Author: Village Vidiot

  “Life As a House,” December 15 2001, theater.    We both liked this incredibly sentimental, melodramatic weepie about a divorced architect, George (Kevin Kline), who loses his job and finds out he’s dying from cancer. The movie follows his efforts to reconcile with his rebellious and outrageously self-destructive 16-year old son Sam (Hayden Christensen)…

“Pollock,” August 15 2001 (2000), video, home. Wonderfully acted look at Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner starring Ed Harris. He seems to have the painter’s surly, non-verbal pain and alcoholism down perfectly. He also has clearly studied Pollack’s unique and exciting painting style. This is a depressing film. Marcia Gay Harden’s Krasner seems nicer than…

“The Perfect Storm,” July 17, 2001, video.  Well-made. and well-acted blockbuster with good acting from George Clooney and a fine supporting cast about the fishermen lost during the huge storm of 1991. Scary stuff, good on the work of fishing. Would play better on the big screen

Yucky, confused comedy about religion with a fine cast, all of whom spout scads of platitudes about the Catholic Church, God, religion, and lots of other stuff. By the guy who did “Clerks” and “Chasing Amy”. The first had the wild craziness of the slacker, the second was cool and weird but then became sentimental….

  “All About Eve,” May 2000 (1950), video.  What with all the references from “All About My Mother,” we had to see this wonderful, quick-witted, well-acted Mankiewicz tour de force about a young woman, Eve Harrington, scheming and manipulating people to get to the top. Bette Davis is astounding as the aging (40s) star of…

“Jerry Maguire,” 24 February 2000 (1996),  video.  Unsatisfying Tom Cruise piece with fine work by Cuba Gooding. The film looks at a sports agent who comes to hate himself for the bullshit of his work. Disgusted, he dashes off a manifesto about the job and, shock of shocks, is fired. One admiring accountant (Renee Zelwenger—boy…

  “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me,” 19 February 2000, video.  Well, I got shagged again watching this flat, lame James Bond spoof from Mike Myers.  Another flaccid comedy.  A couple of cute parts about Dr. Evil and his son, and the flying phallic space ship, but it was largely a waste of time. …

   “The Buena Vista Social Club,” September 1999, theater.  Wim Wender documentary about Ry Cooder’s rediscovery of Cuba’s “son” musicians. He reunites them, brings them out, and reopens all their careers. The music is great, the film leaves some important gaps unalalyzed: why did they fall from favor and disappear in the 1970s? Politics? Aesthetics?…

  “Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels,”  September 10, 1999 (1998),video.   Ok UK crime comedy, not the madcap romp it was touted as, but interesting for me. Bronwen was bored and fell asleep. Several guys get deep into debt when their rep is cheated at cards by the city thug. They plot a robbery to…

“This Is Spinal Tap,” July 15,  1999 (1984), video. Wow. This stands up sooooooooo well after all these years. A wonderful, goofy look at the fictional band. Great work by all, including Christopher Guest. A real secret pleasure. Even funnier when, while channel surfing, I stumbled across Howard Stern interviewing Iron Maiden with their one-armed…

‘The Thief,” 4 June 1999 (1997), dvd.  Well done, very painful Russian drama about a young woman who becomes involved with a thief. She and her son become pawns in his selfish game traveling the country and robbing. He uses them as a setup to ingratiate himself with others, worm his way into their confidence,…

“Henry Fool,” 27 February 1999 (1997), video.  Interesting, oddly humorous (often grossly so) and peculiar story of a young garbage-man transformed from tongue-tied sanitary engineer to Noble-laureate poet by a bizarre stranger who gets him to write. Well-acted piece by Hal Hartley. Owes more than a bow in style at first to “Eraserhead” but becomes…

“Love and Death on Long Island,” 26 February 1999 (1997), video.  Sly, witty and in the end, serious story of unrequited love. A reclusive and isolated British author and widower, Giles De’ath (hence the title) played by John Hurt, inadvertently goes into the wrong cinema and sees a young American actor (Jason Prilestly) in a…

“The Sweet Hereafter,” 2 October 1998 (1997), video. Wonderful, painful, fascinating film by Atom Egoyan, starring Ian Holm and an excellent ensemble cast. A tragic bus accident kills many of the children of a small town, and a big city lawyer goes to the town to bring the victims parents into a lucrative class action…

“Ulee’s Gold,” 18 July 1998 (1997), video.   Interesting, stately piece for Peter Fonda to shine in. About a Vietnam-vet bee-keeper, his dysfunctional family, crime, and love. A nicely written, slow but well acted film. Both B+ and I enjoyed it.

“Prisoner of the Mountains,” 20 December 1997 (1996), video. Wonderful, powerful, Russian film about two soldiers captured by Caucasian peasants. One villager hopes to trade the Russians for his son, a prisoner of the Russians. Are they Chechen?. Who knows for sure. Still, this is a superb, loving, and very brave Russian film that should…

  “The Whole Wide World,” drama, 13 December 1997 (1996), video. Well done, interesting, very under-rated and very touching dramatic presentation of the “true” story of Robert Thompson, the troubled young man who wrote Conan the Barbarian and Red Sonya novels in the 1930s. A love story, it chronicles the relationship he had with a…

    “Men in Black,” comedy, November 17, 1997, video.  What a shock, I really liked this tongue-in-cheek action-comedy about aliens on earth. Lots of good laughs, really funny, Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith are both quite fine, Tony Shaloub does a wonderful small bit, Vincent D’Norfrio is fun. The aliens are here among…

“L.A. Confidential,” 14 December 1997, theater. Good but very violent cop drama in neo-noir style about the unseen corruption in the city of the angels. Well acted with very nice work by Kevin Spacey and a cast of lesser known and very talented character actors. Good work by Kim Bassinger. The plot follows on a…

   “The People vs. Larry Flint,” biography, August 10, 1997 (1996), video.   Funny but problematic piece about Flint, the Hustler publisher. Woody Harrelson is good and Courtney Love as his wife Althea is even better. I just found I couldn’t believe the lawyer, the shift to Flint as true believer in the First Amendment, and…

“Ridicule,” drama, July 15, 1997, video, home. Wonderful French film about life in Louis the XVI’s court over issue of wit and verbal sparring as key to success. Sense of emptiness of the verbal as sport as young doctor goes to court to try to save his town from disease caused by the mosquitoes in…

  “Big Night,” December 15, 1996, in theater.  We loved this excellent film about food, Italian-American immigration, culture, love, capitalism, the American dream, language, and lots more. It’s stellar. Very well acted by folks like Stanley Tucci (he wrote, directed, and stars), Tony Shaloub (you’ll never believe he can’t really speak Italian), Minnie Driver (my…

  “A Time to Kill,” theater, August 17, 1996.    Well acted but predictable piece about race, law, justice and the possibilities in the south. Olive Platt is very good in a bit role. Sandra Bullock is boring. About a black father who kills the two white men who rape and beat his daughter. Trial…

“Braveheart,” March 15, 1996 (1995), VHS.   Predictable, unrealistic, ultra-violent yet satisfying old-style film by Mel Gibson about the Scots’ search for independence and freedom (whatever the hell that meant in the fourteenth century.)  Gibson stars.

“Country Life,” December 15, 1995 (1994), VHS, home.  Australian version of “Uncle Vanya,” with a nice job by Sam Neill, but essentially flat and not very interesting or exciting. Maybe I’ve just seen too many Vanya’s. (4) in one year.