Jose Luis Cuerda

Jose Luis Cuerda, the 53-year-old director of "The Butterfly," is not accustomed to Hollywood. This is, after all, his first U.S. release. Born in Albacete, in Spain's region of La Mancha, Cuerda doesn't speak English. But his Spanish is laced with self-deprecating humor and congeniality. With his robust belly, snow-white hair and long beard, he describes himself as the Man of La Mancha--though he looks more like Sancho Panza than the venerable Don Quixote.

Jose Luis Cuerda, the 53-year-old director of "The Butterfly," is not accustomed to Hollywood. This is, after all, his first U.S. release. Born in Albacete, in Spain's region of La Mancha, Cuerda doesn't speak English. But his Spanish is laced with self-deprecating humor and congeniality. With his robust belly, snow-white hair and long beard, he describes himself as the Man of La Mancha--though he looks more like Sancho Panza than the venerable Don Quixote.

"Butterfly" takes us back in time to a picturesque Spanish village in Galicia where life seems idyllic. People have their differences and their inevitable losses and disappointments, yet harmony reigns, and in the town's daily routines you sense life going through its eternal cycles. The town's dominant personality is one of its teachers, Don Gregorio (Fernando Fernan Gomez), a tall, commanding man of much warmth and wisdom who is nearing retirement.

"Open Your Eyes" can be heard two ways, as a physical command or a metaphysical warning to be aware, to pay attention to what's happening around you. When the characters in this nervy and unnerving psychological thriller don't do both, they end up in serious trouble.

Your house is old, creaky, dark. The piano plays when there's no one there, the chandeliers shake though the room above is empty, voices are heard but no speakers can be found. Almost anyone would assume they're living in a haunted house, but not Grace. The year is 1945, the place is Jersey, one of the Channel Islands between Britain and France, and Grace, impressively played by Nicole Kidman, has a lot to be terrified about.

After Oscar nomination ballots get shipped on Dec. 26, voters will list five choices for best picture, but, considering how the academy's preferential ballot works, really only the No. 1 and No. 2 votes count. That means films with a high rooting factor like "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Milk" may get nominated even if they have only a small vote base. Big studio films with support across academy branches like "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "The Dark Knight" also benefit. BEST PICTURE Favorites "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" "The Dark Knight" "Doubt" "Frost/Nixon" "Milk" "Revolutionary Road" "Slumdog Millionaire" Spotlight: During the last 20 years, the movie with the most nominations has won best picture 15 times.