Books |
The Best DVDs You’ve Never Seen, Just Missed or Almost Forgotten
edited by Peter Nichols
By
Published: Jan 01, 2005
Category:
Self Help
The animating idea behind HeadButler.com is that there is too much stuff out there, and most of you what hear about the new stuff is hype, and most of the really good stuff is old stuff that almost nobody talks about, and so, if you are interested in books and music and movies but are tight on time, what you need most is a concierge — an editor you can trust to winnow through all the stuff and tee up only the greatest for your consideration.
This Butler idea — it’s catching on.
The New York Times has, very cleverly, asked its film critics to suggest great DVDs that ‘the curious film lover’ may have missed. There are 500 in all, and then each critic picks his/her top ten favorites.
Here’s a random scorecard…
Films on my list to write about: All About My Mother, American Splendor, The Anniversary Party, Atlantic City (especially the moment when Susan Sarandon, who shucks shellfish for a living, rubs a freshly-cut lemon on her chest to cut the smell of brine), Belle Epoque, Boiler Room (the best work Vin Diesel will ever do), The Celebration, Croupier, Crumb, Days of Heaven, The Deep End, The Dinner Game (a hilarious French comedy, one sight-gag after another), Don’t Look Now, Igby Goes Down, Lantana, Laurel Canyon, Manhunter.
Surprises: Band of Outsiders (directed by ’60s idol Jean-Luc Godard), The Big Heat (directed by Fritz Lang), Day for Night (perhaps the most amusing of Truffaut’s movies), Man on a Train, My First Mister (a heartfelt performance by Albert Brooks, directed by Christine Lahti), Nine Queens (a South American film that plays like a Mamet thriller), The Secret Lives of Dentists, The Spanish Prisoner (the Mamet thriller to beat).
Films that make me go Hmmm: Being Julia (outside of Annette Bening’s masterful performance, what was the thrill here?), Diva (stylish and lovely, but really dated), The Dreamers (Bertolucci’s naughty, empty revision of Last Tango in Paris), Intolerable Cruelty (the thesis of this divorce comedy is totally bogus), Ronin (Was DeNiro awake when he made this? Did he need to be?), Sunshine State (Of the John Sayles films praised here — and it feels like there are a dozen — this one was a stone bore), Unfaithful (Diane Lane almost literally telegraphs that she’s having an affair), Vanilla Sky (really?).
Films I’ve reviewed: East-West, Garden State, Jesus’s Son (okay, the book).
Maybe too obvious: Blue Velvet, Good Will Hunting, Groundhog Day, High Fidelity, Sling Blade, Spinal Tap.
Totally new to me (and thus very welcome): The Boxer (I love the director, Jim Sheridan), La Buche (which begins with a cell phone ringing — inside a coffin), Carrington, Tango, Trigger Effect.
My review: Lists are to talk back to, to disagree with. But only when you’ve done your homework. This book is good homework — though sketchy on classics, its brief, chatty takes give you more than enough reasons to join Netflix. I say: two thumbs up. Three stars. Or, for the academics and purists, an A-.
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