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Martin Paule's Micro Movie Reviews: A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z-

The Long Goodbye

When Robert Altman’s revisionist take on the Raymond Chandler’s final Philip Marlowe novel appeared in the early 1970s, it was lambasted by many critics for being wholly unfaithful to the original. They missed the point. Altman’s sendup was intended as a spoof recasting the knight-errant private eye as a baffled guy with ‘50s sensibilities caught up in the swinging ‘70s. (In a revealing interview that accompanies the DVD version, Altman says that throughout production they referred to the hero as Rip Van Marlowe.) Elliot Gould is particularly fine as the stumbling, mumbling Marlowe buoyed by a supporting cast featuring Sterling Hayden as a boozy writer and director Mark Rydell as very funny Jewish crime boss. Forget about noire and watch this one for its wonderful loopiness. Like Altman’s other great films (granted he’s also made some abysmal turkeys) this is one that runs on a masterfully intuitive mind that gives the cast and people behind the camera the freedom to improvise and create an unforgettable entertainment.

The Long Run

Though the script often is pedestrian and the outcome wholly predictable, this story of a South African track coach and his female protege from Namibia is an involving one. Armin Mueller Stahl plays the coach who attempts to rectify his own failed long-distance career by training her for the Comrades, a grueling 52-mile run. Their relationship is fraught with difficulties as the runner (played with strength by South African actress Nthati Moshesh) resists Stahl's domineering, all-consuming efforts. His lack of people skills come into sharp focus as he is replaced as a brick works manager by a young black man in an attempt at political correctness by the company. In short order he also loses his company-owned home and his role as a marathon coach for several of the firm's workers. When for a time he also loses Christine, his last best hope to win the Comrades, his attempts to reassert his authority are clumsy and futile. See The Long Run for its commitment to the human spirit, a pair of fine performances by the two leads, and a glimpse into post-Mandela South Africa.

Lantana

This brooding and sometimes slow-moving study of the trust that exists and sometimes fails between husbands and wives offers some fine, understated acting by Anthony LaPaglia, Kerry Armstrong, Barbara Hershey, and Geoffrey Rush. LaPaglia is a cop who is emotionally frozen and is fooling around on his long-suffering wife (Armstrong). Hershey and Rush are the parents of a murdered girl attempting to salvage their marriage in the face of this trauma. When one of the characters suddenly disappears these troubled relationships stretch to the breaking point. The flowering bush of the title is one that creates a great matted tangle below its floral exterior and stands as a symbol for the intertwined connections between these people, and is also an actual hedge that plays a part in the unfolding story. 

The Last Waltz

On Thanksgiving Day 1976, The Band invited a stellar lineup of friends to join them in a final concert at Bill Graham’s Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. And what a show it was! Joining them were Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, Paul Butterfield and a host of others including two of The Band’s former frontmen: Ronnie Hawkins and Bob Dylan. The 2002 digitally-remastered DVD is a delight with restored sound that brings this momentous concert—perhaps the greatest rock event ever–into your living room. Director Martin Scorcese put together a world-class phalanx of Hollywood cinematographers to create the beautifully composed and framed performances. His low-key interviews with the central musicians include wonderful anecdotes from 16 years on the road along with the rueful perspectives of accomplished musicians who have perhaps traveled that road a little too long. The DVD also includes a fine jam that occurred late in the show and wasn’t included in the theatrically-released version. During the final minutes of the jam there is audio but no video—the 35mm cinema cameras weren’t designed for the hours-long duty they had been subjected to and were at the point of meltdown requiring them to be shut down. As a disquieting side note, Band drummer Levon Helm, in his book, This Wheel’s on Fire, bad mouths the film as being misleading. Guitarist Robbie Robertson, he charges, stole the limelight and the music publishing rights from his fellow bandmates leading to a decades-long feud. Helm says that contrary to on-screen depictions of Robertson cueing and leading the band, in fact keyboardist Garth Hudson ran the show musically. He also maintains that Robertson’s microphone was often shut off due to his tendency to sing off pitch. Most damning is Helm’s contention that, in cahoots with The Band’s manager Albert Grossman, Robertson stole the publishing rights and resulting royalties from his former colleagues claiming the authorship of songs that were the products of group effort.

Liam

Stephen Frear’s portrait of a Catholic Liverpool family in the 1930s is at once grim, sad, and sometimes funny. Told largely from the viewpoint of the family’s youngest son, Liam, we watch the family’s descent from lower middle-class comfort to abject poverty when the father loses his shipyard job. This is a potent indictment of the church’s draconian teaching methods and seeming indifference to the economic upheavals of the Depression. Many of the scenes involving Liam’s schooling and encounters in church are both horrifying and funny and will be particularly resonant with recovering Catholics. Uniformly fine acting and exquisite attention to period detail are distinguishing features. If you find this film a rewarding one, you should also try to see Ken Loach’s Raining Stones which deals with similar issues in a more modern setting.

