Hamlet

At the forbidding castle of Elsinore, The Prince of Denmark (Mel Gibson) plots revenge and ponders existential matters when his uncle (Alan Bates) murders his father the King (Paul Scofield) and marries his mother (Glenn Close). Franco Zeffirelli's Hamlet is a somewhat monotone telling boasting of great production design. It's fun to watch Gibson in this sort of against type role, and he proves to be more than capable in an animated performance. Bates and Scofield (in a limited role) stand out among the cast.

*** out of ****

The Hairdresser's Husband

A young boy is enraptured by the carnality of his local hairdresser and vows to marry one when he grows up, and does just that, engaging in a torrid, fairy-tale but doomed love affair with another hair stylist. Made with a particular Euro sense of humor and sensibility, though heralded by some, Patrice Leconte's film is so slight as to barely fill a short film but made with wonderful set design, camerawork, and the amiable set of actors.

** 1/2 out of ****

Reversal of Fortune

The ghostly voice of millionaire debutante Sunny Von Bulow (Glenn Close) informs of her two overdoses, spaced a year apart, the second resulting in a permanent vegetative state as the result of an insulin injection and her crafty, urbane husband Claus (Jeremy) being convicted of attempted murder and seeking that conviction overturned by brilliant legal mind Alan Dershowitz (Ron Silver) and his team of student attorneys. Irons is the whole show in a sly, virtuoso performance and Close provides a fine supporting turn and excellent narration in what could have been a gimmicky implementation. The legal scenes however, though thorough and informative, are not nearly as riveting.

*** out of ****

Alice

A bored Manhattan socialite (Mia Farrow), married to a disinterested philanderer (William Hurt), finds herself considering an affair with the attract parent (Joe Mantegna) of one of child's schoolmates, and does so with the assistance of an Eastern healer who also acts as a life guide of sorts. Woody Allen's Alice is imaginative, funny, scrutinizing and brought to life by a sound cast with farrow leading the way while demonstrating her versatility.

*** 1/2 out of ****

After Dark, My Sweet

An imbalanced ex-boxer (Jason Patric) stumbles into a sleepy desert bar, is accosted by the bartender for no apparent reason, and comforted and then seduced by a beautiful and troubled patron (Rachel Ward). After bringing him home, she introduces him to an older companion (Bruce Dern) of undisclosed relation before involving the drifter in a harebrained kidnapping plan. From a novel by Jim Thompson, James Foley’s After Dark, My Sweet is a steamy, seedy, cold, and intelligent modern noir with fine performances from Ward and Dern and really a virtuoso one from Patric. Jarring, with a knockout ending.

*** ½ out of ****

Jacob's Ladder

Following the death of his child, a mail carrier and ex-Vietnam Vet (Tim Robbins) with clear PTSD symptoms begins experiencing hallucinations and schizophrenic paranoia, and finds himself unable to distinguish between fantasy and reality. Adrian Lyne's Jacob's Ladder is nightmarish and exceptionally well-made, though confusing and even nonsensical, which is ultimately to the filmmakers' credit when considering how this material could have gone in other hands (Terry Gilliam comes foremost to mind). Robbins in exceptional in a fine early career role.

*** out of ****

Awakenings

A lonely neurologist (Robin Williams) takes a job at a Bronx psychiatric hospital to care for catatonic patients who suffered from an encephalitis outbreak during the Great Depression. After discovering signs of life still apparent in his patients and developing a bond with a man entranced since childhood (Robert De Niro), he begins administering test dosages of L-DOPA and once thought hopeless cases begin to reawaken. Penny Marshall’s Awakenings, based on the true life work of Dr. Oliver Sacks, is fascinating in its early stages by eventually spins its wheels and is tarnished by a feeling cuing soundtrack and an unfounded romantic subplot involving Penelope Ann Miller. Williams and De Niro, nonetheless, are extraordinary in some of the finest work of their careers and Julie Kavner and John Heard have great turns in support.

