental illness in Todd Haynes’ [safe]. With each passing revelation in Washington, security seems to slip away by the minute, sober comfort appears more elusive to find, and a nagging sense of restlessness rules the day. 

So for those of you clamoring to unclutter your mind for just a few blissed-out minutes – at the risk of prescribing pseudo-guru dogma in the great outdoors – allow Academy Award winner Jeff Bridges to lull you along a trip of grounded meditation to “Temescal Canyon” from his 2015 album of ambient soundscapes Sleeping Tapes. Just be sure not to operate any heavy machinery while doing so.

Pedro Party: Losing Our Minds Over "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown"

We're celebrating Pedro Almodóvar all week. Here's Spencer Coile on his first Oscar nominee... 

Almodóvar is always at his best when also at his zaniest. Through a healthy mix of wacky characters and a unique color palette, he manages to imbue his stories with enough humor, drama, and wit to make any skeptic reconsider his artistry. Such is the case with his 1988 film, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Telling the story of TV actress Pepa (Carmen Maura, Almodóvar most-enduring muse), we are plunged into a world of absurdity, loss, and the cocktails we make to cure us of our loneliness. After serving as his international breakthrough, receiving a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nomination and inspiring a Broadway musical of the same name, it is no surprise that Women on the Verge has secured its place in the top tier of Almodóvar's filmography... 

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