Movies I Watched in August, Part 2

Still holds up beautifully, with enough small touches and big themes to make a rewatch more than worthwhile. And for those of you still debating whether or not DiCaprio's final scene was part of a dream or not, it's not. Christopher Nolan has said so, and it doesn't make any emotional sense for his victory not to be real. By the way, the best pop culture reference to this movie arrived on "30 Rock" when Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) said he didn't sleep on airplanes because he was afraid of being incepted. I'd heard about this one for a while in cult movie circles. It was a long-forgotten, seemingly long-lost no-budget martial arts epic made (and barely released) in 1987, then re-discovered by Zack Carlson, a programmer at the legendary Alamo Drafthouse, who bought a print for $35 (!) After contacting producer/star/co-director/writer Y.K. Kim, Carlson and Co. re-released "Miami Connection" to receptive audiences who loved the movie's crazy storyline, determinedly decent morality and creative use of music and tae kwon do (Kim owned a chain of martial arts schools). In other words, I had pretty high hopes for a movie with a pedigree this strange, and I was not disappointed. It's Ed Wood-like in the fact that both the seams holding the movie together (barely) and the dedication to getting it made shine through in every frame. I can honestly say I didn't know where the plot was going at any given moment, and Kim's creative use of locale landmarks makes "Miami Connection" very different from every other generic '80s action movie. (For one thing, it takes place in Orland, not Miami.) I caught this on TCM, where it airs every so often in the wee hours of the weekend. If this description piques your interest (and it should), I urge you to tune in. You will not be disappointed. After years of mysterious apathy, Allie has now officially entered her Obsessive Phase with regards to Mr. Harry Potter. That means she's plowing through the books. ("Prisoner of Azkaban" finished last night, "Goblet of Fire" started this morning.) It also means we're working our way through the movies, carefully scheduling them so as not to spoil any of the surprises before she reads the books. That also means we're re-watching the movies in order (Amy and I saw them all before Allie was old enough), with the worst two up first in the lineup. That's why this is on the list. I have nothing more to say about it, except for the fact that I'm glad "Azkaban" is up next -- now that's a good movie. A very funny movie with some great action set pieces ("Serpentine! Serpentine!") that's still at its absolute best when it just lets neurotic dentist Alan Arkin and unflappable secret agent Peter Falk bounce off each other. Falks description of tse-tse flies the size of eagles is brilliant enough, but it's Arkin's incredulous reactions that save the day. Skip the Albert Brooks/Michael Douglas remake and watch this instead. You'll thank me later.