Titles I happened to check out on Netflix in the month of November 2014 listed from best to worst:
Moscow on the Hudson (1984, 115 Minutes, R) is the best Robin Williams performance because it’s the one that is so radically outside his persona that he is unrecognizable from how else we knew him. Williams is Vladimir, a saxophonist from the Russian circus, who arrives in New York and loves it so instantly he defects at Bloomingdales. He meets an immigrant lawyer and loves a shopgirl (Maria Conchita Alonso). The reason you’ve never heard of “Hudson” or seen it play on cable, is because there are too many titties and the first half hour is entirely in Russian (Robin has a very real dialect!) with English subtitles. The rest of the film has a great New York-y boisterous feel. One of the finest films by the late writer-director Paul Mazursky. A-
DRAMA / ADULT ORIENTATION / LATE NIGHT COZY-UP
Working Girl (1988, 116 Minutes, R) is the sharp romantic comedy by the late Mike Nichols set against the backdrop of Manhattan high finance corporations. Melanie Griffith is the bimbo-sounding secretary who has to prove her worth by assuming the identity of Sigourney Weaver, her scheming boss. Harrison Ford is the hunky businessman who comes between them. Just the right amount of corn. A-
ROMANTIC COMEDY / THINKING TEENS / LATE NIGHT GUILTY PLEASURES
Rounders (1998, 115 Minutes, R) is a fun as mischief poker movie with Matt Damon and Edward Norton, and the noir-ish writing only gets better with age. Damon has quit gambling and become a devoted legal study until Norton gets him hooked again, only to drag him into the hole. John Malkovich is audaciously over-the-top, absolutely hilarious as the poker king of the underground Russian mob. B+
DRAMA / GAMBLING COMPULSION / LATE NIGHT FASCINATION
Stardust Memories (1980, 88 Minutes, PG) is excessively neurotic and not much fun for a Woody Allen film, but it’s a provocative examination of the relationship between a film artist and his sycophant fans, and is strikingly shot in dreamy black and white. Many have derided it as a mean-spirited “8½” rip-off, I feel the film finds brutally honest truths that is unfiltered, vintage Woody. B
COMEDY-DRAMA / AVANTE-GARDE / LATE NIGHT CURIO
Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976, 111 Minutes, R) is no Llewyn Davis, but it’s worth reaching out for. Not so much about the music scene, but the struggling actors scene in 1950’s bohemian New York. Lenny Baker plays the loud-mouthed, idealist hero. Christopher Walken as a lothario playwright stands out amongst the supporting actors. Written and directed by Paul Mazursky. B
COMEDY-DRAMA / PERIOD PIECE / LAZY AFTERNOON VIEWING
The Birdcage (1996, 118 Minutes, R) has Robin Williams as a gay nightclub owner who has to pass himself off as straight when his son brings the new in-laws over for dinner (Gene Hackman and Diane Wiest as the ultra-conservatives). Mike Nichols directed, and the comic timing and tension in the last third is terrific screwball. B
COMEDY / MATURE TEENS / LATE NIGHT YUKFEST
Jack Goes Boating (2010, 89 Minutes, R) is the one Philip Seymour Hoffman-directed movie, and it’s another variation of “Marty” (1955) with shy limo driver Jack (Hoffman) and very low self-esteem funeral home operator (Amy Ryan) falling cautiously in love. Just when I thought it was too minor, I admit it grew on me days after seeing it. John Ortiz and Daphne Rubin-Vega, as Jack’s friends, are the bickering long-lasting couple whom contrast to the idea of sweet romance. B-
DRAMA / ADULT ORIENTATION / LATE NIGHT SELF-REFLECTION
In a World… (2013, 93 Minutes, R) is interesting for three minutes during its opening credit sequence that considers the careers of voiceover artists for commercials and movie trailers. As soon as we meet annoying heroine Carol (Lake Bell), we want her to fail. D
COMEDY / INDIE / DESPERATION TIME
Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return (2014, 88 Minutes, PG), an animated catastrophe, has the gang goes up against the villain Jester. Back in Kansas, the Jester is an evil appraiser trying to condemn farmland properties. Whoop Dee Doo! It really goes wrong immediately after Dorothy faces the death penalty courts after eating unauthorized candy in Candy County. Pop songs galore, by Lea Michelle (as Dorothy), and none of them are sing-along fun. This time Oz stinks. D
FAMILY MOVIE / ANIMATION / DESPERATION TIME
Winter’s Tale (2014, 118 Minutes, PG-13) was made by good people with good hearts, I believe, but this movie is nearly impossible to sit through. Colin Farrell is a thief in a fairy-tale 1890’s New York, where he loves a woman too forgettable for us to care. If you want to see some of the worst acting ever, check out Russell Crowe doing unworldly mishmash accents as a demonic baddie. Farrell and Crowe live a hundred years and battle it out on flying horses in 2014. Movie magic? Hell no. Time stands still, our hearts are frozen. D-
DRAMA / TEARJERKER / BAD MOVIES WE HATE
