Pimp a Movie

[sai]

Everyone's got movies they want to press on people. The underrated, the underseen, the forgotten classics. Here's a thread where you can point up some of yours.

Tell us about a flick you love and why you think the rest of us should watch (or revisit) it. I'll start it off with a film I loved as a kid and still get a lot of fun out of even now.

Addams Family Values
Dir: Barry Sonnenfeld
Cast: Raul Julia, Angelica Huston, Christopher Lloyd,
Joan Cusack, Christina Ricci

Addams Family Values is, for me, like comfort food. I enjoyed the first film well enough (and still do, point of fact) but it was this one that stuck with me.
It opened in 1993, when I was 12 and as much as the film I fell for Christina Ricci. 14 years later I'm no longer in love with Ricci (at least in this incarnation) but Addams Family Values remains as fresh and as funny as it was then.
The story has two strands, the first has Uncle Fester (Lloyd) marrying the Addam's children's nanny; Debbie Jelinsky (Cusack), who may be a serial killer known as the black widow. The other has Wednesday (Ricci) and Pugsley (Jimmy Workman) packed off to camp Chippewa when Debbie needs them out of the way.
The first story is fun, no doubt about it. Lloyd and Cusack both give customarily sharp comic turns and Fester's obliviousness to the fact his wife loathes him is hilarious. Also reliably wonderful are Julia and Huston perfectly cast as Gomez and Marticia and relishing every line of dialogue. However it's the Camp Chippewa section that's the more rewarding.
That's almost entirely down to 13 year old Christina Ricci. It seems people were aware that she nearly stole the first film from Julia and Huston and her role was beefed up accordingly. This time she waltzes off with the movie with a remarkably assured and mature comedic performance. To begin with she simply transplants Wednesday and her attitude into the entirely unsuitable camp setting but the first hint that she's a really strong talent comes when Wednesday decides to try and fit in. The moment where she forces herself to smile is beautifully done and Ricci hits exactly the right balance of funny and creepy. It's her delivery that gives her the film though, each deadpan joke perfectly targeted.
The script is simply stuffed with hysterical comic dialogue, everybody gets a good line, even the bit players. There's a real depth of quality in the cast and several players have gone on to bigger things. Amanda; Wednesday's rival at camp, for example, is Mercedes McNab; Harmony on Buffy and Angel while her first boyfriend is played by David Krumholtz, now a prolific indie movie player.
Barry Sonnenfeld's directorial career is in the toilet now but this is an impressively mounted film, the gothic feel of Charles Addams' cartoons is beautifully captured and the visual gags impress just as the verbal ones do.
It's not perfect by any means but Addams Family Values has made me laugh for almost 15 years now and there really is a lot to be said for that. If you've never seen it, do so. If it's been years, go back to it. You'll find a fresh funny film that puts most the 'comedy' studios foist on us now to shame.

Favourite quotes
Gary: One of you will be the drowning victim and the one will be our lifesaver.
Amanda: I'll be the victim!
Wednesday: All your life.

Morticia: (To Debbie) You have enslaved Fester. You have placed him under some strange sexual spell. I respect that. But please, may we see him?

Amanda: Why are you dressed like somebody died?
Wednesday: Wait.

Morticia: Wednesday, look at all the other children, their bright little eyes, their friendly eager smiles... Help them.

Grandma: An axe. That takes me back...

[sacrilegend]

Haha... That's funny. I just watched the original with my sister about three hours ago. I love them! I enjoyed every second of this morbid film.

For me, it would be a toss-up between Withnail and I and Wings of Desire. I'll go with my beloved Withnail for now.

Withnail and I (1987)
Director: Bruce Robinson
Writing credits: Bruce Robinson
Cast: Richard E. Grant, Paul McGann, Richard Griffiths, Ralph Brown, Michael Elphick, Eddie Tagoe



Bruce Robinson originally wrote the novel, and then directed the film. This film was pure comedic magic for me, every second was precious and I've rewatched it countless times and haven't finished laughing yet. Withnail is my hero. He is everything I wish to be if I am not successful in life. A chainsmoking, cynical drunkard.

This film is endlessly quotable, and has the richest dialogue I've ever heard. Withnail's plight is a bit deeper than being unemployed, though. Peter Marwood is moving along career-wise, and doesn't have time for Withnail anymore. Their seeming alikeness shrinks and shrinks until, at the end of the film, Withail's soliloquy in the rain confirms that they are as different as two strangers. The closing scene was for me very poignant and amazingly sad.

