Saun Of The Dead -- At last somebody has made an over the top very funny and socially insightful zombie comedy. Taking place in the streets of London, and a favorite neighborhood pub, the zombies at first go unrecognized because their deadly hopeless stares are so typical of the average Brit coming and going from work. Only when their numbers become enormous are the walking dead recognized - the film then takes a somewhat typical survivalist turn to absolutely brutal zombie fighting. But plenty of original comic surprises remain. A favorite scene occurs when the still living, disguise themselves as zombies. They pull it off because the change in their manner is hardly dramatic. My favorite scene, a plausible evolution from the original Night Of The Living Dead occurs right at the film's conclusion. Unfortunately, I can't give it away. Scarface -- Over done Pacino epic with brilliant moments, portraying American myth of boundless opportunity and criminality. The American capitalist dream as coke snorting killer. Scarface -- The original is the same story written by Ben Hecht about an Al Capone type back in old Chicago. A small black and whiter. It's star Paul Muni had been a shining light on the Yiddish stage and now he was in Hollywood and they were making him a gangster and in truth he was terrified of guns. Though he needn't have worried. The violence in the original Scarface is mostly implied and slightly off camera. Pacino's killing is on an oceanic scale. Scary Movie 3 -- Not a bit frightening but it is really funny. All the contemporary horror movie conventions, and a number of specific films are sliced and diced with super slapstick satire, endless visual gags, and over the top absurdity. ET's and Rap musicians are thrown in for good measure. The Rapsters show up to fight the Extra Terrestrials but they get in a fight and kill each other. The President of the US declares "they died for their country." The film finest moment is when a character is beheaded and her companion looks down at the severed head and asks "how are ya doing?" If only we could harness Scary Movie's comic energy and use it to fight George Bush. Scenes of a Crime -- An action packed, brutal mobster, corrupt politician, evil capitalist's kind of film, portraying an evil American world so out of control that the decent intentions of some of its players are always thwarted. All you can do here is steal some money, board a plane, and hope to escape the scene - but can you? Searching For Paradise -- Gilda has recently graduated from college, and is somewhat dazed and confused, living at home helping her mother take care of her dying father. The handsome, surprisingly healthy looking Italian passes on and his daughter discovers that he once had a major affair. Disillusioned, Gilda goes looking for integrity by living with her grandparents and fails to find it. She then pursues a movie star that she has long adored. The film works because the characters come across as real, even if they aren't entirely likable. The searching young woman is just a bit too much like a bratty high school kid, to be completely sympathetic. Second Hand Lions -- A likable sweet chick flick about two old macho men, now living without women --on a Texas farm, that doesn't grow much. They were once great soldiers of fortune fighting in adventurous North African campaigns, but now they just sit on their porch and shoot at traveling salesmen. Oh yes, they actually have a Sheik's stolen treasure stashed in their barn. A ten year old abandoned nephew arrives, and they take care of him--male bonding proceeds slowly but with an obvious outcome. Film's highlight is the arrival of an actual old lion. Shadow Conspiracy -- A paranoid movie about a high level Presidential aide who discovers that a coup is afoot to murder the liberal President - and everyone who has learned of the traitorous scheme. Poor Charlie Sheen, playing the aide, spends most of the film running away from a magnificent yet cold-blooded assassin who dominates the action and the acting. Shanghai Nights -- Surprisingly hilarious with lots of Hollywood in-jokes and an obvious tribute to Charles Chaplin. Jackie Chan does visual humor/slapstick like an ancient master. Sin -- A very strange, sometimes incoherent film with major lapses in story line, but it still managed to hold your interest. A retired cop gets back in the action when his sister is gang raped and kidnapped by a sinister porn producer but nothing is straight forward. It turns out that the sadistic villain has some understandable motivations and surprises up his sleeve and in his past the good guy cop has committed a cold blooded murder. The film works best when it catches the screwy spirit of a spaghetti western with eccentric characters going out in the Nevada desert and behaving in action packed unpredictable ways. 61* -- It's the early 70's and NY Yankee teammates (and roommates), Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle are battling to break Babe Ruth's previously unassailable record of 60 homers for a single season set way