Closing The Last Of Our Durham Stores @ University Commons
Category: Life

Sadly after 13 years of business at our store on MLK Blvd (University Commons) we will be closing the doors for good. Quite frankly it’s just a matter of both technology changing and the rise of both on line rental services,Red Box rentals and the big box chains. Our lease is up at the end of May and though we looked for another Durham location, we just couldn’t find one to match our needs. It’s a sad day for all of us here at Visart. We appreciate your support thru the years. We certainly plan on keeping our remaining stores open in the Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Charlotte area. We hope that you will continue to support us at those three locations!

We will be putting our entire inventory on sale this coming Monday April 7th at 10am. All DVDs will be $5.95 and all TV box sets $14.95. We’re only taking cash or credit..NO CHECKS, sorry. There are some GREAT titles that will be available. Our last day for rentals will be this Sunday (April 6th) and our last day of business will be May 18th.

Thanks for all your support. Please don’t forget to SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESSES!!!!

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10 Films Not To Miss Vol.1
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

10 Films You Should Come And Rent......

1. Blow-Up (1966, Michelangelo Antonioni) - Timothy Leary was giving acid tests, accepted truths were being questioned, and Antonioni posited this story, such as it is: A jaded photographer (David Hemmings) in swinging London believes he has filmed a murder and becomes intent on proving it. Then the evidence slips away, and he and the viewer are left with the eternal question: What is reality? Indeed.


2.The Conversation (1974, Francis Ford Coppola)- This disturbing metaphor for the Watergate era examines the notion of privacy from an unusual vantage point:that of a professional wiretapper (Gene Hackman) who insists on knowing nothing about his subjects and who guards his own privacy with an irrational zeal. Post-Godfather , Coppola used this much smaller canvas to explore some creepily intimate terrain.


3. Don’t Look Back (1967, D.A. Pennebaker)-Pennebaker, in this acerbic documentary, gets the camera so far up Bob Dylan’s nose that you’d swear you could see his brain pulsate. It turned out that the oft-arrogant Dylan-just as he’d always said-was all too human. Thus was born a new generation of rock docs, in which the real action is backstage.


4. 400 Blows (1959, Truffaut)- Twelve-year-old Antoine Doinel is a somber boy who’s always running away-but what he’s running from he never truly knows. More than a sentimental coming-of-age story, Truffaut’s debut feature is a harsh, often sad tale that, along with Breathless, marked the arrival of the French New Wave and its fresh, streetwise style.


5.Kiss Me Deadly(1955, Robert Aldrich)- Thick-headed detective Mike Hammer (Ralph Meeker), accustomed to peeping in bedroom windows, here stumbles into a front-row seat at the apocalypse. This delirious noir is unrepentantly sleazy and nihilistic. Aldrich achieves his tone with a cool detachment that latter-day acolytes visibly strain to mimic. Number of likable characters:one. And he gets killed off early!


6. Nashville- (1975, Altman)- Perfecting the techniques he pioneered in M*A*S*H (overlapping dialogue; improvisational ensemble acting) and introducing a few new ones (actors singing their own, live-sync songs), Altman serves up a 159 minute pageant of sex, violence, music , religion,fame and politics. There’s never been anything quite like it: an epic of ironic Americana.


7. Rashomon (Kurosawa, 1950)- When a Japanese warrior is killed, the police interrogate witnesses, only to find in each retelling of the event that there is no true version. The first major postwar Japanese film to be released stateside, Rashomon emerged as the definitive cinematic treatment of point of view.


8. Stranger Than Paradise (1984, Jim Jarmusch)- Indie elder statesman Jarmusch confounded and delighted audiences with this simple-on-the-surface gem. Shot in black and white, Stranger consists of a series of static long shots, in which characters carry on their sparse dialogue. it’s a triumph of style over substance, much imitated but rarely duplicated.


9. Sullivan’s Travels ( 1941, Preston Sturges) - Sturges slaps Hollywood silly. His sly, Mobius strip of a comedy offers this message: Message movies are self-righteous pap. A rich, knee-jerk Hollywood director (Joel McCrea) goes undercover as a hobo to research Depression woes and winds up in prison, howling at a Mickey Mouse cartoon.


10. The Thin Blue Line (1988, Errol Morris)- An eerily confident loser on death row named Randall Adams proclaims his innocence in the murder of a Dallas cop- and convinces. (Adams was later retired and freed.) In this documentary mix of reenactments and interviews with shady Texans, Morris comes closer than any current filmmaker to capturing the essence of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler.

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Hils Rd Inventory On Sale Monday 12/3 @ 10am!!
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

All DVD's will be $5.95 and tv series $14.95! We will only be taking cash or credit cards....sorry no checks. This is a great time to score some good xmas gifts or treat yourself!!

We will be selling both DVDs and VHS the entire month of December at this location. We have a warehouse full of VHS, so we'll be bringing in new titles every week!! All VHS titles are $2.

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10 Musical Dramas Not To Miss.......
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

With Dreamgirls being all the rage this week, how about these 10 musical dramas worth a view!

Lady Sings The Blues- This is an obvious choice for the Diana Ross tie in alone! Here we have Miss Ross (in a film produced by good ole Barry Gordy) doing her take on Billie Holiday. It actually is a stellar performance from Miss Ross, who nails the drug addicted Lady Day. The suppoirting cast includes a young Richard Pryor and Billy Dee Williams. Rated R.


The Rose- Since we're on the topic of protrayals of drug addicted performers how about Bette Midler's take on Janis Joplin. Bette Midler outdoes herself as an out-of-control, incredibly talented, self-destructive singer who turns to the bottle, sex, and anything else she can to hide from her intense inner pain. It sounds like a cliche, and by now it is, but that was Janis--and Bette does her one better. Her angst shines through with great poignancy, even when she is belting out hit after hit, responding to her audience as though she is making love.Hard living, hard boozing, and bent on destroying herself, the singer has us riveted to her story. Her tearful phone call to the father who never approved of her is one of the high points of the film: Bette pulls out the stops.
Alan Bates is divine as always as the singer's manager, but this film belongs to Bette. If you are not aware of Midler's incredibly wide-ranged talent, this is the perfect movie. It can make you a lifelong fan. Rated R.


Sparkle-Before Dreamgirls hit cineplexes in 2006, there was Sparkle. Released in 1976, the low-budget movie (which is also loosely based on the story of Diana Ross and the Supremes) achieved somewhat of a cult following among fans that enjoy a good cry along with their kitsch. Sparkle tells the rags-to-riches (and rags again, for some of the characters) tale of three sisters with gorgeous voices. There's Sister (Lonette McKee), Sparkle (Irene Cara, Fame), and Delores (Dwan Smith), who team up with a couple of players (including a very young Philip Michael Thomas, pre-Miami Vice) to form a singing group. Because the men add little oomph to the outfit, the quintet becomes an all-girl trio and is renamed the redundant (and hysterical) Sister and the Sisters. But because this movie is called Sparkle and not Sister, we know that Irene Cara's character is the one to watch. Cara is a joy to listen to when she unleashes her powerful pipes. And as the much put-upon Sister, McKee is convincing and earns the viewer's sympathy. Set in the 1950's, the movie tackles racism, sexism, jealousy, and both chemical and physical abuse. While it is overly dramatic and liberally serves up sloppy doses of soap opera clichés, the film also is highly watchable because of its over-the-top campiness. Rated PG.



Quadrophenia- When "Quadrophenia" first came out in 1979, I think most people were expecting a "Tommy"-like rock opera, with music by The Who blasting from the speakers and Roger Daltry playing pinball adorned in a mask. Much to most people's surprise, "Quadrophenia" is a story about teen angst in England, with background music by The Who. The story is the key, and "Quadrophenia" details the historic Mod/Rocker riots of the 1960s. The riots were fueled by teen rebellion, rock music and a youthful generation seeking its identity.
The beauty of "Quadrophenia" is the film's themes of youths trying to find their place in the world is timeless and internationally identifiable. You don't have to be a British lad to love this story. Several scenes are so emotionally harrowing as to be disturbing. The protagonist Jimmy Michael Cooper (brilliantly played by Phil Daniels) begins to self destruct as the movie progresses. He loses his home, his job, his girlfriend and eventually his identity in a haze of drugs and misguided motivation. The scene where he begs his ex-girlfriend to explain herself, to which she answers "It was just a giggle" will bring a tear to most eyes. It is the saddest form of rejection and as emotionally truthful a scene one is most likely to see.
I think many teenagers eventually go through a process similar to what is seen in "Quadrophenia." One's identity when growing up is always related to the music, the parties, the mode of dress and the friends one chooses. The world is seemingly yours. As the Mods begin their march in Brighton, chanting, screaming, arms wrapped around one another, they are a force. They can change the world. So when the world rudely interrupts the dream, as the police break up the riots, as people move on to the next day, one uncomfortably realizes it really was all just a "giggle."
This is the sad quandry Jimmy Michael Cooper must confront. When watching "Quadrophenia," specifically the final scene where he rides the stolen scooter along the cliffs of Brighton, you're never sure what choice Cooper is going to make.
The Mods most certainly fueled the eventual punk movement, and I think many people who love this film came from that 1980s generation. The clothes and the hairstyles (including Sting, in an early role as the coolest Mod) are identifiable to the punk generation. What Jimmy Michael Cooper eventually confronts is similar to the conflicts of the punk generation (or any teen generation for that matter). Sadly, the movement must be left behind and we must ask ourselves what the meaning of it all was. To reach maturity, many of us must travel the same path of Jimmy Michael Cooper - and he's faced with some difficult choices.
The Who produced this film, and they must be applauded (as should director Franc Roddam) for creating a classic work about teen rebellion. The music of The Who, including "The Real Me," "Love Reign O'er Me," "Bell Boy," and "I Am the Sea" has been expertly used throughout. "Quadrophenia" is a great film not just because it details British teen angst, but timeless, international teen angst. Rated R.