But, that being sad, this film is very, very happy in its utter hopelessness. The acting was flawless, Richard E. Garnt has become my favourite actor since I saw this movie. My favourite was the teashop scene!

Yay! This film definitely deserves a 10/10 from anyone in their right mind.

Favourite quotes:

Peter Marwood: I don't know, I don't know. Oh God, I don't feel good. Look, my thumbs have gone weird! I'm in the middle of a bloody overdose. Oh God. My heart's beating like a fucked clock! I feel dreadful, I feel really dreadful!
Withnail: So do I, so does everybody. Look at my tongue; it's wearing a yellow sock. Sit down for Christ's sake, what's the matter with you? Eat some sugar.

First Policeman: [Having just pulled Withnail driving the beaten up Jaguar drunk & speeding] Bit early in the morning for festivities isn't it sir?
[He eyes the pile of empty bottles in the passenger seat]
Withnail: They're not mine, they belong to him
[He gestures vainly to the back seat]
First Policeman: [Wrinkling his nose as the smell of Withnail's breath hits him] You're drunk
Withnail: I assure you I'm not officer, I've only had a few ales
First Policeman: Out of the car please Sir.
[Withnail does not move, the Policeman opens the door abruptly & Withnail spills out then stands against the car, propping himself up - the Policeman offers him a breath test]
First Policeman: Would you fill this bag please sir?
[Withnail shakes his head]
First Policeman: Are you refusing to fill this bag?
Withnail: I most certainly am.
First Policeman: I'm placing you under arrest.
Withnail: Don't be ridiculous I haven't done anything. Listen, my cousin's a QC
Policeman Two: [Who has been listening - screaming] GET IN THE BACK OF THE VAN!

Withnail: [after having entirely covered himself in muscle embrocation] Have you been at the controls?
Peter Marwood: What are you talking about?
Withnail: The thermostats. What have you done to them?
Peter Marwood: I haven't touched them.
Withnail: Then why has my head gone numb?

Withnail: [having just drunk a bottle of lighter fluid] Got any more?
Peter Marwood: No. I have nothing.
Withnail: Liar. What's in your toolbox.
Peter Marwood: Nothing.
Withnail: Liar. You've got antifreeze.
Peter Marwood: You bloody fool. You should never mix your drinks.

Withnail: We'll have to work fast.
[to barman]
Withnail: A pair of quadruple whiskies and another pair of pints!

Withnail: We want the finest wines available to humanity. And we want them here, and we want them now!

Withnail: I must have some booze. I demand to have some booze!

Oh my word! There are too many quotes! Please do me a favour and GO READ THEM ALL. Do yourself a favour and go read them all. Your life will become enriched.

[nonfiction]

I will pimp Eureka for my first selection. My favourite movie.

Eureka (Shinji Aoyama, 2000)
”Looking at the sea... all else seems inconsequential.”



Shinji Aoyama's beautifully shot drama is a serene and resonant meditation on the psychological scars wrought upon the victims of terror and violence and of the courage and inner strength they must find to survive following a violent bus hijacking.

I wouldn't give many films a score of ten unless they were truly outstanding, not just better, but in a whole different league. It is a grade reserved for the likes of (if I may indulge in a little subjectivity) Tarkovsky's Stalker;, Kitano's Hana-Bi, In the Mood for Love' by Wong Kar-wai, Dreyer's Passion of Joan of Arc, Ozu's Tokyo Story; and very few others. It is more than mere technical brilliance, top-class acting, superb plot or camera-work. What each of these films possesses is sheer humanity, simultaneously painful and life-affirming.

Eureka deserves to stand proudly in such company, for Eureka is a film that is so human it makes most others seem either shallow, over-wrought, or just pretentious. Eureka's plot is a simple, its action, dialog and soundtrack is sparse, camera movement is minimal. The sepia-toned photography is indeed a marvel to look at, and each of the actors performs with such restrained naturalness that they don't seem like performances at all. The result is a film that is less like a story being told, and more like an experience that is undergone or a journey shared. If there is any 'art' involved, it is in producing a film so fragile, yet so accessible, so desperately and painfully human out of material so grueling and alien to most of us fortunate viewers. And in this respect, the movement of Eureka mirrors that of the protagonists, the three traumatised survivors of a bloody bus high-jacking. They are a brother and sister, and the bus driver himself.

