Streamer of the Week – Paul Thomas Anderson’s Hard Eight

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amazon, boogie nights, gwyneth paltrow, hard eight, itunes, john c. reilly, magnolia, max ophuls, netflix, paul thomas anderson, philip seymour hoffman, phillip baker hall, prime, reno, samuel l. jackson, the master, there will be blood, vegas, youtube

Sometimes the work of a particular director needs to grow on you and you don’t quite feel their first effort or two. I can honestly say that was not the case with Paul Thomas Anderson first effort, Hard Eight. A tightly compacted film despite taking place in cities like Las Vegas and Reno, Hard Eight chronicles the evolution of the relationship between two men, Sydney (Phillip Baker Hall) and John (John C. Reilly).

Sydney happens upon John outside of a diner…and our story begins.

The film opens with John sitting, dejected outside of a diner when Sydney, who is going into the diner, stops to ask him if he wants a cigarette, if he wants a cup of coffee. When they get inside and get to talking, John confesses has has no money and needs $6,000 to pay for his mother’s funeral. Touched and confused by John’s actions, Sydney decides to help John out. When he takes him back to Vegas, he shows him how to milk the system, circulating the same money to make it look like he’s a big spender. When he gets comped a room for the night and hits a mini-jackpot on the slots, John thinks he’s stumbled onto something. Sydney quickly quashes those thoughts, but offers John help to get his mother buried.

Sydney watching over John showing him the ropes.

Cut to two years later…

The two men are still together, although they are in Reno now –  John, the faithful puppy dog to Sydney’s alpha. There are two new players in the story now – the apple of John’s eye, Clementine (Gwyneth Paltrow) and John’s friend Jimmy (Samuel L. Jackson), both of whom play major roles in the story as it moves along.

Jimmy and John, an odd couple.

It’s clear that John and Clementine have feelings for one another and Sydney does all he can to push the two of them together. When the two do end up getting together, an unexpected turn of events ends up changing the entire dynamic of all people involved. When Jimmy confronts Sydney about something from his past, another situation arises that further threatens the co-existence of all players.

Clementine, the wolf in a cocktail waitress’ clothing.

I might argue that this is one of the best first films of any director in the past 20 years. The characters are few so Anderson was able to concentrate on building them, giving them many layers and throwing in some narrative twists that always keep you guessing as to what will happen and what are the characters’ motivations. This film firmly cemented Reilly and Hall as players in Anderson‘s company of actors. Both appeared in Boogie Nights as well as Magnolia. Perhaps the best appearance is that of Philip Seymour Hoffman, whose short cameo is definitely memorable, and also helped establish him as Anderson‘s go-to guy, having appeared in every film he’s made except for There Will Be Blood. Here it is:

This was the beginning of a beautiful and fruitful relationship between Anderson and Hoffman which came full circle with the outfuckingstanding performance Hoffman gave in The Master.I have always remembered this scene with great fondness.

Hey Big Time…I’ll buy you a drink

This is a film I’ve always been able to watch over and over. There’s so much in it and it shows where Anderson began as a writer and director. His Max Ophüls–influenced camera moves are on full display here and this is the place one should start when tackling Anderson‘s work. I can’t speak highly enough of this film. So get there, people, and check it out.

This film streams on Netflix, YouTube, iTunes and is also on Amazon (and is free if you have a Prime membership).

Here’s the trailer:

Streamer of the Week – Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing

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12 years a slave, academy awards, act of killing, adi zulkadry, amazon, anwar congo, communist, documentary, errol morris, haunting, herman coto, hutus, indonesia, itunes, joshua oppenheimer, massacre, netflix, Oscars, pancasila youth, rwanda genocide, tutsis, werner herzog, youtube

If the content in The Act of Killing was pitched as a fiction film, my guess is there is no studio that would take it on because who in the hell would believe it? To call this film, directed by Joshua Oppenheimer, haunting is really doing it an incredible disservice.

