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Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004): A-
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, music video wunderkind Michel Gondry’s wonderful new film based on a screenplay by Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation), has a premise so good, so original and yet so universal, that it’s hard to believe no one ever thought of it before. Reclusive nebbish Joel Barish (Jim Carrey) has…
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Hairspray (1988): A-
John Waters’ affinity for the weird, wild, and whacked-out took more mainstream form in 1988’s Hairspray, a loving ode to early ‘60s music, fat chicks, and racial and sexual tolerance. Waters’ dedication to period detail reveals a fetishistic fascination with the artificial, whether it be “The Corny Collins Show” – a cheeky, brightly colored version…
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Pink Flamingos (1972): B
Pink Flamingos is vile, disgusting, and outrageous – in other words, just as John Waters wanted it. The film, about two monstrous women competing for the title of “Filthiest Person Alive,” is a carnival of weirdoes, outcasts, and deviants that’s custom-designed to offend. The amazing thing, however, is that even in our current age of…
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In the Cut (2003): D
(Originally posted on 3/10/04) In the Cut, Jane Campion’s grimy, misogynistic faux-murder mystery seems stuck in a time warp. From Mark Ruffalo’s ‘70s porn star moustache and the grungy New York City setting to the film’s offensive and outdated notions of female sexuality, the film is like a long-lost relic from an earlier period best…
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Tightrope (1984): B
(Originally posted on 3/7/04) Richard Tuggle helmed 1984’s Tightrope, but the film’s modest construction seems to confirm rumors that star Clint Eastwood had a hand in directing this psychological thriller. The jazzy score, the even-handed mixture of establishing shots and close-ups, and the film’s opening shot over the Louisiana coast (which seems to foreshadow a…
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Day of the Dead (1985): B-
(Originally posted on 3/7/04) Day of the Dead, the final chapter of George A. Romero’s zombie trilogy (which also includes Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead), had fans demanding a piece of the director’s flesh when it was released in 1985. Fanboys wanted more tension and suspense, art film connoisseurs wanted…
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Matchstick Men (2003): B
(Originally posted on 3/4/06) Ridley Scott’s career has, with a few notable exceptions (Alien, Blade Runner), been a case of style over substance. Scott, who came to prominence directing flashy commercials for the likes of Apple computer and Channel, is one of the cinema’s foremost visual artists, but he’s usually at a loss when it…
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Lost in America (1985): B
(Originally posted on 2/27/04) I don’t really get Albert Brooks. The guy is mildly witty in a West Coast Woody Allen-ish kinda way, but his apoplectic fits of neurotic exasperation leave me indifferent. With that out of the way, I must confess to being pleasantly surprised by Lost in America, Brooks’ fantasy about turning off,…
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Shadows (1959): B
(Originally posted on 2/27/04) In 1959, while Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless was heralding the arrival of the French New Wave, John Cassavetes’ equally groundbreaking Shadows was igniting the independent American film movement that’s now blossomed into Sundance, Miramax, and all those small quirky films starring Patricia Clarkson. Yet despite its daring innovation in both subject matter…
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Poltergeist (1982): B+
(Originally posted on 2/26/04) Although I was disappointed to find that my favorite scene from 1982’s Poltergeist — the one with the paranormal expert tearing his face off in front of the bathroom mirror — employs a lame fake head for the gruesome effect, the film otherwise holds up incredibly well twenty years after it…
