Pedro & Antonio. Madonna & Me

1990 / 1991 Flashback!

As you've no doubt heard my favorite living filmmaker (Pedro Almodóvar) is reuniting with his only true male muse (Antonio Banderas). They haven't made a movie together since Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990), one of Pedro's best. You don't hear this enough so I'll say it. Pedro's 1986-1990 output was arguably as rich as his 1999-2006 run-o-brilliance. So we should all be very excited about this sixth get together. Basically Pedro is the entire reason I came to love Antonio. I could never really stop loving him. Even once the Melanie Griffith years happened and I stopped following his work, I always thought of him fondly. I just kept hoping that one day Pedro would rescue him from that crap filmography. And here we go.

Now, I don't want to read too much about the new movie so I've only skimmed the articles about it. It's called The Skin I Live In (La piel que habito) and it's supposedly some sort of rape/revenge/horror deal. I'm not reading carefully because I like to be surprised. So let's talk about the past. Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! is not actually the last Pedro/Antonio film. It's just the last official one.

Labyrinth (82), Matador (86), Desire (87), Women (88) and ¡Átame! (90)

Pedro & Antonio's combined filmography

• Labyrinth of Passion
• Matador
• Law of Desire
  
• Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
• Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
• Madonna: Truth or Dare (if you'll allow for it. Read on)
• The Skin I Live In (forthcoming)
  

Remember that amazing scene in Madonna's brilliant documentary Truth or Dare (1991) when Sandra Bernhard asked Madonna who she wants to meet, 'Who would really blow your mind?' Madonna replies, laughing, "I think I met everybody!" But Sandra persists. Madonna suddenly mentions Antonio Banderas, 'the guy in all those Pedro Almodóvar movies.' What Madonna wants, Madonna gets and one scene later she's at Pedro's swanky party flirting shamelessly with his married Spaniard star.

You can't imagine how thrilling this sequence was back in the day. Back in 1991, the internet wasn't around to spoil every surprise from upcoming movies. There was no IMDb. There were entertainment magazines and infotainment shows. We had NO idea that Pedro & Antonio were going to get a scene in Madonna's breathlessly awaited event doc.

I was already quite obsessed with the Spanish pair but only exceptionally cool people in the US (yeah, I said it. shut up) knew who they were so it's not like they were a subject of frequent conversations. But Madonna was always proving how exceptional she was. During the late 80s and early 90s Madonna was basically greater than Santa Claus. She was constantly showering the world with extravagantly entertaining gifts.

Madge plants one on Antonio while exiting Almodóvar's party in Truth or Dare
photo source

But back to 2010. How about this new extravagant gift: Antonio Banderas wrapped up in that luscious Almodovar paper again? Me want.

You?
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