Lost in Translation

As he grows older, Bill Murray shows increasing depth as an actor. In Lost, he plays an actor whose career has shriveled and who is now obliged to do whiskey commercials in Japan to keep his interior decoration-addicted wife in a manner to which she has grown accustomed. In the midst of his jet-lagged Japanese sojourn he meets a young woman who shares his ennui caught as she is in a sterile marriage. Their relationship grows slowly and peculiarly and director/writer Sofia Coppola is to be commended for avoiding Hollywood formulations. Her script expertly mines the humor inherent in its East-meets-West situation and Tokyo enjoys an expertly lavish photographic treatment. 

L.I.E.

Fifteen-year-old Howie Blitzer is suffering from abandonment. His nurturing mother was killed on the Long Island Expressway (hence the title), leaving him in the inept hands of his clueless, neglectful father who is preoccupied with trying to dodge a criminal fraud charge while boinking his live-in girlfriend in the still-warm marital bed.  Howie deals with ambiguous sexual urges, hangs out with kids who are much slower than he, and gets involved in petty crimes. Enter Big John Harrigan, played brilliantly by Brian Cox, a creepy pederast who maneuvers himself into the position of Howie's surrogate dad. Cox's portrayal is multilayered—he is both a mentor and a monster. First-time director Michael Cuesta draws uniformly fine performances from his predominantly teenaged cast.

Lakeboat

Originally an early play of David Mamet’s, it is based on his experience as a graduate student working on an ore boat plying Lake Michigan. The film is practically without a narrative structure instead focusing on the crew of the ship and their raunchy speech. A veteran crew of character actors with Robert Forster a special standout, meditate on sex, life, and lost opportunity while dodging any meaningful work. Recommended to those who delight in Mamet’s ear for workingmen’s talk.

Lonely Hearts (1982)

Not to be confused with two other films of the same name, this was an early work of Australian director Paul Cox preceding his excellent Man of Flowers, A Woman’s Tale, and Cactus. It concerns a slightly eccentric piano tuner who, following the death of his mother, embarks on a quest for love through a matrimonial agency. The search turns up a painfully shy and inexperienced young woman with whom he falls in love despite a two-decade difference in their ages. There is a great deal of charm and no flash in this sweetly realized romance that is told in muted tones.

Lovely & Amazing

Though this dramedy undoubtedly falls squarely within the chick flick rubric, its wit and perception place it head and shoulders above much of the weepy fare relegated to that genre. The story is focused on Jane (Brenda Blethyn) and her daughters, Michelle (Catherine Keener), Elizabeth (Emily Mortimer), and Annie (Raven Goodwin). Jane is a kind, concerned, long-divorced mother. Michelle is a frustrated artist in an unhappy marriage who takes a job in a one-hour photo shop when her husband insists she contribute to household finances. Elizabeth has a marginal career as an actress, fixations over her appearance, and plenty of man trouble. Annie is a prepubescent African-American girl adopted by Jane who struggles with obesity, questions about her crack-addicted birth mother and the rapid onset of adolescence. Though each character at first seems to be dealing with their own unique problems, it soon becomes apparent that much of their angst has roots in the same place: dissatisfaction and insecurity with their bodies and their lives. If you relish character-driven work, Lovely & Amazing should suit you well.

Life on Earth: 2000 Seen By…

Malian filmmaker Abderrahme Sissako returned to his pastoral village to document life there at the end of the 20^th Century as a part of the international series of films all bearing the 2000 Seen By… title. Effectively, there is no plot, this being simply a document of a quiet West African hamlet on the eve of the new millennium. Yet it is endlessly involving as we witness time moving in rhythms unknown to the developed world. Wonderful vignettes focus on the difficulties of placing telephone calls in the post office—the village’s single link to the outside world—and others depict villages coming to a street photographer’s booth to have their portraits taken with a battered plate camera. As an added treat, the sound track lopes along to stately Malian melodies including the lament Folon by the internationally-renowned singer Salif Keita.

Lovers on the Bridge aka Les Amants du Pont-Neuf

Leos Carax makes films that teeter between pretension and profundity and this is one of the best examples of his work. The lovely Juliette Binoche plays a homeless painter who is going blind and who becomes involved with a drug-addled circus performer. As she becomes more dependent on him, he prevents her obtaining the medical care that could restore her sight and thus establish her independence. The title arises from the ancient Parisian bridge that is undergoing reconstruction on which they camp out and which presents opportunities for the stunning visuals with which this film abounds.

Lost Boys of Sudan

This touching documentary tracks a pair of young Sudanese men who, as part of U.S. refugee program, leave their remote African village and fly to America to take up residence. They are orphans; victims of the Sudanese civil war that has raged for 30 years. Despite the traumatic lives they led in Sudan and a Kenyan refugee camp, the culture shock they face upon arrival in the U.S. is more intense and multidimensional than anything they have faced up to now. They experience enormous loneliness and disorientation and are confronted with taking a crash course in the realities of a consumerist life in America that often leaves them bewildered and feeling inferior. Perhaps most telling for U.S. viewers is the reception — or lack thereof — the boy’s receive from Americans who seem, with a few exceptions, to avoid them.   