Five Heartbeats-Few things can be more noble than a wholehearted effort to tell the story of black secular music in America, especially through the eyes of a mid-20th century rhythm-and-blues vocal group breaking through race barriers to popular success. Comedian and filmmaker Robert Townsend's The Five Heartbeats (1991) is one such ambitious effort. If its story frequently sags under epochal burdens, the film makes up for it with a surprisingly tough look at the music business and classy appearances by Diahann Carroll and hoofer Harold Nicholas. Townsend plays one-fifth of the titular act, whose collective life and times we follow from 1965 to the 1990s, through friendships, break-ups, and re-groupings. The director's script, cowritten with Keenen Ivory Wayans, is wobbly and short on good material for the women in the cast. But several of the male actors are quite strong, particularly John Canada Terrell as an original Heartbeats replacement. Rated R.

Buddy Holly Story- Rock historians and hard-core Buddy Holly fans can and do take issue with director Steve Rash's 1978 biopic of the Lubbock, Texas, rocker's life: the script liberally juggles details from Holly's brief but blazing career, replacing producer Norman Petty and Holly's original bassist and drummer with fictionalized composite characters. Yet the core of the film, and the reason it's definitely worth a look and listen, is Gary Busey's lusty performance in the title role, triumphing against what might have seemed miscasting.
The burly, lantern-jawed Busey steps into the lankier, narrow-faced Holly's blue suede shoes and dances off with the movie. At a time when live rock albums thought little of overdubbing mistakes in the studio, director Rash honored Busey's nervy gamble in performing these songs live, singing in his own raw voice and rumbling through his own approximations of Holly's guitar work. What's lost in precise verisimilitude is more than compensated by Busey's conviction and a palpable, almost ecstatic terror as he charges through Holly's wonderful songs before indifferent roller-rink audiences.
Other films have nailed the period more accurately through art direction or script, but Busey's authentic energy gives this movie an emotional veracity that's just right for this chapter in rock history. Still, for musical purposes, go straight to the source, Holly's wonderful recordings. Rated PG.

Purple Rain- When Prince's dazzling and dynamic Purple Rain (movie and soundtrack album) and the hypnotic hit single "When Doves Cry" exploded onto the pop-culture scene in 1984, it seemed there was nothing the purple one couldn't do. The film is basically a feature-length music video, but no musician has ever had a better big-screen showcase for his many talents. The plot is really just a theme (about the son of an abusive father struggling not to continue the pattern) upon which to hang some of Prince's most dazzling songs (including "Let's Go Crazy" and the title tune), and some sizzling live-concert numbers. Apollonia Kotero is ravishing as the romantic interest, and Morris Day and the Time provide some terrific musical competition. Purple Rain is an essential artifact of the mid-'80s pop Zeitgeist. Prince took home an Oscar for the song score. Rated R.

Sweet Dreams- She wasn't a beauty queen, but country-music star Patsy Cline's voice was a thing of wonder: full-bodied, aching and dreamy at the same time. She came by the torchy emotions in her songs honestly, as shown in this biopic directed by Karel Reisz, rising from poor surroundings, literally forcing her talent on the Nashville establishment, all the while trying to survive an abusive marriage to a drinker. Though the script by Robert Getchell is standard Hollywood biography, the movie is more than watchable, thanks to a bone-deep performance by the always astonishing Jessica Lange and the counterpoint by Ed Harris as her loving but unreliable husband. The soundtrack features a basketful of Cline's hits, which Lange convincingly lip-synchs. Rated PG-13.

Funny Girl- Ah, Barbra. Of all her onscreen personas, she sparkles in none as she does in her role as 1930s comedian Fanny Brice in the musical Funny Girl. Portraying the life of this star of stage and radio, Brice preens and prances and sings, captivating her audience both onscreen and off. Fanny Brice started life on the Lower East Side of New York, the daughter of a Jewish saloon owner. Not the prettiest girl around, Brice still managed to quickly rise to stardom as a performer in the Ziegfield Follies. A shrewd, obstinate woman, Brice dictated her own success story on stage; things were a different matter in romance. Falling hard for the stunning Nick Arnstein (suavely played by Omar Sharif), Brice must navigate a difficult marriage. While kids may love the tunes (which include the now-infamous "People," as in "People who need people are the luckiest people in the world"), the plot is definitely adult-oriented. Enjoy this one, but don't go too far out of your way for the sequel, Funny Lady. Rated G.

And last but not least we have to throw a cheesy musical drama in here! How about we go with .....

The Jazz Singer- No not Al..... but Neil Diamond! This remake from the 1980's has quite an unusual cast...Diamond, Lucie Arnaz and none other but everyones fave Jewish Rabbi Sir Laurence Olivier. Diamond stars as a young Jewish cantor who strives to make a career in music. Against the wishes of his rigid father and his loving wife, Yussel travels to California to play his music. Swept up by the excitement, he meets a woman who shares his dream. He grows apart from his family, and becomes confused about what he should ultimately do with his life. The studio tagline from this film was "His story will make you cry. His music will make you sing. His triumph will make you cheer." Yet for all the wrong reasons......... Rated PG.

Reviews courtesy of Amazon.

Currently watching : Quadrophenia (Special Edition) Release date: 25 September, 2001

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More Movies Worth Viewing ...4/11/07
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Time to escape to the world of movies and away from tax time, Imus and Birkhead. Here are some older films that you may have missed in your travels to the video store......

Apartment Zero- One of my fave suspense films from the 80's directed by Hal Hartley alum Martin Donovan. Set in modern day Buenos Aires, the film centers around a relationship between two emotionally crippled roommates. Adrian LeDuc(Colin Firth) is a lonely sociopath who is forced to rent his insane mothers room due to poor ticket sales at his revival movie theater. Jack Carney (Hart Bochner), the new roommate, appears normal enough at first but it soon becomes apparent that he is hiding something. As their friendship develops, Adrian suppresses his suspicions that Jack may be the government mercenary turned serial killer who has been terrorizing the city. The other eccentric residents of the building begin to worry as Adrian shows increasing signs that his mothers insanity may be hereditary. The shocking climax of this twisted tale of deceit, perversion and murder reveals the darker side of the human psyche. Rated R.

Big Night-Critics tripped all over their big feet to praise Big Night, and in doing so performed a grave disservice to this fine little film. They fooled audiences into believing it was a "super movie" instead of a home movie buoyed by friends and family. Consequently, many viewers were disappointed. Big Night is an intimate look at the immigrant struggle to attain the American Dream, set in New Jersey in the 1950s. Its disproportionate success gave co-directors Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott, who also star in the picture, the green light to follow up with a smug, unsuccessful second venture called The Imposters. Tucci wrote Big Night with his cousin Joseph Tropiano, and they based the story on the experience of growing up in a large, proud Italian family. The brothers in Big Night--chef Primo (Tony Shalhoub) and businessman Secondo (Tucci)--have come to New Jersey to open a bistro named The Paradise that serves the finest in traditional, authentic Italian cuisine. Their every move is foiled by rival restaurant Pascal's, which serves mile-high servings of spaghetti and meatballs and flasks of bad Chianti at exorbitant prices. Primo is disgusted by the fact that Americans want cheap pasta instead of risotto, so Secondo hatches a plan to boost business: rumor has it bandleader Louis Prima is travelling through and will dine at The Paradise that very night. Secondo gambles to bring the finest dinner ever cooked--at the risk of losing his shirt and being reduced to exile to the old country with his tail between his legs. Big Night is a film that will easily invite comparisons to other "food" fare like Babette's Feast and Eat Drink Man Woman but, though Tucci insists his story is "about the struggle between art and commerce and the risk of staying true to yourself," the media refused to let it stay a small, comparative work. The movie, and the buzz around it, became a parable for the essence of the film itself: art vs. commerce.

Bright Leaves- With The Full Frame Documentary Film Fest coming to town this week, how could we leave director Ross McElwee off this list (plus Charleene from his wonderful film Shermans March rents at our stores!). The South is in North Carolina native Ross McElwee's blood, and like his best-known film, Sherman's March, Bright Leaves benefits from what he calls "a transfusion of Southernness." This is McElwee's most accessible autobio-doc since the groundbreaking March put him on the map. His films have ruminated wryly and profoundly on matters of love, family, marriage, and parenthood. In Bright Leaves, an obsession with a 1950 melodrama funds him pondering his family's tobacco-stained history and legacy. The set-up is irresistible: A long-lost second cousin introduces McElwee to Bright Leaf, a film starring Gary Cooper as a tobacco farmer embroiled in a bitter rivalry with a tobacco baron, who destroys him. Is the film a dramatized account of his own great-grandfather's "rise and subsequent fall to ruin"? Turns out old John McElwee created the Bull Durham tobacco brand, only to have it stolen from him by the powerful Duke family, who are considered royalty in McElwee's home town. Visiting the Duke mansion, McElwee can't help but ponder, "If things had gone differently, this would have all been mine."

