DVD Review: Show Me Love (A-)

Show Me Love (1998)
Directed by Lukas Moodysson
Starring Alexandra Dahlström, Rebecka Liljeberg and Erica Carlson
MPAA: UR
Grade: A-

Review by Scott Standish

A daring film that succeeds on almost all levels, this is one bold movie. Show Me Love is one of those films that makes you think back to your own teen years, and how awkward they were. Growing from a child into an adult is always tough. It seems even harder for teenagers today. Show Me Love wonderfully captures these emotions and proposes that love can still conquer all.

Rebecka Liljeberg stars as Agnes, a teenager with a painful crush on her classmate Elin (Alexandra Dahlström). Agnes' family has recently moved and she is having a hard time making friends at her new high school. A little smarter than the rest and to make things worse, a little different, Agnes finds it tough to adjust. The fact that she is coming to grips with her sexuality makes the situation even more tense for the young girl. Her struggle to find herself (and be happy with herself) is poignant.

Show Me Love is one wonderful movie. Originally released worldwide under the title Fucking Amal, the film was re-titled Show Me Love for the overly sensitive U.S. market. Of course if it was called Murdering Amal, people here wouldn't have a problem with it, but I guess that's another whole topic of conversation and one best tabled for another time at that. The original title refers to the town in which they live, Amal, a small town where people are closed minded on the subject of homosexuality.

The topic of young lesbian love is a dangerous one indeed, yet director Lukas Moodysson handles it with sensitivity and grace. A special film, this is one that every teen (especially those trying to come to grips with being different than their classmates) should see. It also has a few lessons for parents if you look deep enough. Highly recommended.

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DVD Review: First Twenty Million (D-)

The First 20 Million
Directed by Mick Jackson
Starring Adam Garcia, Rosario Dawson and Jake Busey
MPAA: PG-13
Grade: D-

Review by Scott Standish

Some films are so bad that you just don't know where to start. The First 20 Million is certainly one of them. Its absolutely painful to sit through. My wife gave up a half hour into the movie, shooting me a angry look for even choosing this disaster of a film.

I am pretty sure The First 20 Million is intended to be a comedy but it is perhaps the flattest, least funny comedy I have ever seen. The script (and calling it that is being kind) concerns Andy (played by Adam Garcia) and his dream of "making something that everyone uses everyday". He drops out of his profitable marketing job and joins up with an R&D think tank in silicon valley to chase this dream. From here things really go down the tubes. The place is like a summer camp for geeks and he immediately becomes a loser in a world of super hackers.

Andy is put in charge of a project to develop a ninety-nine dollar computer for that goofy bald photographer guy from Just Shoot Me. He enlists a team of software engineers to help, but the team resembles a cross between the dorks from Revenge of the Nerds and the security guys from Jerry Springer.

This team is competing against the evil "Titan" engineers across the way. The plot and dialogue from this movie appears to have been stolen from the summer camp film Meatballs (actually that's being unfair to Meatballs). The First 20 Million seems to take itself seriously as a romantic comedy but the script and the acting are not even close to passable.

The First 20 Million is a stupid, unfunny, dog of a movie. You've been warned.

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DVD Review: All That Heaven Allows (B-)

All That Heaven Allows (1955)
Directed by Douglas Sirk
Starring Jane Wyman, Rock Hudson, Conrad Nagel and Agnes Moorehead
MPAA: UR
Grade: B-

Review by Scott Standish

Fans of Douglas Sirk will be impressed with All That Heaven Allows, another voyeuristic peek into the overly dramatic lives of America's rich and fabulous. Lushly photographed and composed, the film has the signature look of the soap opera style director's best work.

Jane Wyman (Ronald Reagan's ex) stars as Cary Scott, a widow that lives a quiet life in her massive New England home. She attends all of the high society functions of her town and is respected in the community. Things quickly fall apart when she falls for the young gardener Ron Kirby, played by Rock Hudson. Cary's children expected her to marry the older, stodgier Harvey. Cary's society friends gossip that she must have been having an affair with the gardener even before her husband passed. All are quick to mock the free spirited young gardener as a gold digger.

