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With few exceptions, I love movies.<\/p>\n
The three exclusions on my\u00a0list are (1) spooky, shock-filled, slasher and horror films (the closest I can get are the psychological thrillers such as Se7en<\/em> and\u00a0The Silence of the Lambs<\/em>), (2) juvenile comedies, which I cannot take at all, although I do like a good farce, but they are few and far between (Life of Brian<\/em>\u00a0stands out singularly) but this does not include films that tries to make a point through a humorous or absurd situation (good ones being\u00a0Risky Business<\/em>,\u00a0Groundhog Day, Ferris Bueller<\/em>,\u00a0Stripes<\/em>,\u00a0and Trading Places<\/em>), and (3) the love\/romance genre is hit and miss (Breakfast at Tiffany’s<\/em>, LA LA Land<\/em>,\u00a0The Devil Wears Prada<\/em>, Pretty Woman<\/em>, An Officer and a Gentleman<\/em>, and The Lake House<\/em>\u00a0all being infinitely watchable, while I can barely get through the trailers for\u00a050 Shades<\/em>, When Harry met Sally<\/em>, The Notebook<\/em>, and Sex and the City).<\/em><\/p>\n I have reviewed a couple of these in print over the course of 15 years as a contributor to the (now defunct) annual “Summer Reading” column in the Journal of Chemical Education<\/em>.<\/p>\n The Man from Earth (2007) Grant me these 90 minutes of your life and you will not be disappointed. My first recommendation, and my only one if I were forced to it, is an overlooked movie from 2007 called The Man from Earth<\/em>. This is Jerome Bixby’s last sci-fi story. Bixby was the writer of the classic Star Trek episode \u201c<\/strong>Mirror, Mirror\u201d<\/strong>, which gave rise to the entire mirror universe saga that ran through every incarnation of the TV shows. But I digress. \u201c<\/strong> Sci-fi\u201d <\/strong>is definitely in quotes, here, because there are no space ships, blue alien avatars, ray guns, slime, robots, Spandex, cute kids, Keanu Reaves, explosions, or creatures that pop out from someone’s belly.<\/p>\n This movie is about an idea. A simple \u201c<\/strong> What if?\u201d <\/strong>scenario that then gets played out, and draws intelligently from a study of human reactions and behaviors. The Man from Earth<\/em> is a low-budget piece made up of one long conversation that takes place in a cabin (an actual cabin, not a set). In that cabin are an academic and some colleagues from various disciplines. The colleagues are surprised that their peer is giving up his tenure and moving on. But then they learn that he believes himself to be a 14,000-year-old man who must forever move on as people begin to notice he does not age.<\/p>\n How would a group of academic colleagues that includes a biologist, an anthropologist, a psychiatrist, and a religious studies professor go about interrogating this guy? How would he make his case? Trust me on this one: just get it and enjoy yourself. And do yourself a favor: don’t watch it alone, because you are going to want to talk to someone afterwards.<\/p>\n ——————————-<\/p>\n Unthinkable (2010)<\/em><\/strong> Never heard of it? That\u2019s a little surprising, given the star power and the basic plot.<\/p>\n Cast:<\/em> Samuel L. Jackson, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Michael Sheen\u2026 check! Despite my plot summary, Unthinkable<\/em> is not another Tom Clancy novel turned into a movie: no Jack Ryan; low production values (they rented out a high school, not that it was a bad choice); no chases; no special effects. No Air Force One<\/em> barreling down a runway as an ash cloud nips its tail; no press conferences; no somber news reports from the Oval Office.<\/p>\n In fact, the soldier-turned-terrorist is caught early in the first act, and he needs to be interrogated. And that is the movie. If you recall the scenes of information-extraction from (the first two seasons of) Alias<\/em> then you really have seen comparable information-extracting techniques. But in those scenes, of course, an evil man (often a foreign villain with a dentist’s drill) was carrying on with our heroes. You can show that on TV, because we (Americans) can and will overcome great evil!<\/p>\n But what if the guy with the drill is Samuel L. Jackson, family man, and the prisoner in the chair is a US citizen? What are the rights… the morality… when nuking 3 US cities is on the line? Apparently, asking this interesting question does not mix well with a super-tub of popcorn, a big blue drink, and a box of candy-coated chocolates at the Bijou. So the decision-makers by-passed the theatrical release and went straight to DVD. What a pity: making a movie about an idea.<\/p>\n As the story goes, the US box office did not like the two contemporary and fabulous, high-production value movies about terrorism, the search for WMDs, and the war that accompanied them (2008\u2019s Hurt Locker<\/em> and 2010\u2019s Green Zone<\/em>, which, by the way, make a great triple feature with Unthinkable<\/em>), so the powers-that-be did not think audiences would even go see Unthinkable<\/em> when the moral ambiguity was so high. We just don’t like knowing these things, or seeing them at the cinema. Don’t ask, don’t tell… and for pity’s sake, don’t make a movie about it!<\/em><\/p>\n And just to make matters that much more interesting, the DVD has the “original version” (the one planned for US release) and the “extended version” (the one planned for the rest of the world). The difference is 90 seconds, and it’s how you end the story.<\/p>\n ——————————-<\/p>\n THE HONORABLE MENTION: 48 FILMS WORTH WATCHING<\/strong><\/p>\n It Happened One Night (1934)<\/em><\/strong> – the birth of the “screwball comedy” With few exceptions, I love movies. The three exclusions on my\u00a0list are (1) spooky, shock-filled, slasher and horror films (the closest I can get are the psychological thrillers such as Se7en and\u00a0The Silence of the Lambs), (2) juvenile comedies, which … Continue reading
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\nPlot:<\/em> Soldier-turned-terrorist plants 3 nuclear bombs in 3 US cities. It’s Monday. They are scheduled to go off at noon on Friday. Genuine tension and thrills follow\u2026. check!
