Hidden Gems

This caught me by surprise, I tuned in because I saw that Naomi Watts was in it and found myself engrossed in a moving and mature film that could cast the term 'chick flick' in an entirely new, positive light. Asks questions seldom explored in the movies regarding the nature of family and the bonds and responsibilities of motherhood without ever resorting to Hallmark sentimentality.

Great characterizations include Annette Bening as a regretful wife and Jimmy Smits as her sympathetic husband, Kerry Washington who hopes to adopt a child despite the obstacles, and indeed Watts is excellent as a determined pregnant single lawyer. This is one of the few 'several tales that cross paths' machinations that actually works.

Ingenious horror with almost no action nor blood, very much in the spirit of 'Blair Witch Project' where a majority of the story takes place in your mind. Not far from a fictional re-imagining of Orson Welles' famous 'War of the Worlds' radio broadcast either - we are stuck in a room with a DJ, producer, and tech assistant as strange reports of riots and random violence filter into the morning broadcast. Is it real? Is it a prank? Manages to create tension through the uncertainty of ongoing events and the colleagues' growing nagging fear.

This is quite a funny mockumentary reminding me why I used to enjoy seeing the name Jeff Goldblum on a cast list. Here he plays himself, Jeff Goldblum, with the sudden desire to forgo his film career (much to his agent's exasperation) and star in a local theater production of The Music Man back in his hometown of Pittsburgh. Problem is, he only realizes he can't really sing and can't really dance until he has already shmoozed his way into the lead role to the chagrin of some in the theater company. Meanwhile, his friend Ed Begley Jr. gets him involved in a potentially financially ruinous solar energy scam, and another friend Illeana Douglas begins dating Moby who, as Jeff discovers, has some peculiar fetishes. One of those rewarding discoveries that reaffirms why I keep giving little unknown films a chance.

Ultra low-budget yet effective road movie as Alice, an awkward "New Hampshah" teenager, travels to Florida with a seemingly normal Southern couple near their fifties. Except she comes to discover this 'normal' couple actually moonlights as mom & pop truck-stop hookers. Alice is running from her own troubles, and running low on money...

Often low-key and matter-of-fact with a distinctly unglamorous depiction of sex and an astute understanding of youthful minds. There were contrivances at a couple key turning points but nothing near a deal-breaker. I really liked how they alluded to the title's origin during a phonecall near the end, and the scene that summed up Alice's experiences after a week with this couple when she went to buy cigarettes and handed her I.D. to the cashier:

{Peering quizzically} "Is this supposed to be you?"
"Of course it's me."
{Shrugs, handing her I.D. back} "If you say so."

A fresh take on the thriller genre, which really isn't a thriller most of the time, in fact the thriller elements get in the way! Robin Tunney is an (overly) talkative, socially awkward, music loving computer animator who during a sodden night out crashes and kills a cop after a mysterious stranger carjacks her and then flees the scene. Whew! Nobody believes her story, so while awaiting trial she is placed under house arrest in a new, downtrodden neighborhood (she had to sell her condo to pay her lawyer) and fitted with an ankle transmitter that only allows her 57 feet distance from an alarm beacon.

This is where the bulk of the film - and entertainment - lies, in her apartment awaiting trial. Her only acquaintances are her invalid downstairs neighbor and the ankle bracelet security officer who makes routine visits. The relationships and twists that develop are surprising yet believable. Tunney alone bears the weight of the movie as she features in nearly every scene, and her quirkily appealing performance won my affection. Tim Blake Nelson also hits the bulls-eye, but Liz Phair....well, it's fun to see her appear in a movie once. Nice in-joke of her whitechocolatespaceegg album displayed at the checkout counter of a record store.

The thriller elements are competent but fairly routine, and with a resolution that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Normally these deficiencies would kill a movie, but the characters and occurrences are so fun to watch that the thriller aspect became secondary. Filled with '80s songs that fit perfectly with the mood of each scene. A modest, enjoyably offbeat sleeper.

Wonderfully funny Canadian mockumentary chronicles the efforts of two film partners who envision creating the next epic on the scale of The Ten Commandments and instead wind up with a disaster of Biblical proportions! Perfectly inappropriate stunt casting adds to the fun, and the commercial fate of their film delivers one of the most perfectly conceived endings of all time.

