People see “Hispanic Legends of Cinema,” and people will think Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (21 Grams, Babel, Biutiful), Alfonso Cuaron (Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Great Expectations, Y Tu Mama, Tambien (And Your Mother, Too)) and Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth). Though these names do seem more influential in the past than most other Hispanic directors (or all directors, for that matter), not too many people recognize Alejandro Amenabar for his genius as they do del Torro or Inarritu. Amenabar is the writer and director of Abre Los Ojos (Open Your Eyes), which was made into the 2001 film “Vanilla Sky,” writer and director of The Others with Nicole Kidman, and the writer and director of The Sea Inside, which helmed the performance of Javier Bardem’s career (of course, I haven’t seen Biutiful).
The man is just an exceptional writer-director, and I wanted to point him out to the watchers and viewers on this site. If you ever see a movie with his name on it (at least in the writing/directing chair), then pick it up and watch it immediately, for everything he touches in the creator’s chair is gold.