YOUNG ALFRED HITCHCOCK MAKES A NAUGHTY JOKE (1928)

CHOKE (2008)

CHOKE is a grey comedy about a sex-addicted med-school dropout named Victor (the brilliant Sam Rockwell), who is the sole support of dementia-inflicted mom (Angelica Huston). Hospitalized and years of abusing drugs, abducting young Victor from a string of foster mothers and running from the authorities, she claims to no longer recognize him and thus won’t tell him the one thing he craves so desperately to know: the identity of his father. To pay for her expensive upkeep, Victor splits his time between working at a goofy Colonial American theme park and conning sympathy money out of strangers he picks randomly to rescue him from choking in restaurants. One day, while visiting his mother, Victor meets Paige (Kelly Macdonald), who proposes a most unorthodox treatment for his dying mom, and who turns out to be … well … I’ll leave it at that. There’s really nothing more I can say to make this quirky movie sound as enchanting as it is. Don’t miss it.

DECISION BEFORE DAWN (1951) In war, you have to choose a side

In 1944, Nazi Germany was on the brink of defeat but stubbornly resisting surrender, so in a daring push to gain key intelligence, the U.S. Army began recruiting German prisoners to spy behind their own lines. DECISION BEFORE DAWN is the story of the mission of three war-weary men who take on this thankless job, each for his own reasons. Director Anatole Litvak filmed in post-war Germany because of the surplus of bombed-out buildings and tanks, weapons and uniforms, and so accurate and realistic were the script, acting and setting that anyone watching the filming in Wurzberg in 1950-51 might have wondered whether the war ever ended. This not your typical war picture: no stereotypes, no action heroes, no grand and glorious finale, simply a realisatic depiction of a key period of time during the final days of World War II in all its tragedy and irony, co-starring three extraordinary actors now long departed – Gary Merrill, Richard Basehart and Oskar Werner (as a young German spy-recruit torn between his love of the Fatherland and loathing of its Nazi oppressors).

GIGANTIC (2009)

Brian Weathersby (Paul Dano) is a shy 28 year-old mattress salesman, youngest sons of grandparent-aged parents (veterans Ed Asner and Jane Alexander, both excellent). Unfulfilled by his work, he pursues his lifelong goal of adopting a Chinese baby. One day a young woman buys a mattress for her dad. Brian delivers it, and soon finds himself swept up in a romance with the lovely but quirky Harriet “Happy” Lolly (the extraordinary Zooey Deschanel). But to win her over, he must deal with their individual insecurities, plus her bearish and overbearing braggart of a father (John Goodman) with deep pockets, bad back and his daughter’s best interest at heart. When Brian gets the baby, Happy chickens out and breaks up with him. Do warm hearts trump cold feet? Find out for yourself in GIGANTIC, a funny, surreal love story about the anxiety and pressures that come when two people with crazy families collide unexpectedly and fall for each other.

CROSSING DELANCEY (1988) A funny movie about getting serious

Isabelle “Izzy” Grossman (Amy Irving) works for a chic New York bookstore uptown and pays frequent visits downtown to her down-to-earth grandmother Ida (Reizl Bozyk, the legendary Yiddish theatre star, in her only film role). Anxious for her granddaughter to settle down, Ida turns to the local marriage broker (Sylvia Miles). Although shocked and annoyed, Izzy allows the matchmaker to introduce her to Sam Posner (Peter Riegert), who sells pickles below Delancey Street. Believing him to be too working-class for her, Izzy sets her sights on a famous writer. But once Izzy discovers the real man inside each of these men, it’s the pickle vendor who turns out to be the kosher one. Irving and Riegert are a pairing made in Hollywood heaven, and every scene is a delight.

THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC (1928)Silent but deadly powerful

This 1928 French masterpiece focuses a silent but unblinking lens on Joan’s trial (based on actual trial records), imprisonment, torture and execution. It’s shot predominately in close-ups of the alternately grim and mocking faces of judges and onlookers, and the sad, ravaged face of their defendant. I guarantee you will never forgt those faces. The doomed Joan is portrayed by Renée Jeanne Falconetti, giving what is regarded as one of the greatest performances ever recorded on film. The original edit, long thought to be lost in a fire, was miraculously found in perfect condition in 1981 in a Norwegian mental institution. Incredibly painful yet beautiful to watch. (Trivia note: This was Falconetti’s first and only film role.)

FLASHBACKS OF A FOOL (2008)Going home reminds you why you left

Daniel Craig, a fine British actor with 20 years in films prior to Bondage, gives a touching performance as Joe Scott, an aging and all-but-washed-up Hollywood star adrift in a haze of drugs, sex and squandered fame. When he learns of the sudden death of his childhood best friend, he returns to the small English seaside village where he grew up to attend the funeral. There, he’s flooded by memories of the summer of ’72 – a summer of innocence, discovery and tragedy that set him on the path to his current life. This powerful drama about love, loss and redemption features a nostalgic soundtrack of songs by Scott Walker, Roxy Music, David Bowie and others. Watch for two scenes in particular: Young Joe and his girlfriend Ruth dancing and lip-syncing to the Roxy song, “If There Is Something,” and the wordless final minutes of the film in which loose ends are tied up. Craig (who also executive produced) is superb, as is Claire Forlani (MEET JOE BLACK) in a small but indelible performance as Joe’s grownup girlfriend who had married his now dead  friend.

TIMECRIMES (2007)

If you share my love of time travel stories, take time to see this Spanish mystery-thriller. Relaxing in his back yard, Héctor spies a topless woman in the woods. Investigating, he finds her now lying dead on the ground. Suddenly, a man pops with a bandaged face pops out of the bushes and stabs him in the arm with a pair of scissors, then starts chasing him. Héctor flees to a nearby building where a mysterious technician (writer/director Nacho Vigalondo) hides him in metal vault-like contraption. Moments later, Héctor emerges to find himself now in the recent past and, from the front of the hillt building, sees his house, wife and himself in the distance. The scientist explains that as a result of unauthorized time travel experiments he’s conducting, Héctor is observing his “mirror image” from the day before. From then on (or from then back, as the case may be), events go horribly awry as the increasingly discombobulated time traveler tries set things right. Is he successful? Wish I could say, but after two enjoyable viewings, I’m still confused. This version (with has hard-to-read yellow subtitles) is being remade, with David Cronenberg directing. But don’t wait – catch the Spanish version now on Netflix. More

Movie making magic then and now

In the classic “I coulda been a contender” scene in 1954’s ON THE WATERFRONT, Marlon Brando and Rod Steiger are talking in the back seat of a cab. The cab seems to be moving because of the traffic sounds and lights moving across the actors’ bodies and faces – but of course it’s not. The scene was shot in a studio, a detail none-too-subtly obscured by closed window blinds on the vehicle’s rear window. Watch the scene, not merely to see how hard it is to believe today that the cab is really moving, but to marvel at how easy it is not to care because of the power of the acting.

And here’s a short video on the state of today’s special effects.
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AS GOOD AS IT GETS (1997) As good as romantic comedies get

AS GOOD AS IT GETS treats us to direction, writing and acting as good as it all gets. Starring Jack Nicholson as an obsessive-compulsive, misanthropic, homophomic bigot (and that’s being kind) who gets involved in the lives of a single mother (Helen Hunt) and gay neighbor (Greg Kinnear), each of whom winds up growing as a result of knowing and helping the others. At its heart, this an old-fashioned feel-good romantic comedy, though it takes a while to see the romance part. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture and winner for Best Actor and Best Actress, it’s ranked number 140 on Empire’s “The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time” and even higher on my personal list of favorite films.