Gracias a por our neighbors to the south

While the Hollywood executives and their non-people have yet to recognize the screen appeal of Diego Luna and Gael Garcia-Bernal, we should be thankful these two yummies keep creating characters and moments for us to enjoy.
Most Americans were introduced to D and G through Y Tu Mama Tambien; though a delightful "coming of age film" (gag), the largely sexual material contained its audience to small theaters, fans of Mexican film, and Blockbuster Video patrons. Since then, each actor has been involved in scads of film projects, of which only a handful have been seen by mis ojos:
In Criminal, Diego Luna teams up with John C. Reilly for a story of con men. Maggie Gyllenhaal plays Reilly's sister and tries to (sometimes) be the voice of reason. Recently I learned this was a remake of a 2000 French film Nine Queens which holds 4 stars in the Netflix ratings....in Q.
One of my faves from last year's film festival, Only God Knows has Diego playing a Mexican journalist opposite Alice Braga (niece of Sonia), an art student. She is wicked gorgeous and their chemistry is something to behold. Equal bits spirituality, tenderness, heartbreak, escape. I hope I'm not the only one who wanted a happy ending.
Another of my faves from last year is The King in which Gael Garcia Bernal plays a recently discharged seaman named Elvis. He decides to return home to Texas in search of a man he believes to be his father. William Hurt and Pell James both play integral and disturbing characters in Elvis' new life.
GGB's second most recent release (he currently stars in Babel and I haven't seen it yet!) The Science of Sleep seemed to be equally adored and dissed by moviegoers and critics. It uses plenty of fantasy & dreamscape amidst real-time events to tell the story of a man lovestruck by his neighbor, a woman you end up wishing could save him from himself.
Bad Education is a disturbing tale of friends who share a boys' school education in the 60's and how it affects their adult life. This is for anyone who ever thought GGB would make a pretty girl.
2004's The Motorcycle Diaries is supposedly based on the journal of a young Che Guevera, who in the 1950's rode his bike across S. America with his friend Alberto. Interesting, even for us non-revolutionaries.
Lastly, a bloody but favorite for me is Amores Perros. This film utilizes a storytelling method that's become popular recently - moving back and forth between characters whose lives are seemingly unrelated until tragedy arrives to connect them.