Lagaan

Unlike most Bollywood fare, Lagaan actually has a coherent and serious story. A deal is struck between an Indian village and the British Raj officials who oversee it: the outcome of a cricket match will determine whether the villagers must pay a new and onerous tax that will be imposed if the villagers lose. What follows is the buildup to The Big Game in which the villagers attempt against all odds to assemble a competitive team. The game itself is a hellishly long, drawn-out affair interspersed with song and dance numbers. But there’s a lot of entertainment along the way for those who can abide Indian cinema of this sort. 

Late Marriage

This provocative and perplexing tragicomedy concerns a 34-year-old Israeli bachelor of Soviet Georgian extraction and his orthodox Jewish family who are intent on seeing him married. Rather than taking obvious, comedic shots at the institution of arranged marriage, writer-director Dover Koshashvili offers something far more complex and involving in which we find ourselves constantly revising our feelings towards his characters and to the situations in which they are embroiled. A central point of contention is the young man’s ongoing affair with a slightly older divorcée; a partner and qa situation his conservative family won’t tolerate and one that leads to tragic consequences for everyone.  This is refreshingly different storytelling and filmmaking of the highest order.  
 

Love Liza

Philip Seymour Hoffman is among the most gifted Hollywood actors of this era and Love Liza, a minimalist tragi-comedy about a guy reeling in the wake of his wife’s suicide, is ample proof. Playing Wilson, a computer game designer, Hoffman wallows in his grief and turns to huffing gas and other inhalants to obliterate his sadness. Despite that lachrymose premise, there are frequent moments of humor; indeed, we often find it troublesome to know just how to respond to this odd little film. A must for Hoffman and indie-film fans; others should proceed with caution. 

Land and Freedom

British director Kenneth Loach’s films often have a distinct  left-wing bias and this story of an English communist (Ian Hart) who goes to Spain in the 1930s to fight fascists follows that tradition. While looking at the nature of political naiveté and idealism with a rather steely eye, Loach mars his work by sometimes descending into soapbox posturing. Hart delivers a powerful performance.  
 

Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Consisting of three parts, Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and Return of the King, this trilogy represent a monumental undertaking by director Peter Jackson who shot all three films sequentially over the course of three years. It’s hard to know what Tolkein might have made of this eye-popping adaptation that keeps raising the ante in the area of special effects and epic battle scenes. I think that while he might have disapproved of the emphasis on the battles, he would have also admired the ingenuity of the production as well as the restructuring of his chronology that makes the films work better. Altogether a stunning technical achievement.     

Love and a .45

Though it is derivative of other lovers-on-the-run movies such as Badlands and Natural Born Killers, this clever little film is driven by humor rather than merely larding on the splatter factor. Gil Bellows and Renee Zellweger are both very engaging as Watty and Starlene, a star-crossed pair of Texas trailer-park lovers who are trying to get to Mexico with a disturbing array of bad guys and cops hot on their trail. A particularly detour brings the couple to Starlene parents’ house where we meet her very strange parents including her addle-headed daddy (Peter Fonda) who tore out his larynx during an acid trip and now intones ultra-hip mystical babble using one of those buzzy vocalizers held to his throat.

La Dolce Vita

Made at the midpoint of his career, Federico Fellini’s portrait of an empty man seeking happiness in the trendy nightlife of 1960 Rome has elements of both his earlier neorealism and later surrealism. Composed of a series of glittering nights filled with idle gossip, debauchery and booze followed by hungover dawns and disappointment, we follow the hollow life of Marcello, (Marcello Mastroianni in a part that is pretty near perfect for him) a gossip columnist who longs for a life of meaning and creativity but hasn’t a clue about how to achieve it. Full of brilliant set pieces (a statue of Christ suspended from a helicopter being flown across Rome; Marcello and Anita Ekburg cavorting in Trevi Fountain are indelible images along with many more) and brilliant photography, this is one of Fellini’s most accessible and triumphant works. If you haven’t seen it and you care about cinema, this an essential part of 20^th century film that is not to be missed.
 

Les Liasons Dangereuses

Yet another remake of Dangerous Liasons, this one is framed as a miniseries made for French TV and is set in the 1960s offering lots of opportunities for creative costuming and locations. Though Catherine Deneuve serves up an appropriately icy performance in the lead and her partner in schemes played by Rupert Everett (speaking French) is adequate, this retelling doesn’t deliver the sheer nastiness of the 1988 version directed by Steven Frears. Everett comes up short in the wicked department when compared with John Malkovich’s delicious sendup in that earlier version (also reviewed here).

The Last Great Wilderness

Mixing the genres of horror and comedy is a dicey proposition that rarely works. This low-budget British feature shot on video does better than most at pulling off that hybridization. A cuckolded Englishman is driving to the Isle of Skye in Scotland where he intends to burn down the home of the pop star who made off with his wife. At a highway café he reluctantly agrees to give a ride to a hot-head stranger who claims to be a half-Spanish gigolo on the run from assassins dispatched by the husband of a client. Sounds a bit preposterous and contrived, doesn’t it? It gets better. The mismatched pair runs out of gas and they’re obliged to spend the night at a remote lodge populated by a crew of weirdos led by a sinister guru-like figure. With more than a nod to predecessors such as The Wicker Man (reviewed here) and Deliverance, the film occasionally loses its way, but an unexpected and satisfying conclusion saves the day. 