Cary loves her family but they angrily turn on her when the chips are down. Cary's daughter Kay (lovely horror film veteran Gloria Talbott) constantly publicizes her intellectual standards yet in the end, jumps at the opportunity to marry into a society life similar to her mom's. Cary's son Ned is a slimy, self absorbed white collar criminal in waiting. He finds the young Ron to be way below his mothers class level. Cary's "forbidden love" becomes all the more unbearable as she is forced to choose between the man she loves and her family.

The acting is insanely melodramatic but it still does not approach the intensity of Sirk's hell-raising cult classic Written On The Wind. Although I've never been a huge Jane Wyman fan she does an adequate job here of portraying the emotions of a woman torn between love and peer pressure. Rock Hudson is way too old for the role of the young stud gardener (he's 30 and she's 38) but he makes up for this with his overly forward advances.

All That Heaven Allows plays like a romance novel with it's splashy Technicolor style and its tortured angst. For those with a low tolerance for sugar this is probably one to avoid. But if you are a fan of Douglas Sirk, or like stories that explore the tensions between freedom and societal conventions, then All That Heaven Allows is definitely an entertaining way to spend 90 minutes.

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DVD Review: Full Frontal (D)

Full Frontal (2002)
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
Starring Blair Underwood, Julia Roberts, Catherine Keener, David Hyde Pierce and David Duchovny
MPAA: R
Grade: D

Review by Scott Standish

Director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Ocean's Eleven) takes a huge risk with Full Frontal, attempting to shoot a film within a film, on digital cameras (for the most part), with enough characters to fill a 3 hour Robert Altman epic.

Francesca (Julia Roberts) is interviewing the actor Calvin (Blair Underwood), but we later see that this is part of a movie and the two characters are quite different than the ones they portray on screen. Catherine Keener plays a VP of HR that is slowly cracking under the pressure of her failing marriage to magazine journalist David Hyde Pierce. Her sister (Mary McCormick) is a masseuse that finds her values twisted by the man that is eventually the center of the film, movie producer Gus (David Duchovny).

The process of film making is constantly addressed in Full Frontal, as several scenes play out but end with the camera pulling back to show the film crew doing their job. Do all of these structural tricks work? Yes and no. It works in that the complexity of the structure initially draws the viewer in. How are all of these diverse characters going to intersect? Is this part of the movie, or does this section relate to the movie within the movie? Where it fails is that it simply does not deliver on the intersections soon enough to settle the film down. By the time the cross stories get sorted out, the frustration level has just taken too much of a hold.

This might seem petty, but I have to remark about this one thing: the movie within the movie has one of the most annoying shots I have ever seen. Julia Roberts and Blair Underwood make eyes at each other, go cheek to cheek and then smile at the camera. I know that's supposed to be funny, but I found it flat out stupid, and completely out of left field for a professional director of Steven Soderbergh's stature.

Lastly, Catherine Keener does a great job as the crumbling HR VP Lee Bright. Her demeanor shifts from normal to bizarre, to helpless, to angry and finally, to humbled. A tough role indeed, but Keener pulls it off quite admirably, and proves to be a shining star in Full Frontal, what can be best described as a surprisingly unfocused film.

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DVD Review: Medium Cool (A)

Medium Cool (1969)
Directed by Haskell Wexler
Starring Robert Forster, Peter Bonerz, Peter Boyle and Christine Bergstrom
MPAA: X
Grade: A

Review by Scott Standish

The film that made Robert Forster a star has finally been released on DVD and it is definitely a must see. Directed by cameraman extraordinaire Haskell Wexler, Medium Cool is perhaps one of the best films of its time period, a stunning achievement that is right up there with the similarly constructed "portrait of our time" film by Robert Altman, Nashville.

Medium Cool tells the story of John Casellis, a TV news cameraman (Forster) that is tough as nails, even as he films the violence and chaos that seems to be drowning America in 1968. As his career takes some twists and turns, he gets educated from all angles on the corruption that plagues our media. As he changes, the world is changing around him and Casellis takes a job filming the 1968 democratic convention. Casellis strikes up a relationship with a single mom, and this love affair also gets caught up in the violence and turmoil engulfing Chicago in 1968.

