Staff Picks Archive prior to Sept 2007

Posted by The Video Station Staff - September 26, 2007 - staff picks

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Staff Picks – these are the picks that were on our site, prior to moving to the blog

Check out the following films suggested by Video Station employees. These films are now linked to the Internet Movie Database.

Western Boy

Dream With the Fishes	1997
Director: Finn Taylor
Deep down, don’t we all want to be hipper-then-thou? But through the 90′s, movies that tried to be hipper-than-thou ran into the law of diminishing returns. So it’s time to pull this one out. Paid in full. Formats available at The Video Station: DVD/VHS

The Town that Dreaded Sundown	1977
Director: Charles B. Pierce
I saw this as a kid without my parents, so the rating may have been milder back then. It’s gonna seem schlockly, but still a tense little fish. Formats available at The Video Station: VHS

Emperor of the North	1973
Director: Robert Aldrich
Who are we kidding? Who wants to watch a new-to-DVD film about hobo’s from 1973? Maybe because it captures depression era America, has real stunts performed, colorful characterization and the class act pairing of Marvin and Borgnine? -Also see Beggars of life (28′)- Rated: NR Formats available at The Video Station: DVD/VHS

Alex

Wonder Boys	2000
Director: Curtis Hanson
This dark comedy (sometimes more dark then comedic) is a weekend in a life of a Professor (Michael Douglas) and one of his students (Tobey Maguire) in which they find themselves in a myriad of situations that threatens to make the Prof. life come undone. As they sow up the seams they get to see the fabric that is their lives which shacks them out of complacency and allows them to take control of their lives in order to find the kind of happiness and success they so sorely deserve. Rated: R Formats available at The Video Station: DVD/VHS

Prisoner of Paradise	2002
Director: Malcolm Clarke & Stuart Sender
This is the fascinating story of Kurt Gerron, a well-known and beloved German-Jewish actor, director and cabaret star in Berlin in the 1920′s and ’30s. There’s allot that can be said about this documentary. All that needs to be said is watch this and understand what a true consummate professional really is. Truly fascinating and totally f#@ked up! Especially the timing and specifics of his demise. Rated: NR Formats available at The Video Station: DVD

Mystery Men	1999
Director: Kinka Usher
Normally bad cast plus bad script equals bad movie. (no brainer) Good cast plus OK script equals a fairly good movie and that’s what this is. Separately I love Hank Azaria, Paul Reubens, and Janeane Garofalo. Together in one movie along with Ben Stiller, William H. Macy, Greg Kinnear, Eddie Izzard, Geoffrey Rush, and Tom Waits makes this a fun little ditty. Good for when you want to see a super hero movie where the hero’s are not so super. Kind of like all of us. Rated: PG-13 Formats available at The Video Station: DVD/VHS

Hyperspace	2001
Director: Luke Campbell & Jeremy Turner
This is one of the best space documentaries ever made. This 6 part documentary takes you to the past, present and future of our galaxy with dazzling special effects that will astound your minds eye. Including a visual depiction of how far our radio waves have traveled since the first signals we sent powerful enough to escape our atmosphere back in the 1930′s. Black hole and wormhole enthusiasts will love this! BBC Production. Hosted by Sam Neill. Rated: NR Formats available at The Video Station: DVD

Fog of War	2003
Director: Errol Morris
Easily, the most important political documentary in the last 6 years. Better then Fahrenheit 911, Control Room, Bush’s brain, etc…. Directed by the master documentarian Errol Morris (Vernon, Fl, Thin Blue Line, Mr. Death, etc…). He interviews former Secretary of Defense under President Kennedy and Johnson, Robert Strange McNamara, in which he illustrates 11 lessons learned from his controversial career. If you haven’t seen it already, take it home. You won’t be disappointed. Rated: PG-13 Formats available at The Video Station: VHS/DVD

Max

ARVO PART: 24 PRELUDES FOR A FUGUE	2002
Director: Dorian Supin
Even if you’re not a fan of Arvo Part’s music, this documentary has a bevy of wonderful moments anyone can appreciate. He’s very candid here, describing warm memories, composition, and my favorite scene of the documentary, his delight at the sound of water dripping in the middle of a courtyard. His enthusiasm for music and sound is all over this film. It’s a bit slow, but stick it out! Rated: NR Formats available at The Video Station: DVD

