Caro Diario... which means "Dear Diary." The director is Nanni Moretti (I think I'm spelling that right). Cool movie. I like it when they go to the Island to get some writing done, and on the top of this dormant volcano, they encounter American tourists who get them caught up on their favorite soap operas.
Thank you, that's been bugging me since this thread was started. The aesthetic guy gets completely zoned in watching the soaps on the ferry's tv, doesn't he? I liked the scene of him dancing in the little deli. Plus the scenes of him on the vespa are really hypnotic.
A movie I saw a couple of years ago and then forgot about came up in conversation recently: Hands on a Hard Body It's a documentary about a contest held at a car dealership in East Texas. A bunch of contestants stand alongside a new truck and put one hand on it. If you take your hand off you're out, and the last one left standing many hours/days later wins the truck. Let's just say there are some interesting folks participating in the contest. Very cool, very funny movie. I'm not sure how easy it is to find, but if you get a chance it's well worth watching.
Dr. Wankler, That's a great story. I can totally see that happening. Heart of Glass is the film where Herzog hypnotized the cast. It has a really interesting premise. A village in 15th or 16th century Germany becomes wealthy by producing and selling "ruby glass." Then the man who knows how to make it dies. No one else in the village knows the formula. From there, things go downhill. Sounds like an interesting recommendation on your part. But finding it in small-town Georgia would be a task. There are two Blockbusters where I live, and I'm just tickled that they have as many good films, particularly foreign films, as they do. I'll give it a look, though, when I have the chance.
This probably won't be in your local video store but you might find it in a good public library or college/university. Its a documentary called "Titicut Follies" and its one of the most f***ed up things that you will probably see. It was filmed back in 1967 (black and white) in the Massachusetts Prison for the Criminally insane. It was banned for 24 years by an embarrassed Mass. Supreme Court until PBS aired it back in 1992. Apparently its the only movie/documentary in the US that was successfully censored for reasons other than nudity or obscenity (I believe the reason was the violation of patients' privacy rights - although it took them a while to develop this excuse, at first they justified it due to its nudity).
Dr. JOnes, To highlight your original post cconcerning Jinnah.. I was reading through the "Ghandi" essay in a book that I have that has historians' assessments of films. This is the description of the portrayal of Jinnah in the film -- "The genuine fears of hte Muslim minority are never presented, and the brilliant lawyer who became leader of the Muslim League, Mohnammed Ali Jinnah, is portrayed as nothing more than a languid and malevolent fop -- which makes ther subsequent success of his campaignfor Pakistan inexplicable."
After Hours When it's after midnight in New York City, you don't have to look for love, laughter and trouble. They'll all find you! Best Martin Scorcese Film. Ever.
Donnie Darko You may or may not have heard of it..but either way, a very enjoyable movie. It came out sometime last year and recently came out on DVD (I think it has been on video a bit longer). Anyways, your local blockbuster should have a copy or two, as long as it has a decent selection... Jake Gyllanhall stars in it (he was the kid from "October Sky"...and he is gonna be in some upcoming movies) - This kid is good...I was impressed...His sister has a role as well, and she does a really good job. As far as plot goes....it's hard to explain...Basically it's set in the 80's (in a much more subtle way, than say, The Wedding singer), and Donnie Darko (Gyllanhall) has some apparant mental problems....Anyways, go rent this....It's funny/interesting/confusing/enjoyable..etc.
Local Hero. 1983, with Burt Lancaster and Peter Riegert. Very quirky and cynical, if that's your cup of tea, and also it screws with your expectations a bit. Lancaster's the head of a big American Oil company that sends Riegert to Scotland to buy up all the land in a small town. Both Riegert and Lancaster are great, and the small town is of course filled with eccentrics, but not predictable ones if you know what I mean. And they manage to get a Russian submarine captain in there. You can see an echo of this movie in Mamet's State & Main when the two local geezers are sitting in the diner talking about the box office receipts report in the latest Variety. Scene's done in almost the same offhand manner as it is in Local Hero too. I'd recommend State & Main except seeing some the post in here I would guess that everyone here has heard of that one. What is it, the staff of Cahiers Du Cimema are big Metrostars fans? My favorite one so far was the Todd Haynes movie that isn't even legal to rent. Some of these could be made up for all I know, Rogopag? Vetical Ray of the Sun? Hmmmm. My made up movie would be Mondo,a little known beach blanket knockoff that introduced sex, drugs and juvenile delinquency to the genre. Written and directed by Larry Trengrove, Jack Nicholson's writing partner on Head, the Monkees movie.
