MOVIES FOR SUMMER…
Well, its August. Before the summer ends, you all must make it a priority to check out the following movies. This is just a collection of random movies that for some reason or another are great for this time of year.
PAPER MOON
Along with people like Jim Jarmusch, Peter Bogdonavich is (…was) one of the best modern directors to use black & white, and make it look so amazingly beautiful (see “the last picture show” for further examples of Bogdonovich’s black & white talent). Now, I used the word; “was”, because Peter has pretty much FALLEN OFF since “Mask” (the cher movie, NOT the jim carrey movie. Although that movie is pretty terrible too). However, “Paper Moon” represents a time when Peter was pretty much the man. Real life father and daughter; Ryan and Tatum O’Neal, play depression-era con-artists on a road trip, going from one scheme to the next. Tatum O’Neal totally steals the show. Dakota Fanning, the Olsen Twins, that scary Jerry McGuire midget, Haley Joel Osmet…WHOEVER…none of these kids could hold a candle to Tatum O’Neal. Why? because she could do more than JUST be cute. She could actually act. Its a shame what happened to her. She could have been a great adult actress (but drugs kinda messed that up). Its also sad that I’m talking about her like she’s dead or something (which she’s not). I think if her and Peter got back together, they could make an amazing comeback film (just my opinion). Anyway, Paper Moon is a great film, and I highly recommend it. Aside from Tatum’s show-stealing performance, Ryan O’Neal and the rest of the cast are also excellent (including a great 5 minute appearance by a young Randy Quaid).
TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE
I was in a pretty silly mood when I watched “the twilight zone movie” the other day. I’m telling you, depending on the mood you’re in, almost ANY movie can be funny. Now, I must say r.i.p. to co-star Vic Morrow. For those of you who don’t know, Morrow and 2 other actors were killed during the making of this movie, while filming a really dangerous scene with a helicopter. Vic may be dead, but at least his legacy is still carried on through his daughter, Jennifer Jason Leigh, who’s one of the best actresses today. In the twilight zone movie, 4 different directors (john landis, spielberg and two others) remake 4 different stories, which I believe are based on classic twilight zone episodes from the original TV show (I’m not a twilight zone guy, so I’m not sure). The first story is about an angry/racist white guy who is transported in to different time periods, each time as a different race (a Jewish person in Poland during WW2, a black person in the 1950’s south, and a Vietnamese civilian caught by the US military during the Vietnam war. The second story is about an old, mysterious, magical negro (played by scatman crothers) with the power to turn old people back in children. The third and fourth stories are the funniest, and what had me laughing. The third story is about a little boy (anthony) who can do whatever he wants whenever he wishes something. He uses his powers to kidnap random people, in order to make them his pretend family. The fourth story is about a paranoid man on a plane who sees a gremlin/monster on the wing of the plane, yet no one else can see it, so everyone thinks he’s crazy. It would be nice to see another twilight zone movie like this made today.
