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Alejandro González Iñárritu, director of the films Babel, 21 Grams and Amores Perros, is famous for integrating multiple storylines throughout a film to explore the deepest emotional recesses of what it means to be human. In Biutiful, his most recent work, Iñárritu departs from this “points-of-view” device in favor of focusing most of the screen time on principal actor, Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men). It is because of this decision that Biutiful may be Iñárritu’s best work to date, as Bardem’s broad emotional range is a perfect canvas for Iñárritu’s brush. Biutiful is a relentless downward spiral of one man’s journey to provide for his family and seek forgiveness for his sins. With every new scene, the film somehow becomes bleaker and his situation more desperate. Perhaps the only failing of Biutiful is how rarely we are treated to moments of hope and levity. That shortcoming aside,...

Hitting movie theaters this weekend:

X-Men: First Class – James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence

Movie of the Week

X-Men: First Class

The Stars: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence

The Plot: In 1963, Charles Xavier (McAvoy) starts up a school and later a team, for humans with superhuman abilities. Among them is Erik Lensherr (Fassbender), his best friend, and future archenemy.

The Buzz: The film’s preliminary reviews have been solid, with 41 favorable reviews to 1 unfavorable, as of today at Rottentomates. The cast is really strong too. However, I personally have zero interest in this film, as it looks to have zero style (other than the standard nerdy film-version X-Men vibe), but perhaps this will be the first good X-Men film? I loved the comic books, was a pretty big reader for awhile there, and I’ve always felt like, of all the Marvel films, the X-Men films have fallen the furthest from their book.

Chicago – The feel bad movie of 2010 has finally arrived in stores. Pardon me for withholding my enthusiasm. Although Alejandro González Iñárritu’s fourth feature has its share of indelible images, its familiar themes and unrelenting solemnity causes the senses to become numbed rather than engaged. The film offers 147 minutes of pure bleakness with a couple booger jokes thrown in for last-minute levity.

Only the shattering performances from Javier Bardem and Maricel Álvarez make “Biutiful” function as something more than a gorgeously lensed dirge. This is the first Iñárritu film I’ve seen that feels too long. Without the Rubix cube-like structure of his previous features, this linear descent into despair feels naggingly one note, perhaps illustrating that Iñárritu’s fractured editing was primarily what kept his viewers’ attention rapt during cumbersome dramas such as “21 Grams” and “Babel.”

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.0/5.0

Bardem won the Best Actor award at Cannes and scored a...

We have an exclusive featurette from the upcoming home video release Biutiful, which will hit shelves on Blu-ray and DVD May 31. Click on the video player below to watch this featurette with star Javier Bardem, which delves deeper inside Alejandro Gonz&#225lez I&#241&#225rritu's Oscar nominated drama.

Click to watch Exclusive: Javier Bardem Featurette!

Uxbal (Bardem) is a man living on the wrong side of the law who struggles to provide for his children on the dangerous streets of Barcelona. As fate encircles him, Uxbal learns to accept the realities of life, whether bright, bad - or biutiful - in this unforgettable film.

Special Features:

"The Making-of Biutiful" featurette

Theatrical trailer

Biutiful was released December 29th, 2010 and stars Javier Bardem, Maricel Álvarez, Hanaa Bouchaib, Guillermo Estrella, Eduard Fernández, Cheikh Ndiaye, Diaryatou Daff, Cheng Tai Shen. The film is directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu.

Biutiful Directed by: Alejandro González Iñárritu Written by: Alejandro González Iñárritu, Armando Bo, and Nicholás Giacobone Starring: Javier Bardem, Maricel Álvares, Hanaa Bouchaib I'm glad I went into Biutiful blind, which if you're reading this review may mean I'm robbing you the opportunity of. I'll try to give away as little as possible, suffice it to say the film isn't just your garden-variety drama. In fact, variety is the name of the game. If there is a criticism to be had of Alejandro González Iñárritu's new film, it's that the Mexican writer-director of Amores Perros and Babel is simultaneously juggling enough content for two or more films — at two and a half hours, Biutiful could almost be two films. Here comes the spoiler warning. Of course, it may only be a spoiler if you knew as little about the film as I did going in. Biutiful contains elements of...

