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2002 Spring Video Roundup

4/1/02

A great man once said, "When in doubt, watch a lot of f***ing movies."

"What Women Want"

I refused to see this film in theaters on principle, since it was gun-totin' Mel Gibson in a sappy romance movie.  But for free, I'll do most anything, so I finally caught this film recently and it was pretty damned funny.  Mel puts the Glock away and trades bullets for nail polish as ad exec Nick Marshall, a chauvinistic pig that bags women like groceries with his good looks and over-the-top charm.  But, when he accidentally electrocutes himself by dropping a hair dryer into his bathtub, he recovers being able to read the minds of any woman he wants.  This fantasy-romantic comedy works mostly because Mel looks like he is having the time of his life.  Helen Hunt and Marisa Tomei give great support and, save for a couple of bad cheese moments, is mostly a movie that members of both sexes can sit through without much trouble.

Rating:  $9.50 Show

"State and Main"

A couple of my film friends here in San Francisco recommended that I see this film, since it features a faux-Hollywood film crew that is shooting a film in small-town Vermont...or, I guess that would just be Vermont then!  David Mamet ("Glengarry Glen Ross", "Heist") directs his own script with middling results; the film's first hour is pretty funny, with great references to associate producing credits and hamming it up with stars William H. Macy, Alec Baldwin and Sarah Jessica Parker.  But, the title refers to the corner of an intersection where a car accident happens mid-film, and that is where the film starts to roll downhill badly.  You could do worse, but wouldn't you rather do better?

Rating:  Matinee

"Barton Fink"

Trying to catch up on Coen Brothers films that I haven't seen, I finally saw this 1991 entry starring regulars John Turturro, John Goodman and Tony Shalhoub about a 1941 screenwriter named Barton Fink (Turturro) that is enlisted by a Los Angeles production company to write a wrestling film.  A funny take on early Hollywood films and the producers behind them, the movie builds slowly to an event mid-picture that really notches up the intensity of the performers through its final act.  Turturro is excellent once again and the creepy Hotel Earle lends for some memorable hallway shots.  The film was up for three Oscars in '92 (including Michael Lerner's role as the head of Capital Pictures) and is well-shot by Oscar-nominated cinematographer Roger Deakins.

Rating:  $9.50 Show

"Naked Lunch"

William Burroughs' book is turned into a David Cronenberg flick in this 1991 sci-fi fantasy about a 1950s New York City exterminator (Peter Weller, "Robocop") that starts hallucinating and believes he is a secret agent that must complete missions in the Interzone, where people from his personal life start popping up in random situations that must be seen to be believed.  This film is some pretty weird shit, and figuring it all out was a combination of "who gives a damn?" and "what the fuck?" that leaves you to just sit and watch the deadpan Weller try to make sense of it all.  I am sure that the book is much better, even if it is just as incohesive as this mess; the film is just a bunch of random scenes that don't seem to create any intrigue whatsoever.

Rating:  Rental

"Va Savoir" (Who Knows?)

My friend Heidi and I went to the video store recently and picked this one up after debating over six or seven other films that were of interest.  Since I rarely go to the video store (think: DirecTiVo Platinum), this was a real treat for me a) because I was seeing a movie with another person, which is getting to be ridiculously rare, and b) because I got to see what former A-list stars were doing with their straight-to-video career.  Seriously, I was laughing out loud at some of the box art and captions for some bad-looking B-films.  Too bad "Va Savoir", a French film so boring and so bereft of energy that I fell asleep at least twice during its 150-minute running time, is not as interesting.  A lighter version of "Your Friends and Neighbors" (the Neil LaBute drama), "Va Savoir" concerns a couple that finds solace in separate partners, whose partners fool around with even more partners.  More a collection of scenes than a movie, this film suffers from unattractive French people, not enough sexual content given its subject matter (a French film about cheating that only has "brief nudity"?), and not much continuity in its storyline.

Rating:  Rental

"Buena Vista Social Club"

Sure, the soundtrack is unbelievable, but how is the movie that the album is based on?  Not bad.  In fact, where I liked "Calle 54" because it just has essentially a bunch of music videos, "BVSC" just seems to have lots of story, and not enough of the full versions of the songs being performed.  Don't get me wrong, the stories of the living members of this Cuban performing troupe are intriguing at times; I want to find a movie that seems to have the perfect mix of both and can't seem to find it.  The best part about this film is living vicariously through old people.  Seriously!  Sometimes, 92-year-old lead singers, 90-year-old skirtchasers-cum-guitar players, 68-year-old trumpet players and 70-something crooners seem to be more youthful than some of my acquaintances.  If I'm even alive at 92--doubtful, given my culinary lifestyle--I hope I'm having this much fun.