The amazing thing about Medium Cool is that the story leads right into a real world plotline (the riots of the Chicago convention) and couldn't have been scripted better. The camerawork is excellent (especially in the riot scenes), the script is tight and thought invoking, and Robert Forster is perfectly cast in the role of John Casellis. Medium Cool is a must watch DVD, and perhaps one of the best films to come out of the 1960s.

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DVD Review: Convent, The (B+)

The Convent (2000)
Directed by Mike Mendez
Starring Adrienne Barbeau, Joanna Canton, Dax Miller, Coolio and Renee Graham
MPAA: R
Grade: B+

Review by Bobby Nashville

Without going down the Scary Movie path, Mike Mendez skillfully mixes horror with comedy and comes out with a nice little B movie in The Convent.

From the opening scene (with a young school girl murdering several nuns, accompanied by the classic 50's song "You Don't Own Me") I was hooked. A group of teens decide to break into an abandoned Convent to party (and investigate) rumors that its haunted. They encounter goth kids that take themselves way too seriously and police officers that appear to have walked out of a comic strip. In between they get a steady dose of blood, rock music and freaky neon colored liquid (don't ask).

The teens in The Convent act like they walked straight out of Heathers (another fave of mine). More dark comedy than straight up horror, this is a strange film that doesn't take itself too seriously. If you like teen comedies or horror films with a twist, you ought to give this one a look.

A comedy with murder, nuns, and Coolio? Somehow this one worked for me. The Convent is silly, stupid and very childish. It's also pretty damn funny.

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DVD Review: Deranged (D+)

Deranged (1974)
Directed by Jeff Gillen and Alan Ormsby
Starring Robert Blossoms and Cosette Lee
MPAA: R
Grade: D+

Review by Bobby Nashville

Based on the true story of Wisconsin mass murderer Ed Gein, Deranged is one of those weird horror movies that has gained some cult status over the years. It's one part Psycho and one part Jeffrey Dahmer (wasn't he also from Wisconsin?). The Ed Gein case was reportedly also the inspiration behind the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

The plot involves Ezra Cobb, a man who lives with his mom in Woodside Wisconsin. He's a bit too close to her, and seems to dote on her all day and night. She tells him that all women are evil, and that they will attempt to lure him into damnation through their sexual charms. Well, after the old lady passes away, Ezra is left with some pretty messed up ideas about women and death.

Ezra decides its a good idea to find himself a wife, so he starts targeting women in town. Once he gets too excited with any of them, he flips his gourd, and they all end up dead. Did I mention that Ezra is a necrophiliac that likes to wear the skin of his victims? So the title Deranged is certainly apt here.

Deranged is a very strange film and I don't mean strange in a good way. Its really not scary enough to work as a horror film and its not campy enough to be a good "bad movie". Sure there are some humorous parts (the geeky documentary host newscaster that appears at several points in the movie is hilarious, albeit unintentially), but there are not enough laughs here to make this work. The sick subject matter of the movie makes it a bit long to sit through without some kind of angle. Humor, insane setups, seriously freaky characters would have made this a bit better (aliens and vampires always work best for me), but then again, it would not have been a true story.

Despite the shocking truth behind the twisted film Deranged, some viewers might be wise to look elsewhere for chills and or laughs.

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DVD Review: Porn Star - The Legend of Ron Jeremy (B)

Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy (2001)
Directed by Scott J. Gill
Starring Ron Jeremy, Al Goldstein and Al Lewis
MPAA: R
Grade: B

Review by Bobby Nashville

The only guy with a stranger life than Ron Jeremy is Michael Jackson, and trust me, you'd much rather be RJ than MJ. Jeremy has been in over 1,600 adult films and this documentary examines his extraordinary life both on and off screen. Full of wit and intelligence, Porn Star: The Legend Of Ron Jeremy is a very good peek into a life that is truly stranger than fiction.