THE KARATE KID
What a perfect movie to finish the summer off with. I was at my friend’s apartment last Friday night after work, and he just happened to turn on ‘the karate kid’ right at the beginning. Perfect timing. It’s funny because I’d been meaning to watch the karate kid for some time. On two occasions I picked up two different people’s VHS collections through craigslist. FOR FREE. Try taking 3 big grocery store paper bags full vhs tapes from Coney Island to Harlem. This is one of the best movies to watch with a group of friends. In addition to the karate kid, there a few other really awesome movies to watch with a group of friends when you’re in a silly mood: the exorcist, the exorcist part 2 (oh man. comedy), Hannibal, final destination, radio flyer, etc. That’s a pretty random list, but trusts me, if you’re either drunk or in a stupid/silly mood, those movies are nothing but comedy. The karate kid had so many god damn funny parts and things about it; I don’t even know where to begin. And just think, I use to take this movie serious when I was 5 years old. First of all, did anyone ever go to a school with a ’Bully’? That’s something I never experienced or even witnessed in high school. Second, who goes to school with a bully that has a black belt in karate (and an entourage of junior bullies with black belts as well)? That must suck. and speaking of entourage’s, Johnny (the bad guy) had one of the best 80’s entourages in movie history, next to frank booth in blue velvet and ‘biff’ in the back to the future movies (you know I only recently realized that billy zane was one of biff’s henchmen in the back to the future sequel?). My favorite guy in Johnny’s entourage is the dude who was like: ‘IT MUST BE TAKE A WORM FOR A WALK WEEK’. He’s the same guy who yelled out; ‘GET ‘EM A BODY BAG! HAHAHAHAHA’ at the end of the movie, when Johnny beats Daniel’s ass in the final fight. Other funny scenes include; kobra kai pushing Daniel down the hill on his bike, and he just keeps rolling (LOL!). And then his mother comes home and finds him trying to throw the bike in the dumpster. LOL. ‘Daniel, what’s wrong?!’ to which Daniel replies; ‘NOTHIIIIIIING!’. Another funny part is when Mr. miagi creeps up out of NOWHERE, jumps a fence and kicks the shit out of Johnny and his crew. Never sleep on this movie.
WHITE DOG
There’s nothing like racist animals, and OVER-acting to finish off the summer. Sam Fuller’s notorious “White Dog” is about a racist, orphaned dog, and the black animal trainer, played by Paul Winfield, who tries to break the dog’s racist teachings. I know this is gonna sound bad, but depending on what mood I’m in, this movie can be either very funny or very good. I’m sorry, but that’s the way I feel. I dunno, but seeing animals jump outta nowhere, and attack people is funny to me sometimes. Anyone ever notice in movies that when animals or evil creatures attack people, they always go for the neck? Why is that? Anyway…I DO have one serious issue with this movie (and no it’s not the plot, and it has nothing to do with race). To those people who have seen this movie…am I the only person to question why this dog was allowed to live without being put down? Lets be honest…during the course of the movie, the dog (BRUTALLY) attacked four people, KILLED one guy, and was still allowed to live. Really? It took that long for people to realize this damn dog needed to die? And more importantly, what kind of people don’t press charges on a dog that attacks the shit out them? But, with all that being said, this is still required viewing.
THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP
As much as I love “Eternal Sunshine”, it seems like the more I watch “science of sleep”, the more I start to think this MIGHT be Michel Gondry’s best film so far. Even though the movie has a lot of fantasy and somewhat surreal moments, he still manages to hit the nail on the head when it comes to the awkwardness and embarrassing moments between two people who like each other (well, I think so). So it’s kinda like the best of both worlds. It shows a little bit of realism when it comes to male/female relationships, but it also has a fantasy angle to it. The supporting cast is great, especially the actor who plays “Guy”. I had never seen him in a movie before science of sleep, but he is one subtly funny mother fucker. There’s just so many little things he does in that movie that crack me up, that I think people miss. For example, pay attention to “guy” during the scene when it’s Stephan’s first day of work. Everything he does is hilarious. And speaking of the rest of the supporting cast, why do I have a crush on charlotte gainsbourg? There’s something about her swagger that makes her attractive. …I dunno. Plus, “science of sleep” doesn’t star Jim Carrey or Kirsten Dunst. This movie is the reason I was so disappointed in “be kind rewind”. It seemed like with each movie, Gondry was getting more and more mature, and then he goes and makes this corny, predictable movie. Sometimes, “be kind rewind” didn’t even seem like a Michel Gondry movie. I just hope the style in Gondry’s next movie leans more towards the style of eternal sunshine/science of sleep and less towards be kind rewind. And is it just me, or is it time for Gael Garcia Bernal (the main character) to show us something. I’m starting to think that he’s just been lucky with all of the movies he happens to be in (”tu mama tambien”, “bad education”, “motorcycle diaries”, “babel”, etc). I have yet to see him give a really memorable performance.