Anwar Congo (left) and Herman Koto (right)

Oppenheimer turns his cameras mostly on two men, Anwar Congo and Herman Koto, both self-professed gangsters (or “free men” as they repeatedly state since the derivation of the Indonesian word for gangster means this literally), who were involved in the mass killings of communists in Indonesia in late 1965 and early 1966. The numbers vary depending on who is giving them, but it is said that between 500,000 – 2,000,000 people were killed in this short time, rivaling the brutal ethnic violence between the Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994. Those numbers are incredibly astonishing, but what’s more astonishing is the lack of any kind of remorse shown on the part of Congo and Koto for their actions. In fact, Oppenheimer films them as they make their own film, re-enacting the murders they carried out as well as ordered during the great communist purge.

Congo showing how he killed many communists…with a wire because it was less messy.

In one scene, Congo takes Oppenheimer to the roof of a merchants where he details how he killed the victims in that very spot. He smiles pleasantly as he tells the story of blood filling the patio where they were killed, unrattled by having taken so many people’s lives. And later, in a moment that is unbelievably disturbing, he and Koto critique his performance.

As the film continues along, we can see Congo start to come to the realization that what he did was wrong. We don’t see that with Koto nor do we see that from Adi Zulkadry, a friend and also a former executioner like Congo when he comes back to film his parts in the film. Unapologetic about the executions, Zulkadry warns Congo and the filmmakers making their reenactment that they need to be careful because what they may end up showing is that the anti-communists (themselves) were in fact more cruel that the communists themselves, the whole reason they were executed in the first place.

Adi Zulkadry (left) and Congo getting their makeup for an interrogation scene.

This film hit such a note for fellow documentarians Werner Herzog (who claims this is the best film made in the last 25 years) and Errol Morris, that they executive produced the film and and saw it through to completion. That is a lineage that is too good to pass up on name alone. Here they are talking about the film:

This is an experience like none I’ve ever seen and let’s hope it’s the last of its kind. Oppenheimer captured something exceedingly haunting and terribly sad, but this is a film that needed to be made and one that needs to be seen.

Congo, a changed man?

In my opinion, this is the best documentary of the year and would narrowly lose to 12 Years a Slave as the best film of the year. Get there, people. This film is waiting to be watched. And don’t be surprised if you see it take home the Oscar on March 2.

This film is available for streaming on Netflix, YouTube, Amazon and iTunes.

Here’s the trailer:

Streamer of the Week – Leaving Las Vegas

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alcohol, amazon, coen brothers, drunk, elisabeth shue, golden globe winner, hooker, independent spirit award winner, itunes, john dahl, john o'brien, julian sands, leaving las vegas, mike figgis, netflix, nicolas cage, oscar winner, prostitute, raising arizona, red rock west, stripper lessons, the assault on tony's

Nicolas Cage. Before he was someone whose movies you could basically dismiss upon seeing the trailer, he did put together a few good ones. Raising Arizona is a top-50 film, total Coen Brothers‘ deliciousness and a worthy view at any time. His turn in Johl Dahl‘s fascinating and little seen neo-noir Red Rock West is also quite fabulous. That leaves us with Leaving Las Vegas, his signature dramatic performance and one that has captivated me since I first saw it in 1995.

Let’s get a drink!

Cage plays Ben Sanderson, a movie studio exec/screenwriter who has, shall we say, a penchant for the devil’s water, alcohol. He is a raging alcoholic. It literally dictates everything he does. His wife and son have left him, he loses his job, and alienates the only friends he’s got.  In a stupor, after having picked up a young hooker, he tells her, very slurred of course, “I can’t remember if my wife left me because I started drinking, or I started drinking because my wife left me.” So that’s the set-up. After losing his job, Ben decides to sell everything he’s got left that he can sell, burn the rest, and move out to Las Vegas where he plans to drink himself to death.

That was a red light. I walk, you stop. You sorry?

