The Golden Child: 1986 comedy directed by Michael Ritchie and starring Eddie Murphy, Charlotte Lewis, Charles Dance and J. L. Reate. A young boy with mystical powers is kidnapped from a temple in Nepal by some goons, and a persistent social worker (Murphy) takes the case when it intersects with his search for another missing child. There’s telekinesis, a magical quest for a dagger, over-the-top fight scenes, and Eddie Murphy’s laugh. Oh, weird mystical ‘80s movies. How I love you. The music and costumes and special effects are soooo deliciously dated. Murphy is delightful, as is Lewis, who has this pre-Tia-Carrere Tia Carrere thing going on.
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure: 1989 sci fi comedy directed by Stephen Herek and starring Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter and George Carlin. Rufus (Carlin) is tasked with travelling 700 years into the past to ensure that Bill and Ted successfully pass a history test, which will ensure that Ted isn’t shipped off to military school and will therefore be able to stay with his band, Wyld Stallyns. Because the music of Wyld Stallyns becomes the basis of future culture. Or something. Bill and Ted use the time machine to round up famous figures in history and must return with them to the present to secure that passing grade.
It’s cute and silly and also deliciously dated. I can’t believe I’d never seen this until now. I would have been full-on obsessed with this in high school.
Woody Allen: A Documentary: 2012 documentary about the life and films of Woody Allen. Directed by Robert B. Weide and featuring interviews with Allen, his sister Letty Aronson, and various stars of Allen’s films. The movie chronicles the entire arc of Allen’s career, from his teen years as a joke contributor to local newspapers to his television writing to standup to movie directing. It even touches on his side career as a clarinetist.
It’s wonderful, if you like Woody Allen. You don’t need to have seen every one of his movies to understand what they’re talking about, but it helps if you’ve seen the big ones – Annie Hall, Manhattan, Hannah & Her Sisters, Interiors, Stardust Memories, etc. He explains the evolution of his editing and writing processes. And when they examine the whole Soon-Yi thing (because of course they do), it’s done respectfully and honestly and briefly. It’s great, see it.
Jiro Dreams of Sushi: 2011 Japanese documentary directed by David Gelb. It tells the story of Jiro Ono, an adorable 85 year-old sushi master and owner of the Michelin 3-star restaurant Sukiyabashi Jiro. Think Bill Cunningham New York but with sushi instead of fashion. Through hard work, decades of practice and refinement, an impeccable reputation and use of the finest ingredients Jiro has become THE sushi chef in Japan. He’s the guy. And his sons are working to maintain the business when Jiro eventually retires. At its core it’s a film about a group of men who are dedicated to their chosen profession and strive to constantly improve.
It has a nice pace, lots of slow motion. Very calming, meditative. It’s short but could have been even shorter, it’s like they were trying to stretch the material a little too much. But that’s a minor thing. I loved it.
Sherlock, Jr.: 1924 silent comedy directed by and starring Buster Keaton, and featuring Kathryn McGuire, Joe Keaton and Ward Crane. A movie theater projectionist and aspiring private detective (Buster) and his romantic rival vie for the affections of a beautiful girl. It’s short and funny and cute. If you’re going to start watching silent films, definitely start with the comedies. Keaton isn’t as flirtatious as Chaplin – I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love them both. But Keaton has a certain dry quality I appreciate. It’s slapstick without the stupid.
Frailty: 2002 thriller directed by and starring Bill Paxton, and co-starring Matthew McConaughey, Powers Boothe and Matt O’Leary. A man walks into the Dallas FBI office and tells the Agent-In-Charge that his brother, who just committed suicide, was the notorious God’s Hand serial killer. He starts his tale with his childhood, when his single father began to see visions from God telling him to kill demons disguised as people and enlisted him and his brother to kill them, right on up through the present day.
Matthew McConaughey is growing on me. It’s weird. And O’Leary does a great job as Young Fenton. That being said, it was just okay. The twist at the end was not that interesting. If it happens to be on TV some night and there’s nothing else on then maybe give it a shot, but I wouldn’t seek it out.
Poltergeist II, The Other Side: 1986 horror movie sequel, directed by Brian Gibson and starring Craig T. Nelson, Heather O’Rourke, JoBeth Williams, Oliver Robins and Will Sampson. Have you seen the first? It’s much the same. The Freeling family, having been kicked out of their built-on-a-burial-ground home by angry spirits, decamps for Arizona to live with Grandma. The ghost of an evil preacher wants to kidnap the psychically-sensitive daughter Carol Anne, and a Native American shaman shows up to help the family stand and fight. It’s all a little been-there-done-that. Julian Beck is super duper creepy as the Preacher Ghost Demon Guy, but other than that it’s really not as scary as the first. If you’re on a horror movie marathon kick, you could do worse. Otherwise maybe skip it.
Reel Injun: 2009 Canadian documentary directed by Neil Diamond (no, not that Neil Diamond) about the portrayal of Native Americans throughout the history of film, featuring interviews with John Trudell, Adam Beach, Clint Eastwood, Sacheen Littlefeather, Russell Means, Charlie Hill and Chris Eyre. It covers everything from Disney’s Pocahontas to The New World, from The Silent Enemy to Dances with Wolves. It explores the rampant stereotypes, both good and bad: the Drunk Indian, the Noble Indian, the every-Indian-is-a-Plains-Indian. It touches on revisionist history – see aforementioned Disney princess. It’s a really good film-history movie, and I’d definitely see it if you’re into that sort of thing.
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| She was 12 when she met John Smith. Gross. |
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