This is one of my wife's all time favorites. It's not really what I'd call cynical, though. It has a pretty good soundtrack, too, by Mark Knopfler (might be the first he did). Many of Bill Forsythe's films are good, but this is the best. (Gregory's Girl has a soccer connection: goofy young kid falls for a girl who's on the school soccer team. ) Another interesting point about Local Hero: the guy who plays Gordon Urquehart also played Wedge in the original Star Wars (A New Hope) and is Ewan McGregor's (young Obi Wan) uncle.
La Haine is good. A standout film for me is the epic, utterly haunting "Picnic at Hanging Rock" which recounts the bizarre story of a party of schoolgirls who went for an outing on Valentine's Day 1900 in the Australian outback. Some never returned despite intensive search efforts, except for one who was found a number of days later at the summit of Hanging Rock - she could not remember what happened. The film makes no atempt to sensationalise the events, there are no flying saucers or special effects, but it is unforgettable. The cinematography and the music score are haunting. I think it was Peter Weir's debut. Another great film where the mood is evoked by the work of the cinematographer is Neil Jordan's "The Company of Wolves".
Well I am not sure if these count. Fritz Lang's "M" The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919 - Silent Classic) Beyond the Valley of the Dolls Dancer in the Dark
If you liked "Picnic at Hanging Rock", you should watch Weir's film, "Last Wave". It's the story of an Australian lawyer getting drawn into a mystical Aborigine mystery. As in "Picnic...." the atmosphere is brilliantly conveyed and the ending is great. Another excellent Weir film is "Fearless: with Jeff Bridges.
A very funny Japanese movie is "Tampopo". "Ghost World" starring Thora Birch ("American Beauty") and Steve Buscemi (wierdo character actor) is also incredible.
I usually don't visit this section to often, but another vote for Run Lola Run. Another Redford movie I'll usually catch for time to time is The Hot Rock. Afghanistan Bananastand! Also need to add Big Wednesday to the list.
The island is probably Mont Saint Michel. Speaking of French films, "Un Diner de Cons", or translated as the dinner of idiots, is excellent. An extremely funny film. John Sayles' "Lonestar" is great. "Men at Work", an Emilio Estevez film, might not be little known, but perhaps under appreciated.
This movie kicks ass. In fact, I think I'm going to rent it again since it's been a few years since I last saw it.
For a comedy, I'd recommend Citizen Ruth. Laura Dern plays a pregnant glue sniffing addict. When she is arrested, the judge offers to lighten her sentence if she has an abortion. From that moment, Dern becomes a pawn in the pro-life/pro-choice battle. She is first taken in by some holy rollers and then later kidnapped by a lesbian couple as they both try to use her as a posterchild for their cause. However, all Dern wants to do is get high as she becomes a continuous embarrassment for both sides. Burt Reynolds plays a Randall Terry character. It sounds heavy from my description but it isn't. It is a hilarious spoof of the entire abortion debate. Murf
Three that I really liked but I never heard much about: Love Walked In http://us.imdb.com/Title?0118727 Denis Leary is a struggling piano player in some resort on Long Island. Terence Stamp is the wealthy older gentleman that Leary's wife is going to seduce so they can rob him. Nothing goes quite as planned. The Icicle Thief http://us.imdb.com/Title?0097702 and Volere Volare http://us.imdb.com/Title?0103223 . Two comic mind benders by Italian director Maurizio Nicchetti. The first one blends modern TV with a send-up of The Bicycle Thief. The second blends some notably eccentric humans with animated characters. I found both very funny and very offbeat.
Here's a link to a This American Life episode about Hands on a Hardbody. After hearing this you'll definitely want to rent the video. http://www.thislife.org/pages/descriptions/97/62.html
Now that this has been resurrected, I'll put in a few: Someone mentioned "Donnie Darko" -- great recommendation. Very original and a great soundtrack to boot. Produced by Drew Barrymore, actually, and has a very well known cast for such a small film, including Patrick Swayze and Noah Wyle. Folks around here have heard of it, but b/c most people who have seen "Rushmore" and "The Royal Tannenbaums", still don't know of it, I'd put in "Bottle Rocket". The first, and the best, Anderson/Wilson film. Those of you that have seen it will probably agree, though, that males infinitely feel this movie speaks to them, while females just don't get it. "The Dinner Game" -- a classic French farce about a publishing executive who invites a tax man to a "dinner for idiots" (i.e., who can bring the biggest loser). His idiot show up at his house and hilarious hijinks ensue. Actually, they really do. "Love and Death on Long Island" -- Jason Priestly can actually act. He's a B-movie superstar who is the object of a crush held by a slightly older, very proper British novelist.