Nathan

City Lights	1931
Director: Charles Chaplin
Chaplin took his time making this film, and it shows. The pacing is fluid and the camera is framed exceptionally well. The Tramp falls in love again, this time with a blind flower vendor (Virginia Cherrill), and falls in with an alcoholic rich man. The boxing match is one of Chaplin’s funniest moments, and the ending is one of his most touching. You’d never guess Chaplin and Cherrill didn’t get along on set, especially after watching the final sequence. Be sure to check out his trip to Bali on Disc 2. Also try his shorts mad for the Mutual Film Company.EMPLOYEE Rated: NR Formats available at The Video Station: DVD/VHS

LOVERS OF THE ARCTIC CIRCLE	1998
Director: Julio Medem
Dreamy star-crossed love story in which coincidence is practically a main character. Solid, deeply felt performances anchor the fantastical elements, and director Julio Medem smoothly weaves together Ana and Otto’s criss-crossing stories while jumping back and forth in time and between perspectives. It’s hard to review your favorites, but everything about this movie is gorgeous. Rated: R Formats available at The Video Station: DVD/VHS

KAT

The Juniper Tree	1990
Director: Nietzchka Keene
Stark little mood piece based on a Brothers Grimm story. Fleeing their hometown after their mother’s execution for witchcraft, Katla and Marget (Bjork) need a place to stay. Katla cast a love spell on a farmer, but his young son sees through it and a quiet struggle between good and evil ensues while Marget has visions of her mother and tries to keep the peace. Atmospheric and earthy with very natural performances set against the stunning Icelandic wilderness. Formats available at The Video Station: DVD/VHS

Dave

Lost	2004
Director: Darren Lemke
Dean Cain (LOIS & CLARK) stars in this wonderfully tense 80-minute thriller. Seemingly lost out in the middle of nowhere when we first meet him, he calls in to an On-Star-like service for directions. Gradually we find out that he may be lost in more ways than one. Part of the fun here is that for the most part we only hear the voices of the supporting actors. But Cain also proves he can do more than play Superman. Rated: NR Formats available at The Video Station: dvd

Cypher	2002
Director: Vincenzo Natali
This fun bit of futuristic noir from the director of CUBE Rated: R Formats available at The Video Station: DVD/VHS

Max

BUKOWSKI: BORN INTO THIS	2003
Director: John Dullaghan
This documentary is a thorough examination of he who was Buk. Candid, honest, and illuminating. John Duilaghan’s investigation into this poet shows many different sides of the poet. Ultimately, this documentary serves to dispel some of the cliches that surround the legend of Charles Bukowski with Tom Waits, Harry Dean Stanton and Bono. To name a few. Rated: R Formats available at The Video Station: DVD

DEPECHE MODE: THE VIDEOS 1986- 1998	1999

This penultimate video collection, many of which were directed by photographer Anton Corbjin, is a fine example of everything that makes synthesizers, sequencers, gretsh guitars, and MIDI, the best things since peroxide bleach cycliner, and bondage belts. Rated: NR Formats available at The Video Station: DVD

Brooke

Switchblade Sisters	1975
Director: Jack Hill
Let me give you advice.’ ‘No, let me give YOU some advise, cop…’ You can beat us, chain us, lock us up, but we’re gonna be back, understand? Cause when we do, cop, you better keep you’re a@* off our turf or we’ll blow it off. You dig? Cause we’re the Jezebels, cop, remember that name. This end quote sums up this 70′s cult film about chicks in black having knife fights all at the tender age of 16 or 17. These rough & tumble girls are always out for trouble, especially when things get shaken up by a new member. Loyalties are called into question & fidelity is stretched to a breaking point. There is even a shoot out in a roller skating rink. If only all of us could be Jezebels. Rated: R Formats available at The Video Station: VHS/DVD

KAT

Lickerish Quartet	1970
Director: Radley Metzger
A bored couple and their morbidly religious son are seduced in turn by the mysterious woman they bring home from the carnival. Metzger did soft core like a proper director, not just some simple flesh-peddler, with serious attention to art direction and a healthy sense of humor. Campy acting, crazy seventies clothes, beautiful settings, and a box quote from Andy Warhol. A must see for the discerning cult buff. Rated: NC-17 Formats available at The Video Station: DVD/VHS