But Bright Leaf is merely a starting point. McElwee wrestles with his "guilt over the global tobacco addition" in which his ancestors played a role. He notes the irony that later descendants all became doctors, and treated those ravaged by smoking. McElwee interviews relatives about his great grandfather, as well as modern-day tobacco farmers, current smokers (one engaged couple cannot make good on their pledges to quit), and cancer patients (fans of McElwee's films will be delighted to be reunited with Charleen, McElwee's former teacher). McElwee is the anti-Michael Moore. He is a kinder, gentler interviewer, and not at all confrontational. He has no agenda. As for Bright Leaf, he does manage to interview actress Patricia Neal, who was in the film, and the widow of the film's screenwriter, who gives McElwee a definitive answer. Along the way, there are several "stranger than fiction incidents," such as a visit to a former McElwee tobacco warehouse that now serves as a beauty school, and an interview with film theorist Vlada Petric, who, instead of being filmed seated in a movie theatre, insists that McElwee shoot him while Petric pushes him around in a wheelchair rigged to facilitate a tracking shot. Not Rated.

Monsoon Wedding- This is another outstanding film by director Mira Nair, who has previously directed such wonderful films as Academy Award nominee "Salaam Bombay", the lush and erotic "Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love", and "Mississippi Masala". This is a director whose very touch turns all her films to gold. She is truly an artist, and her films are palpable with feeling and emotion that move the storyline.

Though a low budget film, it features high budget, quality acting, as well as an absorbing story and world class direction. It focuses on the arranged marriage of a young, upper class, Punjabi woman in Delhi, India, which is a mecca for Punjabis. It offers a birdseye view at a family in transition, one that is ringing in new values, while maintianing the old ones. Moreover, as in all families, there are many joyous moments, as well as troubling ones.

While the focus is on the wedding celebration and all the preparation and rituals surrounding it, there are five subplots in the film, all of which are interesting, but it is the acting by the ensemble cast that makes the film so memorable. Naseeruddin Shah gives an award calibre performance as Lalit Verma, the financially strapped patriarch who wants all to go right with the wedding, but who, at the eleventh hour, is forced to confront a secret tragedy from the past and make a decision that shows his sensitivity and love for his family. His is truly a magnificent performance.

Shefali Shetty, with her large, expressive eyes, is superb as Ria Verma, Lalit's dead brother's daughter, who is forced to reveal a terrible secret from her past in order to prevent a tragedy from taking place in the present. She gives a performance so soulful that the viewer cannot fail to be moved. Aditi, the daughter who is to be married, is a walking paradox, agreeing to an arranged marriage, while simultaneously having an affair with a married man. The role is beautifully played by relative newcomer, Vasundhara Das, who in real life is an Indian pop star. Her prospective bridegroom, Hemant Rai, is played with modern sensiblility, by the very attractive Parvin Dabas, a real life, male fashion model, in his first silver screen role.

Vijay Raaz, in a breakout performance as P. K. Dubey, the wedding events coordinator, adds a deft comedic touch. It is his poignant wooing of the Verma family's maid, Alice, that nearly steals the show. Look for the nightime marigold scene in which Dubey puts Shakespeare's Romeo to shame. Tilotama Shome, in her first silver screen role, brings a subtle, sensual shyness to the part of Alice that is touching. Theirs is an interesting coupling, as P. K. Dubey personifies the new India, with his cell phone, his entreperneurial flair, and his email address, while Alice, the shy servant girl who is always dressed in a sari, seems to symbolize a more traditional India.

The film is a polyglot of languages, with English, Hindi, and Punjabi spoken at different times by various family members. I confess that I found it a little confusing to have the subtitles crop up, on and off, and I also found the English spoken a little difficult to understand, at times. So, thanks to DVD technology, I was able to watch the film with English subtitles on the entire time, so as not to miss a thing. The cinematography is beautiful in this film, with lush, vibrant colors throughout. The occasional use of handheld cameras throughout the film gives it the feel of a docudrama, at times, which is very effective, as the film is a voyeuristic look into a family. Moreover, this filming technique adds to the cacaphony of feeling and emotion that abounds in this film. Rated R.

Under The Sand- François Ozon's Under the Sand revolves around a tender, frightening contrast not easily forgotten: the dead live on only as long as we remember them. Marie (a luminous Charlotte Rampling) and Jean (Bruno Cremer), a middle-aged couple, are on vacation. As they ready the beach house almost wordlessly, a long-standing, intense love is immediately understood. While Marie naps on the shore, Jean goes off for a swim from which he never returns. Six months later, back in her empty Paris apartment, Marie goes about her life as if Jean is still there with her, reading in bed, massaging her feet, sitting at the breakfast table. At dinner parties and lunch dates, her close friends are visibly appalled her behavior. It becomes clear that Marie's place in society is increasingly precarious with a ghost at her side: her husband's bank accounts remain frozen because no body has been identified, her lectures at the university end abruptly in silence, her untimely laughter frightens a new lover. Ozon does not manipulate the viewer with surprise endings or try to charm with gags. Instead, we are intimately drawn into Marie's refusal to let go and her awful panic as Jean begins to fade. Rated R.

Repo Man- Here's one you've probably seen but since Director/Actor Emilio Estevez's Bobby is out on DVD this week, let's go back to 1984 for this cult classic. A volatile, toxic potion of satire and nihilism, road movie and science fiction, violence and comedy, the unclassifiable sensibility of Alex Cox's Repo Man is the model and inspiration for a potent strain of post-punk American comedy that includes not only Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction), but also early Coen brothers (Raising Arizona, in particular), Men in Black, and even (in a weird way) The X-Files. Otto, a baby-face punk played by Emilio Estevez, becomes an apprentice to Bud (Harry Dean Stanton), a coke-snorting, veteran repo-man-of-honor prowling the streets of a Los Angeles wasteland populated by hoods, wackos, burnouts, conspiracy theorists, and aliens of every stripe. It may seem chaotic at first glance, but there's a "latticework of coincidence" (as Tracey Walter puts it) underlying everything. Repo Man is a key American movie of the 1980s--just as Taxi Driver, Nashville, and Chinatown are key American movies of the '70s. With a scorching soundtrack that features Iggy Pop, Fear, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, and Suicidal Tendencies. Rated R.

Apres Vous- A random act of kindness snowballs into vivid proof that "no good deed goes unpunished" in APRES VOUS, the irresistible French comedy that garnered actor Daniel Auteuil (GIRL ON THE BRIDGE, JEAN DE FLORETTE) a Cesar Award nomination for Best Actor. Antoine (Auteuil), a restaurant headwaiter; takes a shortcut through a park one night and spots Louis (Jose Garcia), a despondent, lovelorn stranger, attempting to kill himself. Antoine intervenes-despite Louis's vehement protests-and hustles him home to his apartment. And it isn't long before Antoine has decided to fix all that is wrong in Louis's life. He artfully intercepts a suicide note mailed to Louis's grandparents…riotously attempts to land Louis a job at his posh restaurant…and boldly attempts to mend the rifts between Louis and his former girlfriend, Blanche (Sandrine Kiberlain). But an unexpected twist of fate upsets Antoine's grandiose plans for Louis's "rehabilitation." Here's a surprising, dazzling comedy treat that sparkles like a bottle of fine wine. French w/Subtitles.

Mona Lisa- Upon its 1986 release, "Mona Lisa" was proclaimed a masterpiece of the British crime film drama; it brought the Irish-born Neil Jordan, who'd both written and directed it, to the forefront of working British film directors. Reminded everyone of Nat King Cole's great song. Won its star Bob Hoskins an Academy Award nomination, as well as the Cannes Film Festival and British Academy Awards. It's since been recognized as one of the big three of British noir crime dramas: Michael Caine made "Get Carter," Hoskins made "The Long Good Friday;" together, they made "Mona Lisa."

The movie has frequently been compared to Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver," for many reasons. Hoskins stars as George, typical, low-wattage East End thug, just getting out of jail after doing seven years for crime boss Mortwell (Caine). George thinks he's owed; Caine gives him a job chauffeuring high priced hooker Simone (Cathy Tyson). Hoskins is expert, as ever, in conveying the controlled violence in George's soul; he also conveys as well as possible the character's surprising naivete. Caine is the cool, even-tempered, joking, fierce villain we saw in "Get Carter;" there's a ten-second bit where he allows Mortwell's mask to slip; we see him with bared teeth, closing in for the kill. Tyson, on her way to a television career, does a good job as Simone, with her own problems. The young Sammi Davis, best known for "Hope and Glory,' stands out as an exploited young drug-addicted prostitute. And the economy-sized Scots comic Robbie Coltrane, before his television success as "Cracker," seems wasted in a pointless subplot, as George's best friend.