Look Back in Anger

Based on a play by John Osborne, Richard Burton vigorously plays an angry young man trapped in a life he loathes as he struggles against the middle-class values of his family. Aside from being a powerful character piece, this is a revealing look at post-colonial, pre-Beatle Britain. In one telling scene set in an outdoor market, an Indian émigré discovers British racism first hand. One of the best examples of the so-called Kitchen Sink Realism genre that emerged in England during the late ’50 and early ‘60s.

Look at Me

The   team of Agnes Jaoui and Jeanne-Pierre Jacri who were behind the fine The Taste of Others (also reviewed here) team up again to create another wonderfully observed film that has a similar comedic/dramatic tone as their earlier work.  This is an ensemble piece that centers around a fat young woman who desperately craves the attention of her egotistical writer father. Several other story arcs flawlessly mesh with this relationship in which we witness a parade of characters that through their insecurity and emotional wounds fail to detect how they hurt one another. Very sophisticated and exceedingly well written.

Lana’s Rain

This gritty indie film set in early 1990s Chicago is the story of a young Balkan woman who illegally enters the U.S. with her hot-headed gangster brother. When they lose their grubstake he puts her on the street to raise money and her life grows increasingly grim. Though the film falters in part due to a wonky tacked-on love story and a tendency to lapse into standard gangster-flick conventions, the key performance of Oksana Orlenko making her film debut makes this picture well worth a look.

The Luzhin Defence

John Turturro and Emily Watson turn in characteristically magnificent performances as respectively a quirky, obsessive chess champion and a powerful woman who has a yen for him. Drawn from a Vladimir Nabokov novel, the story takes unexpected twists ending in a way that cannot be foreseen. An overlooked gem.

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

Michael Powell’s portrait of a British officer with a classically stiff upper lip is both moving and amusing and it is richly detailed as it recounts an eventful life spanning the era between the Boer War and WWII.

The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane

Jody Foster stars in this perplexing mystery as a young girl whose father is seemingly always absent and who seems especially skittish about anyone nosing around her basement. Though the results of this setup seem predictable, they aren’t; this is a much smarter film that it might at first appear to be.

Little Man Tate

Jody Foster plays a hard-working single mother who struggles to deal with the title character—her child-prodigy son. Foster, who made her directorial debut with this film, reluctantly agrees to let him go to a school for exceptional kids. This is touching stuff without a bit of mawkishness.

Little Murders

Based on the acerbic wit of cartoonist Jules Feiffer, this blacker-than-black comedy is set in a New York that’s far madder and violent than the real deal. The Newquists are a family driven crazy by their violent urban environment and who decide to fight back murderously. It’s worth seeing for Alan Arkin's portrayal of a flipped-out detective alone.

Lolita (1997)

Adrian Lynne's remake of the Valdimir Nabokov novel originally filmed by Stanley Kubrick in 1962 succeeds thanks to a wonderful lead turn by Jeremy Irons as the pedophilic Humbert Humbert.  Though Lynne didn't face the censorship factor that confronted the earlier production, his film too ran afoul of the U.S. ratings system and barred from theatres, debuted on American cable TV. Which was a shame as the film is beautifully made and if it can be said that a story about a middle aged sexual predator preying on a prepubescent girl is handled tastefully, it would be true here. 

The Long, Long Trailer

Trading on the popularity of their I Love Lucy sitcom, Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball play a pair of newlyweds on a honeymoon pulling the titular trailer behind them. The same chemistry that made their TV show a hit is at work here too, on display in lush mid-1950s color. Loaded with plenty of slapstick and set pieces, the movie proves a fine vehicle for Ball's comedic timing.

Lord of the Flies (1963)

Forget the US remake; this British filmization of the Louis Golding novel about a group of boys stranded on tropical island is far superior. Following a plane crash, these school boys soon revert to tribalism and savagery as their more primitive instincts come to the fore.

A Love Song for Bobby Long

Actress Scarlett Johansson's bravura performance is the principle reason for checking out this otherwise flawed but involving film. She plays Pursy Will, a young woman from Florida's Redneck Riviera, who comes to New Orleans to claim her neglectful late mother's sole bequest: a ramshackle house oozing decay and despair. To her chagrin, it also houses two of her mother's former cohorts, Bobby a boozehound former English professor on the skids (John Travolta) and his protege in drinking and writing, Lawson (Gabriel Macht). The two men tell her that they are the co-heirs to the house and Bobby does his utmost to get rid of her. When his obnoxiousness fails to evict her, the three settle into an uneasy truce in which she attempts to mend their reprobate ways and they urge her to get an education. The story is minimal and its narrative payoff can be seen coming from a mile off. While Macht and Johanssen offer strong, subtle performances, Travolta is left to chew the decaying scenery for all he is worth. On the plus side, the photography is fine, the settings authentic, and a well-conceived sound track of raunchy blues, roots music, and country melodies in the manner of Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson fits just right.     