back in 1927. These are the golden days, when clean cut ball players trained on booze and cigars - not steroids, and an even older generation thought breaking Ruth's record would put them in an early grave or bring on the Day of Judgment. Biggest sin of the film is Maris not being able to give good press interviews and not being showy. The fans turn on him and support Mantle, but Roger breaks the record anyway. Some Like It Hot -- Late 50s comedy classic - decades ahead of the sexual times. Nice seeing George Raft (as Slats) revive his famous gangster image. Of course, George wasn't acting. He grew up in the streets of NYC with Lansky and Bugsy - all he ever did in the movies was to imitate his old and current pals. When Fidel marched into Havana he found George managing a mob owned casino. Something Wicked This Way Comes -- The film is based on Ray Bradbury's novel of the same name. A carnival comes to a small New England town but it's not summer but late fall and the town has considerable reason to be nervous. The evil owner of the traveling terror show has the capacity to lure people on, by fulfilling their deepest desires but cruel hell crouches in the corner and will soon pounce. Two young boys discover the carnival's dark secret and they are marked for destruction. One of the kid's father, eager to prove his parental fitness comes to the rescue and the usual cosmic battle ensues. My favorite part of the film is the grotesque visuals which are happily inspired by 1950s style Weird Fantasy and Tales From The Crypt comic books. Spiderman 2 -- Entertaining with very interesting character development. But -- The film's greatest achievement is locating the plot in Manhattan with the unacknowledged ghost of 9/11 hanging over Spiderman's "to be or not to be." My biggest complaint is making utopian science the accidental super villain. But that all started in Hollywood with Baron Von Frankenstein. Spit Fire Grill -- Super chick flick. Beautifully set in the magnificent New England woods, telling a sentimental tale of redemption, jealousy and love. The flinty rural New England personality is shown off to great advantage. Spirit -- Stallion Of the Cimaron -- Well animated film about an untamed happy horse of the old west who wants to stay that way. He's captured by a US Army that is busy fronting for the invading railroads and killing Indians. The great freedom loving horse won't let anyone ride him -- so he is tortured like an Iraqi prisoner. Eventually Super Horse allies with a Lakota prisoner (a lovable two-legger) and escapes. The evil officer in charge looks suspiciously like General Custer and he and his fellow white men have almost nothing to recommend them. It's comforting to know they are all headed for the Little Big Horn. The Spy Who Knew Too Little -- Any movie with Murray has at least five good minutes. Stalin: Man of Steel -- I tried to watch this documentary last night (11/2/04), but there was just too much killing, so I returned to the election coverage. Starsky and Hutch -- Silly redoing of the 70s TV hit - but at times its great fun. Actually, the Easy Rider bit is worth the entire price of admission (Judy and I were the only ones laughing.) - so too the reminder that there was once a very brief time when you could be optimistic about cocaine. Stay Tuned -- A very funny movie about TV addiction and the cynical messengers of Satan who make it all happen. A suburban couple is sucked into their new giant television set and in order to survive they must, among other tasks, take on crazed wolves in the Yukon, professional wrestlers, a Star Trek Enterprise crew gone demonic, a cartoon RoboCat, murderous gangsters in a 1930s movie, and a sadistic wild west villain, while dressed up like Clint Eastwood. It's all for the Devil's diversion - and ours.
The Straight Story -- Can you imagine David Lynch making a movie with a rural suburban setting that isn't both ominous and murderous? Based on a true story, the film is about a 90 year old guy who travels on a lawn mower (he no longer has a driver's license), from Iowa to Wisconsin to visit his estranged brother who is recovering, he hopes, from a stroke. The film turns into a lovable Easy Rider for senior citizens. Along the way the lawn mower man meets with an interesting bunch of characters and exchanges redeeming wisdom with them. You can always depend on the kindness of these strangers. Storyville -- Entertaining film naturally about New Orlean's crimes and punishments. The harshest kind of Huey Long type of politics. The central conspiracy was a bit too complicated for me - but I'm conspiracy impaired these days. Loved looking at the Big Easy. S. W. A. T. -- Contemporary remake of an old TV program filled with nonstop super macho action, including a few plot twists, and some interesting betrayal thrown in. What's really surprising is that the film makers saw no need to offer an excuse for militarizing an American police force. I guess in an age when civilians are taught how to spy on other civilians -- who cares if cops want to dress up like soldiers. 