As may be gathered, this film is very much about the aftermath of tragedy, about how certain experiences may mark one off from the rest of society, and how with silence, stillness and human company, and most importantly, the passing of time, some form of healing may be glimpsed. And it is just a glimpse. Though the final scene is indeed moving, there is no big payoff, anymore than there might be in life itself. There is only the artistry of the film itself to transfigure the story, and it does this with such quiet, unobtrusive sympathy, that to call it 'artistry' seems almost to malign it. I haven't seen Aoyama's other films, so I can't say whether he is destined for a Tarkovsky-, Dreyer- or Ozu-like elevation to the cinematic pantheon, but this film is a refreshing example of the kind of deep humanity of the best directors, the best artists, one that marks a perfect 10 off from all the rest.

Author: gmwhite from Brisbane, Australia

[criterionmaster]

Your pimp is impossible to find! I have been looking for that film for so long now. I swear I will find it, even if I have to import some version.

[nonfiction]

You could always sell your soul and download it.

[sai]

Wes Craven's New Nightmare
Dir: Wes Craven
Cast: Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, Wes Craven, Miko Hughes

1994. It is 10 years since Heather Langenkamp (playing herself) starred in Wes Craven's (also himself) A Nightmare on Elm Street, which introduced the world to horror boogeyman Freddy Kruger (Englund, who plays Freddy and himself here). Now, in her real life, she and her young son Dylan (Hughes) are being plagued by dreams of Kruger.
At the same time Freddy is trying to break through into the real world, to achieve this he must go through Heather, who incarnated the first person to defeat him and Wes Craven is writing a new Freddy film in an effort to trap this ancient evil again within the Nightmare films.

Two full years before Scream reinvigorated his career Wes Craven wrote and directed this ferociously original piece of post-modern horror. In doing so he reclaimed Freddy, a character who, through six sequels, had strayed from the horrifying child murderer who chased kids in their nightmares that he created and become a comic lead who occasionally cut people up. Those six sequels are reduced, here, to mere fodder for Craven's imagination. Craven himself posits the film's main idea; that 'Freddy' is actually an ancient evil which can be trapped by storytellers and that, having not made a Nightmare in some years the story is dying and allowing Freddy to try and cross over into the real world.
Through this premise Craven fashions a brilliant film which fuses a mock documentary and an accomplished horror film to great effect.
Heather Langenkamp wasn't especially good in Nightmare on Elm Street; a film whose premise and execution, directorially, are what lift it out of the ordinary rather than its performances. However Langenkamp is excellent here, you might suspect that that's a given, she's playing herself after all. This is true to a degree but the story is complete fantasy (obviously) as are Langenkamp's husband and child, it's as much a performance as any she's given and it's a very strong one, ringing true throughout.
Children in movies, at the best of times, are annoying but Miko Hughes puts in a truly creepy performance that really is one of the great strengths of the film, he can't be more than about seven here and his performance suggests a more mature actor than that.
Freddy has gone through many incarnations (though always in the person of Robert Englund) and from the horrific burn make up of the first film he'd degraded into a not very scary kind of melty face make up. He's been re-designed again here and, predictably, Craven has taken a slightly different but more expensive and nastier looking tack with Freddy. All over his face and head it now looks like his skin is splitting, it's a great make up and probably the best the character has ever looked. The re-design of the famous razor fingered glove as an artificial hand works less well.
The non-professional actors in the cast (as well as Craven, who's very good, New Line Cinema head Bob Shaye and exec Sara Risher play themselves) all acquit themselves well, where they could have really hurt the film.
New Nightmare is a slightly mocking take on horror and has some nice laughs but this is no Scream, no horror comedy; when the scares come they are as effective as any Craven has fashioned (with several particularly disturbing scares focused on Hughes) and the kills have a satisfying brutality to them.
The design plays a large and effective role in the excellent climax, a far more bloody and satisfying face off than in the first Nightmare (though it nods in the original film's direction a couple of times) which takes place in what is best described as 'Freddy World'.
Okay. Controversy time. Great though A Nightmare on Elm Street is (and it is, 23 years on it's still clever and scary) Wes Craven's New Nightmare is, all told, a better film. Even post Scream the story remains hugely original and Craven's screenplay carries off what could have been a disastarous failure in atmospheric and entertaining fashion.

[criterionmaster]

Fantastic review, New Nightmare is one of the most underrated horror films I have ever seen. Like you said, it is unbelievable creative and original and was so refreshing to see something new happen with such an interesting character. I had always been fascinated by the character of Freddy and the idea that he can kill you in dreams.

I do disagree that this is better than the original though, it comes close, but the original had even more of an original, creative story. It has just been forgotten over the years because of so many rip-offs and such. And, without the greatness of the original this would loss some of its power. Have you seen all the Nightmare on Elm Street films?