Loves of a Blonde

This seriocomic 1965 Czech film directed by Milos Forman tells the story of a naive, idealistic factory worker seduced by a bluebeard pianist. Sweet, funny and sad stuff.

DVDs To Your Doorstep!

Life of Jesus aka La Vie De Jesus
This plainspoken film is set in a bleak Northern French town in which a gang
of disaffected youths tear around on motor scooters and terrorize a handful
of Arabic emigres. Like the Aussie film "Romper Stomper" and its brutal
skinheads, this film doesn'tt moralize. It doesn't need to. These louts'
actions speak for themselves; our own sense of decency is depended upon by
director Bruno Dumont.
 

L'Age D'Or

And now for something completely different. Surrealist Spanish director
Luis Buñuel shocked audiences around the world in 1930 by thumbing his nose
at an assortment of bourgeois values: the church, morality and complacency.
To summarize the plot is pointless as the film is really a series of set
pieces designed to offend and shock which it does flagrantly and with great
relish.

The Limey

Terrence Stamp, the British actor of the blazing blue eyes, lithe frame and
graceful gait has greyed over the years, but his prime assets and intense
acting remain intact. In this potboiler directed by Steven Soderbergh, he
is a hardnosed London gangster who goes to L.A. looking for the people
responsible for his daughter's death. His hunt quickly narrow on a smarmy
record producer (Peter Fonda). The story plays out pretty much as we
expect, somewhat hampered by time shifts that don't altogether work. But
Soderbergh cleverly uses some brief excerpts from the English 60s feature
"Poor Cow" to portray Stamp as a young man that enliven the pulpy,
ultra-violent proceedings.

The Late Show

Seeing this 1977 comedy crime story again after a 20-plus year interval, I
was impressed all over again by its wit anchored by the loopy performance
of Lily Tomlin. The movie is fashioned along the lines of a 40s detective
movie with a detective searching for Tomlin's lost cat. He turns up
mortally wounded on the doorstep of a colleague detective played by Art
Carney setting in motion a tightly wound plot that offers equal measures of
tension and laughter. Watch for William Macy (then billed as Bill) in a
great turn as a mooching bartender.

Last Tango in Paris

When it came out in 1973 "Tango's" explicit carnality was met with howls of
protest by the defenders of morality. Even now, it comes across as a strong
and raunchy examination of a relationship founded entirely upon lust.
Marlon Brando plays an expatriate American whose wife has unaccountably
committed suicide. Seeking new lodgings he meets a young woman (Maria
Schneider) and plunges into a no-commitments relationship seeking to buffer
the pain of his loss. Brando' bravura performance is buoyed by Bertolucci's
stunning camera work and a resonant score by Argentinian sax player Gato
Barbieri.

Last Night

The title doesn't refer to yesterday; it alludes to the end of the world.
This peculiar Canadian production doesn't reveal why the world is coming to
an end-it's simply a given. Unlike the many blockbuster apocalypse movies
preceding it, this is a quiet and thoughtful film full of poignant and
wrenching moments in which people face up to how they will use their last
few hours on earth. But it's not too gloomy either; there is slightly
twisted humor abounding here. In a cameo, director David Cronenberg who
works for the gas company resolutely calls every customer on the roster to
thank them for their past patronage and to let them know his company will
be delivering gas until the last possible moment.

The Last Good Time

Armin Muehler-Stahl is wonderfully understated in his role as a retired
violinist who is widowed and lives out his quietly meticulous life in a
dreary New York walkup. One night a young neighbor woman seeks shelter from
her abusive boyfriend and he somewhat reluctantly puts her up. A curious
relationship arises between this odd couple-the courtly European with
genteel manners and a yen for philosophy and the brusque, hard-living girl.

L'Enfer AKA Hell

Protean French director Claude Chabrol has an abiding interest in murder
and treachery, the subjects of many of his films. The story here is
simple: a hotelier marries a beautiful young woman then descends into
madness, convinced that she's cheating on him. Taken at face value, there
isn't much here. Just a crazy guy and his enchanting wife (played by the
lovely Emanuelle Beart) working their way to an inevitable finale. What
makes the film fascinating is Chabrol's enigmatic treatment of the wife. Is
she in fact cheating or is she the innocent she seems?

Lucie Audrac

Claude Berri's understated account of a loving couple's involvement with
the French resistance movement in WWII is based on the real Lucie Audrac's
book which documents her husband's imprisonment by the Gestapo and her
daring efforts to rescue him. Though there are moments of great suspense
and an opening sequence in which a munitions train is sabotaged, the
director's focus is on the relationship between these two brave and
committed people.

Lawn Dogs

Here's a challenging film set in an upscale, gated Kentucky community
called Camelot Gardens that houses the nouveau riche in quick-build
mansions amid oceans of manicured lawn. This is the story of two
outsiders: 10 year-old Devon a heart surgery survivor who lives with her
distant parents in one of these homes, and Trent, a young man who is one of
the so called lawn dogs who tend the community's lawns and who must depart
Camelot every evening by 5 p.m. Drawn to each other, Devon and Trent become
friends seeking refuge in each other. There is a subtly telegraphed
eroticism in their relationship that, due to the difference in their ages
treads on socially perilous ground. Inevitably, their friendship leads to
a series of tragic circumstances. One weakness: aside from the two central
roles, every one else is depicted as stupid and piggish making the empathy
we are supposed to have for the protagonists all too facile.
 

