Saturday, July 29, 2006

Mostly Martha (DVD)

Mostly Martha (2002) is an unassuming, surprisingly moving little film about a chef named Martha who is thrust into the role of parent when her sister dies. She and her niece have great difficulty adjusting to one another -- Martha is neurotic, and the niece has lost her mother. It is touching to watch them struggle toward tolerance, then love for one another. In German, with English subtitles. Grade: B

Saturday, July 22, 2006

House of Games (DVD)

House of Games (1987) starring Lindsay Crouse, Joe Mantegna. Written and directed by David Mamet. A psychologist and author (Crouse) wants to help out a patient, so she seeks out the man (Mantegna) to whom he is indebted. In trying to cancel the man's debt, she becomes involved in the world of the confidence man, and is soon in way over her head. It's a fascinating look at con men for her and for the viewer of the movie. Only in the movie's final act does it veer into familiar and overly simple territory. Grade: B+

Sunday, July 16, 2006

When Harry Met Sally... (DVD)

When Harry Met Sally (1989) starring Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher. This romantic comedy, set in New York City, has aged well. Personally, I don't care for Crystal that much, but Ryan is cute as a button in this, one of her earliest movies. As a couple, they work just fine, and the dialog is pretty sharp. Especially memorable is Ryan's scene in a restaurant, where she demonstrates to Crystal (and us) that yes, a woman CAN fake an orgasm. Grade: A-

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Open Your Eyes (DVD)

Open Your Eyes (1997). Spanish film with English subtitles. I watched this movie twice trying to make sense of it. It's a kind of sci-fi psychodrama thriller, set in the present -- but actually half of it takes place in the year 2145. The protagonist, Cesar, is a handsome womanizer who is disfigured in a terrible car accident. One night, he gets drunk and wakes up the next day lying in the gutter. Miraculously, or so it seems, his life takes a turn for the better -- much better. His woman loves him again despite his scars, and then doctors announce that there is a new operation that can restore his looks. Everything is looking up, but it soon degenerates into a kind of strange nightmare where it is hard to tell dream from reality. This film was supposedly a big hit in Spain when it was first released, but made scarcely a ripple in the U.S. Penelope Cruz appears as Cesar's love interest, the only face that will be familiar to American viewers. Grade: B-

Friday, July 14, 2006

Weeds (DVD)

Weeds (Season 1). Mary-Louise Parker stars in this Showtime series as a widowed suburban mom who keeps her family afloat financially by dealing marijuana. It's full of good stoner humor, as well as varieties of family angst. According to this series, you'd be surprised by just how many people in the suburbs smoke dope. Two discs. Grade: B+

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story

Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (2005) stars a cast of British actors who will be unfamiliar to most American filmgoers. The only familiar face is Gillian Anderson, who makes a brief appearance as herself. The film is a moderately interesting story about the making of a movie based on an old book about the character Tristram Shandy. Grade: B-

Friday, July 07, 2006

Benny's Video (DVD)

Benny's Video (1992) in German with English subtitles. Sociopathic teenager, inspired by home video of a pig being slaughtered, kills a girl he has just met. As an added fillip, he videotapes himself killing her, and later shows the video to his parents.
This is an early work from the Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke, who smugly seems to think he has discovered the idea that there is too much violence in the media. While "exposing" it, he exploits it. Grade: D

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Wag the Dog (DVD)

Wag the Dog (1997) starring Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Anne Heche. Based on a book that claimed the Persian Gulf War had been faked, this movie makes a surprisingly relevant statement about the relationship between the media, the government and the truth. When the president is accused of sexual misconduct by a teenage girl, spin doctors De Niro and Hoffman are called in to figure out a way to distract the public. Their solution: a phony war with Albania, complete with war footage, a stirring theme song, and a returning hero. Plus, a terrorist plot about a nuclear device that's being smuggled into the U.S. from Canada. It's all fictional, but it's all too familiar. Grade: B

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Funny Games (DVD)

Funny Games (1998) in German with English subtitles. Written and directed by Michael Haneke. There's nothing funny about this movie, in which a pair of sadistic young men torture and kill a family of three. Although the director claims to be making a statement about the portrayal of violence in film, I didn't really feel this film had anything to say that justified the carnage. If I had seen it in a theater, I would have walked out half way through. Grade: F