If you've forgotten your Spanish verbs since high school, the word "volver" means "to return." In the 2006 Spanish film Volver, director Pedro Almodovar tells the story of a woman named Raimunda (a gorgeous Penélope Cruz) and her sisters. Though their parents were killed in a fire years before, Mama's ghost is hanging around and appears quite visibly to everyone. When Raimunda murders her husband after he attempts to rape their daughter and has to hide the body, things go even more off-kilter. Part ghost story, part murder mystery and part comedy, Volver is, according to the director, "Precisely about death, about the ways - not tragic at all - in which various female characters of different generations deal with this culture." Maybe Mama's ghost should learn how to use a shovel, since two people can dig a hole faster than one. 8:30 p.m. Domy Books, 1709 Westheimer. For information, call 713-523-3669 or visit www.domystore.com. Free.
Wed., Dec. 16, 8:30 p.m., 2009