La Letrice

A fascinating but demanding multilayered movie about a woman who hires
herself out as a professional reader while at the same time she reads
bedtime stories to her husband in which she inserts herself as the heroine.
Challenging, convoluted and altogether quite extraordinary.
 
 

The Last Picture Show

An incisive look at life in a devolving West Texas town during the 1950s
weaves together several plot lines that track a number of the intricately
drawn characters. The B&W photography is about as rich as any I've seen and
the sense of place is unforgettable. You can almost feel the grit in your
hair. The entire cast is sensational.
 
 

Les Miserables (1995)

An extraordinary reworking of the Victor Hugo classic which moves the
scenario into the period around WWII. A rough-hewn, simple truck driver
played by Jean-Paul Belmondo takes on the character of Jean Valjean as he
helps a Jewish family escape the Gestapo. As a device, the film has the
Jewish couple reading excerpts from the original novel to Belmondo as they
travel across France which leads into beautifully conceived scenes from the
source material. The interweaving of the two stories is handled elegantly
and underscores Hugo's theme that the actions of one good man can make
enormous differences in the world around him.
 

The Last Detail

Based on a novel by navy vet Darryl Ponicsan, (whose earlier novel was the
basis for "Cinderella Liberty" above) this is a superb road movie about two
seamen who are assigned the job of transporting a third sailor who is a
rube kleptomaniac, to the brig. With outstanding turns by the three leads,
Jack Nicholson, Otis Young and Randy Quaid, and a smart script, this movie
is at once sad and funny.
 

The Last Emperor

I originally saw this story of the last Chinese monarch at the Uptown
Theater in D.C. where the big, wraparound screen and fine sound system did
it full justice. A later viewing on tape, though lacking the enormity of
the film's grandeur, still was impressive for the masterful way in which
Bernardo Bertolucci capitalized on the permission he received to shoot in
the Forbidden City within Beijing. An utterly compelling view into a life
at once exotic and distant from our own experiences, yet finally, very
human. It's interesting to compare this character study with Martin
Scorcese's "Kundun", the story of the Dalai Lama. We never are able to
approach the essence of the man in the same way that Bertolucci permits
with his much more personal treatment.
 
 

The Last Seduction

Linda Fiorentino plays one nasty bitch in this modern permutation of the
film noir directed expertly by John Dahl who did "Red Rock West"
recommended above. She is one of the evilest gals to come along in the
history of film...and is very sexy too.
 
 

The Last Supper
 

A crew of self-satisfied 20-somethings get together regularly for a sort of
salon in which they skewer the people and institutions they despise. Things
become grave when they invite a right winger to their round table and end
up knocking him off. Before long this becomes a repeated ritual-they've
embarked on a purge of similar enemies. This dark comedy doesn't entirely
work, but when in it's on the money, it is very good.
 

La Femme Nikita

An action flick with some brains and lots of flash. A French CIA-like
organization "rehabilitates" an ultra violent woman criminal to become a
hit-woman for the state. Though the story line stretches credibility, the
technical brilliance of this hard nosed film wins out.
 

Lenny

Dustin Hoffman's portrayal of the revolutionary stand up comic Lenny Bruce
is brilliant as is the performance of Valerie Perrine as his long-suffering
wife, Honey. Shot in stark B&W and superbly directed by Bob Fosse who never
again rose to these heights.
 

Leolo

A highly creative black comedy about growing up in a lower class Montreal
neighborhood in the 50s surrounded by a family that defines the term
dysfunctional. There are many fantasy elements blended into an otherwise
seemingly realistic structure. For example, the child protagonist is
convinced that he was conceived as the result of an Italian peasant
masturbating into a tomato!
 

Leon The Pig Farmer

A young man born into a well to do London Jewish family discovers that his
birth was enabled through a sperm donation by a Yorkshire pig farmer. Leon
goes in search of his roots with predictable but hilarious results.
 

Life is Beautiful
 

I wanted to like this movie. Roberto Beningni is a personal favorite-a
comedian whose lineage goes back to Keaton and Chaplin and whose
performances in "Night on Earth" and "Down by Law" (both reviewed earlier)
had me roaring with laughter. I was intrigued by the premise: an Italian
Jewish waiter imprisoned in a concentration camp shelters his young son
from the horror by making out that it is all a game. Yet, I walked out of
this film disappointed. Benigni's Nazis are bumbling straight men, comedic
killers who function as mere set ups for his patented schtick. Though I
ascribe to the notion that sacred cows make the best hamburger and found
the concentration camp scenes in Lina Wertmuller's "Seven Beauties"
immensely funny as well as touching, I cannot say the same here. Benigni
manages to reduce the Third Reich to a mean spirited bunch of clowns and
when the film turns serious in its final third his shortcomings as a
dramatic actor torpedo the effort. Yet, for the handful who haven't yet
seen it, I would still recommend the film for its brave attempt to pull off
an audacious concept as well for its first third that is brilliantly funny.
 