While in Vegas, Ben meets Sera (Elisabeth Shue), a hooker with whom he forms a special bond, one of respect and mutual understanding. After her pimp Yuri (Julian Sands) is removed from the picture by Russian mobsters, Sera asks Ben to move in with her so she can keep a watchful eye on him.  He has but one rule:

And so, they set off on the unpredictable road of a drunk and a prostitute living together, attracted to each other for different reasons, to its inevitable, depressing end.

You’re like some kind of antidote that mixes with the liquor…

This film is one of the more depressing things I’ve watched, but I can’t help but to revisit it time and again. The performances of both Cage (which won him the Golden Globe and Oscar) and Shue (for which she was nominated for Golden Globe and Oscar and won the Independent Spirit Award) are powerhouses and unlike any other role they’ve taken and are a big reason I do come back to watch it again. I think Shue‘s performance was the best of 1995 and one of the strongest of the decade. It’s a shame she hasn’t gotten more work like this, although I am glad she was in Hamlet 2.

This movie was based on the novel of the same name written by John O’Brien, himself an incorrigible drunk who committed suicide before the film was made. This story is really his story as it mirrored his life in many ways. It’s shame, really, as I enjoyed the novel as well as the two that were released posthumously, Stripper Lessons and The Assault on Tony’s.

So if you’re ever in a dark spot and need a movie to make you see how bad your life really isn’t, give this a chance. Or if you just want to see two really great performances from actors you may not expect them from, click it on.

This film streams on Amazon, Netflix and iTunes.

Here’s the trailer:

Streamer of the Week – Undefeated

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academy award, amazon, bill courtney, bruce sinofsky, chavis daniels, daniel lindsay, documentary, inspirational, itunes, joe berlinger, manassas tigers, memphis, montrail brown, netflix, o.c. brown, oscar, paradise lost, pina, t.j. martin, undefeated, wim wenders

When Undefeated won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2012, I was surprised. Of course I hadn’t seen it since it was never theatrically released in my area. Up against Pina from international film heavyweight Wim Wenders and the final installment of the Paradise Lost trilogy about The West Memphis Three from Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky,  I never thought this one had a chance. But the film performed like the kids and coaches it depicts – with honor and perseverance – and it took home the gold statue. And deservedly so.

Coach Bill Courtney instructs his players.

This film follows the 2009 season of the Manassas Tigers football team, a North Memphis high school who has had a long and storied history of losing. Coach Bill Courtney is trying to get them to do something no Manassas team has ever done before – win a playoff game. The area where these kids come from is depressed, most of them don’t have fathers and live in very humble circumstances. These are kids that are mostly forgotten by society. But their coach is not one of those people. He volunteers his time to coach, often times shirking his responsibilities to his own wife and children to help these kids out, to be the father figure that many of them have never had in their lives. Along the way, he and his team of coaches try to instill more than just football fundamentals in these kids. He tries to teach them to be good people, to do well in school, to help change their surroundings by doing the right thing and to persevere. Here’s an example:

The film also follows three of the players fairly closely – offensive lineman Montrail “Money” Brown, O.C. Brown and Chavis Daniels.

Montrail is an undersized lineman whose heart is as big as the Empire State Building. He is a terrific student as well and wants more than anything to go to college. Unfortunately, his financial circumstances make that nearly impossible. When he hurts the ligaments in his knee and loses football for the bulk of the season, he loses the last thing he feels he has going for him.

Montrail awaits results from the tests on his knee after he is injured.

O.C. Brown (no relation to Montrail) is the stud on the team, a huge offensive lineman with uncanny speed and blocking ability. He garners serious interest from several Division I schools. However, O.C. needs work on his grades and needs to get a high enough score on his ACT to play college ball. His coaches work with him and his tutors so that he can accomplish his goal of going to college and playing D-I ball. They even go so far as to move him into one of their houses for the bulk of the week so he can concentrate on his studies.

OC and Coach Courtney share a final moment.

Chavis Daniels misses the start of the season due to being put into a detention facility. A hothead, Chavis brings a new headache to the team upon his return. Content to do what only he wants, Chavis lets the team down and is suspended for part of the season. With the help of Coach Courtney, Chavis learns what he needs to do to help the team, not just himself. When he tells the coach, “I’ll die for you on this field tonight”, it is one of the more powerful moments of the film. And to say that is pretty big as this film is full of those moments. He is the most intriguing part of the film.

