The Week Dollar
Forget the 5.1 surround-sound system (we like to heckle the viewing fodder at our place, anyway) and forget the big telly too; all you really need is a movie with a big heart. The new releases at the video store are usually not available, and not too good, but you can always pick up a bunch of older-release DVDs for only a few bucks. Here are some movies from across the genres to throw into your weekly batch that you might have missed or otherwise never considered.
Inside Man
Spike Lee is a filmmaker; the dude knows how to make films. Inside Man is Lee’s first genre film, which has all the trappings of a director paying the bills by working for a studio. However, unlike others who have dabbled with studios and fallen, the Spikester got a well-rounded script, fine actors and interesting characters. Lee’s fascination with racism is here too, playing on the police’s (and our) prejudices; remember never to wear a turban to a bank robbery. Lee tells the story with economy, intelligence and courage. I won’t spoil the surprises, but it’s one of the cleverest heist films since The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (the one with Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw, of course).
Hard Rain
Christian Slater and Morgan Freeman star in this nail-biting 1998 heist thriller that slipped under the radar. An armoured car robbery goes horribly wrong during a massive rainstorm that breaks a dam. The film’s set in a flooding town and, as the water rises, so does the tension. What makes this thriller thrilling is the hero and heroine doing everything sensible to try to avoid trouble, without managing to do so.
Pitch Black
A sci-fi movie being made on a budget means that imagination has to be used instead of special effects. In this one, check out the model of the solar system that reveals how long the planet stays dark, for an effect to increase tension that puts to shame any CGI blockbuster. Vin Diesel and Radha Mitchell star in this B-grade Alien rip-off that holds its own. Vin starred in the sequel (The Chronicles of Riddick), but they left behind Radha, who brings home the acting bacon in Pitch Black. (This Hollywood syndrome of leaving out the female star who can act has led to sequels like the Indiana Jones movies without Karen Allen; all effects, no heart.) Made in Australia, it makes your heart swell with pride to see our best Aussie actors whack on American accents (Babe, anyone?) Any movie that kills Simon Burke in the first few minutes can’t be all that bad, either.
Sabrina (1954)
Romantic movies can bore the pants off me and not in a good way, but, in the hands of Billy Wilder, this one is great fun. Two rich brothers (Humphrey Bogart and William Holden) compete for the affections of the chauffeur’s daughter (Audrey Hepburn). Sure, Humphrey is a tad too old for Audrey, but Sabrina has witty dialogue, funny visual gags and loveable characters. It also has something missing from most modern romantic movies: charm!
Captains Courageous (1937)
Spencer Tracy, Lionel Barrymore, Melvyn Douglas and Mickey Rooney are the supporting cast for one of the biggest stars at the time, child actor Freddie Bartholomew. Freddie is perfection as a spoilt, rich brat who learns about the real world when he’s stuck on a fishing boat and Spencer Tracy takes him under his wing. Too, it has one of cinema’s best smacks to a kiddy’s head, by Barrymore to Freddie, and includes the great line ‘My cousin fell from a barn onto his head and played with ragdolls for thirty years.’ The unbelievable cast, and the unbelievably bad pretend Portuguese dialogue from Spencer Tracy, is a bonus.
Matt Quartermaine is a Melbourne-based writer and comedian. With Matt Parkinson, Tim Smith and Andrew Goodone, he produces ‘The Chat’, a weekly podcast in which ‘four grown men in comfortable chairs spill their guts’. Click here to download it for free at iTunes.
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