 

Life is Sweet

Actors in Mike Leigh films don't deliver lines; they speak like real
people, haltingly, often nonsensically and above all, realistically. He
gathers his cast long before filming begins and creates scenarios and
dialogue in concert with his actors who, through this process, develop real
relationships with one another. "Life is Sweet" is another of his slice of
life creations, this one involving a husband and wife and their twin
daughters, one bulemic, the other gay. Dad wants to renovate an old fish
and chips van, Mum goes to work fleetingly for a loony friend ("Secrets and
Lies'" Timothy Spall) who has opened a French restaurant with enormous
pretensions. But there really isn't much story going on here. Rather there
are a series of bittersweet vignettes brimming with peculiar humor. Leigh
has an original vision and approach and each of his films demonstrates that
amply.
 

Little Man Tate

Jodie Foster starred in and directed this film about a child prodigy and
his working class mother who wants the best for him but doesn't know how to
nurture his talents. Dianne Wiest is excellent as an educator who attempts
to take over. The film neatly sidesteps all the soapy clichés that it could
easily have drifted into while making forceful and empathetic statements
about love, parenting and genius.
 

Little Voice

Jane Horrocks delivers a remarkable performance as L V, a recluse who has
an astonishing ability to mimic a parade of singers from Judy Garland to
Marlena Deitrich. Thoroughly cowed by her tarty, speed-rapping mum, played
with reckless abandon by "Secrets and Lies'" Brenda Blethyn, LV endlessly
sings along to classic pop albums in her room. When the mother one night
brings home Michael Caine, a down on his luck theatrical agent reduced to
handling strippers, he overhears LV and ultimately manages to coax her into
displaying her talents at a seedy nightclub. Blethyn and Caine are both
fine in their overblown and sleazy roles and the cartoonish settings
appropriately reflect the story's stage play origins. "Trainspotting's"
Ewan Mc Gregor is attractive as a naive telephone repairman who provides
the somewhat tacked-on love interest. There's an unfortunate shift in tone
during the last third in which the story becomes malignant and unsettling;
Caine's character transforms from the genially scuzzy to a viciousness that
doesn't reconcile. Also, you may want to mute the sound during the final
credit roll while Ethel Merman belts out "There's No Business Like Show
Business". Jesus, did that woman ever hear of the term dynamics?
 

Live Flesh

This is a return to form by loco Spanish director Pedro Almodovar following
his wrong-headed "The Flower of My Secret". Based on a mystery novel by the
British writer Ruth Rendell and adapted by Almodovar for the screen, the
story is set in Madrid where a young, hormones-ablaze, yet innocent guy
called Victor Plaza loses his virginity to Elena, the smack-shooting
daughter of a diplomat. When he returns the next night to take up where
they left off, she spurns him and in an ensuing struggle a cop called David
is shot and paralyzed. David marries the cleaned-up Elena while Victor does
a stretch for the crime, plotting revenge the entire time. On release he
romances one of Elena's co-workers in order to get close to his target
unaware that she is the abused wife of David's wacked-out ex-partner. Got
all that? This is an unabashed melodrama of a high order spiced with heavy
doses of eroticism and rather (for Almodovar) realistically presented.
 

Living Out Loud
 

The title refers to the concept of living one's life with total honesty-no
bullshit permitted. Holly Hunter plays a woman who is emotionally blunted
after being dumped by her doctor husband for a younger, prettier woman. One
night, hanging out in a Soho jazz club she's accosted by a stranger who
gives her a lingering, passionate kiss. This incident awakens her to myriad
possibilities in her life's direction. On the same night, she returns to
her swank apartment house where she falls into conversation with the
elevator man, a likable loser played knowingly by Danny DeVito. He too is
trying to rebound from a busted marriage while dealing with a sea of debt
arising from his gambling habit. A curious relationship develops between
these two bruised souls that is a refreshing change from ordinary Hollywood
romances. The hiphop star, Queen Latifah does a credible job as a lounge
singer who reveals a hitherto undisclosed way with crooning standards.
Altogether, a charming and richly detailed character piece.
 

Let Him Have It

Based on the notorious true story of a child's murder in Britain, a
somewhat retarded boy is convicted and sentenced to death for the crime
which was physically committed by his friend. A superior cast of English
veterans support Chris Eccleston in the key role.
 
 

The Living End

An outrageous black comedy about two HIV-infected gays who set out on a
destructive road trip with oblivion as the destination. Despite the grim
subject matter, there are laughs aplenty-at least for those who like their
comedy on the dark side. Elaborately made on a minuscule budget.
 
 

Local Hero

A terrific, off-center comedy about an American oil executive sent to buy
up a Scottish coastal village for a refinery site. The gags are mostly low
key and the locals are a delightful collection of odd types. Burt Lancaster
has a great part as the chief of the Texas oil company who ultimately comes
to the village to consummate the deal.
 