Weekend Box Office

The Roommate $15.6 million}Sanctum $9.2 millionNo Strings Attached $8.4 millionThe King's Speech $8.3 millionThe Green Hornet $6.1 millionThe Rite $5.5 millionThe Mechanic $5.3 millionTrue Grit $4.7 millionThe Dilemma $3.4 millionBlack Swan $3.3 million

The new horror film The Rite, starring Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins, took control of the box office last week earning $15 million in its opening weekend. The new movie took down reigning champ, No Strings Attached starring Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher, and beat out the weekend's other new release The Mechanic starring Jason Statham. But with two new films hitting the charts this week including the college based thriller The Roommate, and the James Cameron produced 3D action-thriller Sanctum, it looks like we will be crowning a new box office champion this weekend.

Debuting at number one this week is the new thriller The Roommate. The film stars an excellent cast of young actors and seasoned veterans including, Leighton Meester (Country Strong), Minka Kelly...

Weekend Box Office

The Rite $15 millionNo Strings Attached $13.6 millionThe Mechanic $11.5 millionThe Green Hornet $11.5 millionThe King's Speech $11.1 millionTrue Grit $7.6 millionThe Dilemma $5.4 millionBlack Swan $5.1 millionThe Fighter $4 millionYogi Bear $3.1 million

The new romantic comedy, No Strings Attached starring Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher, debuted at number one last week, knocking down reigning box office champ, The Green Hornet starring Seth Rogen. But with two new releases this weekend, including The Rite with Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins, and The Mechanic starring Jason Statham, the romcom was unable to successfully defend its crown.

Debuting at number one this week is the new horror film, The Rite. The movie stars Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins (Red Dragon), along with Ciar&#225n Hinds (Miami Vice), Alice Braga (Predators), Toby Jones (Amazing Grace), and Rutger Hauer (Batman Begins). The film made $5,027 on each of its 2,985 screens for an opening weekend total of $15 million. The movie was just short of...

"A change is as good as a rest" seems to have been the ethos utilised by Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu with his latest release Biutiful (2010), recently nominated for ‘Best Foreign Film’ at this year’s upcoming Academy Awards.

Dropping the multinational, parallel narrative structure of past films Babel (2006), 21 Grams (2003) and his acclaimed debut feature Amores Perros (2000), Iñárritu cements the developments of Biutiful solely within the multicultural flats and factories of suburban Barcelona, this time focusing almost entirely upon a single character, sickly single father Uxbal (Javier Bardem).

Much of the post Cannes/pre Oscar discussion regarding Biutiful has been in relation to the performance of Javier Bardem in the lead role - for which he has just received a nomination for 'Best Actor' at this year's 83rd Academy Awards - and rightly so. Despite impressive early collaborations with Spanish auteur Pedro Almodóvar in High Heels (1991) and Live Flesh (1997), it...

Tangled (PG)

(Nathan Greno, Byron Howard, 2010, Us) Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Donna Murphy, Ron Perlman. 100 mins

Disney's animation formula might be 50 movies old, but after a thorough 21st-century overhaul it sparkles anew here. The classical elements are present and correct: rejigged fairytale (Rapunzel), musical numbers, expressive animals, problematic mother-daughter dynamic. But the animation is bright, the comedy tight, and the dialogue high-school-friendly. It's like Shrek without the irony, which is kind of refreshing. Little to challenge the status quo (or Pixar), maybe, but it does feature a great comedy horse.

Barney's Version (15)

(Richard J Lewis, 2010, Us) Paul Giamatti, Rosamund Pike, Dustin Hoffman. 134 mins

Giamatti was made to play this comically disgraceful antihero – a boozy, philandering New York Jewish sleazeball/charmer – whose belief in romance shapes his unreliably narrated life, even as it ruins those of others.