Still, to me, the most apt comparison to this movie is actually the movie of John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men." We have Coltrane, as Hoskin's friend, often asking him to "Tell me a story, George." That's a direct quote from Lenny (Lon Chaney Jr.)'s frequent request to his George, Burgess Meredith. And we have cockney George buying a rabbit for Mortwell, we're never told why, but Lenny had a pet rabbit in "Of Mice and Men." However, on a first viewing after several years, what was most striking to me about this film was how mannered the script is, how careful to alternate dramatic highs and lows. And how unlikely it is that Hoskins' character could be quite so naive, after an adult life spent the shady side of the law, and a seven-year jail stint.

The seamy London underworld of homelessness, drugs, and kinky sex is well-captured in this movie; the powerful photography gives us the feel of some of the city's meanest inhabitants and streets.

Otherwise, this movie builds upon another of Jordan's signature themes: the love of a man for an inappropriate woman. George is evidently greatly mistaken in believing that a character as damaged as Simone can be talked into a future of love, marriage, and a baby carriage. Rated R.

God Said,Ha!- You may remember Julia Sweeney from her SNL gig as good ole Pat. After she left SNL she did the sidekick comedy roles and then decided to write a woman one play. Thankfully Quentin Tarantino caught it one evening and decided to bring to the big screen. 1995 was, for Julia Sweeney, a truly horrible year. She got a divorce (amicable), bought a small bungalow in Hollywood, and looked forward to a life that said, "Here dwells a happily single young woman!" But then the ax fell. Her younger brother Mike was diagnosed with terminal cancer and moved in with her. Her parents came to be with Mike--and moved in with her. Suddenly her tiny bungalow for one was filled to the rafters with Sweeneys. Here she was sleeping on her pull-out sofa bed while her father walked around, his Walkman on all day and her mother marveled at Julia's lack of such staples as stroganoff mixes. Every day was spent bringing Mike to and from chemotherapy, every evening watching "Chicago Hope" or "E.R." Julia was now on seriously intimate terms with the people she had spent half a lifetime growing up away from. Then Julia was diagnosed with a rare form of cervical cancer--what Mike called her "sympathy cancer"-- she underwent a radical hysterectomy, beginning her own journey through "the International House of Cancer." From these Job-like travails, Julia has written a remarkably funny and touching memoir about a family in extremis that manages to persevere with humor, grace, and love. Rated PG-13.

Rapture- Once upon a time, in the 1980s and early 1990s, American independent movies did not seek to merely ape Hollywood formulas. They were more than just feature-length resumes for shrewd, enterprising filmmakers who had nothing to say, but dreamed of saying it with a big-studio budget. Back then, independent films provided a different kind of movie experience; they challenged and provoked audiences--and none more so than 1991's The Rapture, written and directed by Michael Tolkin, the man who wrote the screenplay for The Player, Robert Altman's scathing anti-Hollywood comedy. Mimi Rogers plays Sharon, a lost soul who gives up her hedonistic life of sex and drugs when she finds God and becomes a fundamentalist Christian fanatic. Her pilgrim's progress, presented in a deadpan, nonjudgmental style, culminates quite literally in the title event--the Second Coming, the Apocalypse, the end of the world, or whatever you want to call it. Rogers's fearless performance becomes all the more provocative when you recall that the actress is a lifelong member of the Church of Scientology. The Rapture is a mind-boggling, wildly ambitious movie that's open to myriad interpretations. But no matter what you make of it, it's sure to leave you engaged and shaken. Rated R.

All reviews courtesy of Amazon......as always feel free to leave your comments/recommendations!

Currently watching : Apres Vous Release date: 08 November, 2005

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Please Vote For Visart
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

The Indy's Best Of The Triangle Issue is now accepting your picks of your fave places around town. We'd love it if you'd vote for us! Here's the link and website.........

www.indyweek.com
http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/poll?poll=oid%3A46396
or pick up a hard copy in town

It's a pretty quick poll and you don't have to fill in all the
categories, but you must vote for at least 27 of the 109 categories to
have your votes included. Votes will be accepted through May 15th.
Winners will be announced in the June 13th issue and on the website.

Thanks for your support,
Stacey

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10 Films Not To Miss 3/30/07
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Here are 10 DVD's that might spark an interest...

Clean, Shaven-Amidst a glut of more conventional independent films in the mid-1990s, Lodge Kerrigan's Clean, Shaven signaled the arrival of a gifted filmmaker with a singular vision. A controversial sensation on the film festival circuit when released in 1994, this riveting first feature (filmed over a two-year period on a meager budget of $60,000) is perhaps the first film to authentically convey the subjective experience of schizophrenia. This all-too-common mental illness essentially serves as a substitute for plot; instead of telling a conventional story of a murder investigation, Kerrigan leaves crucial details ambiguous as he focuses on the tormented existence of a young man named Peter (played by Peter Greene in a brave debut performance) who may or may not have brutally killed a young girl in one of the film's early scenes. His world--or rather, the world as perceived by his dysfunctional brain--is metaphorically compared to the random tuning of a radio, as schizophrenia prevents Peter from forming a cohesive reality out of the sights and sounds that constantly invade his consciousness. To express this fractured perception in cinematic terms, Kerrigan uses a truly extraordinary soundtrack--worthy of comparison to David Lynch's Eraserhead--that's frequently divorced from the visuals, emphasizing the disorienting symptoms of Peter's illness. The effect is both fascinating and deeply disturbing, especially in a notorious scene (definitely not for the squeamish) in which Peter removes one of his fingernails for reasons best left for viewers to discover. It's one of the creepiest, most unsettling moments in the history of American independent cinema, but it's also one of the things that makes Clean, Shaven a timeless and sensitively compassionate study of a condition that's mysterious and frequently misunderstood. A full decade later, Kerrigan would return to the subject of mental illness with his critically acclaimed film Keane, and David Cronenberg's Spider covers similar territory with equally unsettling results. Rated R.

Eat The Rich- In this outrageous British black comedy of manners, resentment against the ruling class explodes, thanks to a ticked-off waiter who, with the aid of revolutionary cohorts, turns an upper-crust restaurant into a jet-set banquet - literally. The laughs come fast and furious, thanks to a once-in-a-lifetime cast, including: Jennifer Saunders (Absolutely Fabulous), Dawn French (The Vicar of Dibley), Rik Mayall (The Young Ones), Miranda Richardson (The Hours), Motorhead's Lemmy, rock legend Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones' Bill Wyman, Robbie Coltrane (Goldeneye), Katrin Cartlidge (Breaking the Waves) and many, many more! Rated R.

Yank Tanks- Yanks Tanks is a first look at the phenomenon of classic American cars in Cuba. Like an exotic, endangered species, these colorful cars roam around this island paradise trapped in a 1950's time warp. As beacons of individuality in a sea of government conformity they represent freedom for those who own them. Owners who will do almost anything to keep them running. Seeing these old cars in recent films and photographs one wonders how they have maintained them after decades with no spare parts and an embargo by the United States. After repeated trips to Cuba, the Schendel brothers succeed in taking a close look into the underground world of Cuban cars, finding along the way a gallery of eccentric characters - the curators of the largest, living, automobile museum in the world.


Jonathan Creek Season 1- In any successful murder mystery, the personality of the sleuth is as important as the puzzle solved--and Jonathan Creek has two of the most charming detectives in recent memory. A reclusive, socially maladept inventor of illusions for a professional magician, Jonathan Creek (stand-up comedian Alan Davies) gets drawn into the investigations of pushy journalist Madeline "Maddy" Magellan (Caroline Quentin, Men Behaving Badly) whenever Maddy confronts something seemingly impossible: When a man shoot himself in a sealed underground bomb shelter, but his crippling arthritis makes it impossible for him to pull the trigger, as in one episode; or when a girl disappears when she enters an aging rock star's house--but the rock star himself, who's been chained to a radiator in the entry room by burglars, insists he never saw the girl come through the door; or when a scientist is stabbed in the back in a locked room in a house full of monkeys. Creek gathers the clues and, knowing that seamless mysteries can be the result of improbable effort, susses out the sometimes preposterous solutions while he and Maddy flirt in the most awkward, neurotic, and utterly true-to-life way. Davies and Quentin are thoroughly engaging actors but do not look like movie stars, and therein lies much of their appeal; the astonishing murders are perfectly balanced by the actors' flesh-and-blood genuineness. The plots are cunning, the dialogue brisk, and the supporting casts dependable, but Jonathan Creek rides on the shoulders of its leads, who carry it with magical ease.

Kicked In The Head- On a spiritual quest for the truth, a bewildered young man encounters a strong dose of reality in this quirky and hilarious comedy. When Redmond (Kevin Corrigan) finds himself out of home and job, his life becomes a series of unpredictable escapades--from dodging gunfire after his uncle (James Woods) makes him deliver a highly suspicious package, to pursuing a moody stewardess (Linda Fiorentino) he thinks has come to save him. Soon Redmond begins to suspect his road of mishap might actually be the path to truth he has been seeking all along. Rated R.

