The Skin I Live In

CHICAGO – Elena Anaya has had an adventure in her career of over 50 films … from the role of Dracula’s Bride in “Van Helsing” to notable work with director Pedro Almodóvar in “The Skin I Live In,” and up to her current role as Dr. Jo Rojas in “Rifkin’s Festival,” she has embraced the journey with a grateful enthusiasm.

CHICAGO – Almost as if he set out to defy critics who had started to think that the masterful Pedro Almodovar had lost a little bit of that psycho-sexual edge that made the first half of his career so unpredictable, the Oscar winner delivered “The Skin I Live In,” recently released on Blu-ray and DVD, and we all breathed a sigh of relief — Pedro hasn’t lost a damn thing. Highly underrated at the end of 2011, this was one of the best foreign films of 2011, featuring one of Antonio Banderas’ most spectacular performances in a film that goes from mystery to horror to something only Pedro could produce.

CHICAGO – Just as it is predicted to do two Sundays from today, “The Artist” dominated the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs) today, winning seven different awards. The silent, black-and-white film won Best Film, Best Director (Michel Hazanavicius), and Best Lead Actor (Jean Dujardin), and four other wins.

CHICAGO – With a tremendously promising awards season in the very near future, it’s only natural that the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival would feature an embarrassment of riches. A whopping 268 feature films and 68 shorts are scheduled to screen at the 36th edition of TIFF, which runs from September 8th through the 18th. Here are a few of the highlights.