Word: spain
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...DIED. Rocio Jurado, 61, flamboyant singer whose blend of flamenco, folk and romantic ballads earned her the mantle "Spain's greatest"; in Madrid. Jurado recorded over 30 albums, five of which went platinum, and appeared in several films. Best known for the mesmerizing song Como una Ola (Like a Wave), she was also popular in Latin America and the U.S., where she performed at the White House for then President Ronald Reagan...
...Another adult twist on a child's fable is Pan's Labyrinth. Writer-director Guillermo Del Toro flawlessly laces a Lewis Carroll-like fantasy of an underground kingdom into the realistic story of a sadistic officer (Sergi López) in Franco's Spain and a wily insurgent servant (Maribel Verdú), fighting for possession of a sad, dreamy child. It's got sumptuous special effects and, finally, a mournful wisdom about love, honor and death. Also a standout was Climates, from Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan. This minor-key étude of love, sex and selfishness used minimalist strategies...
...charismatic personality to glue it back together. It was the most liberal of all communist countries, with a vibrant private sector, and it was relatively prosperous. At the time I was born, in the '60s, the living standard in Yugoslavia was about the same as in Greece and Spain, and considerably higher than in Portugal. Unlike our East European neighbors, we could sample the Western lifestyle and were free to travel. With a Yugoslav passport, one could pass through the Berlin Wall as if it wasn't there, and we were equally welcome in Israel and Egypt. When communism collapsed...
...Well, who cares? Pan's Labyrinth is terrific. It sets an Alice in Wonderland fantasy in the desperate conflict of fascists and insurgents in Franco's Spain, 1944. An Army officer, the brutal Capt. Vidal (Sergi López), has married and impregnated a young widow (Araidna Gil), bringing her and her 11-year-old daughter Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) to a house in the rebel zone he is patrolling. Ofelia, fiercely loyal to her mother and dead father, and rightly suspicious of the Captain, feels the force of strange creatures from the moment she arrives at her new home. While...
...State Cardinal Angelo Sodano - is a sign that Benedict is getting a sure handle on the running of the massive church hiearchy. Still, the Pope knows he can't simply sit behind his desk in Rome. This trip to Poland, which will be followed this year by stops in Spain, Germany and Turkey, will at once pay proper homage to John Paul and show that there is a new man very much in charge...