Biutiful (15)

(Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu, 2010, Spa/Mex) Javier Bardem, Maricel Alvarez, Hanaa Bouchaib. 147 mins

The...

Where do I begin in describing the sheer shittyness of Uxbal’s (Javier Bardem) life? Ok, I’ll start with his wife Marambra (Maricel Álvarez), who is not only bipolar but also an alcoholic and an abusive parent. We first meet Marambra as she dances donning only panties above Uxbal’s brother, Tito (Eduard Fernández), while Uxbal is on the other end of the telephone line discussing with Tito the sale of their deceased father’s grave to a shopping mall developer. We realize immediately why Uxbal left Marambra -- a massage therapist who, more than likely, does not shy away from happy endings -- and how he earned full custody of their 7 year-old son, Mateo (Guillermo Estrella), and 10 year-old daughter, Ana (Hanaa Bouchaib).

We have an exclusive featurette for the Academy Award nominated drama Biutiful, which will expand to theaters nationwide today, January 28. Click on the video player below to hear from director Alejandro Gonz&#225lez I&#241&#225rritu, who takes us deeper inside this movie, which stars Javier Bardem in an Oscar-nominated performance:

Click to watch Exclusive: Alejandro Gonz&#225lez I&#241&#225rritu Featurette!

Biutiful is a love story between a father and his children. This is the journey of Uxbal, a conflicted man who struggles to reconcile fatherhood, love, spirituality, crime, guilt and mortality amidst the dangerous underworld of modern Barcelona. His livelihood is earned out of bounds, his sacrifices for his children know no bounds. Like life itself, this is a circular tale that ends where it begins. As fate encircles him and thresholds are crossed, a dim, redemptive road brightens, illuminating the inheritances bestowed from father to child, and the paternal...

Chicago – In the midst of life’s journey, what may seem like a long time suddenly can become short, what seems like the routine suddenly becomes desperate. The theme of these changes and the effect on a dying soul is explored in “Biutiful.”

Rating: 4.0/5.0

The film is directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, best known for “Babel” and “Amores Perros,” and continues with his exploration of happenstance and chance encounters, this time fueled by a man who literally feels his life ebbing away.

Javier Bardem is Uxbal, a shady character on the streets of Barcelona, Spain, who acts as a facilitator for black market immigration labor. He is raising two children on his own, after separating from his wife Marambra (Maricel Álvarez) due to her addiction problems. Despite copious sums of cash, Uxbal prefers a more modest existence, mostly because his Barcelona is one of the shadows and squalor, areas not frequented by tourists.

Nine films will advance to the next round of voting in the Foreign Language Film category for the 83rd Academy Awards. Sixty-six films had originally qualified in the category.

The films, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:

Algeria, Hors la Loi (Outside the Law), Rachid Bouchareb, director

Canada, Incendies, Denis Villeneuve, director

Denmark, In a Better World, Susanne Bier, director

Greece, Dogtooth, Giorgos Lanthimos, director

Japan, Confessions, Tetsuya Nakashima, director

Mexico, Biutiful, Alejandro Gonz&#225lez I&#241&#225rritu, director

South Africa, Life, above All, Oliver Schmitz, director

Spain, Tambien la Lluvia (Even the Rain), Ic&#237ar Bolla&#237n, director

Sweden, Simple Simon, Andreas Ohman, director

Foreign Language Film nominations for 2010 are again being determined in two phases.

The Phase I committee, consisting of several hundred Los Angeles-based members, screened the 66 eligible films between mid-October and January 13. The group's top six choices, augmented by three additional selections voted by the Academy's...

Starring: Javier Bardem, Maricel Alvarez, Hanaa Bouchaib, Guillermo Estrella

Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

The Scoop: Alfonso Cuaron and Guillermo Del Toro both pitched in as producers on this Spanish-language collaboration starring mega-hunk Bardem. He plays a bloke by the name of Uxbal, a criminal forced to re-evaluate his life when he is confronted by a childhood friend who happens to now be a cop. Throw in some children who may be starting down their own troubled paths and you have the recipe for this slow meditation on life.

