Movies I Watched in June, Part 1

I know I always say I'm going to keep these short then end up rambling on for days, but this time I really am going to try and keep them short -- because I watched a ton of movies last month. So here goes...


In our continuing effort to expose Allie to some slightly less kid-oriented fare, we screened what (aside from "Benjamin Button") is probably the only David Fincher movie she'll be able to watch for a few years. Coming in the wake of "Seven," this relatively restrained thriller is usually considered one of his lesser films, but I've always been a big fan. It's a lot of fun, centers on a perfectly cast Michael Douglas and seems like the sort of thing Hitchcock might make if he were in his prime in the late 1990s -- sort of a light entertainment along the lines of "North By Northwest." Did Allie like it? I dunno -- her attention seemed to wander, and she wasn't as blown away by the ending as I thought -- hoped? -- she'd be. Maybe I should show her "Seven" next ...


I wanted to love this -- I really did. Clooney in the director's chair, a script bearing the fingerprints of the Coen Brothers and a cast that includes Matt Damon, Julianne Moore (in two roles!), and Glenn Fleshler (who is in everything these days), plus a dead-on production design with a beautiful midcentury modern look. But I merely liked it -- and that's for the same reason a lot of people didn't like it at all, namely the way the film tried (and failed) to combine a violent, darkly comic film noir plot with a based-on-actual-events story about an African American family encountering violent racism in the 1950s. Both were interesting, but they didn't go together at all. Still, worth a look, especially if you want to see Matt Damon really get put through the wringer.


Rewatched Darren Aronofsky's debut film for an upcoming episode of the Plain Label Podcast. I actually took my wife to this during our early dating days (which should give you some idea of her patience), but I hadn't seen it in years. It's very entertaining in a first-film sort of way, loaded with ideas and overdosed on technique, invigorated (and invigorating) with the possibilities of cinema. It's rough as hell, obviously low-budget and filmed in (gloriously) grimy black and white, but you can see Aronofsky's vision in every frame, and it's no wonder he grew up to be one of the most interesting filmmakers working today.



Oddball psycho thriller originally (and barely) released in 1991 and re-released on disc by the fine folks at Vinegar Syndrome. Michael St. Gerard stars as Henry Pinkle (!) a TV-obsessed weirdo who goes bananas when his favorite show is cancelled. He finds a new mission in life when a guy called "Sam Bones," (John P. Ryan) who may or may not exist, encourages him to start a murder spree. The plot is so-so, but the movie itself is fascinating, with a surreal, cool-as-ice vibe, Pinkle's genuinely creepy mask and offbeat performances by Gerard (co-star of John Waters' "Hairspray") and
Up next: Tom Cruise, Thor and my favorite actor and Coen Brothers movie of all time