*** out of ****

Q & A

A revered, gruff, and brutal NYC detective (Nick Nolte) murders a drug dealer, without warning, outside a night club and plants a gun on the victim. A green assistant district attorney (Timothy Hutton) is summoned in the wee hours of the morning into the D.A.’s office and is given strict instructions to gloss over the inquiry and recommend no charges be filed. Unable to turn away from the detective’s glaring guilt, he conducts a thorough investigation putting himself in harm’s way, which is compacted even further when he learns his ex-girlfriend(Jenny Lumet) has become involved with the case’s chief witness (Armand Assante). Q & A is a harsh, gritty, and compromising effort from Sidney Lumet, once more tackling prejudice and New York City police corruption. The film works best when sticking to its main plotline and just gets bizarre when focusing on its side stories. Hutton is effective in an unremarkable role and Nolte is spellbinding as the boundless, ruthless heel.

*** out of ****

The Decalogue

A woman learns that the man who raised her is not her birth father. A violent psychopath is put to death. A father bestows in his son to hold science over all else and pays the ultimate price. The Decalogue is a television mini-series, ten episodes, each loosely based on one of the Commandments and revolving around residents of a Warsaw Public Housing Complex. Krzysztof Kieslowski's ambitious, genuine passion project is epic in scope, often engrossing, and features poetic imagery but is frequently impeded by obvious moralizing.
*** 1/2 out of ****

3 Films on Vincent and Theo van Gogh

 Vincente Minnelli's Lust for Life, Paul Cox's Vincent and Robert Altman's Vincent and Theo are three films that all take the same basic story--the passion and madness of the renowned and beleaguered Dutch master and his relationship to his devoted art dealing brother--present them from different angles, and ultimately serve as extraordinary complements of each other. Lust for Life features considerable access to Van Gogh's paintings, often shown in widescreen closeup, and also the forceful and controlled performance from Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn's memorable, Oscar winning turn as the tortured artist's mentor Paul Gauguin. Cox's film is a documentary which presents footage of Van Gogh's supposed tumultuous journey, much of which is set in the idyllic South of France, and features John Hurt, ideally cast, reading Vincent's poetically revealing letters to his brother Theo. Altman's film stays true to its title devoting just about as much time to the less heralded Van Gogh sibling, has a dark tone and tempo meshed with the director's usual offbeat approach, and contains a snarlingly manic and remarkable performance from Tim Roth as Vincent and an equally well realized one from Paul Rhys as his counterpart.

The Proletariat Trilogy (Shadows in Paradise, Ariel, The Match Factory Girl)

Kati Outinen in The Match Factory Girl

Three droll, alternately funny and melancholic films from Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismaki detailing lives of quiet desperation on the bottom rungs of the social order. Each center on excellent lead performances with the best of the lot (and the most devastating) being the concluding film. Shadows in Paradise tells the story of a lonely garbage worker (Matti Pellonpaa) whose business ventures are crushed when his partner dies unexpectedly and he renews his life with a homely grocery store check-out girl (Kati Outinen). Ariel tells of a coal miner (Turo Pajala), forced to start over following his termination and his father's suicide, who soon finds himself in hot water with the law. Lastly, The Match Factory Girl details the life of a victim of unremitting cruelty and desolation (Outinen again, heart achingly good), whose existence is as mundane and repetitive as the matchbox making machines she mans.

Martin Scorsese Directs

Martin Scorsese Directs was one of the early entries in PBS' American Masters series and was released in conjunction with the premiere of Goodfellas (the documentary features some great footage from the set). Even during this middle period of the celebrated, distinctive, and neurotic director's career, who had thus far helmed such masterworks as Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and The Last Temptation of Christ, he was already being mentioned among the likes of Frank Capra, John Ford, Howard Hawks, and Alfred Hitchcock. The documentary is an engaging and often very funny celebration of his life and career by many friends and collaborators, including Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Steven Spielberg, Roger Corman, Thelma Schoonmaker, John Cassavetes, and of course, his parents.

