One of Spain's most celebrated directors, Pedro Almodovar has carved out a remarkably distinctive filmography in his three-decade, Academy Award-winning career. Infusing his films with vibrant colors, strong female characters, melodrama, comedy and sex, Almodovar is not afraid to play with conventions or to revel in the absurd. He also incorporates autobiographical elements to tell complex stories about love, loss, and hope.

On August 11, Sony Pictures Classics will re-release eight of Almodovar's classic films in New York and Los Angeles in a film series called "Viva Pedro," which will expand to other cities throughout the fall. The series will feature new prints of these classics films, two of which were never released on DVD ("Matador," "Law of Desire"), allowing fans of Almodovar as well as those new to his work to see these movies the way they were meant to be seen -- on the big screen. The films in this series are: "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" (1988), "All About My Mother" (1999), "Talk to Her" (2002), "Flower of My Secret" (1996), "Live Flesh" (1997), "Law of Desire" (1987), "Matador" (1988), and "Bad Education" (2004). Read on to find out more about the films and some of Almodovar's favorite (and famous) actors.