Movies I Watched in Feburary, Part 2

Interesting slice of history culled from several years' worth of footage of the U.S. Black Power movement shot by Swedish documentary filmmakers. Not so much a documentary as a moving collage of an era, with guest appearances by such luminaries as Stokely Carmichael, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Angela Davis -- plus lots of average folks, whose ground-level perspective on the often shocking events of the day proves fascinating now, when things have changed both completely and not at all.


When the above ad is spotted by the crew of a hip alternative magazine (do they make those anymore?), a cynical tail-chasing reporter (Jake Johnson) takes a pair of interns (Aubrey Plaza of "Parks and Rec" and Karan Soni) to track down the fellow (Mark Duplass) who posted it to see what his deal could possibly be. Naturally, the cynic finds his heart, Plaza falls in love with Duplass and the other guy gets laid. It sounds like a Mad Libs for a Quirky Indie Film, and it sort of is, but it's still entertaining and, sue me, it won me over. The cast is game, the premise is offbeat and it's all put together in a nicely low-key way.


One of my favorite newspaper movies -- and hell, one of my favorite movies in general, despite -- nay, because of the fact that it's corny, far-fetched and about as subtle as a brick to the head. Jack Webb leads a newsroom of capital-C characters, including crusty William Conrad, bongo-playing David Nelson and grouchy Richard Deacon. What makes this movie work for me -- and trust me, it really does work -- is that during the single night covered in "-30-," we never leave the newsroom. All the big stories -- a military jet test, a kid trapped in a storm drain, etc. -- are shown through the eyes of the staff. I left the news business last year, and that was decades after it stopped being anything like this, but it still reminded me of what it used to be like to be in a newsroom when news was breaking. 

If you're the same age as me (45 -- good lord!), Paul Williams probably played a surprisingly large part in your childhood. He wrote songs like "We've Only Just Begun" and "The Rainbow Connection," appeared in movies like "Smokey and the Bandit" and "Battle for the Planet of the Apes" and guest-starred in every show on the air, from "The Love Boat" to "The Muppet Show" to "Fantasy Island." This documentary charts writer/director Steven Kessler's attempt to figure out what the heck happened to the once-ubiquitous Williams. (Long story short: He took a lot of drugs, then turned his life around.) Kessler gets annoying at times, but Williams remains a fun, fascinating figure. Best of all, the vintage clips are great, offering a nostalgic blast back to the 1970s era of talk shows and guest spots. Like music, movies or pop culture? (I'm guessing you do.) Then check this one out.


Finally caught up with this semi-legendary cult film about a teen punk band (led by a shockingly young Diane Lane) and its rise and fall over a period of what seems like a week or two. It's sloppy and ragtag, but that fits the story of the Stains (whose music sounds a notch above the Shaggs or a notch below the Vaselines) and their struggles with fame. The band they eventually usurp is led by Ray Winstone (as shockingly thin as Lane is young) and includes two former Sex Pistols and a member of the Clash -- pretty solid lineup if you ask me. Critics slammed the ending, which was filmed years later (Lane and co-star Laura Dern are noticeably older) and turns the Stains into slick, MTV-era stars, but I thought it was brilliant -- it's so slick and so polished that even if it's not an intentional satire of punksters selling out, it works perfectly along those lines. 

I wrote about this movie before, both in my Best of 2012 post and my September recap, and at neither time did I reveal much about the movie, because this is one experience best enjoyed knowing as little as possible. I'll repeat that strategy here, on the off-chance that someone reading this hasn't had the movie spoiled. I will say this, though: For a movie with such big twists, it's still damned enjoyable the second time around. And, I'm guessing, the third.

A silent. gangster movie from 1928 that manages to predict many of the cliches of the genre while still spinning a fast-paced, exciting tale. Captain McQuigg (Thomas Meighan) tries to end the criminal reign of the extremely Capone-esque Nick Scarsi (Louis Wolheim), who runs a city that sure seems to be Chicago. Booted out to the sticks by a paid-for politician, McQuigg makes his move, with the help of some cheerfully drunken reporters and a gold-digging dame (Marie Prevost) who has her eyes on Scarsi's innocent kid brother. If you have a chance to catch it on Turner Classic Movies, where it shows up every so often, be sure to take it. Yes, it's silent, but it moves pretty quickly and some of the scenes -- including a gun battle on a colossal street set -- are still impressive more than 80 years later.