Rated R, 138 min., limited | Watch the trailer...

This month has been one of the best that I can remember for trailers. All the studios were desperate for their trailer to get released before the Christmas holidays and we were inundated with posts. Since I love trailers so much, the inundation was most welcome. In what I am considering making a monthly post, here’s a roundup of all the trailers so far for December which I have embedded below for your viewing pleasure!

I’ve embedded them in the order in which they were released start December 1st to 31st and if I miss any, please let me know and I’ll update the post.

I really want this to be intereactive so make sure you tell us which trailers you liked the best and which you think will be great or terrible movies from what you’ve seen! So, let’s go!

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Title: Cuckoo

Cast: Richard E. Grant,...

Title: Biutiful Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu Starring: Javier Bardem, Maricel Alvarez, Hanaa Bouchaib, Guillermo Estrella, Eduard Fernandez, Cheikh Ndiaye, Diaryatou Daff, Cheng Tai Shen, Luo Jin It just so happens that there isn’t anything beautiful found in a flick titled Biutiful. Tragedy and despair fill the lens in just about every scene. Attempts of showing compassion between characters is as coarse as sandpaper. Even the atmosphere is cold and callous. Basically, this one is a real downer. However, if one is able to process and handle all of the dark emotions, they will be able to appreciate the beauty in the storytelling along with the steady performance of Javier Bardem. If you reach [...]...

Optimum Releasing have just sent us the brand new trailer and poster for Javier Bardem’s latest movie, Biutiful. The movie is directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and also stars Maricel Álvarez, Hanaa Bouchaib, Guillermo Estrella, Eduard Fernández and Cheikh Ndiaye. It’s set for release January 28th.

Simon actually got to see the movie when he went to Cannes Film Festival earlier this year and you can read his review of the movie here.

Synopsis: Biutiful is a love story between a father and his children. This is the journey of Uxbal, a conflicted man who struggles to reconcile fatherhood, love, spirituality, crime, guilt and mortality amidst the dangerous underworld of modern Barcelona. His livelihood is earned out of bounds, his sacrifices for his children know no bounds. Like life itself, this is a circular tale that ends where it begins. As fate encircles him and thresholds are crossed,...

“I’m alive, don’t worry,” quipped Javier Bardem as he took the stage Tuesday night following a screening of his latest film, “Biutiful.” Audiences had just watched him perish from cancer as he lay by the side of his 10-year-old daughter -- by all accounts a gut-wrenching moment. He wasn't exaggerating about the feeling of reality in the critically acclaimed film. Bardem recalled a scene between himself and Hanaa Bouchaib, who plays the daughter. She confronts him when it’s clear that he is very ill. The sound man placed microphones inside their clothing...

Second trailer for Alejandro González Iñárritu's 'Biutiful' starring Javier Bardem, Maricel Álvarez, Hanaa Bouchaib, Guillermo Estrella, Eduard Fernández, Cheikh Ndiaye, Diaryatou Daff, Taisheng Cheng and Jin Luo.

'Biutiful' is a love story between a father and his children. This is the journey of Uxbal, a conflicted man who struggles to reconcile fatherhood, love, spirituality, crime, guilt and mortality amidst the dangerous underworld of modern Barcelona. His livelihood is earned out of bounds, his sacrifices for his children know no bounds. Like life itself, this is a circular tale that ends where it begins. As fate encircles him and thresholds are crossed, a dim, redemptive road brightens, illuminating the inheritances bestowed from father to child, and the paternal guiding hand that navigates life's corridors, whether bright, bad - or biutiful.

It opens in the Us on December 29 2010.

