Viewers have five chances to see last year’s The Deep Blue Sea this weekend at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Don’t confuse it with Deep Blue Sea, the 1999 action movie about sharks. Based on a stage play, this is the film that could use some sharks. Written and directed by Terence Davies — […]
dvd
Posted inArts & Culture
Rogue River / The Collapsed
I’ve seen enough Rob Zombie movies to know that you never should accept a ride from Bill Moseley, no matter how genuine his “aw, shucks” demeanor seems. Young Mara (unknown Michelle Page) either didn’t know this, or was simply too caught up trying to spread her deceased father’s ashes at the Rogue River. With her […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Dark Crimes
Among the 50 titles here — yes, 50 — are some genuine classics, such as 1950’s D.O.A., Edward G. Robinson in 1947’s The Red House and Samuel Fuller’s The Naked Kiss, but I don’t recommend picking up this massive set for those three, as much better prints can be found from, respectively, Image Entertainment, Film Chest […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Aggression Scale
A Polaroid! Cinematically, that’s a nice touch; realistically, it’s cost-prohibitive. Besides, now that the company has stopped making the instant film, it’s increasingly difficult to find. Paid assassins, take note: It’s never too late to embrace the technological wonder of Instagram. That’s all beside the point. In this Scale, out-on-bail crime lord Bellavance (Ray Wise, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Cinema Verite
How that came to be is depicted in the made-for-HBO film Cinema Verite, directed by the American Splendor team of Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, with Diane Lane (Secretariat) and Tim Robbins (Green Lantern) respectively starring as Pat and Bill, the heads of the Loud family. Shooting their every move — every highlight, every […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Knights of the Round Table
Directed by Richard Thorpe (The Honeymoon Machine), the new Warner Archive release is one of many retellings of the King Arthur legend, complete with the sword Excalibur and the Holy Grail. It’s neither the worst nor the best movie to tackle such rich subject matter, but for whatever reason, this production strips out all instances […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Wizard of Gore / The Gore Gore Girls
The Wizard of Gore may not be among Lewis’ best, but it’s one of his most notorious. The title character is Montag the Magnificent (Lewis regular Ray Sager), a stage magician who maims and dismembers his hypnotized female “volunteers,” who leave appearing A-OK, only for their wounds to reappear later, this time fatally. Sherry Carson […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Mimic 3 Film Set
I’ve always found del Toro’s Mimic to be a pretty decent, if disposable, film. But now, with a few extra minutes in his director’s cut, I find Mimic to be a pretty decent, if disposable, film that’s a little bit longer. As Dr. Susan Tyler, Mira Sorvino (remember her?) battles giant cockroaches in the subway […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Flareup
Utterly kaleidoscopic credits to a most swinging Les Baxter score give way to the story of Vegas belle Michelle (Welch). One sunny, carefree afternoon, she’s drinking tea and making shopping plans with pals Iris (soap actress Pat Delaney) and Nikki (Oklahoma-born Sandra Giles). Plans are broken when Alan (Luke Askew, Easy Rider), the jealous loser […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Death and Cremation
One of the outcasts is the lonely, miserable Stan (Brad Dourif, Halloween II), who runs a crematorium. The other is Jarod (Jeremy Sumpter, Soul Surfer), a high school “loser” who paints his nails black. When the latter approaches the former about a job, Stan reluctantly gives in, yet sees so much of himself in his […]