Dos Buen Peliculas

I think my Spanish is accurate in that the title of this post means "Two Good Movies." Both are in Spanish and subtitled, but don't let that scare you away. These are very good.

Sin Nombre
This has two story threads. A girl traveling with family members from Guatemala to try and ente the U.S. Evidently, it's common for people to hitch rides on the top of trains en route to the U.S. border. The other thread is a teen trying to escape his gang life, and of course the two meet up. Features a very creepy villain with one of the gang leaders. Puts the immigration issue into a different light. Not everyone trying to cross our southern borders are drug dealers. Some are desperate for the better life they know they can get here.

The Secret in Their Eyes
This won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film last year, and wow, this is a good one. Can't really describe it too much because I don't want to give anything away. The story begins what is in effect 25 years later, as former law office colleagues are reunited. He's retired and is writing a novel, she has become a judge. There's a case from the past that he's now writing about. Thus, the story goes back and forth between the past and present. Don't let the subtitles scare you away, this is a very absorbing movie from start to finish, one of the best foreign films I've ever seen. A word of warning, there is a brief scene of assault early on that is a bit jarring because the movie starts out with a rather meloncholy tone. But I highly recommend this one. Also, I don't usually notice camera techniques, but there is an unbroken shot in a soccer stadium that I'm not quite sure how they filmed it; that is, where exactly the cameraman would have been at.