Movie Rental Recommendations -- SP-SZ
Spanish Prisoner
Here's one that may have slipped by you. David Mamet -- who seems to write and direct excellent movies -- has another one here. A mystery with a thriller twist, it also has a strange "feel" to it. Background music is almost non-existent, as are extras. It has an almost creepy feel to it. It's a story centered around a company minion who came up with a "formula" that will make everyone rich -- and he wonders what he'll see out of the deal. He meets a man on a tropical island during a business trip, and grows closer with him back in New York. It's all about what happens as the payday nears. Great stuff, and you'll quickly wonder "where is this going" and "what is going to happen." A wonderful, beautiful twist at the end. Definitely a solid weekend feature.
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Parker Hodges
Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace
The new Star Wars is anything but stellar. From the unintelligible Jar Jar Binks to the thousands of other computer-generated characters, this is one movie without any heart and soul. Unlike the first trilogy, the story here is weak and slow-moving, and character-development is minimal. The child who plays young Anakin Skywalker sounds like he's reading his script. It's downright painful watching him poorly fake the emotion his role demands. Overall, this movie is pure eye candy written for 8-year-olds. And, to top it all off, the only two characters I found intriguing won't be joining the cast for Episodes II and III. I should have listened to the critics. Better luck with the next one, George.
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Erik Nelson
Steal Big, Steal Little
The movie "Steal Big, Steal Little" has something in common with it's twin leads-- a bit of a split personality. The film can't decide if it is a heartfelt drama or a slapstick comedy. Andy Garcia plays twin Mexican brothers raised by a wealthy California couple. After the divorce, each boy stays with a different parent, and grows up very different. Robbie is a money hungry lout, while Rueben reveres his heritage and the simple life. When their adopted mother dies, leaving everything to Rueben it's all out war. Rueben wants the money to make a better life for immigrants, while Robbie wants to bulldoze everything for a big development. The pacing is uneven and it could use some cutting, but there are some fine performances including Garcia, Alan Arkin as Rueben's friend and Joe Pantoliano as his double dealing counsel.
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Debra Scott
Stir Of Echoes
Kevin Bacon is an ordinary Joe plagued by some extraordinary visions in this low-key, high-tension screamer by the creator of the underrated ?The Trigger Effect.? This admirably restrained glimpse at the darkness at the edge of town was overshadowed at the box office by a certain other film about people seeing dead people, but deserves a long afterlife on video. The final shot alone is guaranteed to raise a gaggle of goosebumps.
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Andrew Wright
Strictly Ballroom
Love this movie. Love the dancing. Love the story. Love the humor. Love the Australian studs. Basically the story takes place inside the farcical ultra-competitive world of ballroom dancing. Up-and-coming champion dancer Scott Hastings is poised to be the next winner of the Pan-Pacific Grand Prix -- if he can choose the right partner, and resist the temptation of introducing his own dance moves into the competition. The characters, the costumes, the movie's style -- everything about "Strictly Ballroom" is over the top. But it's the love story that's most memorable. Yes on a weekend feature.
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Denise Felder
Sudden Fear
This 1953 flick is
film noir and stars Jack Palance (yes,
that guy) looking so young, and so different, that you're taken aback. Also has that legend Joan Crawford in this hard-boiled story of a heiress playwright swept off her feat by a penniless "coal miner's son" only to later uncover his true intentions ... and Crawford, playing a strong character as usual, takes matters into her own hands ... and the story spins out of control. A weekend-night feature in a pinch, otherwise excellent Sunday afternoon fodder.
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Parker Hodges
The Sweet Hereafter
Here's another movie that probably isn't the taste of everyone, but it's my favorite kind: A story about an incident and what happens to the characters afterward. Not a moralistic movie, but, rather, a story and boy is this a story. It's about a aging, lonely high-buck personal injury lawyer who heads to a small town on the tundra after a bus accident that injures and kills children. It's how this small town accepts him and each other's actions in the wake that make this a wonderful, must-see weekend feature.
IMDb | Other Reviews Parker Hodges
To audiences used to movies that tell you how to feel, director Atom Egoyan's latest film may seem like a cold, lifeless ordeal. The more discerning and patient viewer, however, will find this to be a mournful, absolutely shattering cinematic experience. Ian Holm gives a magnificent performance as an ambulance chasing attorney whose self-serving attempts to heal a small community's pain after a horrific accident only ends up ripping new wounds. Egoyan, previously best known for the dark puzzle "Exotica," displays an astonishing mastery of the medium here, freely mixing timelines in order to view the tragedy from all sides. The result is a film that affects the watcher in a delayed, haunting fashion; you don't realize you've been hurt until you glance down and see the blood.
Andrew Wright
Swingers
This happenin' tale of a group of 90s hipsters is right on the money, baby. Take away the neo-classic bowling shirts, gaberdine pants, and watch chains and they're just another bunch of girl-chasing, semi-motivated aspiring whatevers. But don't call them retro. This movie is not a throwback to the cocktail-swilling 60s (or on some level, maybe it is ..). "Swingers" is a very modern story of boy loses girl, boy moves to L.A., boy takes road trip to Las Vegas, boy pines for girl, boy gets bad advice from overconfident friends, boy tries to make it as a stand up comic, boy goes swing dancing, boy meets Heather Graham. A truly enjoyable weekend night feature for the hep cat in us all.
Denise Felder
Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn are part of a group of friends who look for jobs by day and spend their nights in Hollywood's hippest hangouts. But the lovesick Favreau can't get out of his relationship rut, so Vaughn decides to help him out and show him a good time, which leads to a road trip to Vegas. This movie is smokin' and groovin' with a soundtrack full of swing that moves this comedy along at a fast-pace. This hip and funny movie gives the lowdown on dating in the '90s -- from a guy's perspective. It's money, baby.
IMDb | Other Reviews
Shelby Strudler
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