Some suggestions for a film festival at home
At the start of 2020, before cinemas were shuttered, I was going to them and watching three new films a week. Direct results of the pandemic: fewer movies, new ones being sent to critics’ home computers instead, and lots of free time that could be spent catching up with old favorites in my living room.
The 10 listed here live on my DVD shelves, and are films that I’ve watched over and over because they make me laugh or cringe or gawk in wonderment or trigger any number of reactions. I recommend them all. Check your local libraries or the sources listed below.
“Airplane!” (1980) —
A crazy comedy about the very bad flight of a passenger plane. The script is filled with brilliant sight gags, awful puns, and bravura doses of bad taste and political incorrectness (and a bit of nudity). Favorite moment: Barbara Billingsley speaking jive. (Starz)
“Bad Santa” (2003) —
Billy Bob Thornton plays a drunk, thieving department store
Santa. Tony Cox plays his cunning but nasty elf helper. Bernie Mac is a security man you don’t want to cross.
Brett Kelly is a sweet kid who thinks Santa is real. Wildly funny stuff, giddily sacrilegious. Favorite scene: The kid gets a boxing lesson. (Prime Video)
“Blast from the Past” (1999) —
A scientist in the early 1960s, believing the bomb has dropped on the U.S., hustles his wife into a fallout shelter, where their son is born. Thirty-five years later, the book-smart but naïve son (Brendan Fraser) emerges into a strange “new” world. Favorite scene: Dave Foley saying, “I HAVE to go to the bathroom.” (Prime
Video)
“Cloud Atlas” (2012) — Six separate but loosely related stories interweave in six different locations and time periods. Some of the actors play six different characters (some, “only” five). Genre categories range from thriller to romance to historical drama to sci-fi epic. Dazzling filmmaking from the Wachowskis. Favorite scene: Tom Hanks smoking a joint with Halle Berry. (Tubi)
“Fast Five” (2011) — The best entry in the “Fast & Furious” franchise has Dom Toretto and friends and family hiding out in Rio, where they intend to mix high-speed maneuvering with a huge heist, unless Federal Agent Dwayne Johnson gets the drop on them. Dizzying driving effects. Favorite scene: The Diesel-Rock fistfight. (Prime Video)
“The Fifth Element” (1997) —
In the 23rd century, rogue cab driver Bruce Willis gets involved with a determined priest (Ian Holm), a vile villain (Gary Oldman), a zany radio host (Chris Tucker) and a beautiful woman from another world (Milla Jovovich). Favorite scene: Jovovich diving from a skyscraper. (AMC+)
“Live Free or Die Hard” (2007) — The fourth film in the “Die Hard” series has veteran cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) on a routine case that ramps up into some head-butting with domestic terrorists. The action is non-stop and often outrageous, but Willis keeps things grounded with perfectly delivered quips and good chemistry with Justin Long, a computer geek he’s trying to protect. Favorite scene: A brawl between Willis and ferocious Maggie Q. (Prime Video)
“The Music Lovers” (1971) —
Ken Russell directs the lurid, feverish, emotionally overwrought story of the homosexual composer
Peter Tchaikovsky (Richard Chamberlain) and his “problematic” marriage to the nymphomaniac Nina Milyukova (Glenda Jackson). The film also introduces Tchaikovsky’s jealous male lover, his money-hungry brother, his overly adoring benefactor, and his belittling musical mentor. Favorite scene: Chamberlain finger-syncing the Piano Concerto No. 1. (Prime Video)
“Road House” (1989) —
Philosophizing but tough bouncer Dalton (Patrick Swayze) gets a gig keeping the peace in a roughneck Missouri barroom. He falls for a local doctor (Kelly Lynch), makes an enemy of the ruthless guy who owns most of the town (Ben Gazzara), and rekindles a friendship with an older bouncer pal (Sam Elliott). A violent, fistfight-filled film with a positive streak running through it. Favorite scene: Gazzara swerving his ’87 Mustang convertible while singing “Sh-Boom.” (AMC+)
“2 Days in the Valley” (1996) —
Among the denizens of this violent comic-noir thriller are a goodhearted hitman (Danny Aiello), a vicious hitman (James Spader), a vicious hitwoman (Charlize Theron), a bad cop (Jeff Daniels), a woman with low self-esteem (Glenne Headley), a crime victim (Teri Hatcher), and a suicidal film director (Paul Mazursky).
The script is brimming with stories, all slowly being pulled together. Favorite scene: Aiello stumbling upon a “work of art” that looks like a dog. (Cinemax)