Goodfellas

The rise and fall of Henry Hill, who spent his childhood in Little Italy idolizing the local two-bit hoods, rose in their rackets, and lived the live (including having participated in the record setting Lufthansa heist) before resorting to drugs and turning government witness, the ultimate betrayal to his friends and associates. After repeated viewings and a more than passing familiarity with the movie, Goodfellas is still a completely engaging and perhaps the most watchable of all films as it takes a dead on eye level, blinders off, deglamourized riff on the mob. After once more taking the journey into this violent, yet often humorous and seductive territory through the lens of Scorsese's never resting camera, who worked with Nicolas Pilleggi in adapting the journalist's seemingly insider book Wiseguy, it hit me just how good some of the lesser heralded performances are in the movie (Pesci still steals the film), specifically the work of Ray Liotta and Lorraine Bracco, also doubling as narrators as they provide an outsider's and often bemused view of the lifestyle. The soundtrack also bears mentioning as a great collage with artists varying between, Tony Bennett, Aretha Franklin, Eric Clapton, The Ronettes, The Rolling Stones, and Muddy Waters.

The Godfather Trilogy

The saga of the Corleone crime family and their struggle to hold on from power and their fall from grace, as the sins of the father are passed on to his favorite son and the latter loses his soul. What more can be said about The Godfather films that hasn't already been said? Francis Ford Coppola's first two installments, made in collaboration with the source author Mario Puzo, are some of the finest examples of modern storytelling and moviemaking that we have. From the plot subtleties to the iconic performances (Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Robert De Niro) to Gordon Willis' breathtaking photography and Nino Rota's unforgettable score and even the somewhat unsung supporting performances (John Cazale, Richard Castellano, John Marley, Michael Gazzo, Lee Strasberg). Then there is the dreadful Part III, a film I was ready to defend, until realizing how poorly realized it is upon a recent viewing. Here Coppola does everything he seemed to be trying to avoid doing in the earlier films, and presents a horrible screenplay with godawful acting, which is abetted somewhat by good direction, yet is still a black eye on an otherwise exceptional and unsurpassable series.

The Civil War

"The Civil War was fought in 10,000 places. From Valverde, New Mexico and Tullahaoma, Tennessee to St. Albans, Vermont and Fernandina on the Florida coast. More than three million Americans fought in it and over 600,000 men, two percent of the population, died in it." So begins David McCullough's indelible narration of The Civil War, Ken Burns' consummate and most famous documentary, which he claimed took longer to write, compile, and assemble than his actual subject itself took to fight. The nine part, nearly twelve hour long miniseries is the most complete example of his incredibly influential body of work as it combines a wealth of archival footage told in Burns' signature style, beautiful writing, the inimitable McCullough narration, and a stock of expert contribution (including the show stealing Shelby Foote), all of which detail what now seems a harrowing, unimaginable conflict.

Metropolitan

By way of a mutual friend/ex-girlfriend (Ellia Thompson), a cynical, intelligent Princeton student of modest means (Edward Clements) falls in with a crowd of Upper East Side upper crusters quickly heeding to their complex social code while pining for his ex and not realizing that another group member (Carolyn Farina) admires him. Writer/director Whit Stillman's debut film is a talky,particular work that seems very in tuned with the world it depicts (which may as well have been an alternate universe to me) and whose dialogue and tone wash over you and prove to be a refreshing experience. It's cast of unknowns service the film admirably, with Christopher Eigeman a particular standout as the jaded ringleader of the band of debutantes.

