#110 Amores Perros - I know what you're thinking, how can she forget about THIS movie?

#110 Amores Perros: If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans
2000. dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu, starring Emilio Echevarría, Gael García Bernal, Goya Toledo, Álvaro Guerrero, Vanessa Bauche. Spanish with subtitles.

Seen it before? No.

Sam's been pretty good about writing his posts but I haven't...aside from being terribly busy packing we've had an out of town guest and gone on vacation too...for this movie my excuse is that I was at a loss for words about what to think about this movie. It was confusing for sure but it was truly disgusting in the Michael Vick way so I am going to tell you now, do NOT watch this movie if you are a member of PETA or don't like animal violence (of any kind)...it is truly disturbing!

As Sam wrote there are three stories that intersect due to a violent car wreck. The dog fighting plot is the first set of tales. A boy wants his douche bag brother's wife and earns his money by bringing his brothers' dog to the dog fights. It is a brutal, brutal dog, to be sure...in fact, the third plot has a hit man/bum collecting stray dogs and the brutal dog from the beginning does not repay the mans' kindness by way of his dogs. Meanwhile the second plot is about a man who has an affair with a model...he's not that great looking so I don't get it...but she has a dog and it gets stuck under the floorboards because the condo they are living in is cheaply built...

To say I hated this movie would be wrong. I didn't hate it...I didn't love it either. I wouldn't watch it again and it truly did disturb me to no end. I get how they can say this is Mexico's Pulp Fiction I really do. I did stay up for it hoping it would get better and it just didn't. Sam mentioned this is from the guy who did Babel...that was another movie I was indifferent too but that's another blog post.

#110 Amores Perros: If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans

2000. dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu, starring Emilio Echevarría, Gael García Bernal, Goya Toledo, Álvaro Guerrero, Vanessa Bauche. Spanish with subtitles.

Seen it before? No.



Some have called it the "Mexican Pulp Fiction". It's really three intersecting movies - well, in theory. The three plot lines come together in a violent car crash that is the climax of one plot, the start of another, and is witnessed in passing by the third. All three plots involve dogs in some way.

#1: Octavio y Susana. Octavio (Gael García Bernal) gets involved in the underground dogfighting circuit; makes a lot of money but then gets into trouble. Also he tries to steal his brother's woman Susana (Vanessa Bauche). His brother is a creepy asshole, and a criminal, but so is Octavio, so why should I sympathize with him? Oh, I guess the brother hits her and cheats on her, just as sort of a "kick the dog".

#2: Daniel y Valeria. While escaping from the gang, Octavio smashes into Valeria's (Goya Toledo) car, messing up her leg. Valeria is a model of some sort, having been introduced in an Unmotivated Close-Up on a talk show. Her dog gets stuck under the floorboards of her condo. Her boyfriend (Álvaro Guerrero) seems to take a very laid-back approach to getting it out.

#3: El Chivo y Maru. A craggy hitman known as "El Chivo" (Saddam Hussein) has to carry out a job, but he gets interrupted by the car crash. He steals Octavio's dog, and he has a daughter, and... eh, whatever, I didn't care by this point.

Don't see this movie if you're averse to animal cruelty; dogs suffer in this movie. (it says "no animals harmed", but I don't think I believe them.)

Position on the list: 163
While we're on the subject of Alejandro González Iñárritu: Babel. Saw it 2 years ago and I'm still mad. What did that stupid Japan plot have to do with anything? dammit.