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osgrath
Reviews
Kotch (1971)
A hidden gem
When this movie first came out I was in college and must have taken 4 or 5 different dates to see it. This movie was a mini cult phenomenon on campus, at least where I was, so I have always been surprised that it didn't get more publicity and acclaim. I saw it so many times because I felt it was a very worthwhile and meaningful film as a view into aging, the way we take care of elderly people, especially when it might be inconvenient for us. It was a good look into the feelings and hang-ups of people interacting among themselves: a retired man feeling increasingliy irrelevant in the environment he is compelled to live in, his spineless and uncomprehending son who doesn't offer much support at all, and his post-natal depressive daughter-in-law who can't understand why she has to put up with this codger who complicates her alreay-more-complicated life.
The movie also has a lot to say about the power of the human spirit to cope with change and make the best of things that aren't always going the way we always want them to.
I would like to see it again after 30+ years, but I can't find it at the usual rental stores. Having thought about it, though, I will continue to seek.
Focus (2001)
Compelling and disturbing
This movie packs a punch. There are a few every now and then that make me think deeply, and disturb me a lot. I could see myself in this same predicament - passively allowing things to happen around me, not standing up for the right and decent thing, just trying to avoid trouble. How often do we avoid making waves or sticking our necks out? How often does our inaction condone the evil actions of others. We would never join them, we tell ourselves, we recognize that what they are doing is bad, but do we do anything about it?
Lawrence Newman (William H. Macey) is a low-key, nerdy office worker who has paid off his home in Brooklyn, NY in the waning days of World War II. He rarely gets engaged in what is going on around him, has never married, rarely socializes, just goes to work and cares for his invalid mother. Then a series of events in his very "white" little neighborhood pull him out of his complacent shell into a maelstrom of events. It starts as he witness from his bedroom window the rape of a Puerto Rican girl by the son of his neighbor. Soon after he gets glasses because of poor vision. As he is now better able to see, he becomes less able to deal with the circumstances of his life. The one bright spot is a new love in his life, and he marries, hoping to continue on in his normalcy. Then the virulent anti-semitism on that street catches him, despite his credentials as a Presbyterian WASP. As things spiral further out of control, he discovers he must make an important decision - does he take a stand or does he simply go away.
I cannot how anybody can view this movie without being affected and having to think very much about themselves and what they really stand for. Post war anti-semitism is the setting here, but there is injustice at all times and in all places. It is for the individual to decide where he or she stands.
Joe's Apartment (1996)
Totally off the wall creative genius
I had never heard of this movie before my 16 year-old son rented the video. It is hilarious. Think of "Babe" as produced by the Marx Brothers, using singing cockroaches instead of mice . Evidently the critics didn't like it much, and I can see how they might not see it as high art, but as entertainment and an enjoyable time in fantasy land, it right up there with the best of them, in my opinion.
The Man Who Would Be King (1975)
The ultimate buddy movie.
Sean Connery shines - matured beyond his James Bond adolescence, not yet in his Elder Statesman roles. Michael Caine serves as the ideal sidekick: eager for adventures, wanting to be the voice of conscience without being a wet blanket.
Two of Her Majesty's foot soldiers in India during the Raj go AWOL, over the mountains into what is now Afghanistan. Nineteenth century Afghani tribes fought amongst themselves as much as today, it seems, but when Alexander the Great returns two millennia after his first visit, waring tribes unite under his divine rule. The question is, how long can a common infantryman pull of a charade as the greatest military leader in history, and a god, to boot, without exposing his mortality? And do the results say more about the dangers of hubris or the glory and rewards of going after it and living your dream?
Maybe that's adding more profundity than needed, but the movie is much more than a simple buddy adventure, and throughout it remains a whole lot of fun. Peachy Callahan teaching the primitives how to be soldiers in Her Majesty's army says everything you need to know about the military mindset and gives me a good laugh every time I think about it.
Mars Attacks! (1996)
Why be serious?
Without a doubt, the best spoof of the science fiction genre ever put together, and who but Tim Burton could carry it off in such fine fashion? We're talking about weird, even twisted creativity here. The actors are perfect for their parts, and the story line never ceases to surprise. Good, clean fun!