LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Alex De La Iglesia: Carmen Maura
built 288 days ago
A hyperstylized tribute to spaghetti westerns courtesy of fearless Spanish director Alex de la Iglesia, 800 Bullets finds young Carlos (Luis Castro) striking out on his own in search of his long-lost father. Swiping his shrewish businesswoman mother's (Carmen Maura) credit card and setting his sights on Almeria, Carlos begins his quest to learn the truth about his father after his curiosity is sparked while thumbing through old photographs. Carlos comes into contact with his alcoholic grandfather Julian (Sancho Gracia) shortly after arriving in Almeria, where the one-time Clint Eastwood stunt double is still chasing his dreams of stardom. Rumored to have caused Carlos' father's death years earlier when a dangerous stunt went horribly awry, Julian now spends his days staging elaborate Western shows for tourists on the abandoned film sets. As the young boy quickly wins the affections of the rough and tumble stunt crew, the arrival of his mother begins to threaten his newfound happiness when she reveals plans of turning the location into an amusement park. As the hapless crew faces the prospect of being displaced by the greed of modern society, they are forced to defend thier territory by replacing their blanks with 800 real bullets.
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Alex de la Iglesia’s most recent film, which just premiered in Spain this October, is a hilarious tribute to the mythical "spaghetti Westerns," many of which were actually shot in Spain on the dusty plains of Almeria. Carlos, a young boy living with his ambitious, real-estate speculating mother Laura (Carmen Maura), discovers some clues which lead him to believe that his absent father — said to have died long ago — might actually be alive. With some old movie programs in hand, he sets off for Texas-Hollywood, a shell of a theme park operating in the remains of what had been a back lot for Westerns but which now offers live "Western shows" for the occasional Japanese tourist. Leading the hapless bunch of former is Julián, once a major star in European Westerns and who is the boy’s grandfather. Carlos soon joins in the action, but his mother has other plans for Texas-Hollywood; where gunfights were once held at high noon, Laura plans the building of a new industrial park. De la Iglesia’s homage is given special feeling by the presence of Sancho Gracia, one of Europe’s greatest Western stars, in the role of Julián.
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Synopsis: The fifth feature of noted Spanish filmmaker Alex de la Iglesia, La Comunidad is a frenetic black comedy set in a decrepit old house in the center of Madrid. One of the house's new residents is Julia Garcia (Carmen Maura, whose performance won her a best actress award at the 2000 San SebastianRead More
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Carmen Maura