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Previous Features
That seems to be a widely-held sentiment and a general lament, whether one is a professional videologist like myself or simply a weekend watcher. In either case, the real problem lies even deeper, to wit: How do we make the most of our limited video viewing hours? We can always head for the New Releases shelves and -- on the off chance that there is anything actually left to rent -- pick up the titles we dimly remember from TV commercial bombardment and magazine hype six months earlier. The problem with that approach is that high visibility has little correlation with high quality. Last year's blockbuster -- a word which, appropriately or ironically, once defined a type of bomb -- Godzilla, proved once and for all (we hope) that size doesn't matter where quality is concerned. But who has the time to sniff out and find the fine little films that get buried in the avalanche of annual releases? Well...I do. And I'd like to share a few of them with you now. Call them "sleepers," call them "buried treasures," call them "killer" B movies ... However you label them, they are fabulous features which never found their proper audience; wonderful films one feels compelled to tell friends about; second-run, but not second-rate, movies which deserve a second chance -- and get it on video. A couple of quick notes: First, just as you probably wouldn't want to sit through every movie playing at the multiplex, keep in mind that not all of these titles are suitable for all tastes. But chances are if you missed, or never heard of, or didn't want to take a chance on, one of these flicks, but find that it sounds appealing ... it will probably prove worth your time to seek it out and rent it. Second, I can hardly claim this is an exhaustive list of first-rate, second-tier flicks released on tape during 1998 (even though some of the films played in theaters in '97). As mentioned above, who has time to see them all? But these nine titles constitute a solid start for discussing last year's buried treasures. Finally, if you've seen any of these movies and agree that they are indeed gems, you might want to check out last year's list, or sample some similar, more detailed reviews from my book-length collection of buried treasures on tape, Killer B's: The 237 Best Movies On Video You've (Probably) Never Seen, available on-line on the Impermanent Press web site: http://www.impermanentpress.com In alphabetical order, my choice of 1998's buried treasures on video includes:
 D. Scott Apel is the former video columnist for the San Jose (CA) Mercury News, and is author of the video guide Killer B's: The 237 Best Movies On Video You've (Probably) Never Seen.
Bewitched, Bothered and Bedeviled Happy Trails: Goodbye Roy and Shari AFI's MIAs Albert Brooks: The Funniest Man in Film? Mother's Day: Sons and Mothers Will We Remember Them? Oscar Winners From the Past Oscar's Cinema Lineage Love Makes the World Go 'Round Buried Treasures of 1997 It's a Wonderful Film: Frank Capra's Christmas gift to the world. Intelligent alien connections with "Contact" ... and other benign close encounters. Die Laughing: 13 flicks guaranteed to rattle your funny bones. Film Noir: Build a library of some classic B-pictures. Thanksgiving turkeys: A giblet-eye view of the worst of 1997.
© 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 CyberPod. All rights reserved CyberPod and OnVideo are trademarks of CyberPod Productions. February 9, 1999 |
It would be easy to dismiss this flick as Roger and Me Lite; if you've
seen writer-director-corporate whistle-blower Michael Moore's earlier
documentary, The Big One seems more like a sequel than a brand-new
film. But even a sequel is welcome when it's as funny, sad and insightful as
this one. When Moore's book tour was cancelled (under suspicious circumstances),
he embarked on his own cross-country tour, visiting blue-collar whistle-stops
where other authors might fear to tread. And in every town he visited, he
uncovered corporate greed feeding on the soul of America. Sometimes Moore's film
concentrates on the fates of the people thrown out of jobs by "down-sizing" or
plant closures; often it shows him fighting back, using quixotic, ironic
gestures to shame the corporate villains (he presents a company moving its
manufacturing operations offshore with a check for 37 cents, for instance --
payment for the first hour of labor at the foreign plant). Outrage defused with
humor from America's master crap-buster. 
A lion tamer, a topiary gardener, a mechanical engineer who designs robot
insects, a man who studies mole rats ... What could this quartet of disparate
misfits possibly have in common? In the hands of documentary filmmaker Errol
Morris, the answer is "Plenty." Interviews indicate that, on the surface, at
least, they are all obsessed men. But Morris' skillful intercutting among their
four stories -- often overlapping dialog from one man with film from the work of
another -- also serves as a sort of Rorschach test for the viewer, quietly
inspiring some uncomfortable questions. Are we all, in some way, obsessed with
controlling Nature; with shaping Her in our image? And aren't we all, in some
way, doomed to failure when pitting our pitiful little wits against the Grand
Forces of Nature? Like Morris' previous masterpiece, Gates of Heaven --
in which he illustrates that the soul of humanity is reflected in our treatment
of the death of our pets -- this understated little gem strikes right to the
very heart of what it means to be Human, while remaining a fascinating, engaging
and non-didactic film. 