Chavis – an uncommon man.

This film is a true testament to the power of people’s abilities to act selfless and for the greater good. This film is marginally about football. It’s more about the creation of self-worth, the building of young men into MEN. Bill Courtney never had to spend his time working with these kids and doing it for free. He did it because he knew these kids were not just worth the time and effort, but that they deserved it. This film started out as just being about O.C. Brown, so I am glad that directors Daniel Lindsay and T.J. Martin realized the potential of the full team story. Seeing this was well worth the wait. I was extremely surprised that it was so good. This film is not about sports. That just sets up the backdrop for the story. To Coach Courtney and the staff that coached Manassas, congratulations to you – if only there were more folks like yourselves, more of these kids could get the chances they deserve.

Watch the film to see how it turns out for the Manassas Tigers season and how everything turns out for Montrail, O.C., Chavis and Coach Bill.

This film is streaming on Netflix, Amazon and iTunes.

Here’s the trailer:

Streamer of the Week – Swimming with Sharks

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amazon, frank whaley, george huang, harvey weinstein, itunes, jack warner, kevin spacey, macauley culkin, michelle forbes, netflix, robert altman, swimming with sharks, the bad and the beautiful, the player, the usual suspects, vincente minnelli

“You. Have. No. Brain.”

These are the some of the first words Guy (Frank Whaley) hears from his new boss Buddy Ackerman (Kevin Spacey in one of his finest roles).  An ominous beginning to the first day of a new job, right? Buddy is the Senior Executive Vice President of Production for Keystone Pictures and Guy is his new personal assistant, a job that has an incredible legacy sending those who have held it to executive level production positions at movie studios like Paramount and Sony and into producing roles for projects like all of the Macauley Culkin action pictures – obviously a much bigger deal in 1994 when this film was released. Here’s an example of how “loving” Buddy can be:

Swimming with Sharks follows Guy’s trials and tribulations as he navigates these difficult waters, trying to stay in Buddy’s good graces all while trying to carve out a place where he can fit himself into the film world that he loves so much. When asked why he’s working in the movies by producer Dawn Lockard (Michelle Forbes), he answers: “All of my favorite memories have been of movies.” Something tells me that after his experience with Buddy, that may well not be the case anymore. And when Buddy states, “This job is very big on payback,” I’m not sure he saw what was coming next. Let’s say this film takes quite an unexpected turn (although it’s set up in the post-opening credits sequence) when Buddy comes between Guy and Dawn, who have become an item.

Got an envelope?

This is one of the most acerbic dark comedies about Hollywood out there. While it doesn’t quite rank with the likes of Robert Altman’s The Player or Vincente Minnelli‘s The Bad and the Beautiful, it certainly plays in the same sandbox. Writer-director George Huang beautifully employs a non-linear structure flush with flashbacks to conceal the twist ending with a deft touch. Frank Whaley is very well cast playing the awww-shucks small-town fish out of water. Spacey did this film right before winning an Oscar for his role in The Usual Suspects and definitely at the apex of his career. It isn’t hard to imagine Buddy as based on any number of real-life studio execs (Jack Warner or Harvey Weinstein, anyone?). This film doesn’t hold back on Hollywood politics and what it takes to succeed in the business, none of which should come to anyone’s surprise. Huang creates an atmosphere that makes this film seem like a play since there are so few people involved in the story. Just a few ancillary characters buzz in and out of Guy, Buddy and Dawn’s world and I think this film is all the better for it.

I feel disillusioned, dismayed, disposable….

This film is streaming on Netflix, Amazon (free with your Prime membership), and iTunes.

Here’s the trailer:

It’s funny to see how the original trailer positioned this film as sort of a happy, bubbly movie. It definitely isn’t.