[sai]

I've seen 1,5 and 7. Most of the films came into the charity shop I work in on VHS so I'm just looking for 4 now before doing a marathon screening.

[criterionmaster]

Ah, I normally watch the films because they are so bad they are fun to watch, but the first and last are genuinely great horror films, with the third film being good. You should check that one out if you get the chance, since Wes Craven wrote it I believe.

I have the box set, such a good set. So many hours of features, plus 3D glasses!!

[captainofbeef]

Yea, other than 1 and 7, 3 is the only other Nightmare movie worth watching.

[sacrilegend]

criterionmaster said:

Ah, I normally watch the films because they are so bad they are fun to watch, but the first and last are genuinely great horror films, with the third film being good. You should check that one out if you get the chance, since Wes Craven wrote it I believe.

I have the box set, such a good set. So many hours of features, plus 3D glasses!!

Hah. Sorry, this is so random, but when i read that the first time, I thought you'd said: "I love the bot sex". Errrr...

[criterionmaster]

I do love me some robot sexual intercourse, but, surprisingly, I was not referring to that [this time].

[sacrilegend]

Awwww DANG! Me too.

[sai]

Eastern Condors
Dir: Sammo Hung
Cast: Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, Joyce Godenzi, Lam Ching Ying, Haing S Ngor, Yuen Wah, Yuen Wo Ping

I love martial arts movies but it's not the easiest of genres to get into. I'd recommend Eastern Condors as a way in. First off it's a hybrid; a war movie (specifically The Dirty Dozen) filtered through the mind of director/star Sammo Hung. Sammo started out learning chinese opera at the school run by sifu Yu Jim Yuen and was a member of a troupe known as 'the seven little fortunes'. This troupe also featured Jackie Chan, Yuen Mo, Yuen Kwai (now a director under the name Corey Yuen) and Eastern Condors co-stars Yuen Biao and Yuen Wah. It's been a persistent misconception that all these Yuen's are related, in fact it was a mark of respect for Yu Jim Yuen that all his students adopted a Yuen name (Sammo's was Yuen Lung, Jackie's Yuen Lo).
Anyway, enoguh background. Eastern Condors features Sammo as the leader of a group of criminals recruited by Army officer Lam Ching Ying (another Chinese Opera graduate) to destroy a weapons dump in Vietnam before the vietcong (led by Yuen Wah) can get their hands on it. The group parachutes into the jungle to rendez vous with vietnamese guerillas (led by Sammo's real life wife Joyce Godenzi) and that's really where the fun begins.
While it's missing Jackie Chan (who was filming Project A Part 2, a sequel that sorely misses Sammo and Yuen Biao, who both appeared in the first film) one of the great strengths of Eastern Condors is the all star cast. Sammo put in a huge amount of work before this film, always famous as the fat kung fu star he lost a lot of weight so he'd be able to execute the complicted moves and flying kicks he wanted for this movie. He looks different; not fat, just substantial. Yuen Biao's wiry shape alway lent itself to acrobatics and here he executes some absolutely breathtaking moves, even when he's not fighting Biao is incapable of moving with out real grace. Yuen Wah had created the robotic movement of his bad guy character for an earlier film, which had flopped, he revisits it here and creates a truly memorable villain (so much so that he'd all but reprise the role for Dragons Forever a couple of years on). Lam Ching Ying doesn't, sadly, have a lot of fighting to do but, always the best actor in Sammo's stock company, he turns in an effective performance as the officer who is growing conflicted about his mission. It's strange to see Haing S Ngor in this film (he plays the mad brother of Lam Ching Ying's CO) but interessting to note that, by dint of his work in The Killing Fields, he may go down as the only Oscar winning actor to have appeared in a chinese kung-fu movie.
The action, as you'd expect from Sammo, takes precedence over everything and it's among the best he's ever executed. The gunfights are strong but it's the martial arts that you come for and from Joyce Godenzi's knife wielding guerilla to the opera brothers everyone impresses. The best fights are, as ever, saved for the final sequence when first Yuen Biao and Yuen Wah have an astonishing fight; Wah really impressing with his blinding speed, not for nothing was he Bruce Lee's acrobatics double and then Sammo and Yuen Wah having the final face off.
Typically of Sammo the action is bloody and brutal and nobody is spared. Godenzi may inflict a blow in her first scene which will make everyone wince but that doesn't save her character from an exceedingly nasty fate in the final scene.
While the action is the focus (and who'd want it any other way?) there's more than enough drama in the story to keep you watching. A scene at VC outpost makes you wonder if John Woo was taking notes for his brilliant Bullet in the Head which came out about three years later and there are good perfomances from Lam Ching Ying, Sammo and Joyce Godenzi which also hold the attention.
Eastern Condors blend of brilliant martial arts action and the war films familliar to western audiences provide an excellent entrace to a much maligned genre. I highly recommend it.