Western Boy

In a Glass Cage	1987
Director: Agustin Villaronga
At what level does taking an eye for an eye also take that last part of humanity? Rated: NR Formats available at The Video Station: VHS

L.627	1992
Director: Bertrand Tavernier
I don’t get cop shows on disc. I still know where the commercials fall. There are the strained attempts to be topical. Actors appreciate the smarter writing and character development (though D’nfrio is a little twitchy on Law & Order.) but I’m just not engaged, maybe it’s a short attention span or lack of commitment to 20 episodes. Formats available at The Video Station: VHS

Dream of Light	1990
Director: Victor Erice
Another film about an artist that “gets it right”. This is a documentary, so is it built in that it would get it right? How accurate are the facts? Do we really need to question something quiet and sublime? Rated: NR Formats available at The Video Station: DVD/VHS

Love is the Devil	1999
Director: John Maybury
I’m trying to find a recent quote from a critic or artist who stated something to the effect that, as a film, Andrei Rublev was the only one to get it right as far as looking at an artist’s life. Rated: R Formats available at The Video Station: DVD/VHS

Ultraviolet	1998
Director: Joe Ahearne
Did anyone catch this when it came to disc in 2001? Rated: NR Formats available at The Video Station: DVD

Sorcerer	1977
Director: William Friedkin
Watch the river crossing and keep two things in mind… Rated: PG Formats available at The Video Station: DVD/VHS

Cutter’s Way	1981
Director: Ivan Passer
Since “Night Moves” is renting again, time to remember this one. I don’t watch who dunits because the plot points can become the whole of the movie. First plot twist by page 27, the macguffin revealed or not, by page 31, and surprise!! Ending. Rated: R Formats available at The Video Station: DVD/VHS

Owl

Baby Doll

A film about sexual repression, sexual possession, and the twisted gothic behaviors inherent to the Bible Belt, ‘Baby Doll’ would almost play as a parody of a Tennessee Williams story if, in fact, he hadn’t written it himself. Highly controversial at the time, the film stars Karl Malden as the husband of a much younger (in more ways than one) girl, played by 50′s sexpot Carrol Baker, whom he keeps stuck inside his dilapidated house somewhere in the South. A truly odd film, Baker’s performance as a grown woman lost in a state of infantile dependency (she sleeps in a make-shift ‘crib’) helps elevate a story that Williams was likely smirking about as he wrote it.

Blow-Up	1966
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
The first English language film by Italian director Michelanelo Antonioni, ‘Blow Up’ was an attempt to capture the zeitgeist of a moment in time (late 60′s ‘swinging London’) while also returning to his themes of alienation, repression, and the empty to pursuits of pleasure to mask the overwhelming sense of dissatisfaction inherent in most people. A direct influence (to put it kindly) on Coppola’s ‘The Conversation” and DePalma’s ‘Blow Out,’ the film stars David Hemmings as a mod fashion photographer who innocently snaps a picture that may have much darker repercussions than he’d imagined. An art-house ‘landmark’ of the time, ‘Blow-Up’ hasn’t lost any of it’s imagistic or cinematic magic even 40 years on. Rated: NR Formats available at The Video Station: DVD/VHS

Jubilee	1977
Director: Derek Jarman
Director Derek Jarman saw the ill winds blowing in mid-1970′s England (economic collapse, immigration battles, Margaret Thatcher) and the immediate reaction which came of it (specifically, punk rock) and set out to document it when the flames were still burning brightest. Hence, ‘Jubilee,’ his satirical, decadent and often-ludicrous document about a country on the verge of collapse. The Empire was on it’s last legs, and many of the punk scenes acest faces (Adam Ant, Malcolm McLaren co-hort Jordan, the absurd Toyah Wilcox) were more than happy to help push it off the cliff before, as is inevitably the case, they eventually bought in to all they claimed to despise. Rated: NR Formats available at The Video Station: DVD/VHS