Streamer of the Week – Rian Johnson’s Brick

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amazon, amc, breaking bad, brick, dashiell hammett, emilie de ravin, femme fatale, itunes, jim thompson, joseph gordon-levitt, looper, lukas haas, meagan good, neo-noir, netflix, noah segan, noir, nora zehetner, rian johnson, the brothers bloom, the pin, things are not as they seem, youtube

“What if I took classic film noir tropes and dialogue as well as the detective story and transferred them to present-day high school?” This must have been what writer-director Rian Johnson mused when creating the kick ass Brick. Like most films noir, Brick has twists and turns, information is given (but is it correct?), information is received (again, is it correct?) and danger awaits our protagonist. Will he outwit those aligning against him or will he succumb This film begs you to ask – who should we trust? And who shouldn’t we trust? It is a film that constantly keeps you guessing as to who is doing what and where everything fits. In short, it rules the school. Pun intended.

You think you can get the straight, maybe break some deserving teeth?

As if ripped from the pages of a contemporary Dashiell Hammett novel, Brick follows Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt at his absolute finest) as he tries to find out who murdered his ex-girlfriend Em (Emilie de Ravin) after she gets involved with the wrong crowd. Was it Dode (Noah Segan), Emily’s tweaked-out new beau? Or the hot rich girl, Laura (the minxy Nora Zehetner)? Was it The Pin (Lukas Haas), the local coke dealer? Or Was it the diva, Kara (the gorgeous Meagan Good)? We must repeatedly ask ourselves, how do all of these people, as ancillary as they seem, fit into Em’s murder.

Look, I can’t trust you. You ought to be smart enough to know that. I didn’t shake the party up to get your attention, and I’m not heeling you to hook you.

Noir writer-extraordinaire Jim Thompson once said, “There are thirty-two ways to write a story, and I’ve used every one, but there is only one plot – things are not as they seem.” Johnson takes this to heart and as we traverse this complex landscape of characters replete with 50s-style dialogue (one of its finest attributes), we have to watch Brendan and listen carefully. We never receive any information that he doesn’t, so in order to figure it out, the little details mean all the more. This is precisely why you should watch this one more than one time.

Maybe I’ll just sit here and bleed at you.

One of the best first features in the last 25 years, Brick gets better each time you watch it. Its release signaled the coming of a great cinematic talent and Johnson hasn’t disappointed us since with his vastly underrated The Brothers Bloom and this year’s top-notch sci-fi neo-noir Looper. He even directed three episodes of AMC’s Breaking Bad. I can’t speak highly enough of this film and would recommend it to anyone. From its eerie score to JLG‘s performance, this film has it all.

It is available for streaming through Netflix, Amazon, iTunes, and Youtube.

Here is the trailer:

Streamer of the Week: Richard Linklater’s Bernie

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amazon, bernie, blair witch project, borat, chronicle, cloverfield, cops, dazed and confused, itunes, jack black, matthew mcconaughey, netflix, richard linkleter, shirley maclaine, slacker, snow on da bluff, the office, this is spinal tap, waking life

Call it what you will: mockumentary, docu-drama, quasi-reality.  Whatever the nomenclature there is little doubt that the documentary-style has taken the film industry by storm. Starting perhaps with imitation-documentaries like This is Spinal Tap, the debut of Cops and subsequent reality TV avalanche have conditioned audiences to interpret the style.  Seminal films like The Blair Witch Project and television shows like The Office have proven that the formula is enduring.

Preaching to the choir

There are variations within the genre.  Films like Borat present themselves as ordinary documentaries, filmed by crews over extended periods of time and carefully edited together to tell the story.  Found footage stories like Cloverfield and Snow On Da Bluff carefully construct narratives that unfold in chronological order through the lens of a single hand held.

Even telekinesis couldn’t suspend disbelief in the ill-conceived “Chronicle”

Some filmmakers just throw documentary styles at the wall to see what sticks.  Chronicle absurdly demands the audience to reconcile how some unnamed person found snippets of footage from dozens of mobile phones, TV news outlets and security cameras and edited them all together.