The Life And Death Of Peter Sellers -- This film tells the old Paliachi tale of a happy comic genius clown who is almost always crying on the inside. But Sellers is much more than unhappy, he is a borderline near lunatic of almost limitless insecurity and childish cruelty who hurts everyone around him. The film does a reasonably good Sellers (also Closeau) and has a great score.It's an interesting but somewhat tiresome tale of the blending of brilliance and insanity. A Thief Of Time -- All about pottery thieves on a Native American Rez in New Mexico. Great seeing the fantastic deserts and mountains of the great West. Thief Of Time's characters, especially the Indian cops are quite interesting, but the film makers never really figured out a plausible plot - Eventually story line chaos rules. This is Spinal Tap -- This is one of the best and funniest fake documentaries ever made. It's all about a values free, on-the-skids, British macho rock band trying for a comeback tour in the US. Their record album cover is censored for hideous sexism, most of their big gigs are canceled. Everything else goes absolutely wrong, and in one scene they can't even find the stage. The genius of this film is to get its hilarity from being only five per cent crazier than rock reality. This is what a talentless and stylistically opportunist band would really be like - when Rob Reiner is writing and directing the gags and the actors are permitted to say anything they wish, such as "there's a fine line between genius and stupidity." The 39 Steps -- Hitchcock's legendary spy thriller, where the hero, played by Robert Donat, is trying to break up a dangerous spy ring while dodging the coppers on a false murder charge. A great chase transpires in London's Music Halls, on terrifying trains, in an exciting bed handcuffed to a beautiful woman, and through Scotland's mysterious countryside. Plenty of great vignettes along the way, including the famous scene where our hero has to give a speech before an audience, yet he has no idea what his subject matter is supposed to be. Talk about a bad dream. As usual Hitchcock builds great suspense, but it's quite softened by brilliant comedy and sophisticated romance. The Sixth Man -- A supernatural comedy about two black brothers who play great college basketball. One dies during a game and then manages to return as a very ambitious ghost. He insists on still being a team member -- making for novel forms of big time cheating. Eventually the living brother and his team mates are faced with a powerful moral challenge -- and so is a beautiful woman reporter. Should the ghost be kicked off the team? Should the reporter write about it? The frequent basketball scenes are great and all the characters are very likable -- not a villain in the bunch. Thunderball -- Pre women's movement sexist imperialist dog. Women on the beach looked a little plumper than their counter parts would look today. Brought back memories. How many of you trivia experts know that Sean Connery once entered a Mr. Universe Contest back in the early 50s. Of course it was in England. Time Bomb -- A nice guy who wouldn't hurt a fly, wonders why an army of sadists is out to kill him. More surprisingly, he hasn't any idea why he seems to possess limitless knowledge of extreme self defense skills. Turns out the guy was once brainwashed to be a stone killer for the CIA but somehow he managed to forget all about it. The Company thought he was dead but now they know better. They plan to murder a liberal Attorney General (yes this breed once existed), and don't want their former student in the way. He might just remember his past. This is what Judy and I call a "good bad" movie and the brainwashing scenes are quite convincing. Toys --Starring Robin Williams. A General, still angry over losing in Vietnam, inherits his pacifist brother's toy company and turns it into a weapons factory. His nephew and niece fight back against the betrayal of their father's legacy. A toy war ensues. The film is fantastic to look at. The toy factory itself resembles a surrealistic art deco toy itself. The costume bits are funny and there's even a little Fritz Lang and Magritte thrown in for fun. A good film to see at the beginning of the Bush sequel, the General certainly does resemble its true cultural values. Trial And Error -- Through a comedy of errors an actor, played by Michael Richards, is mistaken for his lawyer friend and takes on the friend's big court case. Naturally, he (eventually), does a good job and falls in love with the DA. A movie about an actor pretending to be a lawyer? Most of my lawyer friends always pretended they were actors. Bill Kunstler even wound up taking on some small film roles. In addition to fun and likable light comedy, the film offers great portraits of the Nevada desert. Triplets of Belleville -- An old lady, her friendly fat dog, and champion bicycle racing son have an amazing animated adventure. The art work is strongly reminiscent of pre-Disney opium influenced surrealism. The son is kidnapped by gamblers who intend to forcibly incorporate him into their racket. The dog and old lady meet up with a 1930s singing, swinging, sister group of triplets, and together they set out to rescue her son. It's all visually mind blowing and the capacity of old people to resist cruelty and exploitation is inspiring. twin falls, idaho -- It's about two guys who are Siamese Twins, the relationship that develops between them, and a warm hearted hooker. One of the brothers is near death. The plot can get depressing but the great love between the brothers saves the day. Also the Halloween scenes portraying the one day of the year when the twins can seem normal are fun.
