Easter Parade (1948) Irving Berlin proposed this concoction of his songs, and the Hollywood system rescued the production from disaster to become a sentimental classic. Fred Astaire was recalled from retirement to replace Gene Kelly, who had broken his ankle, for the pleasure of working with Judy Garland. Peter Lawford sings about umbrellas, and Ann … More Easter Parade (1948)
Awakenings (1990) Apparently the human body is not built to last forever, and the cruelest thing that has been happening to many friends my age is Alzheimer’s. Penny Marshall’s film, based on the work of Oliver Sacks, concerns using L-Dopa to waken catatonic patients who suffered from encephalitis lethargica. Admittedly this is not the same … More Awakenings (1990)
Rasputin, the Mad Monk (1966) There’s noting quite like history transformed into horror, and this production cast Christopher Lee in his most commanding performance. As he crawls across the floor to avenge his assassination, his hypnotic eyes bulge in fury as if a preying mantis ever had eyes. Here’s a religious creature who can outdrink, … More Rasputin, the Mad Monk (1966)
Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) William Hurt won an Academy Award for his performance as Molina, a gay man recruited to spy on his cellmate, Raul Julia as Valentin Arregui, a revolutionary activist against the Brazilian military dictatorship. Based on the banned novel and subsequent theatrical play by Manuel Puig, Héctor Babenco directed this … More Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
The Cat from Outer Space (1978) The Cold War didn’t stop Ted Key from satirizing both sides of the conflict in this family-friendly Disney cult classic about a cat from outer space who crash lands on earth, with ridiculous results. Norman Tokar directed an ensemble cast of comic actors, including the great Harry Morgan as … More The Cat from Outer Space (1978)
Dheepan (2015) Who has the right to sanctuary? Jacques Audiard directed this Palme d’Or picture that studies the experiences of three Tamil refugees who flee Sri Lankan civil war to seek asylum in France. Having stolen their identities from passports of dead people, Antonythasan Jesuthasan, a Tamil author and former Tamil Tiger, stars as a … More Dheepan (2015)
Shame (1968) Almost an abstract representation of the nature of war, Ingmar Bergman wrote and directed the study of an artistic couple suddenly caught in a civil war and the psychological breakdown of their relationship as they struggle to survive. Classical violinists Eva (Liv Ullman) and Jan (Max von Sidow) are accused of sympathy for … More Shame (1968)
Putin’s Kiss (2011 documentary) Lise Birk Pedersen focuses on Masha Drokova to reveal, though interviews over time, the way idealism in a young Russian patriot shapes her mind and world views. Complex in its revelations about Valdimir Putin’s creation of Nashi, the Russian Youth Organization to which Drokova belongs and for which she becomes a … More Putin’s Kiss (2011 doc)
Watermelon Man (1970) A white bigot wakes up transformed into a black man and has to learn how to deal with the consequences. CRITERION deserves praise for having assembled a package of films written and directed by Melvin van Peebles, who died just after this homage to his talent was released. An irascible agent provocateur, … More Watermelon Man (1970)
L’Avventura (1960) Monica Vitti became the embodiment of metaphysical angst, thanks to Michelangelo Antonioni’s dissociative framing of actors never looking at one another, their backs turned to the audience, a head rising from a desolate and rocky wasteland. The torturous sequences shot on Basiluzo toss the Italian upper-class across a bleak Aeolian inland as they … More L’Avventura (1960)
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