Brian De Palma’s career ranges from the awful to the awesome. Body Double fits squarely into the latter category. Smutty, garish, suspenseful, and more Hitchcock than Hitchcock, you will not be disappointed. A Bill Maher look a like (Craig Wasson) plays a down on his luck actor who gets thrown into a world of mysterious wealthy ladies in Mercedes, punkish porn stars (Melanie Griffith as Holly Body), driller killers, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
Movies »Body Double
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Movies »Carnival of Souls
First and foremost, and don't let the fancy Criterion release fool you, Carnival of Souls is a B movie. It was made on the cheap with non professional actors and a twilight zone plot. That being said, it's the most effective, compelling, haunting, and distinctive B movie I have ever seen.
The cinematography and locations are eerie and beautiful and while the acting is not always first rate, it is memorable – especially the neighbor, who Roger Ebert called “a definitive study of a nerd in lust” in his review.
This movie is far better than it needed or deserved to be with its meager budget and the crew's lack of experience. For any fan of Twilight Zone or classic horror films of the 50's and 60's, this is a must see, all others should give it a chance and be pleasantly surprised.
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Posted on February 27, 2006
Movies »Grown Ups
Mike Leigh is one of the best directors, many of his movies are favorites of mine. This small gem, however, has a special place in my heart. It is sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes hilarious, and always genuine. Grown Ups tells the story of Mandy and Dick (who is kind of a dick), a young married couple with a troubled sister (the amazing Brenda Blethyn as Gloria) who move in next to their former High School teacher and his wife. Doesn't sound like much plot-wise, but it's a movie (like most of Leigh's) about people and the splendor of the banal.
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Posted on February 20, 2006
Movies »Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Who would of thought that the most romantic movie made in the last five years would star fart-meister Jim Carrey? Well it's true. Not only amazing to look at (thanks to Michel Gondry and Pierre Bismuth) and thought provoking – this movie had what I always thought was lacking in Charlie Kaufman's other scripts – genuine emotion. A perfect Valentine's Day watch – full of longing and heartache and happiness.
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Posted on February 13, 2006
Movies »Martin
There is no denying that back in the day George A. Romero had a certain flair for making awesome horror movies. Made between Night and Dawn, this is an eerie, strange, and off kilter film about a young man who may or may not be a vampire and is sent to a desolate Pennsylvania town to live with Cousin Tada Cuda (a fatter and surlier Colonel Sanders). Whether the family curse of Nosferatu is true or not, Martin is killing women and drinking their blood in some of the best and most intense attack scenes ever put to film.
The movie is low budget, which only adds to the horror by making everything feel dirtier and more tangible. The editing and pacing is in bizarre Romero style–who else can tie together a scene of a chicken being killed at a butcher shop, and a small town parade and make it play more frightening than all of Cabin Fever? This is one of my top ten favorite movies ever.
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Posted on February 6, 2006
Movies »Short Cuts
Robert Altman's masterful collage of intersecting lives in California. Loosely based on the stories of Raymond Carver, Altman weaves over twenty characters' stories to a profound and brilliant end. It's also quite funny. With stunning performances by Tom Waits, Lily Tomlin, Robert Downey Jr, Jack Lemmon, Tim Robbins, and the sadly recently departed Chris Penn, along with many others, this is a truly engrossing and powerful movie that I can't recommend enough.
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Posted on January 30, 2006
Movies »A Place In The Sun
I was very upset to hear of Shelly Winters' passing. She was one of my favorite actors and after watching A Place In The Sun, you'll know why. Based on the novel “An American Tragedy” by Theodore Dreiser, which itself was based on the true case of murderer Charles Gillette, Place is a well crafted and stirring story of obsession and ambition. Elizabeth Taylor is lovely and Montgomery Clift excels in the role he knows best – creepy but handsome weirdo. Shelly Winters is a revelation however, bucking the “bombshell” image she was being molded into and packaged as at the time, her Alice is trying, weak and desperate.
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Posted on January 23, 2006
Movies »Phantasm
Phantasm is not a typical horror movie. Phantasm is not a typical sci fi movie. Phantasm is not a typical movie, but more like a wild dream put to film. Toeing the line between lucky results from amateur decisions (no more than three people on screen at any time, bad acting, and some lag) and ingenious avant garde filmmaking (genuinely frightening moments, unique editing that gives a real sense of dread and nervousness, and a successful dreamlike feel), Phantasm is considered both a classic of the genre and a totally nuts film not for the impatient.
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Posted on January 16, 2006
Movies »Anchorman
For some reason, I am smitten with this movie. I watched it three times in a week. Including “Wake Up Ron Burgundy”, a feature-length movie comprised of unused footage (available on the Unrated, Uncut, and Uncalled For DVD). While “Wake Up” has some very funny parts, and should be seen, it also shows how ingenious they were to cut and make the movie they did. By taking away too much heavy plot and instead focusing on the drama of a baby panda being born, the movie can concentrate on just being funny. Steve Carell, Christina Applegate, Jack Black, and Vince Vaughn as Wes Mantooth are all awesome. This is the woman who inspired Will Farrell to write Anchorman.
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Posted on January 9, 2006
Movies »WR: Mysteries of the Organism
Art school is good for some things. This movie is one of them. Because I may have never see it otherwise, and what a shame that would be. WR is one of the most personally inspirational and singularly unique movies out there. Part documentary about Wilhelm Reich, scholar of life essences and orgasms (his books were burned by both in the US and by Hitler). Part performance piece, featuring poet Tuli Kupferberg, Jackie Curtis, and Screw Magazine. Part musical fiction about a liberated Yugoslavian woman and the Russian ice skater she falls for with disastrous results. Don't tell me you're not curious.