Bernie takes a somewhat fresh approach, a “look back” at a significant event through the eyes of the local community. Interviews with actors in character combine with accounts by authentic east-Texas locals.  These charming bits blend with polished, cinematic re-enactments of the events to create a semi-documentary that is not unnecessarily shaky, grainy or irritating.

The film tells the story of a too-jolly-to-be-true mortician in small-town Texas.  His already bizarre life takes a significant turn when he becomes involved with a cold-blooded millionaire widow.  The film is based on a true story.  A bizarre story made more significant considering that the creators based almost the entire story off of court testimony and interviews.

The interviews are some the best parts of the film, brimming with idiom and colloquialism that will have you craving corn bread in no time.  Did you know there are actually five distinct regions within Texas?  Or that not all of them are full of cacti and tumbleweeds?  Me neither.

“Are these mine or hers?”

Jack Black captures the spirit of the mid-American mortician with vulnerability and aplomb.  A few memorable vocal numbers buoy his performance.  The creators cast Shirley MacLaine perfectly in the role of the hateful widow. Even Matthew McConaughey doesn’t totally suck, possibly since he is in his comfort zone playing a native of the Lone Star State.

Director Richard Linklater‘s subtle, intellectual sensibility serves the pace of this story well.  The innovation of Slacker or Waking Life isn’t bursting forth, but then again in this story it would have been a distraction.  Like Dazed and Confused this movie shows that Linklater is still one of the foremost experts in the anthropology of Texas.

This film is entertaining whether or not you are familiar with the story of Bernie Tiede, but particularly if you are not.  Fans of Jack Black should certainly not miss it.

It is well-established in cinema that the lines between right and wrong are blurry. In a blind and impartial justice system, an affable perpetrator or a deplorable victim should not have any effect on the consequence of a crime.  Yet such an outcome seems inevitable in a trial by jury.  The question Bernie asks is “are there really any lines and if so who is drawing them?”

Bernie is streaming via Netflix, Amazon and iTunes.

Here’s the trailer:

Streamer of the Week – Ang Lee’s The Ice Storm

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70s, adam hann-byrd, amazon, ang lee, christina ricci, elijah wood, itunes, joan allen, katie holmes, kevin kline, malaise, rick moody, sigourney weaver, the ice storm, tobey maguire, watergate

Key parties, infidelity, family dysfunction, the Watergate hearings – all play a part in Ang Lee‘s The Ice Storm. A wonderful period piece which seems to encapsulate the discontent of the middle 70s, The Ice Storm covers Thanksgiving in affluent NYC suburb, New Canaan, Connecticut. Paul Hood (Tobey Maguire) returns home from boarding school to encounter Watergate obsessed and sexually curious younger sister Wendy (Christina Ricci), adulterous father Ben (Kevin Kline) and a mother, Elena (Joan Allen), who senses it all slipping away.

An awkward family dinner.

Based on the novel by Rick Moody, Taiwanese director Ang Lee tackles 70s American malaise with such a deft touch. Much like the most of the country at the time, every character in this film is miserable. And when the smallest of bright spots open up for the characters, an unforeseen tragedy occurs, shaking their world at its roots. The foreboding titular ice storm threatens the characters from the outset and literally freezes them in time, making each of them take stock of their lives.

Mikey (Elijah Wood) contemplates the storm and its destructive power.

Joan Allen has always been one of my favorite actresses and her performance in this is outstanding, without a doubt my favorite of hers. The moment she figures out Ben is cheating on her is so devastatingly crushing, all told with a simple look on her face.

So, since you and your families will likely be arguing about something this holiday, why not click this perfectly crafted period piece on and have it join the party as well. It will go well with all of the tryptophan you are consuming.

The Ice Storm is streaming on Amazon and iTunes.

