When you are stuck at home during the banda, it's time to get into a good book, or catch up on the pile of DVDs you bought from the street seller. You can't spend all day refreshing Nepal News, or the Nepali Times website, desperately hoping to hear about a resolution to the deadlock out on the streets. So, this week my local (read 'home') picture theatre was showing the latest films from two of my favourite directors: Pedro Almod�var's Los Abrazos Rotos (2009), and Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland (2010).

It is said that Pedro Almod�var is probably the world's greatest director of women. Los Abrazos Rotos, translated as Broken Embraces, is a strong argument in favour of this bold assertion. The film follows the trials of film director Mateo Blanco (a name that Almod�var sometimes directs under) and his leading lady Lena as they shoot under the jealous gaze of the producer, Lena's overbearing older lover. Llu�s Homar and Pen�lope Cruz are both outstanding in their leading roles, and as with all of Almod�var's films the driving force of Los Abrazos Rotos is the incredible chemistry between the actors, and the tension it creates between the achingly believable characters. At the same time, one cannot escape the director's eye for the aesthetically pleasing, whether in the form of the bright Spanish backdrop, or Cruz in the foreground.

Another director known for his deftness with visuals, though preferring shades of grey over the reds and yellows of Spain, is Tim Burton. And his latest, Alice in Wonderland, is no disappointment in this regard. Even when watched on a small screen, without what are meant to be mind-blowing 3D effects, it looks fantastic. Cleverly recreating much of the visuals of Disney's original animated picture, Burton adds his signature dark, twisting eye candy, reminiscent of Edward Scissorhands and his Batman films. On first viewing the chemistry between the characters seems off, but I have always found this with Burton films and leading actors Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. After all, at their best these actors do not have the most accessible styles. I'm sure that, like with Sweeney Todd and Sleepy Hollow, the subtle dynamics between the director and his muses silently emerge on repeated viewing. The real problem with Alice In Wonderland is the pace. So incessant are the big effects and the fast moving action that the beautifully rendered characters don't get a chance to reach you.

Despite its faults, Alice In Wonderland manages, like Los Abrazos Rotos, to provide some welcome escape from the political drama unravelling on the streets outside. I suppose that the listings for this weekend at my home cinema won't do the same: Steven Soderbergh's Che, parts one and two, back to back. And yet...

Alexis Morcrette