Taut, twisting thriller/mystery is like a lost 1990s Coen Brothers movie. 'Blood Simple' seems to be a definite inspiration, from the stark, beautifully photographed smalltown atmosphere to the setup of one man hiring another to kill his wife. And much like that film, nothing goes as planned in 'Red Rock West' either, as Nicolas Cage finds himself sucked into deeper and deeper consequences. Couldn't predict what would happen next except that Dennis Hopper would eventually come unhinged - who does it any better? Looking at director John Dahl's resume, no surprise that he was behind the camera for another great indie thriller 'The Last Seduction.' In fact, femme fatale Lara Flynn-Boyle is very Linda Fiorentino-like; Dahl certainly has a type. If you enjoyed that movie, you'll like this one too and vice-versa.

One of the best evocations of smalltown living, capturing the mundane emptiness and the yearning for more from life. Ashley Judd is really great in this as Ruby trying to find a way to break free from her retail sales & trailer park existence.

Moody, mysterious, and measured thriller shot in beautiful black & white except for a pivotal sequence inside "the Castle." Soderbergh's best film is quite unlike any other in dropping Jeremy Irons, utterly convincing as Franz Kafka circa 1919 Prague, amidst a very Kafkaesque series of encounters. The insurance clerk's appointed assistants are two of the funniest oddball characters in film history. I last watched this 15 years ago until tonight and was completely reaffirmed why this remains one of my favorites of the 1990s.

I could try to tell you about this slice of wholly original Belgian cinema, but that would still sell it short. If there ever was a story about a man's bitter resentment, this is it, as Thomas is convinced he was switched at birth with another family and bears that grudge until his final days. Experiencing that man's life though, which on paper looks like a long row to hoe, proceeds in completely unexpected ways. There is no timeline - we jump from his old age to his youth to his adult years with dizzying frequency, and yet Jaco Van Dormael manages to give enough cues that we can stay on the same page. This is a filmmaker who asks that his audience pay attention, so turn off those cell phones! Integrated into the main stories are a collection of fantasies as well, and not always easy to tell which is which. The title Toto The Hero refers to Thomas' alter ego as a spy determined to save his father and makes several appearances. While the entire cast performs beautifully, special mention goes out to the two main child actors as young Thomas and young Alice his sister (or adopted sister, depending which story you believe.) How the Europeans can consistently harvest such young natural actors is impressive, while the best that American casting agents can usually find is another Jake Lloyd.

For influences I thought of Sunset Boulevard for opening with a narrated death scene and especially Vertigo for a mysterious obsession Thomas has with a woman that he thought was dead. As for followers, I have to believe Jean-Pierre Jeunet is an ardent fan (the lightbulb-popping ploy instantly reminded me of the same trick in Amelie). A whimsical, serious, thoughtful, surprising, and engaging piece of work, I can honestly say I have not seen anything quite like Toto Le Hero.

One of the few Chan movies that can stand on its own even if you excised the action sequences! Great period flavor of a 1930's gangster film is a faithful retelling of Frank Capra's Lady for a Day. Except with fistfights! Comedic situations and a musical number with the radiant Anita Mui occupy most of the screentime, but the few action set pieces are all among the best of Chan's career. In particular I love the fight in the tea room which features amazing choreography executed with balletic beauty & precision, and is funny to boot! Then there are the rickshaws and finally the incredible jaw-dropping & side-splitting battle at the rope factory. Now that's entertainment!

Ranks #7 among my all-time favorite Jackie Chan flicks.

Near the top of my guilty pleasure list. Not as much scary as weird with a young Hugh Grant developing his trademark hem-haw style and a stunning Amanda Donohoe as the dryly witty rich lady with a dark, ancient secret. Leonard Maltin encapsulates it best: "Bizarre, campy, and altogether outlandish." After I read that, I knew I had to see it!

