Pedro Almodovar - Director's Special 2 Pack DVD

DARK HABITS: This incredibly bizarre film by Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar follows Yolanda (Cristina Sánchez Pascual), a heroin-dealing nightclub singer who hides out in a convent after a deal goes bad and she becomes wanted by both the law and rival gangs. The mother superior of the convent (Julieta Serrano) is a fan of Yolanda's singing and a lesbian heroin user, so before long she and Yolanda start shooting up together. Another of the nuns (Marisa Paredes) takes LSD and hallucinates encounters with Jesus; another (Chus Lampreave) writes trashy romance novels under a pseudonym. There's also a pet tiger in the garden and a dope-smoking priest. When the convent's main benefactor dies and his rich widow cuts off their contributions, the nuns get together to try to raise money to support their habits. Facing the closing of the convent and the arrival of the stoic, dour head mother, the crazed nuns throw a final party at which Yolanda sings a provocative song to her heartbroken mother superior. This gleefully blasphemous farce would make an interesting double bill with Whoopi Goldberg's SISTER ACT, which came out years later. Cecilia Roth (star of ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER) has a small role as one of the mother superior's former lovers. WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS?: Gloria (Carmen Maura) tries to hold her insane Madrid family together in this hilariously deadpan working-class comedy from Pedro Almodóvar. Sharing their cramped tenement apartment is Gloria's husband (Luis Hostalot), an abusive cabdriver who forges letters from Hitler; her heroin-dealing son; a younger son who likes to sleep with older men; an eccentric grandmother (Chus Lampreave); and a pet lizard named Dinero. Gloria works several cleaning jobs to try to make ends meet and sniffs cleaning products for relief from the stress, as she gets no thanks from her nagging husband, who eventually drives her to murder. Luckily, she has a friend in next-door neighbor Cristal (Verónica Forqué), a bubbly prostitute who seduces the cop on the case. There's also a girl upstairs who helps Gloria with her housework via telekinesis. This all works sublimely well, thanks to both an inspired cast who plays everything completely straight, and dialogue that spills over with dry wit and keen observation. Almodóvar scored one of his first international hits with this outrageous, irreverent, and touching film. He also appears in a brief cameo as a TV opera star.

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