Sexy Beast – 2000

Ben Kingsley  is an actor I have utmost respect for. He can play a myriad of roles and always manages to transform himself in a brilliant performance. Unfortunately for me, even though he was acting brilliantly, my eyes kept prompting me to ask, “Why is Gandhi in this movie?” Kingsley’s performance as Gandhi defined him for me for many roles to come. It wasn’t until his role as Don Logan in 2000, that I was finally able to break the stranglehold Gandhi had on my definition of Kingsley and it was my ears this time that broke the paradigm as I was then prompted to ask, “Why is Gandhi uttering the F-word every other word?”

Beyond a swearing Gandhi, Sexy Beast has a great story and incredible style. The imagery is amazing. I swear I can feel the sun on me as the main character, Gary “Gal” Dove is laying out burning in the Spanish sun at his villa by the pool. What interrupts his baking in the sun is visually stunning in a great opening scene. Gal is a retired gangster who Logan comes to harass out of retirement.

I really like this little known jewel of a movie and find that as long as people can get by the aural assault, it is a movie that most people really enjoy.

Enjoy

Bill

Secretary – 2002

In an opening scene that pretty much guarantees you won’t be sitting down and watching this movie with the inlaws, Secretary sets the stage for a sensual cinematic joy ride. Lee Halloway, played brilliantly by Maggie Gyllenhaal, is scantily clad in sexy lingerie her hands shackled to a bar that runs behind her neck, performing a normally routine admin task of stapling a document together, but due to her rather abnormal predicament she is using her nose to operate the stapler. And thus, the journey begins or more appropriately ends as the movie then takes you back in time to catch you up on how Lee ended up in this rather unique secretarial position.

Lee is a recently discharged mental patient that finds a job working for Mr. Grey played by James Spader. It was a role that the creepy  Spader was born to play. I put this role right up there with his role as Lee Woods in Two Days in the Valley, where he..ahem..entertains another hottie, Charlize Theron. Mr. Grey and Lee struggle at first to figure out how to work together, but then Mr. Grey figures out that Ms. Halloway likes to be corrected when she makes mistakes. I mean LIKES to be corrected. From there it is a funny, sexual, creepy look at a very strange working relationship.

Enjoy

Bill

Tears of the Black Tiger (Fah talai jone)

Tears of the Black Tiger (Fah talai jone) 2000, director Wisit Sasanatieng

 

 

This is presented as a western, and it IS sort of a western, although it’s made in Thailand so you can imagine that they’ve put their own spin on it, whether it be from creativity or from just plain ignorance of what a western is supposed to be like.   

 

Now, by saying this is a western, I’ve probably put a lot of people off, because nobody much watches westerns anymore, but this is different, to say the least.    First off, it seems to take place in modern times, the cowboy outfits are rather like those that a child would wear, at least 40 or 50 years ago, and there’s also a mix of genres, including a sort of  juvenile delinquent spin that was popular in the 50’s.  Plus, it’s got incredible deep saturated colors that  are incredible to see, it’s like watching a painting instead of a movie.    And as for the western bits, well, there’s even a good old-fashioned shoot-out, that would make fans of old cowboys movies feel faint….kind of a splatter western, but in an over-the-top style kind of like “Evil Dead”….more is better.

 

This is also a romance, for our hero, Dum (yes, really) is smitten with a young lady that he’s been in love with since they were kids, and he’s sworn to win her heart, even though her father has promised her to another.

 

The sets are quite surreal, to say the least, and the scenery is incredibly beautiful, for the most part, and then we shift to some incredibly violent gun-play and you’re left gaping at the screen.   There’s even a scene where Dum and a friend of his become blood brothers in front of a statue of Buddha…and then get rip-roaring drunk.   Not your typical western, indeed.

 

There are even some bits where we “go back in time” to when our characters were younger, which play out as though they were an “old time” film, complete with jumpy film and missing soundtrack bits, and oh yes, the soundtrack…well, it’s kind of  old-time Western music, with a definite “Eastern” spin.

 

This is a wonder to behold, and it may not be for everyone, but  I loved it.   It seems incredibly bizarre to take a genre that is so very  American and transplant it to Thailand, and the results are everything you might expect…or might NOT expect.   Truly strange & worth seeing. 

 

Sam

Lola rennt – 1998

Lola rennt (Run Lola Run) is yet another movie that dicks with your mind regarding time and what version of reality is the real one. Instead of intertwining different realities, Lola rennt uses the approach of taking you completely through one scenario, then starts you over with one changed variable and then you see where that reality goes and the movie concludes with the 3rd version of reality.

Franka Potente, who made her splash in American cinema as Matt Damon’s co-star in the Bourne Identity, stars as the punked out, on the edge Lola who is running against time to try and help stop her boyfriend Mani from robbing a supermarket and ruining his life.

The movie is non stop action, fast paced and the director, Tom Tykwer keeps you right in the middle of the action. Tykwer also does some imaginative animation sequences as well. Don’t rent this movie if you are looking for a movie to sit down and relax with your sweetie. This one takes you on a wild ride!