Ron Jeremy is a pretty unattractive guy. He's overweight and covered with so much hair that his fellow porn stars have nicknamed him "The Hedgehog". But he's very likable and he has a great sense of humor. In a time where women (and even some men) have plastic surgery to appear more "perfect" for porn films, Ron gets by with his sensitivity and his over-all good nature. Okay, okay, he is absolutely huge, but that's what got him into the industry, not what's kept him a star attraction for over 25 years. The Hedgehog is just a funny, average slob of a guy that lucked into being the world's most famous porn star.

Porn Star: The Life of Ron Jeremy avoids the political arguments surrounding the adult film industry in general, wisely keeping its focus on the insane life of the business' most unlikely star. The film shows nudity (how could it not?) but this is of course, central to the story (I mean come on folks, this is a documentary about a porn star). There are no explicit hard-core shots in the movie and the over-all tone of the film is very light.

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DVD Review: Motel Hell (B)

Motel Hell (1980)
Directed by Kevin Connor
Starring Rory Calhoun, Monique St. Pierre and Nancy Parsons
MPAA: R
Grade: B

Review by Bobby Nashville

This is a great horrible movie. Or should I say horribly great? I can't decide so I challenge you to decide for yourself. Grab a six pack of cheap beer, and spend an evening with the freaky folks from Motel Hell.

This movie has everything a bad movie needs. It has seriously stupid dialogue, a very, very weird premise and even a Playboy Playmate in the cast. Yes, Playboy's 1979 Playmate of the Year Monique St. Pierre seems very confused in this movie, but who can blame her? There is this weird old man (Farmer Vincent) that sells smoked meat trying to get with her. He is a real piece of work, both grinding meat and trying to run the freaky Motel Hello. Vincent keeps kidnapping and or killing people and then, well, I don't want to give away too much of the story, but lets just say things are getting pretty creepy down at the farm/motel.

In addition to the playmate, there are some other interesting cameos here. John Ratzenberger (Cliff Claven of Cheers) plays a pot smoking drummer in a punk band, and Wolfman Jack plays Reverend Billy, the money chasing preacher that keeps shouting from the motel TV sets.

I remember seeing Motel Hell at a drive in theater when it first came out, and seeing it now on DVD brings back some feelings that frankly I don't understand. Check in to Motel Hell, but only if you can stomach their strange family recipes.

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DVD Review: I Shot Andy Warhol (B)

I Shot Andy Warhol (1996)
Directed by Mary Harron
Starring Lili Taylor, Jared Harris, Stephen Dorff and Martha Plimpton
MPAA: R
Grade: B

Review by Scott Standish

This 1996 gem is an indie film that is well worth tracking down. Directed by up and coming filmmaker Mary Harron (American Psycho), I Shot Andy Warhol is a true story documenting the events leading up to the attempted assassination of pop art king Andy Warhol. Its a low budget affair but the acting from Taylor, Harris (as Warhol) and Stephen Dorff (as Candy Darling) make this a very good film indeed.

Lili Taylor plays Valerie Solanis, a hard core feminist with some very unstable tendencies. She has endured a miserable life of abuse, homelessness and prostitution. She is highly intelligent but her theories on male-female relationships have gone off track to the point that she wants to eliminate men from the planet. She writes the SCUM Manifesto (SCUM standing for the Society For Cutting Up Men) and tries to sell the rantings on the street.

A chance encounter lands her into the inner circle of emerging artist Andy Warhol, who takes a liking to her bizarre ideas. Her insane rants and paranoid threats eventually cause friction and before long she is on the outside looking in. As Valerie finds a publisher for her writings, her emotional problems take control and her mental state severely deteriorates.

Lili Taylor is phenomenal as the unstable Solanis. Equally impressive are Jared Harris as Andy, and Stephen Dorff as the transvestite Candy Darling. Harris has the peculiar mannerisms and slight Pennsylvanian drawl of Andy down pat and the emotion that Dorff puts into the role of Candy Darling is amazing.

A film that seems to have been overlooked by the critics, I Shot Andy Warhol is an unusual film about a very unusual person. Look for Sopranos star Michael Imperioli in the role of Ondean, a curious casting choice if their ever was one.

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