Rating:  Matinee

"Spanking the Monkey"

Props to my man Stefan “Stefdog” Prelog for the rec on this one; Jeremy Davies (from "Saving Private Ryan") stars in this fucked-up yet amusing story from 1994.  Davies stars as Ray, a college kid that comes home for the summer ready to work at a Washington, DC internship...but, upon arrival, Ray's father tells him that his mom is sick, so Ray must cancel his internship in order to play caretaker for a while.  Things start off slowly but mid-film, you get a little twist in the action and things get pretty intriguing from there.  Pretty good stuff, but far from a pick-me-up, and if you see it you'll know what I mean.

Rating:  Matinee

"Bringing Out the Dead"

Martin Scorsese is a genius, right?  So, even genius is sometimes misguided; this Nicolas Cage drama about an EMP ambulance driver that has a three-day freakout should never have been made by the man.  Still, it isn't bad, with a loaded cast of character actors that include Ving Rhames and Tom Sizemore and Cage giving a rare inspired performance these days in-between selling out in bad action films.  Really, I would have no problem with Cage if he would do action films with a story (like the continuously-underrated "Face/Off"), but he usually picks bad films like "Snake Eyes" instead.  "Bringing Out the Dead" is certainly hyped up on speed and whacked-out losers, but it has enough scenes to make it worthy of a rental.

Rating:  Matinee

"Chutney Popcorn"

I remember, when I was dating this Gujarati girl early last year, she told me that one of her favorite films was “Chutney Popcorn” but I never got the chance to see it until now.  Well, I’m glad she made the recommendation, because the look and sound of this production is not too quality but the fresh storytelling is great!  A lesbian, a frigid newlywed sister and their mom make up the core of this family drama, which revolves around Reena (writer, director and star Nisha Ganatra) and her attempts to have a child on behalf of said sister, who is unable to have children.  Ganatra should have stuck to her strengths and stayed behind the camera, because her performance is easily the weakest of the six or seven principal characters.  But, her handling of the main relationship between Reena and her girlfriend Lisa (Jill Hennessy) is great mostly because it comes off as believable; after seeing “Kissing Jessica Stein”, I am happy to report that there actually ARE positive portrayals of homosexual relationships in the media, not only ones driven by hot lesbian or gay sex scenes.  Man.  Seriously, though, I liked “Chutney Popcorn” a lot.

Rating:  $9.50 Show

 

Comments?  Drop me a line at justin@bellviewmovies.com.

 

Bellview Rating System:

"Opening Weekend":  This is the highest rating a movie can receive.  Reserved for movies that exhibit the highest level of acting, plot, character development, setting...or Salma Hayek.  Not necessarily in that order. 

"$X.XX Show":  This price changes each year due to the inflation of movie prices; currently, it is the $9.50 Show.  While not technically perfect, this is a movie that will still entertain you at a very high level.  "Undercover Brother" falls into this category; it's no "Casablanca", but you'll have a great time watching.  The $9.50 Show won't win any Oscars, but you'll be quoting lines from the thing for ages (see "Office Space"). 

"Matinee":  An average movie that merits no more than a $6.50 viewing at your local theater.  Seeing it for less than $9.50 will make you feel a lot better about yourself.  A movie like "Blue Crush" fits this category; you leave the theater saying "That wasn't too bad...man, did you see that Lakers game last night?" 

"Rental":  This rating indicates a movie that you see in the previews and say to your friend, "I'll be sure to miss that one."  Mostly forgettable, you couldn't lose too much by going to Hollywood Video and paying $3 to watch it with your sig other, but you would only do that if the video store was out of copies of "Ronin."  If you can, see this movie for free.  This is what your TV Guide would give "one and a half stars." 

"Hard Vice":  This rating is the bottom of the barrel.  A movie that only six other human beings have witnessed, this is the worst movie I have ever seen.  A Shannon Tweed "thriller," it is so bad as to be funny during almost every one of its 84 minutes, and includes the worst ending ever put into a movie.  Marginally worse than "Cabin Boy", "The Avengers" or "Leonard, Part 6", this rating means that you should avoid this movie at all costs, or no costs, EVEN IF YOU CAN SEE IT FOR FREE!  (Warning:  strong profanity will be used in all reviews of "Hard Vice"-rated movies.)