Unstrung Heroes -- A kid's wonderful mother is slowly dying of Cancer and his father can just bark orders and cry. He runs away to live with his two crazy uncles who are collectors of almost anything that can be found in a garbage can. They have also become a bizarre mix of Orthodox Jews and 1950s paranoid Communists. The young man is offered love, fun and exciting escapist games (a shade of Yippie here), to get him over the pain. A favorite scene? The kid singing The Internationale in school instead of The Star Spangled Banner. In a very strong cast, John Turturro and Michael Richards are amazing. Under The Tuscan Sun -- A likable and predictable film about an American woman recovering from a broken marriage. She buys a very run down rural house in beautiful Tuscany, and naturally, sun and sex are mixed with lots of wine to revive her spirits. The village community gives her a new sense of family to rebuild her soul. How could anyone be unhappy eating that food? Exile anyone?
Volcano -- A prehistoric volcano lurks under LA and then one day it comes alive -- pours lots of lava fire and tries to destroy Los Angeles. One major plot problem-motivation. Who do we root for, LA or the Volcano? Great special effects.
Waiting For Guffman -- A joyous (and silly), pseudo-documentary about the making of a pageant play boosting small town Blaine Missouri -- whose chief claim to fame is a 1950's visit by aliens - and the fact that they were once known as the Stool Capitol of America. Every one of the pageant players is high in ego and very low in talent. They do try their best, hoping the impending arrival of talent scout Guffman will give them a shot at Broadway. One surprising piece of information revealed by the film is the enormous Jewish population living noisily in a small Missouritown. Waking Life -- A strange and brilliantly original film, originally shot on video and overlayed with computer animation. Its about a bright and alienated college student who is run over in an abrupt traffic accident. He wakes up in his own bed but soon can't tell if he is still asleep. He keeps running into talkative individuals who discuss existentialism, evolution, free will and the nature of dreaming. Along the way he meets two of my old and dead friends, Tim Leary and Abbie Hoffman walking on the Brooklyn Bridge - brilliant and manic as ever. Is our sleeping hero even alive? He tries one last time to wake up. Weather Underground -- An informative nicely paced documentary on the history and motives of that 60's rebel organization. Old time Weather activists are revealing interviewed, as well as political opponents on the left, and even an FBI agent who was assigned the impossible task of catching them. The film's emphasis is on the moral imperatives that motivated these idealistic young people to make very dangerous choices -- to do something--anything, in opposition to the Vietnam War. Their common voice speaks to us now -- to do nothing in the face of war and its overwhelming violence, is itself a most violent and terrible act. The Wedding Banquet -- Chinese-American director Ang Lee presents a fascinating portrait of a Taiwan born Yuppie living in NYC with his handsome boyfriend, a doctor, who seems to have just one problem, the young man has never told his Taiwan based parents that he is gay. Now the father, a retired General, has had a stroke and he and the mother are coming to NY to see to it that their son gets married and gives them a grandson. The desperate son persuades a beautiful woman to enter into a false marriage, she gets a green card and gets his parents off his back. All plans are disrupted when the owner of the best Chinese Restaurant in town turns out to be a former aide of the father and insists on giving an enormous banquet as a wedding gift. This is also a great food film and that's the part that makes me want to live in China. What To Do In Case Of Fire -- German film about a former group of anarchist film makers and bombers. Now some of them are rich and right-wing, some are middle class respectable liberals and others are bitter, poor and feeling betrayed. They have nothing in common anymore except that when Rip Van Winkle like, a bomb they planted a long time ago, wakes up and blows up -- the group has to join together once more to carry out a final bit of militant business. They have to destroy evidence against them by blowing up part of a police station. Sort of like "The Big Chill" only this