In Breaking the Waves (A-), director Lars von Trier crafts an elegant, heart-wrenching epic about a woman guided to the edge of sanity by a moral quest that leaves her physically, mentally and emotionally vulnerable. Emily Watson shines in the central role of this chilling film that deftly blends pathos and transcendence.
Category Archives: Rent It Tonight
“The Pillow Book” an Exotic, Erotic Story of Romance, Revenge
An exotic ode to love, art and revenge, Peter Greenaway’s The Pillow Book (A) stars Vivian Wu as a Japanese model in search of lovers who will paint on her body as part of their mating ritual with her. One of these men is a British translator played by Ewan McGregor, and a romantic entanglement that soon erupts due to betrayal and blackmail leads the plot down a variety of unexpected passageways. Greenaway’s innovative uses of popular music, multimedia effects, calligraphy and chapter settings, sensory illusions and uncensored erotic imagery makes this one of the most resonant and resplendent films to blossom on screen in years. This is one for the dreamers.
“Secrets and Lies” a Dry, Droll British Drama
Mike Leigh’s Secrets and Lies (B+) pairs Brenda Blethyn and Marianne Jean-Baptiste as long-lost mother and daughter reuniting. Because Leigh uses an impromptu screenwriting technique with his actors, the focus is on the character revelations, especially since mom is white and daughter is black, but the story suffers a bit with not too much to do once we’ve established this central conceit. Still, the actresses are so charming that their story washes over you, and you feel like you’re visiting with folks you’ve known all your life.
“Sling Blade” is Surprisingly Sentimental
Slicing into the heart of the American Gothic with razor-sharp perception, writer/director/actor Billy Bob Thornton carves out a startling yarn with the genre-slashing masterpiece Sling Blade (A). Thornton crafts a singular portrait of the South and of a man faced with a moral dilemma that may cause him to resort to violence. Alternately sweet in sequences with child actor Lucas Black and menacing when facing an alcoholic character played by Dwight Yoakam, the film sustains a delicate tone and a spellbinding sense of time and place as it builds to its finale.
“People vs. Larry Flynt” is Fascinating Free Speech Movie
Milos Forman’s The People vs. Larry Flynt (A+) challenges viewers to re-think views on free speech as its antihero protagonist played by Woody Harrelson is a notorious peddler of pornography. His stripped bride played by Courtney Love helps him mount an unexpected defense in an unorthodox look at the limits of decency and how people in America can express themselves. Harrelson and Love are magnificent in their roles. Forman makes films very infrequently, but when he does, he generally contributes mightily to America’s film canon.
“Evita” is a Respectable Movie Musical Revolution
Pop goes the nation as Madonna assumes the role of Eva Peron in director Alan Parker’s faithful adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rock opera Evita (A-). This sung-through political biography tells the rags-to-riches tale of Argentina’s most celebrated first lady with lush period detail, smashing musical numbers and surprisingly good sing-acting. Madonna was born for the role and acquits herself nicely with a pop-rock take on the typically Broadway belter role. Antonio Banderas is charismatic as Che, the omnipresent narrator. A meditation on stardom and how close we get to our political leaders before we realize they too are human, it’s a powerful musical epic.
“The Birdcage” is Hilarious Comedy of Manners
Robin Williams and Nathan Lane are birds of a feather in Mike Nichols’ lightweight comedy The Birdcage (B), based on the French classic La Cage Aux Folles. Their tale of an alternative American family is filled with larger-than-life gags. But for all the preening queens run amuck, there are actually some nice domestic moments between the central couple and the son they reared together that blaze some trails on acceptance. It’s super-funny and proof that it takes all types to make a family.
“Fargo” a Comic Noir Triumph
They say that God is in the details. If this is the case, filmmaking brothers Joel and Ethan Coen find a multitude of moviemaking miracles in the strange terrain of Fargo (A-), a curious murder mystery full of sardonic humor, offbeat characters and unconventional wisdom. This is a great case of bleak chic, from the super-serious pregnant protagonist superbly played by Frances McDormand to ransoms, outlaws, a triple homicide and a wood chipper. In both their verbal and film language, the Coen Brothers’ Dakota pop is sure to take you where you’ve never been before.
“Flirting With Disaster” Uproariously Funny
Ben Stiller headlines an all-star cast in the hilarious domestic comedy of errors, David O. Russell’s Flirting with Disaster (A-). His adopted character’s cross-country search for his biological parents leads him hilariously into the arms of drug-dealers, FBI agents and a merry band of fellow travelers played by comic legends ranging from Lily Tomlin to George Segal and Mary Tyler Moore. Moore is outrageously tart playing against type. The story has a way of getting more and more perilous from what seemed like a pretty simple premise, and Russell’s dark searches within Pandora’s Box lead to some awfully funny findings about love and relationships in the modern age.
Original 1996 “Mission: Impossible” Enjoyable
Brian de Palma’s cross-continental action film Mission: Impossible (B+) is a bit heavy on the high-tech mumbo jumbo and doesn’t really give its wooden lead (Tom Cruise) much character development. But as a sturdy summer blockbuster based on a classic TV show, it holds its own. There are some dazzling set pieces and stunts, the best including Cruise’s hero-turned-marionette moment when he hovers by wires into a sound-sensitive computer chamber to pull off a vital hack. The film counts on the art of the double cross to up the ante of its complex subplots. Much of this thriller is inventive and commercial.
“The Rock” (1996) is Fun Alcatraz Action Film
Director Michael Bay’s Alcatraz redemption takes place as Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage achieve breakout success in the action-filled confines of a notorious prison in The Rock (B+). This is an action lover’s wild ride that doesn’t give up for a single frame of Bay’s chronicle of escape artists in full-throttle momentum. The film compensates for implausibility with sheer action sensation.
Related link: One of my jobs in the 1990’s was developing the in-store magazine and Website for a video rental chain called MOOVIES. Here’s one of the few remaining sidebars: A run-down of Sean Connery’s movies: Link here.
Animated Disney “Hunchback of Notre Dame” Soars
Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame (A-) is Disney’s dark quasi-opera about a 15th century French deformed bell-ringer who dreams of leaving the cathedral where he is secluded for a moment “out there” in the real world. This adaptation of Victor Hugo’s classic features spectacular songs by Alan Menken and Stephen Swartz and grandiose, swirling animation that brings exquisite life to its time and place. A moving centerpiece is the song “God Help the Outcasts” in this cautionary tale about making the world a safe haven for those who are different.