Lady In Question I Charles Busch- Playwright and drag grand dame Charles Busch had a classic showbiz life: After early tragedy (his mother died when he was seven) and a bit of floundering, a play begun as a lark--Vampire Lesbians of Sodom--becomes a camp sensation, moving from a hole-in-the-wall club in New York's East Village to an off-Broadway run, launching a vital gay theater with a close-knit family of performers who produce wild comedies with names like Theodora, She-Bitch of Byzantium and Pardon My Inquisition, or, Kiss the Blood Off My Castanets. This adoring documentary mixes video of Busch's stage successes with interviews with Busch and his cohorts, tracing the rise and decline of Busch's troupe (including the deaths of core actors from AIDS), and reveling in Busch's mainstream success with the non-camp play The Allergist's Wife and movie versions of his stage hits Psycho Beach Party and Die, Mommie, Die!. Busch delivers performances that simultaneously mock and celebrate the raging egos and stylized emotions of old Hollywood glamour queens like Joan Crawford and Barbara Stanwyck. Though theater translates poorly to video, The Lady in Question is Charles Busch communicates a whiff of the madcap inspiration of Busch's stage work and provides a detailed, affectionate portrait of this ingenious writer/performer. Not Rated.

Station Agent- A strong ensemble and director Tom McCarthy's sweetly low-key observations make Sundance fave The Station Agent a treat. The film revolves around a reserved, somber dwarf (Peter Dinklage, immortalized by his brilliant ticked-off tirade in Living in Oblivion), a train enthusiast who inherits a small depot in rural New Jersey. He makes friends, somewhat reluctantly, with a group of eccentric locals: the guy at the coffee stand (buoyant Bobby Cannavale), an artist (Patricia Clarkson, impeccable as usual), a librarian (Michelle Williams). A few of the plot strands feel forced, but whenever the actors are simply playing off each other with McCarthy's nicely understated dialogue--which is most of the time--it ambles along winningly. You'll also learn more than you ever thought you'd want to know about trains. The key is Dinklage's smoldering performance, one of those reminders that a single scowl is worth pages of conversation. Rated R.

Band Of Outsiders- Described by its maker, Jean-Luc Godard, as "Alice in Wonderland meets Franz Kafka," this 1964 film noir stars Anna Karina as a naive woman who takes up with couple of would-be bad guys (Claude Brasseur, Sami Frey) in a disastrous effort to rob her aunt of a fortune. Along the way, the motley group joins the Godardian (and Hollywood gangster) tradition of characters who walk a line between reality and invention, in this case distracting themselves by running around the Louvre, taking a stab at learning English, stumbling through some dance steps, and reenacting the death of Billy the Kid. A uniquely spontaneous work in Godard's canon, Band of Outsiders also continues the Brechtian strain in the director's merged relationship with Karina, his then-wife and artistic muse. Yet it is also more buoyantly unpredictable in its sense of romantic doom than any of the director's movies since his seminal debut, Breathless (also a gangster film, not coincidentally).

EXistenZ- Director David Cronenberg's eXistenZ is a stew of corporate espionage, virtual reality gaming, and thriller elements, marinated in Cronenberg's favorite Crock-Pot juices of technology, physiology, and sexual metaphor. Jennifer Jason Leigh is game designer Allegra Geller, responsible for the new state-of-the-art eXistenZ game system; along with PR newbie Ted Pikul (Jude Law), they take the beta version of the game for a test drive and are immersed in a dangerous alternate reality. The game isn't quite like PlayStation, though; it's a latexy pod made from the guts of mutant amphibians and plugs via an umbilical cord directly into the user's spinal column (through a BioPort). It powers up through the player's own nervous system and taps into the subconscious; with several players it networks their brains together. Geller and Pikul's adventures in the game reality uncover more espionage and an antigaming, proreality insurrection. The game world makes it increasingly difficult to discern between reality and the game, either through the game's perspective or the human's. More accessible than Crash, eXistenZ is a complicated sci-fi opus, often confusing, and with an ending that leaves itself wide open for a sequel. Fans of Cronenberg's work will recognize his recurring themes and will eat this up. Rated R.

Matador- In "Matador" from Spanish Director, Pedro Almodovar, famous, retired bullfighter Diego Montes owns and operates a school for bullfighters. Forced into retirement due to severe and permanent injuries sustained during his last bullfight, Diego now trains young men and women. One of Diego's students--a young man named Angel--is more than a little obsessed with his famous teacher. Angel is a bit strange. He lives at home with his unpleasant, domineering mother and spies on Diego's beautiful girlfriend--a model named Eva. Angel is played by a baby-faced Antonio Banderas.

The police begin investigating several murders of young men, and several mysterious disappearances of young women, and attention is focused on the bullfighting school. Soon Angel is the prime suspect, and he's ready to confess to anything. A beautiful lawyer named Maria decides to defends Angel. Maria is another fan of Diego's, and she is a very dangerous woman. Carmen Maura stars as Angel's protective psychologist.

This early Almodovar film is set against an upcoming eclipse of the sun, and Almodovar includes elements of the supernatural throughout the plot. The supernatural explains the unspoken connections between characters. For example, Angel possesses ESP and can enter Diego's mind. Maria and Diego know instantly that they are "destined for each other." Maria and Diego recognize their similarities and the tastes they share, and they are drawn towards each other with powerful, unstoppable passion. The film has a great soundtrack, and the photography is splendid.

*all reviews courtesy of Amazon

Currently watching : Viva Pedro - Pedro Almodovar Classics Collection (Talk to Her/ Bad Education/ All about My Mother/ Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown/ Live Flesh/ Flower of My Secret / Matador / Law of Desire) Release date: 30 January, 2007

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This Weeks 10 Films Not To Miss ...3/9/07
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

I thought we'd put a little different spin on our list this week. After scanning some current new releases on our shelves, here are a few titles that tie into these popular films...

The Following- You remember director Christopher Nolan from Momento fame. He currently is receiving accolades for the Prestige. Well how about one of her earlier films from 1998. This film offers creepy intimacy, plenty of suspense, and a few surprises enliven this black-and-white treat. Bill is a struggling writer who fills his time and mind by following random strangers he sees on the street. After breaking his own rule ("never follow the same person twice") he becomes fascinated by Cobb, a voyeur who takes things one step further--actually breaking into people's homes to sift through their things. As you might expect, the relationship soon becomes unhealthy. Writer-director Christopher Nolan already reveals a sure hand in this early neo-noir work. Like Memento, Following toys with timelines, jumping back and forth and carefully dropping bits of information exactly when they're needed. Short and sharp, Following features an intriguing plot line and fine, understated performances by the entire cast. Don't miss it. Rated R.

Da Ali G Show/ First Season- If you haven't heard of this years comedy hit Borat, then you've probably been hiding in a cave in Afghanistan. "Keep it real" says Ali G (Sacha Baron Cohen) at the top of each show. Keeping it real is what the British comedian does--and doesn't do--during each episode. First, there's the character of Ali G himself. There's nothing real about this slang-slinging geezer. He's a poser, a white hip-hop wannabe from the 'burbs who aspires to be "gangsta" like Biggie and Tupac. His interview subjects, on the other hand, are the real deal: Newt Gingrich, Buzz Aldrin, Donald Trump, etc. Ali asks stupid questions, they attempt to provide intelligent answers. The humor comes from the disconnect between the two, which is to say: 60 Minutes meets In Living Color.

Da Ali G Show was a hit in Britain before Cohen brought his act to the States, but Ali wasn't the only character who came with him. There's also Borat, a Kazakhstan TV reporter with a shaky command of English. His show-within-a-show is called "Borat's Guide to America" and he travels the "US and A" interviewing regular folks, such as matchmakers and rodeo riders. Then there's Bruno, a sexually ambiguous fashion reporter with "Funkyzeit Mit Bruno." His subjects include models and designers. Borat and Bruno have their moments, but Ali G is the star of the show and gets the most screen time. It's Ali G, after all, who gets both James Lipton and Ralph Nader to rap. (The verdict? Lipton's got skills; Nader should stick to politics.) As proof of his popularity in the U.K., Ali G got his own theatrical release, Ali G Indahouse in 2002. As proof of his popularity in the U.S., HBO renewed his show for a second season. Due to sexual content, raunchy humor, and drug content, Da Ali G Show is recommended for mature audiences.