TREE’S LOUNGE
Tree’s Lounge (directed by and starring Steve Bucshemi) is a very underrated movie in my opinion. Back in college, I happened to notice this movie in the 5 dollar bin (along with “True Stories”). I looked at the back, saw the cast (buschemi, seymour cassell, chloe sevigny, samuel l. jackson, etc), so I said what the hell and bought it. I hadn’t watched this movie in like 3 years until this past weekend. As a director, this is Buschemi’s best work. This easily beats “Animal Factor” and “Garden Sta…I mean “Lonesome Jim”. Steve Bushemi stars in this dramedy as an unemployed loser/alchoholic who takes up a job as an ice cream truck driver after his friend/father figure; “Uncle Joe” (played by Seymour Cassell) dies. Cassell only has about 7 minutes of screen time, but he still steals the show. I wonder if people realize how much of an icon Seymour Cassell is to independent film. From John Cassavetes first film (and 5 more with cassavetes), to Tree’s Lounge, to Wes Anderson’s movies, Cassell has been an important figure in American independent film for a long time. Anyway, Tree’s Lounge has a lot of funny parts, and its share of serious/thought provoking parts as well. There’s also a lot of key “new york city” actors/figures in this movie like; Rockets Redglare (or “the overweight guy in all of jim jarmusch’s early movies”), Debi Mazar (”graffiti rock”), Ester Baltz (”eva” from stranger than paradise), Kevin Coorgin (”goon” from Buffalo 66), Micheal Imperioli, etc. Real solid film.
71 FRAGMENTS OF A CHRONOLOGY OF CHANCE
I never realized this movies TRUE greatness until my kidney transplant recovery. The one great thing about my kidney transplant (besides…you know…getting a kidney), is that I got to sit around for 2 months and just watch movies (and the occasional law & order marathon). For one week, I decided to focus on all of michael haneke’s movies, especially the ones that I don’t have on rotation on a regular basis (which is basically any of his movies that aren’t ‘piano teacher’ or ‘cache’). When you’re recovering from a kidney transplant, the last thing you want to do is watch a bunch of depressing shit…but whatever…After watching Haneke’s ‘the 7th continent’ (probably the most depressing movie ever made, especially if you have a ‘routine’ life), I watched ‘71 fragments’, and it finally hit me how awesome this movie is. This is one of the truly underrated movies o the 90’s along with others like; lost highway, she’s so lovely, europa, new jack city, surviving desire, clockers, etc. In ‘71 fragments…’, follows a bunch of different unrelated characters and storylines all set in Austria: a husband and wife who’ve just adopted a child, a husband and wife who recently lost a child, a lonely old man, a college student on the verge of losing it (and boy DOES he), an immigrant boy who crosses over in to Vienna, ect etc. These characters eventually collide in to in each other, in an explosive/blunt/cold/awesome ending (which I believe is based on a true story?!). Fans of ‘L’argent’ will love this. If I had stayed in college for a DAY longer, I would have probably re-enacted the final scene of this movie in real life.
THE BEAT MY HEART SKIPPED
“The beat my heart skipped” is a remake of the late 70’s movie “Fingers” (which is not only a great movie, but one of harvey kietel’s greatest performances). The story is about a has-been piano prodigy who currently lives the double life as a real estate agent/property manager and a debt collector for his shady father. To make things complicated, he suddenly gets the itch to become a piano player again, which now causes him to live a triple life. There are a few things this remake leaves out from the original. For example, there’s a really weird/funny/awesome/creepy scene in “Fingers” where a character played by Jim Brown starts making out with 2 girls, and the scene just gets even crazier from there. In fact, the character that Jim Brown played in the original is left out of the remake. The original also hints that the lead character has some repressed homosexual feelings. Either way, “the beat my heart skipped” is a really awesome movie, and I highly recommend it. Its one of the few foreign movies I would suggest to just about anyone (you know how people love to complain about reading subtitles). Nothing beats the original performance, but the lead actor in this remake still does an awesome job. You all should check out “fingers” also.
