You may get whiplash following the twists and turns in the latest wild ride from Spain's Pedro Almodóvar. But it hurts so good. Broken Embraces is the fourth film in which Almodóvar has directed his muse, Penélope Cruz. They bring out something elemental in each other, even when a plot defies description. Cruz plays Lena, a hooker-turned-actress who falls for her Almodóvar-ish director (Lluís Homar), who uses makeup, wigs and wardrobe to morph her into sexual fantasies men can watch. Then a car crash ends Lena's life and the director's career until...

Well, I'll never tell. What I will conjecture is that Broken Embraces, lyrically shot by Rodrigo Prieto, represents Almodóvar's broken love affair with film itself — how a camera can lie and keep secrets that maybe only another camera can reveal. Got that? Doesn't matter. Cruz exudes a sensual aura of mystery that holds you spellbound. And Almodóvar, a true poet of cinema, creates images — horrifying and healing — that live inside your head like a waking dream. You want to miss a movie like that? I didn't think so.

“Is It True”

As the British Invasion reached its peak in 1964, Brenda Lee went from Nashville to London to record one of her hardest-rocking hits, her perky vocal backed by a stuttering, squalling guitar. That guitar was played by session musician Jimmy Page, yet to skyrocket to fame with first the Yardbirds and then Led Zeppelin. "She said to me, 'I've come here to make a record with the British sound,'" remembered producer Mickie Most. "She felt she wouldn't get the same sound in Nashville because they're only just catching up on the British beat group sound of about six months ago."