I subscribe to every movie channel offered by Directv. We were lured in by an introductory deal that we meant to cancel after three months. Turns out we like all these channels. Due to the writers' strike and my newfound free time I am indulging my inner movie buff. Let's call her Isabel, who is not quite a film snob, but is quite particular in her tastes. Isabel is discovering all sorts of movies that are never advertised, but are much better than typical blockbuster fare. Likes: award-winning actors, stylish noir, great art direction and decent writing. Turns out she also likes crime-committing movies, with a soft spot for heists, especially if they involve heavy-hitter actors. More on that later. Dislikes: movies about overcoming disabilities, cliche teen flicks, Steven Seagal.
Back to the crime movies: In the past few weeks I've watched so many of these films that I'm starting to think I can pull off big job myself. It's a shame. Have you heard of any of these movies? I'm not staying they're all four stars, but definitely a level above...well, you name it.
The Brave One - Jodie Foster goes vigilante after a brutal attack. Who else can pull off that particular blend of vulnerability and ferocity? And there' s Terrence Howard, too. Oh, that boy. Oomph!
Dirty - Cuba Gooding, Jr. makes himself unlikeable as a filthy, crude bully of a cop who sees the LAPD as an opportunity to get higher on the criminal food chain. Gang action, IA investigation, drug deals.
Shadowboxer - Helen Mirren? Cuba again. Stephen Dorff (whom I've been seeing a lot of, as violent crazy swagger guy). Helen and Cuba are a team of assassins. She's dying of cancer. They're supposed to hit Dorff's heavily pregnant wife. What interesting scenarios ensue? And Dorff does full frontal. This movie is definitely off the beaten path.
Where the Money Is - Paul Newman, incarcerated bank robber fakes a stroke, acts brain dead, gets transferred to a nursing home where his nurse is Linda Fiorentino (I know, it didn't really work for me at first either), a smart beauty whose life has gone nowhere. She's on to him. Now how's she gonna make it work for her?
Lucky Never Slevin. This my recent favorite. Josh Hartnett plays an unlucky, smoothly wisecracking chump who's in the wrong place at the wrong time and winds up as a pawn in a 20-year power struggle between big bosses Morgan Freeman and Ben Kingsley. Bruce Willis is around, too, hunky, funny and badass as ever.
More next time, maybe we'll talk CIA movies.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
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