Coming Distractions September the 1st, 2009

State of Play
Sin Nombre
Che: Part 1
Good Dick
Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle
Bring it On: Fight to the Finish
Gigantic
Sugar
Shaun the Sheep: Little Sheep of Horrors
Rescue Me - 5th Season
Heroes - 3rd Season
Desperate Housewives - 5th Season

I've been watching a lot of classic films lately. Mostly screwball comedies from the late 30's - 50's, like Katharine Hepburn in Adam's Rib and The Philadelphia Story. They're great fun. Katharine Hepburn, to steal a word from Tyra Banks and that little guy on Project Runaway, is fierce. Though she was once called "box-office poison." I love the quick, sharp, stylized dialogue. It's fascinating to see the growing feminism addressed so directly. Or there is the slightly more serious (and mildly claustrophobia-inducing, but still fun to watch,) fare like Judy Holliday in The Marrying Kind. That one's about a married couple on the verge of divorce, forced to reminisce about their life together by their divorce court judge. That one was written by a real live married couple, Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin.

Anyway, I mostly want to bring your attention to another movie: Blast of Silence ('61). Written by, directed, and starring Allen Baron as a hitman from Cleveland. It is, certainly, one of the most relentlessly misanthropic films out there. The best part is the narration, which is in the 2nd person. "You are alone. You like it that way." It's full of gems, such as when the voice of Lionel Stander (a black-listed actor, uncredited in the film 'cause it was cheaper that way) tells you're looking at a picture of the kind of guy who has "the kind of face you hate," and who, "thinks he looks like a gentleman if his shoes are tied. You could kill him right now with pleasure." There is also an amazing club band in the film, fronted by a man singing while playing the bongos. You might want to wait to watch it until December though, so you can really empathize with Frank Bono when the voice from the t.v. tells you that you're, "Faceless in the crowd…Lose yourself in the Christmas spirit with the rest of the suckers."

Has anyone seen Surveillance? Is it any good? I heard director Jessica Lynch has picked up some tips (and Bill Pullman) from her father, David, and that it has a good twist ending, but I'm still a little hesitant to try it.