\nPublicity:<\/em> none\u2026 curious!
\nRelease:<\/em> straight to DVD\u2026 curiouser!<\/p>\n
\nPhiladelphia Story (1940)<\/em><\/strong> – Grant… Hepburn… Stewart… a trifecta of great
\nCasablanca (1942)<\/em> <\/strong>– probably tops my list of best movie ever
\nKey Largo (1948)<\/em><\/strong> – tense film noire, classic crime drama
\nThe Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)<\/em><\/strong> – crisply written cautionary tale
\nThe African Queen\u00a0(1951)<\/em><\/strong> –\u00a0John Huston directs Kate Hepburn & Bogart
\nRoman Holiday (1953)<\/em> <\/strong>– introducing Audrey Hepburn
\nRififi (1955)<\/em> <\/strong>– the birth of the “heist” movie that all have copied
\nBridge over the River Kwai (1957)<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 a love letter to honor and nobility
\nJudgment at Nuremberg (1961)<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 incredibly thoughtful reconstruction
\nMy Fair Lady (1964) \u2013 <\/em><\/strong>as sexist and annoying as it is enjoyable
\nThe Sting (1973)<\/em><\/strong> – Newman and Redford spin gold from straw
\nLife of Brian (1979)<\/em><\/strong> – the\u00a0‘Book of Mormon’ for Christians
\nTaps (1981)<\/em> <\/strong>– “Lord of the Flies” at a military academy
\nBody Heat (1981)<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 smart, sexy, modern noire; overlooked by a generation
\nWarGames (1983)<\/em><\/strong> – How.about.a.nice.game.of.chess?
\nThe Breakfast Club\u00a0(1985)<\/em><\/strong> – “culturally significant” – Library of Congress
\nFerris Bueller\u2019s Day Off (1986)<\/em> <\/strong>– They’ll still be watching this move in 2086
\nA Few Good Men (1992)<\/em><\/strong> – “You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!”
\nScent of a Woman (1992)<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 you want Pacino on your side
\nThe Shawshank Redemption (1994)<\/em><\/strong> – literary prison break
\nHeat (1995) \u2013<\/em><\/strong> you want Pacino on your side
\nDead Man (1995)<\/em> <\/strong>– A completely overlooked Johnny Depp film
\n12 Monkeys (1995)<\/em> <\/strong>– Ranks above “Somewhere in Time” in a\u00a0genre I love
\nGood Will Hunting (1997)<\/em><\/strong> -the best “teacher movie”\u00a0on my list
\nShakespeare in Love\u00a0(1998)<\/em><\/strong> -wit & charm, a love letter to the theatre
\nThe Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)<\/em><\/strong> – the most\u00a0charming sociopath in fiction
\nChicago (2002) \u2013 <\/em><\/strong>constructed better than the staged version
\nOwning Mahowny\u00a0(2003) \u2013<\/em><\/strong> PSH acting masterpiece about bank fraud
\nDownfall (2004)<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 historically groundbreaking view of Hilter\u2019s last days
\nGood Night and Good Luck (2005)<\/em><\/strong> – all actual footage of Joe McCarthy
\nV for Vendetta (2005) \u2013 <\/em><\/strong>prescient in ways they imagined it
\nThe Departed (2006)<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Scorsese, Damon, DiCaprio, Nicholson, Wahlberg
\nInside Man (2006)<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 exceptionally clever
\nThe Rape of Europa (2007)<\/em><\/strong> – controversy around art stolen\u00a0by the Nazis
\nThe Art of the Steal (2009)<\/em><\/strong> – controversy around stolen art in Philadelphia
\nThe Adjustment Bureau (2011)<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 determinism versus free will
\nWe Need to Talk about Kevin (2011)<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 devastating tale of maternal love
\n12 Years a Slave (2013)<\/em><\/strong> – just watch this movie
\nThe Imitation Game\u00a0(2014)<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 2011 BBC doc on Turing\u00a0Codebreaker<\/em> is better
\nA Most Wanted Man (2014)<\/em><\/strong> – smart, compelling espionage thriller
\nWhiplash\u00a0(2014)<\/em><\/strong> – what do you owe the world if you recognize genius?
\nEye in the Sky\u00a0(2015)<\/em><\/strong> –\u00a0tightly written, thoughtful white-knuckle thriller
\nCall Me By Your Name (2017)<\/em><\/strong> – all love in unrequited
\nYou Were Never Really Here (2017)<\/em><\/strong> – a vengeance thriller story
\nLove, Simon (2018)<\/em><\/strong> – everyone deserves a great love story
\nBeast (2018)<\/em><\/strong> – so much more than your average serial-killer movie
\nFirst Redeemed (2018)<\/em><\/strong> – a crisis of faith with a thought-provoking ending<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"