- Battlestar Galactica Can you imagine Eugene O'Neill writing 42 minute plays, which taken together have the impact of one of his classics? Now imagine they all take place in the future and in space. That's how good this is.
- BONUS! The Sci-Fi Channel is doing a marathon all this week. Set your DVR and drink it in.
- Primary Colors You'll remember why you love/hate the Clintons. Plus you get a good sense of the forced intimacy of the campaign lifestyle. Not to mention, Kathy Bates as "a gay lesbian woman [who does] not mythologize the male sexual organ"! And don't forget Maura Tierney, who does any heart good.
- BONUS! It's quite funny--check out Susan/Hillary/Emma Thompson dancing!
- Romeo Is Bleeding Whoa! Can Lena Olin kick **** or what? Then there's Gary Oldman, giving a relatively subtle performance as our idiot narrator/protagonist--a womanizer who winds up hoist by his own petard. (I love saying that.) Filled with violent action--mostly at the hands of Lena Olin's laughing psychopath--and visually striking (not just Lena), it's a real gem. Can I add that you see lots of Lena Olin?
- BONUS! Annabella Sciorra and Juliette Lewis as the disillusioned wife and the heartbroken mistress respectively. BTW, Lena Olin wears a black leather harness that showcases her **** perfectly.
- DRAWBACK! Not captioned when aired on premium movie channel.
- The End of the Affair I'd forgotten how erotic Julianne Moore and Ralph Fiennes are in this deceptively cool movie. This is when I started to like him again, when (not counting Schindler) he stopped making that face that had me worried that he was about to puke. (If you want to see that expression, check out his Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights.) This movie is everything The English Patient purported to be but wasn't--except of course for the moving and joyous Juliette Binoche part.
- BONUS! It's perfect for when you want a long, slow, quiet movie to lull you off to sleep.
Let's talk a little more about what I call "sleep movies". We insomniacs need 4 am movies to watch and watch again trying to get past the part where we inevitably nod out. Barry Lyndon is a great one. There's nothing more soporific than that gorgeous, plummy narration. In fact, Kubrick has a kind of knack for movies that have that hypnotic effect: just about all of 2001--but especially the voice of HAL; ditto for Eyes Wide Shut--especially Nicole Kidman's trippy sex story; not least, from The Shining, remember the sound of the Big Wheel riding across wood and carpet over and over again.
If you can think of any other examples, please tell what they are.
Comments
Moononastring 04/14/08
All amazing choices.
Candy Cavity 04/15/08
Thanks Moon. Do you have any recommendations? I'd love to hear them.
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