Javier Bardem stars in "Biutiful" from Roadside Attractions. The Alejandro González Iñárritu drama opens on December 29th in limited areas. Also in the cast are Maricel Álvarez, Hanaa Bouchaib, Guillermo Estrella, Eduard Fernández, Cheikh Ndiaye and Diaryatou Daff. Iñárritu wrote alongside Armando Bo and Nicolás Giacobone. "Biutiful" is a love story between a father and his children. This is the journey of Uxbal, a conflicted man who struggles to reconcile fatherhood, love, spirituality, crime, guilt and mortality amidst the dangerous underworld of modern Barcelona. His livelihood is earned out of bounds, his sacrifices for his children know no bounds. Like life itself, this is a circular tale that ends where it begins. As fate encircles him and thresholds are crossed, a dim, redemptive road brightens, illuminating...

Roadside Attractions has released the the official domestic trailer for crime drama Biutiful, starring Javier Bardem who stars as Uxbal, a man involved in illegal dealing is confronted by his childhood friend, who is now a policeman. Co stars Maricel Álvarez, Hanaa Bouchaib, Guillermo Estrella, Eduard Fernández, Cheikh Ndiaye, Diaryatou Daff, Taisheng Cheng and Luo Jin.

Synopsis:

Biutiful is a love story between a father and his children. This is the journey of Uxbal, a conflicted man who struggles to reconcile fatherhood, love, spirituality, crime, guilt and mortality amidst the dangerous underworld of modern Barcelona. His livelihood is earned out of bounds, his sacrifices for his children know no bounds. Like life itself, this is a circular tale that ends where it begins. As fate encircles him and thresholds are crossed, a dim, redemptive road brightens, illuminating the inheritances bestowed from father to child, and the paternal guiding hand that navigates life’s corridors,...

Roadside Attractions has unveiled the domestic trailer for Biutiful from director Alejandro Gonz&#225lez I&#241&#225rritu, starring Javier Bardem, Maricel &#193lvarez, Hanaa Bouchaib, Guillermo Estrella, Eduard Fern&#225ndez, Cheikh Ndiaye, Diaryatou Daff, Taisheng Cheng and Luo Jin. The drama opens in theaters December 29th.

Biutiful Trailer

Biutiful is a love story between a father and his children. This is the journey of Uxbal, a conflicted man who struggles to reconcile fatherhood, love, spirituality, crime, guilt and mortality amidst the dangerous underworld of modern Barcelona. His livelihood is earned out of bounds, his sacrifices for his children know no bounds. Like life itself, this is a circular tale that ends where it begins. As fate encircles him and thresholds are crossed, a dim, redemptive road brightens, illuminating the inheritances bestowed from father to child, and the paternal guiding hand that navigates life's corridors, whether bright, bad - or biutiful.

Biutiful comes to theaters December 29th,...

Roadside Attractions has released the domestic trailer for Alejandro González Iñárritu's Biutiful , starring Javier Bardem, Maricel Álvarez, Hanaa Bouchaib, Guillermo Estrella, Eduard Fernández, Cheikh Ndiaye, Diaryatou Daff, Taisheng Cheng and Jin Luo 2. Opening in limited theaters on December 29, Biutiful is a love story between a father and his children. This is the journey of Uxbal, a conflicted man who struggles to reconcile fatherhood, love, spirituality, crime, guilt and mortality amidst the dangerous underworld of modern Barcelona. His livelihood is earned out of bounds, his sacrifices for his children know no bounds. Like life itself, this is a circular tale that ends where it begins. As fate encircles him and thresholds are crossed, a dim, redemptive road brightens,...

This is the Pure Movies trailer for Biutiful, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu (Amores Perros, Babel) and starring Javier Bardem, Maricel Álvarez, Hanaa Bouchaib, Guillermo Estrella, Eduard Fernández and Cheikh Ndiaye. After having globe-trotted with Babel, I thought I had explored enough multiple lines, fractured structures and crossing narratives. Each of the films I have made has been shot in a different language, in a different country, with different structures and scales. At the end of Babel, I was so exhausted that I joked my next film would be about just one character, in one single city, with a straight narrative line and in my own original language . . . and here I am. Biutiful is all that I haven’t done: a character-driven, linear story.