[sai]

La Vie Revee Des Anges [The Dreamlife of Angels]
Dir: Erick Zonca
Cast: Natacha Regnier, Elodie Bouchez, Gregorie Colin

Isa (Bouchez) is a stranger in Lille on her first day at a new job she meets Marie (Regnier) and, having nowhere else to go, ends up staying in the flat Marie is looking after while it's owner, a car crash victim, lies in a coma.
They form a close friendship which becomes strained when Isa begins visiting the teenager in whose room she lives in hospital and Marie begins a relationship with Chriss (Colin) which becomes, for her, an obsession.
That sounds like a lot of plot there. It's not. In fact The Dreamlife of Angels is that rare beast, a truly character and dialogue driven film. Essentially it just asks us to watch people live their lives.
The key is the performances and it's a joy to report that they are absolutely fantastic. Regnier and Bouchez shared the best actress prize at Cannes '98 and it was thoruoghly deserved. Bouchez has the less showy role and she brings to life an impressively shaded character who reveals more layers on each viewing and never really provides answers to some key questions you might have about her (for example we see Marie in two relationships while Isa never strikes one up, does she want more than friendship from Marie?) It's a quietly impressive piece of acting. By contrast Regnier is allowed to let herself off the leash more, particularly in the last act of the film. Regnier's performance is a tour de force from the shy, but explosive, character of the beginning to the heartbreakingly damaged girl at the end of the film she always feels completely natural, you'd have to look very hard indeed to catch her acting at all.
Gregorie Colin also impresses as the irredeemable git Regnier develops an obsession with.
Debuting director Erick Zonca, who also wrote the film, uses a spare, almost documentary, shooting style. Only the romantic scenes between Colin and Regnier are truly cinematic but this style works perfectly for the gritty down to earth story he is telling.
The Dreamlife of Angels is an exceptional film which deserves a much bigger audience than it gets. See it if only for two of the finest pieces of acting you'll ever see.

[Evan]

Raw Meat (A.K.A. Death Line)- 1972

Plot:At the turn of the century, a group of diggers were lost during a cave-in of part of the London Underground tube-train network. They managed to live for a lifetime trapped in a crevice, but now there is only one family left. The half-human father heads to the Underground station to pick off lone passengers for food, while a London police detective investigates the mysterious disappearances.
My Opinion: My dad showed this to me first when I was around 8 or 9. Since then it has grown on me. This is a very creepy movie which was quite frightening as a child. The cannibal guy is really convincing and the camera movements only enhise the tension.
Besides the great acting, great music ensues. The 70's score is scary but really enjoyable. The scenery is also perfect. An underground tunnel seperated from society is a perfect location for such a movie. Great visual work, great camera movements, great acting, great settings,and great music. Even with all the good thing with this movie, it may not be for some people. It can be very gory at times as well as disturbing. Even though I enjoeyed it, it may not be your cup of tea.
Cast:Donald Pleasence Norman Rossington David Ladd Sharon Gurney Hugh Armstrong, and Christopher Lee in a brief cameo.
Here below is a brief picture of the Cannibal:

[wkw]

Farewell, My Concubine - Kaige Chen, 1993


Plot: Being a historical epic, Farewell can be split into two separate parts. The first part takes place in 1920's China and follows the story of two boys Douzi (Leslie Cheung) and Shitou (Fengyi Zhang) as they meet in a school that trains Beijing Opera players. We see how they suffer, persevere, and grow in the brutal Dicksonian environment. The 1st part also provides the basis for their relationship and psychology in the 2nd part of the movie. The two are groomed to play the King of Chu and his concubine in a classic opera of same name as the film title. In many ways the film is a mirror of the opera.

In the 2nd part, our characters have grown up and are very successful performers. Shitou falls for and marries the beautiful prostitute Juxian (Gong Li), who draws contempt from Douzi. In addition, the politically ignorant trio battered by the political turmoil including Japanese occupation and Mao's Cultural Revolution. The acting, as expected from the likes of Gong Li and Leslie Cheung, are excellent. The cinematography uses a rich sepia tone.

Farewell, My Concubine won the Palm D'Or at Cannes in 1993.