time it's about a bomb and not a funeral. There is an incredible amount of dramatic tension and anger within the group but they finally remember the good old days and put their bodies on the line. What do you do in case of fire? Ah my friend, you let it burn. Will they ever make a film like this in America? Sure, right after I'm elected President. Lady Windermere's Fan -- Ernst Lubitsh's great 1925 version of Oscar Wilde's classic play. How to do you translate Wilde's brilliant verbal witticisms to the silent screen? You do it through facial expressions so subtle and unique, a modern viewer may never even have seen them before. The well married Lady Windermere believes her mother died when she was young and was a saint. Actually, she was a disgraced woman who had to leave England. Now she has returned and is blackmailing Lord Windermere. If he doesn't give her some big bucks she will reveal her true identity to her daughter Lady Windermere. Presumably, the shock of learning the truth, will kill this very healthy young woman. Wilde's story is all about upper class hypocrisy, cruelty, and double standards. The disgraced mother turns out to be the plot's most moral character. Wind Talkers -- WW2 in the Pacific - centering around the fact that the American military code was based on the Navajo language, and that the Navajo were recruited as radio operators and translators. The Japanese never broke the code. Of course the film contains all the standard liberal conventions about unlearning racism through practicing brotherhood et al. But what is very unstandard about this production is its portrayal of war, and how an Island in the Pacific is conquered inch by inch - corpse by corpse. The horror! Maybe the strongest anti-war movie since Birth of A Nation. Winged Migration -- This is a film about a variety of birds that fly half away around the world on a regular schedule. They never get lost and they do a much better job than Columbus did when it comes to finding India. It's hard to decide which is more amazing, the birds making this spectacular journey, or the humans with cameras who somehow manage to keep up with them by employing balloon travel, airplanes and helicopters. My good friend Anita Hoffman became rather disillusioned with birds on her death bed. She looked out of her San Francisco window and always saw them stealing, fighting and making lots of noise. This winged migration might have given her a more balanced view. The Witches of Eastwick -- A falling down joyous comedy about the devil and three women who conjure him up out of some serious needs. It's another perfect part for the always demonic looking Jack Nicholson who gives the women everything they want, intellectually, artistically and most of all sexually - but his price is their complete domination. The women, played very strongly by Cher, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiff, rebel causing one of the all time great movie scenes where Nicholson goes into a very white suburban Protestant Church, vomits on everyone and asks if women are "God's mistake or did he do them on purpose." The devil suggests that if they are a mistake, there might be a vaccine.
The Year That Trembled -- Directed by (my old peace movement pal) Jay Craven. The film takes place in 1970, in the deadly shadows of the killings at Kent State. The film offers a dramatic, sympathetic and realistic portrayal of how young people of that era were tested by the Vietnam War and its harsh domestic fallout. They had to make hard choices that might carry severe consequences. Some wound up in Vietnam and others in Canada, and Craven helps us feel compassion for both. The film's special pleasure is a brilliantly selected musical score especially the work of Country Joe And The Fish.
 Zorro The Gay Blade -- Don Diego returns from Spain to discover his father has been murdered. He also learns that the old man was the legendary Zorro. Diego decides to carry on in the family tradition. He is aided by his over the top Gay and charming brother Bunny Wigglesworth, just returned from the sea, who wears much more colorful versions of the Zorro costume and is fantastic with a whip. George Hamilton plays both brothers with a lovable comic brilliance. There is great romance in store for Zorro and a crazed dictator to dipose. Strange factoid: The Gay Blade was a great favorite of Imelda Marcos and so was George Hamilton.
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