In a word: wacky. Make that wackywackywacky! From start to finish, a manic, at times surrealist adventure chronicling one crazy night when a co-owner of a home-security business hires two psychotic exterminators to off his partner for selling him out. Neighbors, onlookers, and innocent bystanders all become involved in the mayhem with very broad, often cartoonish characterizations. Great camerawork and imagination with several laugh-out-loud moments (best: the final expression of Mr. Yarman.) Only a protracted car chase/cliffhanger bogs down the silliness. Not unlike an early Coen brothers comedy, and not at all surprising since they co-wrote the script with pal Sam Raimi directing one of his earliest films (which means a great role for smarmily handsome Bruce Campbell as a smug, slick-talking heel.) Five times more entertaining than Spider-Man for 1/50th the cost.

Quirky, goofy, charming movie in which nothing can be predicted. The creators of 'Northern Exposure' must've used this film as a blueprint for their excellent series, right down to the Rob Morrow lookalike as their fish-out-of-water.

'Royal Flash' Shows Spark

Another slow starter, and with a treadbare plot, but still provides enough entertainment to forgive its flaws. Who wouldn't enjoy a roguish Malcolm McDowell attempting to impersonate a German duke against his will after being kidnapped by a sinister Oliver Reed? Highlight is a side-splitting attempted rescue of the real duke held prisoner in a castle dungeon which includes a memorable comedic swordfight in the spirit of the Elwes vs. Patinkin throwdown later exhibited in The Princess Bride.

Exceptional biopic where I actually learned something about the subject! In true 1970s cinema fashion, Bob Fosse does not attempt to glamorize or mythicize controversial comedian Lenny Bruce as modern Hollywood would. Instead we are shown events detailing the ascent and regression of a man who inadvertently challenged authority over freedom of public speech.

I was unfamiliar with Bruce's actual act and the film offers many nightclub performances with Dustin Hoffman impressively pulling them off. While it was difficult at first to distance his young appearance from his turn as Benjamin Braddock in 'The Graduate,' once he grows a beard he IS Lenny Bruce. The most comparable comedian I know is George Carlin as both used language as a tool to expose human hypocrisy though humor. With today's abundance of foul-mouthed comics populating TV specials, it's dumbfounding to learn how Bruce faced repeated prosecution and served jail time for merely saying words in public that were deemed objectionable.

The film uses an interesting mix of fictionalized interviews and fly-on-the-wall storytelling to relate the influences and pressures within Bruce's life and how they affected his onstage material, much like we see in the first few seasons of TV's 'Seinfeld' 20 years later. The acting and direction make it all seem very real, a favorite scene shows Bruce, his mother, and his agent joking about an offer to play shows at a club at quintuple salary - their interaction is free and easy, an important step in Bruce's career told in a very believable, realistic manner without the staginess that plagues many biopics. An absorbing, informative, and entertaining film.

Sometimes you really don't know what to say about a movie other than "that was one of the goofiest exercises in cinema I have seen in a long time." The main story is constantly intercut with short clips of future, past, or random events, incongruous moments and locales pop up just to make you scratch your head, all the while involving you in a melodramatic-romantic-comedic-mystery! Reminiscent of Bunuel infused with a swinging '60s sensibility, would not be out of place as an aperitif during a David Lynch film festival either. Throw in some fantastic masterful camerawork by Nicolas Roeg and you've got an experience you won't soon forget, or sort out.

"In every country I've ever gone, people hate the phone company!" -- Russian spy

Very funny and at times silly comedy about what befalls James Coburn once he thinks he's landed a dream job by becoming the President's personal shrink. But it turns out that many factions would be very interested in the secret thoughts of the leader of the free world! Coburn is very loose as the title character who grows increasingly paranoid about his position and becomes the target of an international manhunt. A whole lot of lampooning gets thrown into the mix, from psychiatrists, hippies, gun fanatics, government, bureaucracy, and yes, the phone company.

'Topkapi' Still The Tops

Splendid lighthearted caper movie, with a heist sequence imitated countless times since, from The Score to Mission: Impossible.

Few are better at the rascally hero role than Paul Newman, here playing a jaded Nobel Prize novelist who has turned to drink, women, and writing dimestore detective stories. He travels to Stockholm merely to collect the $50,000 prize and meets fellow laureate physicist Edward G. Robinson, a German defector before WW II. The next day, his latent curiosity is piqued when he finds the scientist has strangely changed his behavior patterns and seems a couple inches shorter...