Romper Stomper- Long before Russell Crowe was throwing phones at hotel employees or having an on set affair with Meg Ryan, he starred in this down under sleeper hit. The burning intensity of Russell Crowe (L.A. Confidential) first lit up screens as a hate-filled, Mein Kampf-spouting skinhead in this brutal drama. Crowe glowers from under his deep-set eyes as Hando, the creepy but charismatic leader of a racist gang who declares war on the Asian immigrants pouring into Melbourne. His rage erupts in violent attacks on the local Vietnamese community, but when his victims fight back his gang breaks up, and Hando flees the city with his best buddy Davey (Daniel Pollock) and redheaded hellion Gabe (Jacqueline McKenzie), a rich girl runaway who turns the dynamic duo into a splintered love triangle. Writer-director Geoffrey Wright's matter-of-fact treatment of this subculture eschews social commentary for visceral immediacy. His portrait of white supremacist punks living like squatters on the fringes of Australian society is powered by coiled anger and simmering frustration, which finds its outlet in brutal fights and murderous rampages (the intense violence earned the film an NC-17 rating). The lack of moral position may bother some people, especially in light of Wright's sympathetic treatment of particular members of Hando's racist army, and the cold, hate-driven violence is sometimes hard to watch, but his vivid characters and richly drawn world create a compelling drama for adventurous filmgoers. Rated NC-17

Slacker- This was director Richard Linklater (Fast Food Nation) first film and now it finally gets the Criterion treatment that it deserves! Slacker (1991) One who shirks work or responsibility: "In terms of their outlook on the future, slackers regard tomorrow with a studied cynicism or... don't even conceive of one" (Julie Caniglia). So you're a disenfranchised, overeducated, out of work (perhaps never worked) individual in the latter 20th century...what's to do? Sit around in your blue jeans, torn t-shirt, and well-worn Chuck Connors sneakers, drink coffee, and intensely dissect the most meaningless bit of minutia and effluvia (an example being the relatively non-existent, societal influences of cartoon characters) from the past and present as to preoccupy ones mind as so they won't have to deal with the fact that they have virtually no prospects. Seems like a particularly shallow way to go through life, but then I've been working since I was fifteen, so perhaps I'm just jealous of those who've managed to find a way to avoid the shackles of responsibility and shirk of the conventions of a capitalist culture.

Written a directed by Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused, Waking Life), the film begins as we see a young man on a bus (played by Linklater), arriving in Austin, Texas. From there he takes a cab and proceeds to figuratively hold the driver hostage with non-stop stream of verbal free form, discussing his dreams (dreams are only interesting to the people who actually have them...trying to explain your dream to another who doesn't care is the absolute worst), realities formed from the choices one makes...the passenger is eventually dropped off, makes contact with another individual to which he then begin following that person...and so on, and so on, and so on...there are no central characters, only a seemingly continuous passing of an imaginary baton as we come in contact with a great number of individuals within the Austin area, all living within their particular moment. The film develops into sort of a walking tour of individuals where the viewer is a relative non-existent entity peeping through a window into a culture they may not understand or connected with...personally I found it hard to identify with many of the individuals, but that's not to say they don't exist. Every generation has its ne'er-do-well sub sect (greasers, hippies, etc.) who seek those like themselves, usually converging into an area where the cost of living is relatively cheap (until corporate America realizes the economic potential, starts buying up the properties, basically ousting those who made the area interesting and worthwhile), and every generation has at least one who tries to commit them to film. When I first started watching, I couldn't help feel a sense of pretension within the material, but then I realized it wasn't so much coming from the director, but more so inherent within the some of the subjects themselves. Perhaps this was part of the humor, highlighting the absurdity that can be found within any grouping. The film felt like one, continuous shot, but it wasn't, as there were cuts, but they were pretty well hidden. There was one sequence in the film that summed up this particular generational mindset (for lack of a better term) in that of the young couple in their crummy apartment. The woman wants to do something seemingly, like go to the lake, to which the man then begins to dissect all the elements necessary to proceed on such a venture, his objection being the amount of time needed to prepare for the excursion don't justify the excursion itself, which seemed ironic to me because in the time it took him to relate all of this, they probably could have been to where she wanted to go...which wasn't really the point, I suppose as the guy just didn't want to go because he was lazy. It's like those people you work with who expend great amounts of energy doing whatever they have to in getting out of work, which usually ends up being more work than their actual work. One sequence I really liked was near the beginning, featuring a man on the street that glommed onto another, following him, spewing forth every conspiracy theory you've ever heard of in a tireless, endless barrage. All in all I did enjoy this unconventional film, but I'm unsure who I recommend it to...I guess if you don't have a taste for the experimental side of cinema or a yearning to explore past the boundaries of conventional filmmaking, you should probably pass this one by...Rated R.

Waiting For Guffman- This is the ensemble piece that started it all for director Christopher Guest (For Your Consideration). One of the funniest films in many a moon was hiding at art house theaters in 1998. Former Saturday Night Live comedian and Spinal Tap member Christopher Guest creates the ultimate parody of small-town dramatics, Waiting for Guffman. Corky St. Claire (Guest), an overwhelming drama director hiding out in Blaine, Missouri, thinks he has found the vehicle to put him back on Broadway: the city's 150th anniversary play, Red, White, and Blaine. As rehearsals start, we learn of the town's history ("the stool capital of the world") including a brush with a UFO. The mockumentary follows the various townsfolk wishing for stardom: Parker Posey as a Dairy Queen clerk, Catherine O'Hara and Fred Willard as stage-struck travel agents, Matthew Keeslar as the town's bad boy, and Eugene Levy (who cowrote the film with Guest) as a dentist who dreams of glory on the stage. The film is a hoot from beginning to end, and be sure to watch the closing credits. Fans of Guest's deft dry humor should not miss his other parody of the entertainment world, The Big Picture (Kevin Bacon as a student filmmaker who goes to Hollywood). Rated R.

Short Cuts- This is one of my fave Altman films, and it stars Robert Downey Jr. who gives a terrific performance in this months A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints. If aliens came down to earth to see if humanity was worth saving, showing them Short Cuts, Robert Altman's bluesy riff on life in L.A. in the '90s, would not be a good idea. Based on the stories of Raymond Carver (adapted by Altman and Frank Barhydt), this ambitious film is a devilish valentine to living in L.A., where happiness comes at a premium. There are at least eight separate stories that crisscross, most about people who choose not to relate to the lives they are living. Seemingly by design, none of the stories (nor the performances for that matter) have more impact than the others--this is a true mosaic film. The most representative plot deals with a group of friends (Buck Henry, Fred Ward, and Huey Lewis) who decide to keep fishing even after discovering a body in the river. The story works as a morose comedy and a flag holder for the movie: the inability to take the correct action. Others would rather talk about seeing Alex Trebek than discuss their faltering relationships. A huge and talented cast twists in the wind, bumping into moments of truth, sex, and passion. Some even come out all right in the end. The accidental nature of life--a common theme in many Altman films--has never been so maddeningly persistent, or absorbing. The score by Mark Isham with songs sung by Annie Ross (also a cast member) fuels the moodiness, as does the opening number in which Medfly helicopters spray the town to the tune "Prisoner of Life." Delivering the film a year after his biggest hit in two decades, The Player, Altman proved his artistic tenacity as an aged artist with the heart of a new filmmaker: he's not afraid of risking it all. Rated R.

The Secret- Ok so you probably have at least one rabid friend who caught the Oprah or Larry King special about "The Secret" and now is hounding you to watch this with them!. Therefore I guess it's hardly a secret anymore but you can now rent it at Visart. The Secret is not really a movie or documentary, The Secret is more of a video seminar, a presentation featuring a series of authors, philosophers, doctors, quantum physicists, entrepreneurs, and spiritual practitioners expounding on the powers of The Secret (probably the most well-known of the presenters is Jack Canfield, author of Chicken Soup for the Soul and The Success Principles). What is The Secret, exactly? "That principle can be summed up in three simple words: thoughts become things," proclaims writer Mike Dooley, author of Notes from the Universe. Put it another way, it's The Power of Positive Thinking and how it can be applied to attracting more money, better health, and relationships; in short, happiness. (There is a rundown of topics on the DVD Chapters menu).

Most of the material here is given in a straightforward manner, with the presenters simply talking into the camera to address the audience directly, which is good because it avoids the trap of pretense. On the other hand, the quick edits between presenters (would it hurt to let them say more than one sentence at a time?) don't help because it reduces many of their points to palatable sound bites and aphorisms. To many viewers, this may make the program come across as a series of nice ideas not rooted in reality. Plus it's somewhat spurious to claim that The Secret was well understood and practiced by specific individuals like Plato or Shakespeare (it's well known that some of the historical figures noted didn't exactly live happy or even prosperous lives, despite their achievements). But still, the primary message is one of positivity and hope for everyone. So what to make of it? In the end, programs like this generally find an audience that is open to the message, and many will probably find it to be a source of inspiration. Others will approach it with a good deal of skepticism or dismiss it as another way of marketing happiness the masses. It simply won't resonate with everyone, but if it resonates with you, you're likely to enjoy it and get a lot out of it. Those looking for more on The Secret might want to check out the companion book by Rhonda Byrne.

