The Night Buffalo

A tightly written thriller by the highly acclaimed Guillermo Arriaga who also gave us Amores Perros, Babel,  The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, centers around the aftermath of a suicide by a recovered schizophrenic, Gregorio. His main links to the outside world are his girl friend, Tania and best friend Manuel who unbeknown to him (or maybe not) have been carrying out an affair. Soon he starts speaking to Manuel from the grave through hand written notes and forgotten pictures. Some casual erotica and a hint of magic realism only continue to round the movie out. However, as we careen towards the climax you are left unsatisfied with many unanswered questions. But little can be blamed on the acting or directing which have been superb. Maybe Arriaga's novel will contain the answers...

Rating: * +

Rudo y Cursi

Toto (Gael García Bernal) dreams of making it big as a singer while picking bananas. His brother Beto (Diego Luna) struts around being the dead end supervisor of the banana ranch. The only thing they are half way good at is kicking a football around. Enter Batuta (Guillermo Francella) the scout master of football talent in Mexican countryside and the two soon find themselves under bright spotlights in Mexico City. Sex, lies and angel dust follows as you are treated to a taunt take on the microcosm of the poor becoming rich overnight.

Rating: * * *

Sleep Dealer

A not too distant future is shown in the movie, with a solid wall being thrown up between Mexico and the USA. Now the way for migrant workers to cross the border is through cyberspace. In an almost Matrix like setup, worker bees plug themselves in to the network and move robots across the border performing all kinds of labor from construction to baby sitting. It is in this world that three disparate individuals meet by chance. One of the better sci-fi films in recent times.

Rating: * * +

Silent Light

A film pregnant with guilt. Waiting for the birth that would ease its conscience was something beyond me.

Rating: +

Sin Nombre

Sayra (Paulina Gaitan) and El Casper (Édgar Flores) are fleeing their homeland for different reasons. Casper is running away from death and Sayra is running towards life. Their paths meet and director Cary Fukunaga uses this intersection to show you two of South Americas biggest problems. Illegal immigration and the organised gangs like the the Mara Salvatrucha 13. The director apparently spent time riding the trains, talking to its riders and hanging out with MS-13 gang members and it shows in the film. It has no finesse or polish. Just brutal realism.

Rating: * * * +

Nicotina

Hugo Rodríguez's slow paced crime caper where an exchange of Swiss bank access codes for diamonds goes horrendously wrong. The intent is for the film to be a dark comedy-thriller but the result is lifeless tepidness.

Rating: * *

Drama/Mex

Fernanda (Diana Garcia) finds herself being raped by her loser ex-boyfriend, Chano (Emilio Valdés), who had left her after stealing from her dad. She welcomes him back with open arms.

Jaime (Fernando Becerril) steals the payroll from from his office, walks into his boss's cube, spits on the desk and leaves. He heads out to do something far worse but runs into Tigrillo (Miriana Moro), a teen who is scamming tourists on the beach.

The film flits back and forth between the storylines in a vain hope of keeping the viewer engrossed.

Rating: * +

Solo Con Tu Pareja

Tomás Tomás (Daniel Giménez Cacho) screws anything that moves and resembles a woman. But even his vast experience has not taught him never to mess around with a nurse who has your HIV test results. So after screwing over the foxy Silvia (Dobrina Liubomirova), Tomás finds himself diagnosed with AIDS. It is at this moment he ends up falling helplessly in love with his neighbor, the beautiful Clarisa (Claudia Ramírez). One of Alfonso Cuarón's earlier films, this one is all about a man slut and the confusion that ensues over his irate love life.

Rating: * +

Battle in Heaven

Marcos (Marcos Hernández), a driver for a Mexican General confesses the hideous crime he committed to his boss's voluptuous daughter who moonlights as a prostitute. A very sexually explicit film about remorse and redemption where the actors manage to convey agony and ecstasy with the same expression. The film leaves you scratching your head with this sole thought ringing in your brains... WTF!!!

Rating: *