Bill

Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari Joins Feeeeelm Collection

Just watched another IMDB top 250 of all time gem, Cabinet des Dr. Caligari., Das. A German silent film released in 1920 starring Werner Krauss, the movie takes you on a Tim Burton-esque journey into mental illness. If you remember the scene from Beetlejuice when Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin were walking through hell, you have a glimpse of what all of the sets were like in this movie. Incredibly creepy and way ahead of its time.

This is a movie I will have to buy to have in my library and was an easy addition to my list of films that garner the five e Feeeeelm rating!

Bill

Reservoir Dogs

Only Tarantino could tell a simple “Who is the Rat?” movie with such eloquence. A jewelery heist is foiled when the cops show up at just the right time and when the surviving perps return to their rendezvous point all hell breaks loose as they try and figure out who the rat is.

Like all Tarantino movies, dialogue and violence carry the film. It was as if Tarantino read my thoughts on tipping when he put pen to paper to write the classic scene as all of the criminals settle the bill in a coffee shop. Another trademark for Tarantino movies is a great cast. This one is no exception with Harvey Keitel, Steve Buscemi, Michael Madsen and Tim Roth. Madsen in particular puts in a great effort playing an incredibly sadistic torturer, who captures a cop and does a dance of the macabre to the sound of Stuck in the Middle with You.

Violent, edgy, great soundtrack, great dialogue, the first Tarantino classic.

Enjoy

Bill

Requiem For a Dream

I have liked all of the Aronofsky movies I have seen (Pi and the Fountain), but in my opinion Requiem For a Dream is a Masterpiece! I am not alone in this belief as Requiem currently sits at #62 in the IMDB top 250 movies of all time. It is easily in my top ten and right up there for my favorite movie of all time!

This movie does it all right. A great story that follows the impact of drugs, both legal and illegal on four people. A great cast lead by Ellen Burstyn starring as Sara Goldfarb, who is addicted to diet pills, Jared Leto, who plays her slime ball son Harry, Jennifer Connelly, Harry’s girlfriend and Marlon Wayans, Harry’s drug dealing friend.

What really sets this movie apart for me though is Aronofsky’s incredible ability to set a tone with his cinematography. You aren’t watching this movie from afar, you are drawn in to the sordid lives of all four lost souls. His stylized use of special effects to help you feel what Sara is going through as she hallucinates that her refrigerator is coming to life is mind blowing. Another one of my favorite parts of the movie is a high speed (pun intended) image explosion thrust in your face as Aronofsky moves between scenes.

I instantly ran out and bought this movie after watching it the first time and really enjoy it every time I take it in. Be warned though, this movie is very difficult to watch, especially the scene when Connelly sells her body (and her soul) for her next fix.

Enjoy

Bill

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

This great cross-dressing movie from Australia is best summed up by Bernadette’s sarcastic comment, “A cock, in a frock on a rock.”

The first thing this movie has going for it is a great cast led by Hugo Weaving, who plays Mitzi Del Bra, Guy Pearce who plays Felicia Jollygoodfellow and Terrence Stamp who plays the above mentioned Bernadette Bassenger. The second thing is a great soundtrack highlighted by a phenomenal performance to CeCe Peniston’s, Finally.

The movie centers around this trio of Drag Queens who take their show away from the liberal Sydney and into the more conservative outback in the middle of Australia, Alice Springs to help out Mitzi’s ex (who happens to be a woman). It is a road trip movie with a bunch of hilarious scenes as the three navigate the Australian back country. Beyond the humor and music, this movie also has heart.

Every time I hear an Abba song I can’t help but think of Felicia’s little prized possession she keeps in a locket around her neck!

Enjoy

Bill

Me and You and Everyone We Know

Miranda July wrote, directed and stars in this offbeat study of real life challenges. Christine (played by July) is a part time “ElderCab” driver as well as an artist. Richard (played by John Hawkes) is a recently single father of two boys and shoe salesman who doesn’t quite know how to deal with the eccentric Christine.

The disturbing and thought provoking part of the movie centers around Richard’s two boys, 7 year old Robby and 14 year old Peter. Robby is having an internet romance with a stranger which prompts a sexual fantasy that only an 7 year old could come up with, “Pooping Back and Forth, Forever!” which has its own ascii symbol ))<>((. Peter lives out just about every teenage boy’s fantasy as he becomes the “impartial judge” on the skills of classmates, Heather and Rebecca.

I really enjoyed this movie and ))<>(( became a widely used symbol around the office for quite some time.

Enjoy

Bill

The Machinist

Director Brad Anderson takes you inside the mind of a delusional Trevor Reznik, played brilliantly by Christian Bale. Just like Christopher Nolan did in Memento, Anderson plays with you because you are experiencing the movie from the delusional mind’s perspective. Instead of observing from a rational perspective, you have to figure out what is real or not, just like Reznik.

Reznik hasn’t slept in over a year and he is becoming less and less in touch with the real world. In addition to messing with his mental health, he is becoming a waif looking like a holocaust survivor. Reportedly Bale lost an incredible 63 pounds to get that incredibly creepy look. What made him look even creepier is I had just saw him in his buff body as Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins and it was hard to tell that it was the same guy.

This movie is a roller coaster ride with a dark mean streak. Certainly not a feel good movie in the least.

Enjoy

Bill