Fisher King- This is the one for which Robin Williams should have received an Oscar; for as Parry, the victim of a senseless tragedy, he is nothing short of brilliant in "The Fisher King," directed by Terry Gilliam (this months Tideland) and co-starring Jeff Bridges (who also gives an Oscar-worthy performance here). Gilliam has created the perfect mood and atmosphere to tell the story of successful radio talk-show host Jack Lucas (Bridges), and the homeless and mentally unhinged Parry, whose lives intersect in the wake of an act of unconscionable violence that leaves them both barely clinging to the memory of a reality that no longer exists for either of them. With this movie, Gilliam has deftly crafted a study of the symbiotic existence of mankind and the impact of human nature upon the space we all must share in a world growing smaller day by day. Through Jack's eyes, Gilliam examines the nature of cause and effect, and the results thereof, and Jack's story ultimately becomes Parry's story, and aptly illustrates how the needs of one become the necessity of another, and what it means to finally be able to look beyond ourselves and delve beneath those layers of contemporary frivolity we all manage to build, which in the end are nothing more than pretentious insulations that keep us from the things in life that really matter. Even as Jack's own act of irresponsibility comes back to haunt him and make him question his own values to the very core of his being, Parry receives the brunt of it all from the other end of the spectrum, with consequences even more dire, though for both the result of their shared circumstance is life-altering. Williams gives a masterful performance here that illuminates so well how thin the line between comedy and drama really is. He brings the complex, tragic figure of Parry to the screen flawlessly, with attitude, expression and even body language that is impeccable, and all without a single false moment to be found anywhere throughout (by comparison, even as good as he was in "Good Will Hunting," for which he received the B.S.A. Oscar, under close scrutiny you'll find a moment or two there that do not ring true). This is quite simply the best work he's ever done, before or since, and he's given the cinematic world an unforgettable character that will undoubtedly make a lasting impression on anyone who sees this film. And, though Williams grabs the lion's share of the spotlight here, he by no means overshadows Jeff Bridges, who has also created a memorable character in Jack. He brings a depth to this role through which he readily displays the many different levels upon which Jack works and lives, from the egotistical, self-centered to the compassionate; it's like watching a struggle for domination going on within him, and waiting to find out which side will ultimately emerge triumphant. It's an exemplary performance, and it's a gross miscarriage of justice that Bridges didn't at least receive a nomination for Best Actor for this one. Proving, however, that justice does, at times, get it's due, Mercedes Ruehl was awarded the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her personable portrayal of Anne, the fulcrum upon which Jack and Parry dramatically balance their tender and tentative psyches. Like Bridges and Williams, she gives a performance here that is totally credible, and she's a delight to watch. One of the strengths of this movie, in fact, is the incredible performances; and it's so gratifying to see such a good story brought to life and made so real through artistic endeavor. In a supporting role, Michael Jeter demands to be singled out for his part as the homeless Cabaret Singer, and also Amanda Plummer, as the hapless and endearing Lydia, both of whom are just additional parts of the aggregate that make this such a great movie. With "The Fisher King," Gilliam has given us a wonderfully textured morality tale, both entertaining and engaging and rich with metaphor and substance that will endure the test of time, because it is, in the end, a story for the ages. This is definitely one you do not want to let pass you by.

Goldfinger- So you've seen Daniel craig as the ''new" James Bond in Casino Royale, but don't you just long for Sean back in the day?! To own Goldfinger (1964) on digital video disc is to have at your fingertips the proof that Sean Connery is the definitive James Bond. Dry as ice, dripping with deadpan witticisms, only Connery's Bond would dare disparage the Beatles, that other 1964 phenomenon. No one but Connery can believably seduce women so effortlessly, kill with almost as much ease, and then pull another bottle of Dom Perignon '53 out of the fridge. Goldfinger contains many of the most memorable scenes in the Bond series: gorgeous Shirley Eaton (as Jill Masterson) coated in gold paint by evil Auric Goldfinger and deposited in Bond's bed; silent Oddjob, flipping a razor-sharp derby like a Frisbee to sever heads; our hero spread-eagle on a table while a laser beam moves threateningly toward his crotch. Honor Blackman's Pussy Galore is the prototype for the series' rash of man-hating supermodels. And Desmond Llewelyn makes his first appearance as Q, giving Bond what is still his most impressive car, a snazzy little number that fires off smoke screens, punctures the tires of vehicles on the chase, and boasts a handy ejector seat. Goldfinger's two climaxes, inside Fort Knox and aboard a private plane, have to be seen to be believed. Rated PG.

Angels In America- Ok I'm stretching here but I'll tie this one in with Emma Thompson (this months Stranger Than Fiction). Tony Kushner's prize-winning play Angels in America became the defining theatrical event of the 1990s, an astonishing mix of philosophy, politics, and vibrant gay soap opera that summed up the Reagan era for an entire generation of theater-goers. Post-9/11 would seem to be too late for a film version--philosophy and politics don't always age well--but this 2003 HBO adaptation, ably directed by Mike Nichols (The Graduate), provides a time capsule of the '80s and reveals the deep emotional subcurrents that will give the play lasting power.

The story centers around Prior Walter (Justin Kirk) and Louis Ironson (Ben Shenkman), a gay couple that falls apart when Prior grows ill as a result of AIDS. But cancer is not the only thing invading Prior's life: He begins to have religious visions of an angel (Emma Thompson, Sense and Sensibility) announcing that he is a prophet. Louis, who doesn't cope well with disease and suggestions of mortality, leaves and starts a relationship with Joe Pitt (Patrick Wilson), a closeted Mormon who works for Roy Cohn (Al Pacino, Dog Day Afternoon)--the real-life right-wing lawyer, notorious for his ruthless behind-the-scenes machinations. Add in Joe's depressed and hallucinating wife Harper (Mary Louise Parker, Fried Green Tomatoes), his determined but open-minded mother Hannah (Meryl Streep, Adaptation), a fierce drag queen/nurse named Belize (Jeffrey Wright, Basquiat, reprising his celebrated performance from the Broadway production), and you've still only begun to discover the wealth of characters and storylines in Kushner's ambitious work.

The powerhouse cast (also featuring James Cromwell, Michael Gambon, and Simon Callow) is uniformly superb. The script has its weaknesses--some of the fantastic elements, including Prior's journey to Heaven towards the end, fall flat--but even what doesn't work is bristling with ideas and a ferocious desire to capture human existence in this time and place. Rated R.

Happy viewing...as always feel free to post your comments or picks!!

Reviews courtest of Amazon.

Currently watching : Short Cuts - Criterion Collection Release date: 16 November, 2004

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10 Movies Not To Miss 2/16/07
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Here's this week's edition of 10 movies not to miss........

Lone Star- If your not going to make it to the theater this weekend to catch the new film Breach, then maybe you should grab this DVD also starring Chris Cooper. This complex and rich film by John Sayles stars Chris Cooper as the contemporary sheriff of a Texas border town still under the sway of his late, legendary lawman father (Matthew McConaughey, seen in flashbacks). The discovery of a skeleton and crusted-over badge--buried some 40 years--initiates an investigation into an old crime no one wants to talk about but which will determine for Cooper's character, once and for all, various truths about his father's life. Sayles ingeniously sets this mystery against the backdrop of a developing, multicultural community losing its economic base while haggling over a history of racism. The overall effect is of a complicated American tragedy mitigated by the possibility of personal redemption. A terrific experience which reunites Cooper and Sayles. Cooper's first role was in Sayles other wonderful film Matewan. Rated R.

Last Picture Show- If you're a fan of the L Word and looking for some of the earlier work of Cybill Sheperd than this is the film for you. Like Easy Rider, Bonnie and Clyde, The Wild Bunch, and The Graduate, The Last Picture Show is one of the signature films of the "New Hollywood" that emerged in the late 1960s and early '70s. Based on the novel by Larry McMurtry and lovingly directed by Peter Bogdanovich (who cowrote the script with McMurtry), this 1971 drama has been interpreted as an affectionate tribute to classic Hollywood filmmaking and the great directors (such as John Ford) that Bogdanovich so deeply admired. It's also a eulogy for lost innocence and small-town life, so accurately rendered that critic Roger Ebert called it "the best film of 1951," referring to the movie's one-year time frame, its black-and-white cinematography (by Robert Surtees), and its sparse but evocative visual style. The story is set in the tiny, dying town of Anarene, Texas, where the main-street movie house is about to close for good, and where a pair of high-school football players are coming of age and struggling to define their uncertain futures. There's little to do in Anarene, and while Sonny (Timothy Bottoms) engages in a passionless fling with his football coach's wife (Cloris Leachman), his best friend Duane (Jeff Bridges) enlists for service in the Korean War. Both boys fall for a manipulative high-school beauty (Cybill Shepherd) who's well aware of her sexual allure. But it's not so much what happens in The Last Picture show as how it happens--and how Bogdanovich and his excellent cast so effectively capture the melancholy mood of a ghost town in the making. As Hank Williams sings on the film's evocative soundtrack, The Last Picture Show looks, feels, and sounds like a sad but unforgettably precious moment out of time. The drama also was taking place off the screen as well, as director Bogdanovich left his wife Polly Platt for the young Shepherd. Rated R.

Noi- Hairless, gaunt, and pallid, the title character of Noi is an Icelandic slacker, a smart but alienated high school boy with a boozing dad and meager prospects. His small-town life brightens a bit when he meets Iris, the daughter of a local bookstore owner, who's vacationing from the city. For their first date, they break into a museum and kiss in front of a taxidermed polar bear. But Noi's life continues its downward turn; he's expelled from school and gets a job as a gravedigger, prompting a desperate gesture. Noi is sort of a collision between Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Scandinavian nihilism (the bookstore owner quotes the dour philosopher Kierkegaard). Fortunately, the bleak events are carried out with skewed humor and sly visual flair. The restlessness and despair of adolescence are captured with honesty and sympathy. Rated PG-13.

