Broken Embraces (Los Abrazos Rotos) (2009)

I think it was the laugh-out-loud melodrama I enjoyed most watching Pedro Almodóvar's Broken Embraces, an overwrought carry-on about a blind film writer's affair with an actress, but everything else left me a little cold, including the rush to tie all the nonsense up sensibly in the end.

★★★☆☆

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Julia's Eyes (2010)

The central contrivance of this Spanish horror thriller - the female protagonist investigating her sister's death is gradually going blind - has been used to lesser effect many times before but where Julia's Eyes distinguishes itself is in its effective, claustrophobic camerawork representing its heroine's condition, using clever visual tricks to keep things thrilling and distract viewers from the movie's fairly derivative horror plot devices.

★★★★☆

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