Cloning is no longer science fiction. And if complex mammals such as sheep can
be cloned, and the human gene-map will completed within a decade, the ethical
considerations of cloning and related issues of genetic manipulation must be
addressed, and very soon. One result of failing to establish humane guidelines
in this realm is illustrated by this cautionary tale of a near future society
built on genetic diagnosis, analysis and manipulation -- which is also perhaps
the smartest and most chilling film to be released on video in 1998. Call it a
dystopian vision, or an intellectual techno-thriller, or even a primer on the
abuses of over-reliance on sterile science at the expense of individual
potential; by whatever name, it is a fascinating look at how the understanding
of genetics can easily turn one's body into a prison when one's physical makeup
is the sole determinant of society status and opportunity. While
Gattaca is a cold, slick vision of this virtually soulless world,
beneath its cool surface is a spirit that is quietly uplifting, emotionally
ennobling, and ultimately transcendent. This is provocative, thought-provoking
science fiction for adults, in which explosions, flashy technology and
planet-killing comets are replaced by the sobering exposition of important ideas
and an illustration of the indomitable nature of the human spirit. 
Writer-director Whit Stillman is rapidly establishing a reputation as the
premiere chronicler of contemporary young urban professionals, and
Disco shares numerous details with his previous brilliant films,
Metropolitan and Barcelona. Primary among these details is the
finely-drawn characters, all overly intelligent, overly ironic, and overly aware
of their own ironic intelligence. This latest "episode" in the lives of these
characters takes place in the early '80s, and documents the rapid change of
fortunes, lifestyles and relationships among a loose group of Ivy League college
grads working and partying in Manhattan during that pivotal moment when disco
decadence gave way to (or gave birth to) the Yuppie; when the Me Decade
degenerated into the Greed Decade. The hilarious, intelligent dialog is
delivered by an ensemble cast of fresh, engaging actors, and the overall tone is
one of sympathetic irony and affection for their (often self-imposed) suffering.
This unusual black comedy was the recipient of more media attention and critical
acclaim last year than any other film on this list. And deservedly so. It's one
part The Last Seduction, one part Fargo and one part
Lolita -- a meandering, cynical, outrageous, caustic roundelay of
relationships and the problems of finding and maintaining one in the Nasty
Nineties. Christina Ricci plays a troubled young troublemaker with an incisive
gimlet eye, out for revenge against the world for its shabby treatment of her,
whose avowed intention is to wreak havoc on everyone whose path she crosses. Her
complicated nature is allergic to complacency and hypocrisy (except her own),
and we become passengers on the bumpy ride she forces the other characters to
take. Does it turn out all sweetness and light in the end? Well ... not exactly.
But it will leave you with a head-shaking grin and some indelible memories. Some
movies catch your attention by thumbing their noses at conventional morality;
this one gives it the finger and dares you to deny it deserves the treatment. By
all means, try to keep up with this quirky comedy; if nothing else, you'll be
rewarded with some pitch-perfect performances, a load of nasty laughs, and a
unique perspective on human nature at its best, its worst and its most confused.
Relationship comedies abound, but few are as true-to-life as this little tale of
a young urban New Yorker struggling to create a career as a writer and actor
while stuck in a comfortable but mundane pairing. His dream of finding a
peroxide-free female is symptomatic of a search for some real values, real
meaning and real reality in a world where image is everything. Writer-director
Tom DiCillo -- whose earlier film, Living in Oblivion, beautifully
skewered the insanity of the world of low-budget film production -- here mixes a
heady brew: relationship "dramedy" up; movie biz satire back. The latter subplot
features cameos by Kathleen Turner, Christopher Lloyd, Denis Leary and Buck
Henry (to name just a few of the familiar faces); however, it's in the scenes
between the unsatisfied couple where the real heart of the movie lies (or, more
precisely, where it "truths"). Finally, a flick with the intelligence and
fortitude to imply that a decent relationship -- like meaning itself -- is not
something one finds, but something one creates. DiCillo manages to illustrate
this point in a manner both tender and funny.