Pow Wow Highway- For the Northern Cheyenne tribe of Lame Deer, Montana, the American Dream has taken a grim detour. Here, Buddy Red Bow (A Martinez) is a committed activist battling a suspicious land-grab. Philbert Bono (Gary Farmer, in a performance Roger Ebert calls "one of the most wholly convincing I've seen") is a serene spiritual warrior guided by sacred visions. But when Buddy's estranged sister is framed and jailed in New Mexico, the two men take Philbert's rust-wrecked '64 Buick 'war pony' on a road trip that makes some very unexpected stops along the way. Jonathan Wacks (Producer of REPO MAN) directs and Graham Greene (DANCES WITH WOLVES), Wes Studi (THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, HEAT) and Amanda Wyss star in this acclaimed comedy/drama about Native Americans understanding the past, fighting for their future and discovering a few surprising truths along the POWWOW HIGHWAY. Rated R.

American Friend- A thriller that's nearly devoid of thrills? That's not a complaint--it's what makes The American Friend one of the most stylish (and, at the time, most expensive) films to emerge from the New German Cinema of the 1970s. Loosely adapting Patricia Highsmith's mystery novel Ripley's Game, director Wim Wenders shifted priority from plotting to character, emphasizing a richly colorful and atmospheric approach to locations in Hamburg, where a picture-framer (Bruno Ganz) is lured into an assassination scheme involving a mysterious Frenchman (Gerard Blain) and the titular American friend, Tom Ripley (played by Dennis Hopper, a far cry from Matt Damon's portrayal of the same character in The Talented Mr. Ripley). The plotting is vague to the point of irrelevance; Wenders prefers to maintain the aura of mystery, as opposed to generating any conventional suspense, and expresses his affection for American movies by casting favorite directors Nicholas Ray and Samuel Fuller in pivotal supporting roles. The result is an intoxicating example of cinematic cross-pollination. Not Rated.

My Favorite Year- This love letter to the golden days of live television in the 1950s is a thinly veiled depiction of Your Show of Shows, the groundbreaking comedy show that starred Sid Caesar. The story, set in 1954, focuses on one of the writers for the show (Mark Linn-Baker), who is given the task of chaperoning that week's guest star, a famously ill-behaved movie star named Alan Swann. He's based on Errol Flynn and played with Oscar-nominated glee by Peter O'Toole. He also happens to be the writer's movie hero, but proves to be a hilariously drunken party animal, one who opens the naive young writer's eyes in a variety of ways. The highlight of the film is Swann's visit to the writer's outer-borough home and his encounter with the writer's star-struck mother (a delightful turn by Lainie Kazan). One of the better films directed by former actor Richard Benjamin. Rated PG.

Once Upon A Time In America- Ok you've heard all The Departed hype, but how about this great gangster film from the 1980's. Somewhere amidst its plotlines about ethnic turf wars, murder and greed, loyalty, corruption, unbridled ambition, betrayal, survivor's guilt and the tragic consequences of bold gambles, I was hit with a revelation: more than anything else I've seen except maybe The Seven Samurai, this film reminded me very much of a novel. The commitment of time and energy asked of a viewer was more like that required for the completion of a novel, and its pace and depth had less in common with most cinematic pieces, and more in common with the deliberate style of the printed word. There was an unhurriedness here, a generosity of expansiveness, and a plethora of characters with which Sergio Leone unfolded his critically underappreciated 1984 masterpiece. Starring Robert De Niro and James Woods, with an excellent supporting cast that also includes William Forsythe and Tuesday Weld, as well as Treat Williams and (of course) Joe Pesci, Once Upon A Time In America is a delight to simply sit back and watch on the fifth viewing as well as the very first.

Tracing a gang of Jewish boys from New York in the 1910's---first as street punks, later as would-be mobsters---up to the end of Prohibition and beyond to the late 1960's, this epic-length dissertation on the rise and fall of childhood friends from the wrong side of the tracks is on occasion brutal, at others times cynically comedic, but in its desires for legitimacy of form it always stays true to the amoral restlessness of its brooding cast of characters. If that sounds confusing, see this film through in uncut format and you'll understand what I mean. As the characters age and "evolve" from likable and somehow innocent hoodlums to truly cold-blooded adults, and finally emerge in an improbable future as well-placed cogs in a corrupt governmental underworld wherein true civic power lies, Once Upon A Time In America becomes decidedly tragic and loses all trace of the heroism and optimism that once buoyed our affection for these men even through the worst of their misdeeds.

Coming in at four hours in final form, and demanding much of a viewer, Once Upon A Time In America will satisfy neither those with short attention spans, nor those who like clear-cut good v. evil storylines. What it does offer is a slow-moving resurrection of the gritty world of immigrants of the early twentieth-century, and a less than glamorous account of the ruthlessness required of those who sought their fortunes in organized crime. I'll also admit something here. I've seen this film in several formats and to this day I still do not completely understand everything Leone says within it. At first I thought I was missing something, but gradually I became convinced that this was exactly the intention of the legendary director, that we accept that in this labyrinthine film, as in life, we are not blessed with all the answers. Look for a teen age, Jennifer Connelly as a young Deborah and, Elizabeth McGovern as the adult Deborah as a near perfect casting of the character.. the beauty and acting of both, are superb... young Deborah's scene where she tells Noodles he will always be a "punk and, not her beloved," are the stuff we remember for lifetimes. Rated R.

In The Mirror Of Maya Deren- Deemed "Fellini and Bergman wrapped in one gloriously possessed body," Maya Deren is arguably the most important and innovative avant-garde filmmaker in the history of American cinema. Using locations from the Hollywood hills to Haiti in the 1940s and '50s, Deren made such mesmerizing films as AT LAND, RITUAL IN TRANSFIGURED TIME, and her masterpiece, MESHES OF THE AFTERNOON, which won a prestigious international experimental filmmaking prize at the 1947 Cannes Film Festival. Starting with excerpts from these films, IN THE MIRROR seamlessly and effectively interweaves archival footage and observances from acolytes and contemporaries such as Stan Brakhage and Jonas Mekas with an original score by experimental jazz legend John Zorn. Documentarian Martina Kudlácek has fashioned not only a fascinating portrait of a groundbreaking and influential artist, but a pitch-perfect introduction to her strikingly beautiful and poetic body of work. This Edition features the extremely Maya Deren "fragments" WITCH'S CRADLE (1943), starring Marcel Duchamp, and ENSEMBLE FOR SOMNAMBULISTS (1951). Not Rated.

Action: The Complete Series- Immoral, politically incorrect, and fiercely funny, Action: The Complete Series is a timeless comedy focusing on a group of Hollywood insiders whose moral compass has spun out of control. Led by uber-producer Peter Dragon (Jay Mohr), the series' first and only season ferociously lampoons the sleaziness of modern-day Hollywood. Dragon--seemingly the separated-at-birth brother of slimy uber-agent Bob Sugar (also played by Mohr) from Jerry Maguire--is a jerk who pretends to be gay when it's convenient and doesn't understand why Salma Hayek (playing herself) would slap him silly for making inappropriate suggestions during an earlier audition. In Dragon's lair, sexual harassment is an inconvenience, the screenwriter is an afterthought, and a movie isn't a film unless it's got mega-explosions. Mohr and Illeana Douglas (portraying an ex-child star turned prostitute turned studio executive) are a joy to watch. When a sycophantic colleague accuses Dragon of promoting a hooker over him, he calmly says, "She's my prostitute. You're my whore." A subtle difference, yes, but one that makes a world of difference in Hollywood. If there's a plus side to this topnotch series being canceled in 1999, it's that the writers didn't have time to let the show disintegrate into hackneyed clichés. There is no warm-hearted parable to justify the nasty means--just a lot of quick-witted dialogue and an excellent ensemble cast that makes viewers enjoy the characters despite (or should that be because of?) their numerous flaws. Not Rated.

Croupier- Suffering from a bad case of writer's block, author Jack Manfred (Clive Owen) sits in his London flat, staring at an empty computer screen and trying to find the words to narrate his meandering life. Reluctantly Jack accepts a job from his absentee father (Nicholas Ball) at a second-rate casino as a dealer, or croupier, a job he once held in South Africa. His immersion back into this world is intoxicating, thanks primarily to the power he holds over his nightly clientele. Jack is a straight arrow on the floor (unlike his coworkers) but the whisper of an inside-job robbery makes his life suddenly more intriguing, as do the women who begin to drift into his life: a fellow croupier (Kate Hardie) and an alluring gambler (Alex Kingston). Suddenly, Jack finds his own life is his best book material. There's something visceral about watching the world of gambling, and director Mike Hodges (who directed the original Get Carter) taps into this allure; Jack's simple croupier tryout--handling cards and chips with skill and grace--is as captivating as most action scenes in big popcorn films. In the end, this little film, which went on to become an art-house hit, is as unpredictable as a roll of the dice. Unrated.

Enjoy! As always feel free to comment on your faves.


Reviews courtesy of Amazon.

Currently watching : Pow Wow Highway Release date: 23 November, 2004

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10 Films Not To Miss - 2/9/09 edition
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Each week I'll post 10 films that might have slipped through the rental cracks. Please feel free to leave feedback....or your picks for the week!