YOUR FRIENDS & NEIGHBOORS
I needed to remind myself that neil labute was a really good director once (the late 90’s). Its like once he made “nurse betty” everything just kinda went downhill. He had a brief comeback with “the shape of things”, but nobody saw that, except for me, so whatever. His most recent film; “Lakeview Terrace” just made things even worse. “Your friends & neighbors” follows the relationships and infidelities of 6 annoying assholes that are somehow connected to each other. (some are married to each other, while others are cheating with one another). Besides aaron eckhart’s character, I seriously wanted to punch every character in the face over and over again. Now, its not that I don’t like this movie. If anything, the actors gave really convincing performances. Jason Patrick and Catherine Keener steal the show as the two biggest assholes in the movie. The only difference between the two is that Keener really makes you hate her character, whereas Jason Patrick is such an unbelievable, self centered, evil person, its pretty funny. From shouting at a girl for getting period blood on his bed sheets, bragging about how he tricked an ex-girlfriend in to believing she had AIDS, to casually telling his friends a story about he raped a guy in high school…you just wanna hear what he’s gonna say next. Labute always has a talent for creating characters that you quickly grow to HATE (rachel wietz in “the shape of things”, aaron eckhart in “in the company of men” or samuel jackson in “lakeview bullshit…I mean terrace”). You can have corny relationship movies like “closer”. I’ll take this, “faces”, “bad timing” even “all the real girls” any day of the week. This movie will make you want to stay away from marriage.
HOW I GOT IN TO COLLEGE
Damn, I pulled this one outta nowhere. This is one of the true forgotten films of the 80’s, along with others like; o.c. & stiggs, out of the blue, parents, my bodyguard, LA bad, true stories, leonard part 6, creepshow: part one (people always remember the sequel, but sleep on the first one), parting glances, lost angels (starring ad-rock of the beastie boys in his acting debut) and many others. A lot of films got lost in the spielberg/john hughes/lucas era. I gotta say, I give props to anyone who remembers this. This is one of those movies that use to come on HBO in the middle of the day or at 2am on a Tuesday. A silly, yet slightly dark comedic look at a group of high school seniors who are all trying to get in to their dream university; Ramsey College. After recently watching this after MANY years, I realized there was a nice collection of 80’s actors in this movie (anthony edwards, ‘booger’ from revenge of the nerds, brian doyle murray and the token black guy from ‘heathers’). Even more known actors like; Philip Baker Hall, Phil Hartman (R.I.P.) and Richard Jenkins join the cast as well. A lot of the comedy, music and overall tone of the movie is sometimes reminiscent of certain scenes in ‘Heathers’, although the plots of each movie is totally different. This is definitely the perfect movie to throw on in the middle of the day on a sunday or something. Watching this movie brings me back to the 3rd grade.
TIME OF THE WOLF
After watching this the other night, I realized this is one of my all-time top 5 favorite michael haneke movies (along with; piano teacher, cache, funny games and the 7th continent). In this sci-fi/DRAMA, Isabelle Hupert plays a recently widowed mother of two trying to survive in a recent unexplainable outbreak that has wiped out most of the worlds water supply and livestock. Its never really made clear if its a virus or some type of outbreak. Normally, this type of set-up would call for the protagonists to fight off zombies or some type of flesh eating monster. Instead, haneke puts people against each other, blurring the line between the ‘good guy/protagonist’ & the ’bad guy/antagonist’, and once again showing the ugly side of human beings when put in a live or die situation. There are so many parts in this movie that piss me the fuck off. I guess this means michael haneke is doing his job. Along with directors like Lars Von Trier, haneke is really keeping the art of ‘fucking with the audience’ alive. I get the feeling that this is what M. Night Shaymalan was trying to do with his most recent movie, but failed. Time of the wolf literally starts with a BANG and finishes on a really eerie, open end. A lot of my current favorite French actors show up in this (hupert, beatrice dalle, olivier gourmet). Check out ’stalker’ as well. An earlier movie that’s kind of in the same vein as ‘time of the wolf’, all though much slower in pace.
-Marcus