Entertaining Hitchcockian story that never turns too serious delivers some funny lines and provides engaging subplots and side characters.

Bunuel's indictment of the upper class is rather one-note, but impressively pulled off by a large cast as essentially an audacious one-room exercise. The idle rich, he seems to tell us, are only separated from the poor by their possessions, social standing, and observations of etiquette. Stripped of those, the inner savage has no disguise and subject to the same fears and envies as anyone else. Slow building yet interesting surreal set-piece.

Sellers in fine form as Welsh librarian in understated sex comedy. Fun to see him in scenes with the actor who would later be Clouseau's assistant in 'A Shot In The Dark.' Attenborough has a great time in small role of pompous local playwright.

Very funny black comedy, starts slowly but really picks up once Glenn Ford's grisly scheme begins to snowball out of control. Ford & Reynolds make a good team, with able assistance from Herman the pigeon.

Slower-paced than I expected for a men-on-the-run film, pausing for lengthy moments of reflection. Moving climax, Poitier a strong presence as usual, and Tony Curtis impresses in atypical role as petty thug.

What a treat when a world-famous film lives up to its reputation. Similar to the shenanigans of Jean Renoir's 'Rules of the Game,' except where that film relied heavily on improvised frivolity, Bergman here crafted a far superior smart comedy with enough interpersonal complications that each sideways glance reveals the characters' inner thoughts. While there are a few of Bergman's dry, isolating philosophical speeches, most are character-fitted niftily into the script. It takes a steely resolve for me to choose to watch Bergman - this one waited four years on my shelf - so I'm very pleased when the results are this rewarding.

'Born Yesterday' And Hilarious Today

In the ultimate dumb blonde role, Judy Holliday nailed it. The almost-silent gin rummy sequence between her & Broderick Crawford is a gem. Great script.

'A Foreign Affair' Provides the Laughs, Dahling

This postwar comedy with Marlene Dietrich as an acid-tongued nightclub singer with suspected Nazi ties and Jean Arthur as a visiting no-nonsense Congresswoman from Iowa both after the same army heel with a guilty conscience starts slowly but gets in full gear when the romantic entanglements commence. Both actresses are terrific.

So simple it operates itself!

During the first half I was wondering why this is so highly regarded as a classic comedy. There are hardly any jokes, some lame slapstick, and Rex Harrison plays an insulting boor of a conductor. What gives?? Aha, it takes that long to get to the good stuff as Harrison, while conducting 3 pieces of music, mentally plots 3 methods of revenge against his wife whom he suspects had an affair with his assistant. The way these are presented is ingenious: every detail of every plan in his mind goes perfectly, but when he tries to replicate them in real life everything goes completely haywire in a gaspingly hilarious manner. So in truth there are about 20 minutes of actual comedy in this film, but they are some of the best 20 minutes of laughs you could hope for.

Interesting mystery with effective cast of culprits gets knocked up a notch with Alastair Sim's offbeat, drolly amusing portrayal of the investigating detective.

Fast-paced, fast-talking comedy they don't make anymore as sassy comedienne Joan Blondell (second only to Carole Lombard for the era) and her two sisters attempt to hide a dead body from the cops, and her journalist fiancee who intends to cash in a huge scoop. Some impish bad-taste hijinks ensue "Weekend At Bernie's"-style with some good laughs and witty banter sprinkled throughout. The resolution is strained but no matter really. John Howard also scores big as the newsie attempting to outfox his betrothed.

1932's 'Grand Hotel' introduces almost an identical scenario that 1933's 'Dinner At Eight' follows as a large ensemble deals with a variety of personal fears, harsh realities, and small triumphs. Both films even share the Barrymores, Lionel & John, and Wallace Beery! 'Hotel' features a dazzling Joan Crawford and the immortal Greta Garbo delivering her most famous line, "I want to be alone!" However 'Dinner' counterpunches with the saucy Jean Harlow and boasts a wittier script, and even though it's the imitator I rank it a half-star higher. Still, 'Grand Hotel' is a grand multi-character study with fine performances and revealing dialogue. I enjoyed John Barrymore's suave baron down on his luck and Garbo's depressed dancer the most, and after a startling tragedy strikes I could hardly bear anticipating how one of them would react to the news.