Reviews
The Last Days of Frankie the Fly (1996)
Ugh!
The Last Days of Frankie the Fly is possibly the most overblown mess of a film produced this decade. Lacking coherent structure, decent acting, plot or direction, the whole thing rolls on for what seems like a lifetime whilst lurching from one shoddy scene to the next. Dennis Hopper acts against type but never convinces, Keifer Sutherland just shouts a lot (though he does get the best of what lines there are) and the rest of the cast look like they've stumbled onto the set and are looking for the fastest route out. Simply put, this film is a nightmare. Avoid.
Amateur (1994)
How can you not like this film?
In fact, how can you not love it? All the Hartley stylistic markers are here and frankly that should be enough but if it isn't then, well, you'll just have to make do with liking it for its top plot, corking dialogue and entertaining moments. Hal Hartley has been a consistently clever film-maker throughout this decade and "Amateur" is one of his more accomplished works, adding a real depth to some quite seedy characters. Simply put, this film is stonking and, hopefully, after watching it you will be tempted, like me, to go out and watch the rest of the Hartley back catalogue.
Red Rock West (1993)
A great little film.
Red Rock West is what all films should be like. A genuinely interesting film with enough twists and turns to satisfy any sane human, it was tragically overlooked on its release. With Nicolas Cage (before his career went into orbit) in fine form and Dennis Hopper stealing scene after scene, this is a movie that withstands repeated watchings. The rest of the cast are uniformly excellent and the quirkiness of the setting (a small town in the middle of nowhere) never gets in the way. In short this is a great little film that deserves to be seen.
Meet the Feebles (1989)
May offend. Who cares?
Machine gun toting hippos? Puppets fighting the Vietnam war? The best song ever written ("Sodomy")? And more? This is simply what the Muppets have been crying out for and once you've seen this festival of depravity you'll never be able watch Miss Piggy in quite the same light. "Good taste" is not an accusation you can level at this film and thank God for that for in this age of sanitised blandness we need films that are just plain sick and funny to keep us all in a sane frame of mind. Why this carnival of carnal deviation didn't win the Best Film gong is frankly beyond me. No, really, it is.