Author: Village Vidiot

  “Trainspotting,” August 17, 1996, seen in theaters.    This is an excellent, funny, cynical look at drug use and abuse in Scotland. It is a great treatment of class. Scary about the drugs, crime, and the emptiness of modern life as a consumer. A really fine film. Very rough. See this one.  Very much…

  “Leaving Las Vegas,” July 17, 1996 (1995), video.  Very depressing good film about an alcoholic drinking himself to death in Las Vegas. Nicholas Cage with Elizabeth Shue as the hooker who takes him in on his own terms. I sometimes find Cage doing lines as though they are poetry, and that’s a bit much….

“Richard III,” July 17, 1996 (1995), video.  Modern/1930s version of Shakespeare’s greatest history starring Ian McKellam as Richard. Set in a fascist England in the 1930s. Very stylish and scary, but the supporting work by the American actors is not up to the Brit’s work.

“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.

“Everyone Says I Love You,” 24 January 1998 (1996), video.  Sometimes funny Woody Allen musical about the lives and loves of the rich, white, liberal New Yorkers he hangs out with. A couple of wonderful musical comedy numbers about love done to old standards, but a real piece of fluff all around. As usual, nice…

“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.

“Frankie Starlight,” September 25, 1995, VHS.  A nice, sentimental, small film with Gabriel Byrne about an Irish dwarf, the stars, and sexuality. Ok, but don’t expect great acting from the dwarf.

“Devil in a Blue Dress,” September 20, 1995, VHS. OK, but predictable black detective story from Walter Mosley tales. Very atmospheric about LA and race in 1946, and Denzel Washington is very good, but the film is too stylized and pat for its own good.

“Theremin,” September 17, 1995 (1993), VHS.  Interesting and strangely ahistorical look at the inventor of the theremin, the first electronic instrument. Interviews with Moog and Brian Wilson, sci-fi folks (the eerie sounding instrument in most sci-fi), people who play the thing. Very odd about Russian/Soviet spying and kidnapping, yet gigantic gaps exist in the film…

“The Brothers McMullen,” September 15, 1995, VHS.  Good, small film from Edward Burns (who also costars)  about three Irish-American brothers on LI today. Nice look at family life. Not great but well worth seeing.

“Beyond Rangoon,” September 10, 1995, VHS. Burma and the struggle against dictatorship. Ahn Sang Soo Chi’s work is featured. Well meaning, but Suzanne Arquette walks through her part like a stoned zombie. Her acting is not impressive, although the story (based on fact) is. It grips you despite her bad acting and the sometimes clunky…

“Dim Sum,”  September 5, 1995 (1985), VHS.  Older Chinese-American film from Wayne Wang about family and assimilation. Good, if a bit slow. The acting is not the best, but the plot and cultural views are the things to watch.

“Unstrung Heroes,” August 30, 1995, VHS.  A very good, funny, sad movie about a very strange family. Based on the book of the same name, it chronicles one real Jewish family in LA through the mother’s cancer, the uncles’ mental problems, the post-McCarthy period of anticommunism, and crazy science. Lots of fun and very good…

“Crumb,” August 25, 1995 (1994), VHS, Brilliant, scary look at the artist R Crumb and his wacko family and background. It looks at our culture in the 1960s and 70s through him. A fascinating movie that should be seen.

“Babe,” August 25, 1995, VHS. A sweet children’s film about a most wonderful pig on a farm. Charlottes’ Web in a new voice. Why it was nominated for an Oscar I’ll never know, but it’s a nice little film.

“Spanking the Monkey,” August 20, 1995 (1994), VHS.   A very dark, supposed comedy from David Russell, this film looks at incest, identity, and dysfunctional families. Yikes, it’s a weird movie. I did not find it funny at all. Interesting in a creepy and, to me, troubling way. I don’t understand how this kind of film…

“Calendar,” August 15, 1995 (1993), VHS.  A superb movie from Atom Etgoyan, the brilliant Armenian-Canadian filmmaker. This is a relatively short film about love, national and personal identity, assimilation, language, history, time, religion, obsession, and sex. It is a must see to find out how a skilled director can use the personal to get at…

“Chariots of Fire,” September 17 2006 (1981), DVD.  Very fine, inspirational film we watched with B4 although she seemed bored by the whole thing. Wonderfully acted and inspiring story of the British athletes of the 1920 Olympics, and especially the evangelist and the Jewish sprinter.   Remarkable Vangelis soundtrack.  Worth seeing regularly.