Total Recall

As a conglomerate wrestles of control of the Mars' atmosphere with the local population in a futuristic 21st century, a construction worker (Arnold Schwarzenegger) decides to take a mental vacation as a government agent to the Red Planet and has a travel chip implanted in his brain. Strangely however, just before the procedure is performed, he has a mental breakdown and flashes back to the exact memories which he intends to have implanted! Actually a brainwashed superspy, he now finds himself on the run from a series of government assassins as he travels to our neighboring planet to discover the truth behind his current situation. Paul Verhoeven's "Total Recall" is a relentlessly violent and entertaining science fiction action picture from the short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" by the late Philip K. Dick, who seems to responsible for many of the great sci-fi flicks from the past thirty years ("Blade Runner", "Minority Report"). The film brings plausible logic to its grossly improbable plot, and like its lead character, you are never quite sure just exactly what is going on, which is all played to great effect. A lot of this success can be contributed to Arnold's commanding believability. Michael Ironside and Ronny Cox also make effective baddies. "Total Recall" is impressive in both its medley ambitious material and breakneck pace. While events spiral somewhat out of control towards the end of the picture, I found this to be a fun and surprisingly challenging motion picture.

Pacific Heights

According to Wikipedia, Pacific Heights is located in one of the most scenic and park-like settings in Northern California, offering panoramic views of the Golden Gate Bridge, the San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz, and the Presidio.Into this idyllic setting move Patty (Melanie Griffith) and Drake (Matthew Modine), a struggling yuppie couple who fudge the numbers on their home lone application of a large Victorian home, where they hope to rent out the two ground floor rooms. After a barrage of questionable applicants, the couple finally decide to rent to an Asian couple and a slick, seemingly genuine tenant (Michael Keaton), who turns out to be a vicious scam artist who seeks to take the house from Patty and Drake and destroy their personal lives. John Schlesinger's "Pacific Heights" is an effective thriller based on a flimsy plot which the filmmakers try their darndest to seem authentic but still comes off as entirely implausible (I don't believe a tenant can move into an apartment without paying rent, and not be swiftly evicted). Yet on this shaky foundation, and along with Schlesinger's firm direction, the film is greatly aided by the performance of its cast. Griffith is extremely appealing as the stronger partner compare to Modine's weakling, and Michael Keaton, who must have been in high demand to play another home eviction character following "Beetlejuice", is genuinely creepy in his role.

The Grifters

A con artist working the east coast horse races for a big time bookmaker is sent on a job to L.A. While out there, she visits her scam artist son who is operating on a smaller scale and is taken aback to learn that he is dating a woman quite like herself. As both woman vie to play the son against each other, all involved are lead down a sinister and deadly path. "The Grifters" is a dark and twisty and slightly laconic modern noir from director Stephen Frears. Written by Donald E. Westlake from a novel by Jim Thompson, whose credits include early Kubrick films "Paths of Glory" and the noir classic "The Killing", "The Grifters" is sharply written and cold as a stone. Angelica Huston, wearing a Marilyn Monroe wig, is outstanding as the con woman mother whose depravity knows no bounds when it comes to getting what she wants and Annette Bening is just as fine as her son's like minded girlfriend. I've always found John Cusack to be uninteresting, and the same stands here, but both Huston and Bening carry him along nicely. Pat Hingle and J.T. Walsh have really juicy supporting roles as well. I really enjoyed the twists and turns "The Grifters", and Frears and company really gets the heart down of the genre in that it has none.

Twin Peaks

David Lynch is a director I have never gotten. His films are murky and strange and border on the incomprehensible. However, with television he may have found a medium suited to his sensibilities, one that gives him the freedom and space to experiment. "Twin Peaks" was Lynch and Mark Frost's short-lived, critically acclaimed, cult classic that tells the story of a peculiar yet ingenious FBI agent investigating the murder of a young girl in the title town, which is comprised of equally strange people who are dealing with subversive and possibly supernatural elements. "Twin Peaks" is a superb series (2 seasons) and a wonderful blend of humor, soap opera, and crime. Kyle MacLachlan is phenomenal is the lead role as special agent Dale Cooper and is given great support by those around him. Here are the ones who really stood out for me: Michael Ontkean as the town sheriff, Richard Beymer as the conniving local tycoon, Sherilyn Fenn as his seductive and inquisitive daughter, Lara Flynn Boyle as the victim's best friend. With "Twin Peaks", Lynch has found a big enough canvas to suit his vision and with it he has crafted his masterpiece.