Nathan

Gate of Flesh	1964
Director: Seijun Suzuki
A Nikkatsu Studio picture based on Taijiro Tamura’s novel set in post-war Tokyo. Following a color-coded groups of prostitutes, Suzuki combines studio sets, saturated colors, and plenty of bare skin to create a cross between a musical’s vibrancy and the desperation of a city attempting to survive and rebuild. On top of all that, Suzuki manages to maintain a sultry, sensuous mood throughout. If you’re looking for something truly unique, give it a shot. Also try Fighting Elegy (1966, subtitled) and Story of a Prostitute (1965). Rated: NR Formats available at The Video Station: DVD/VHS

Red and the White	1967
Director: Miklos Jansco
An exceptional war film set during Russia’s Civil War of 1918, with an emphasis on Hungarian soldiers assisting the revolutionary Whites. Rated: NR Formats available at The Video Station: DVD/VHS

Bruce

Nine Lives	2005
Director: Rodrigo García
Nine Lives contains the bulk of the greatest performances of 2005, with the greatest among many equals being Robin Wright Penn in twelve glorious minutes. If you thought her other half had all the acting genes, this should change your mind. Rated: R Formats available at The Video Station: DVD

Joyce

Chumscrubber

Despite its weird name, “Chumscrubber” is a great dark comedy which satirizes life in suburbia. Jamie Bell stars as Dean and this role is a sharp

Bubble

If you haven’t checked out Bubble, it’s definitely worth a view. Steven Soderburgh’s latest movie is set in a dreary Midwest town where a murder involves the lives of the three main characters all working in a doll factory. Soderburgh hired people off the street with no acting experience for this movie, and the result is surprisingly effective. “Bubble” is also a very visual movie, and offers interesting Special Features on the disc.

What Alice Found	2003
Director: A. Dean Bell
This is a very offbeat and overlooked indie about Alice, a young woman who has left home and is off to Florida, following her friend who’s at college in Miami. But Alice’s car breaks down, and she’s “helped” by Sandra and Bill, an older couple in an RV. They take Alice under their wing, and their involvement with the world of truck-stop prostitution creates conflict and tension. This psychological drama has a unique script and great character actors. Rated: R Formats available at The Video Station: DVD/VHS

Coco

Days of Being Wild	1991
Director: Wong Kar Wai
When picking a Wong Kar Wai flick I really just picked at random. While it is sure his new films are bigger productions of great cinematic scope, what of his early work? Jaunty cameras allow us a look into off-guard moments in almost intentionally screwed-up relationships. In this case two different women fall for the lovable, if sadistic Yaddi whose intention is to live as, in a quote peppered through the film like a bird without legs, only touching down when he dies. Gender roles are laid on strong, with effeminate needy women and independent immature men. A Wong film just beautifully nails down human conditions of (not to be too much a downer..) unhappiness and need. But don’t be so blue, his work is as playful as it is dark. So if you have experienced (or haven’t) the elaborate stills of 2046 try on for size some of his early stuff…go on! Rated: UR Formats available at The Video Station: DVD/VHS

Wicker Man	1973
Director: Robin Hardy
I am unsure whether to label this as a horror movie, a musical or a good old-fashioned mystery. Well it does break out in song and there is a jig. Some might find this movie to be scary. I think this comes at the end when those pagans really do light the place on fire. As one might gather from a musical mystery horror this has its’ share of strange contrast. As the beautiful scantily clad singing innkeeper’s daughter pounds away at our poor investigators walls filling his sleep with lusty visions making way for the parades of pagans in their ritualistic costumes. Set in the rolling hills of a Scottish Isle, with some of the most inventive costuming we are allowed a peek into the bizarre, private world where little girls disappear and to solve the case may none be the wiser to .…Oh and do make time for a maypole dance… Rated: R Formats available at The Video Station: DVD/VHS

Hole	1997

A man comes home to find a hole in his floor. He is now adjoined with his strange neighbor who thumps a broom handle on the ceiling to get his attention. At first he works around the hole in his work-filled days of running a store. As the hole persists our hero becomes more demented. And then there are the rats…The deadly sickness that turns people into rat-like beasts afraid of the light with a need to burrow. First it is his neighbor. Soon it will spread! All set to a soundtrack of continuous dripping. Oh and lets not forget our campy elevator lady breaking into the scenes to entice with umbrellas, dancing and Grace Chang covers…If you’re in that mood for a sci-fi drama with occasional musical outbursts this may be the one for you.

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