Here’s the trailer:

Streamer of the Week – The Coen Brothers’ Barton Fink

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amazon, amazon prime, barton fink, cannes film festival, coen brothers, dante, dante alighieri, divine comedy, ethan coen, homer, inferno, itunes, joel coen, john goodman, john mahoney, john tuturro, judy davis, michael lerner, netflix, o brother where art thou, oscar nominated, Oscars, palme d'or, paradiso, purgatorio, the odyssey, wallace beery, william faulkner

The Coen Brothers’ Barton Fink, winner of the Palme D’or at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival (as well as Best Actor and Director), may well be the best movie made about Hollywood. Barton Fink (John Turturro) is the hit playwright on Broadway,  when he is offered a contract to write for Hollywood. Against his own better judgment and with urgings by his agent, Barton sets off to Hollywood to work for Jack Lipnick (Michael Lerner, who was nominated for Oscar for this role) at Capitol Pictures. Lipnick assigns Barton to write a wrestling movie for actor Wallace Beery. Lipnick is excited to work with Barton, bubbling over when he states, “The important thing is we all want [the script] to have that Barton Fink feeling. We all have that feeling but since you’re Barton Fink, I’m assuming you have it in spades.” I love these lines and should maybe quote them more often.

When Barton finally starts his script, he only gets this far before writer’s block sets in:

FADE IN:

	A TENEMENT BUILDING

	On Manhattan's Lower East Side. Early morning traffic is 
	audible.

So the film traces Barton’s steps to unblock his writing. He meets a traveling insurance salesman named Charlie Meadows (John Goodman) who lives in the room next to him at the Hotel Earle whom he befriends. He meets fellow writer W.P. Mayhew (John Mahoney), who is clearly based on William Faulkner, a drunken lout who mistreats his assistant/girlfriend Audrey Taylor (Judy Davis), to whom Barton takes an immediate shine. As pressure mounts on Barton to complete his script, things go very awry. VERY awry.

Barton (John Turturro) with new pal Charlie Meadows (John Goodman).

Barton Fink is basically the retelling of Dante Alighieri‘s The Divine Comedy. All three of the books are represented – Paradiso, Purgatorio and Inferno. Hollywood is a perfect setting for this tale and it is one of the reasons this film is so successful. It’s very clever. Clearly, the Coens can easily do retellings of classic texts since O Brother, Where Art Thou?, a retelling of Homer‘s The Odyssey,was also very successful.

The paradise Barton longs for.

I would place Barton Fink easily in my top 10 favorite films of all-time. It is pure Coen loveliness and one I think everyone should watch. It is available on Netflix, Amazon (free with Prime membership) and iTunes.

Here is the trailer:

Streamer of the Week – James Foley’s Glengarry Glen Ross

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al pacino, alan arkin, alec baldwin, amazon, best actor, david mamet, ed harris, glengarry glen ross, itunes, jack lemmon, james foley, jerry graff, kevin spacey, mitch & murray, netflix, oscar nominated, oscar winner, premiere properties, rio rancho

Let’s just say this – the film adaptation of David Mamet‘s play Glengarry Glen Ross is totally badass. Featuring a cast of casts – Al Pacino, Alec Baldwin, Alan Arkin, Kevin Spacey, Ed Harris  and Jack Lemmon (four Best Actor or Supporting Actor Oscar winners, all six actors having been nominated) – Glengarry Glen Ross is the expletive-laden story of a group of real estate salesmen and their plight as they are subjected to a sales contest in which the winner gets a car, second place gets a set of steak knives and the rest of them are fired.

I’m here from downtown. I’m here from Mitch & Murray, and I’m here on a mission of MERCY.

Alec Baldwin steals the show in this one with a part that was not in the play and written specifically for the movie. It may be one of the best scenes in ever. See for yourself:

This movie has it all – great acting, incredible Mamet-written dialogue, a robbery, intrigue, groveling and more expletives than you can shake a pair of brass balls at (even Al Pacino calls someone a C U Next Tuesday)…what more do you need? So why are you sitting there? Go watch it!

Glengarry Glen Ross is available for streaming through Netflix, Amazon and iTunes.

Here is the trailer:

 

If you take one thing from this movie, remember this: “A B C – Always be closing”