Lone Star (1996)

A particular favorite of mine, director John Sayles has made several movies
that deal with lives that intersect and intertwine (see my thumbnails for
"City of Hope" and "Return of The Secaucus Seven"). Perhaps none deals as
fluidly with this kind of structure as does his "Lone Star". On the
surface, it poses a whacking good decades-old murder mystery and a nicely
burnished love story. But dig a bit deeper and you find the anatomy of a
whole Texas border community with its Blacks, Whites, Mexicans and
Seminoles, each with rich stories to tell. If you've already seen it, I
recommend you see it again, such is the complexity of its architecture.
 

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner

A British 60s Troubled Youth film that is very intense. A teenager (Tom
Courtenay) with a grim home life is caught following a burglary and sent to
a reform school where he becomes involved in cross country running. The
tone ranges from stark realism to moments of impressionism, and it all
works well.
 

Lonesome Dove

This sweeping epic is based on a script that the Texas novelist Larry
McMurtry wrote in the 70s with John Wayne and Henry Fonda in mind as the
leads. Apparently Wayne didn't like the script and it languished for a
couple of decades before being produced as a TV mini-series. Robert Duvall
and Tommy Lee Jones play a pair of retired Texas Rangers who steal a vast
herd of longhorn steers down in Mexico and drive them 2,000 miles into the
Montana territory with view to establishing a cattle empire there. The two
leads are rock solid. Duvall plays a rollicking, philosophizing philanderer
; Jones is his diametrical opposite, a taciturn man of few words and a
highly developed work ethic. The plot consists of several storylines
forking off from the cattle drive narrative at the center and calls into
play a large cast of pros who deliver the goods .
 

Lorenzo's Oil

A tearjerker with plenty of smarts, this recounts the true story of Augusto
and Michaela Odone, the parents of a boy with a rare, degenerative disease
that is always fatal. Told by doctors and clinicians that there is no hope,
they set about seeking a cure and ultimately throw the medical
establishment for a loop with their findings. The film delves deeply into
its subject matter exploring not only the human dimensions of the story but
also meticulously recounting the disease's physiology. Only one quibble:
Why have the father, played by Nick Nolte, attempt a thick Italian
accent-something of which he's obviously incapable?
 
 
 

La Belle Noiseuse

Anyone who has an abiding interest in the process of creativity, especially
in the fine arts, should find this long and deliberately paced film to
their liking. It is the fascinating story of a painter whose career has
been in a long decline and who becomes reenergized when a young model (the
exquisite Emmannuelle Beart) inspires him to new heights.
 
 

La Bête Humaine

The powerful story of a railroad engineer (Jean Gabin) who becomes involved
with the coquettish wife of a station master with deadly results. The Gabin
character has a couple of screws loose, suddenly lashing out at women in
episodes of uncontrollable rage. Based on a novel by Emile Zola.
 
 

Lacombe Lucien

An opportunistic French country boy joins the Gestapo during the Nazi
occupation, then he falls in love with a Jewish tailor's daughter. Tragic
and perceptive, this is one of director Louis Malle's finest efforts.
 
 

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

This is among my favorite British Hitchcock movies, a delicious
suspense-comedy in which an elderly woman disappears in the midst of a
train trip leading a younger "everywoman" into a labyrinth of mystery.
Terrific plotting, pacing and some fine English character actors add up to
a thrilling entertainment.
 
 

La Grande Bouffe

Perhaps the most monumental exercise in poor taste committed to film, this
is the story of four men riddled with ennui who get together to literally
eat and screw themselves to death. Monty Pythonphiles, Peter Greenaway fans
and John Waters admirers will find this a trashy pleasure; others are
advised to approach warily.
 
 

Lair of the White Worm

British director Ken Russell has never been noted for subtlety and "Lair"
is certainly no exception. Typically outrageous and over the top, this is a
very loose adaptation of a Bram Stoker ("Dracula") story. An archaeologist
discovers a worm-like skull on the grounds of an estate. He goes on to find
that worms are the basis for much folklore in the region, and then things
really begin getting strange...
 
 

The Last of Sheila

This whacking-good mystery will keep you puzzling to the last when a
wealthy man organizes a deadly whodunit game rife with red herrings and
wrong turns. The film was scripted by Anthony Perkins and Stephen Sondheim,
both noted for their addiction to demanding puzzles.
 
 

Laws of Gravity

Recalling Scorcese's "Mean Streets" this is the story of three days in the
lives of a couple of New York low level thieves and their women. Made on
practically no budget, the intense performances and kinetic hand-held
camera work shine.
 
 

Leaving Las Vegas

Though it was somewhat overrated upon release, this story of an alcoholic
hell-bent on drinking himself to death has much to recommend it. Nicholas
Cage as the central figure delivers an uncharacteristically restrained
performance and his costar Elizabeth Shue proves her stuff as a good
hearted but worn down whore. Despite the seamy locales and the depressing
subject matter, the love that evolves between these two battered souls is
remarkable in their acceptance of each other. Put this together with the
previously reviewed "Barfly" for a boozy doublebill that will have you
looking up the number of your local chapter of AA.
 
 

Le Corbeau aka The Raven

A series of poison pen letters surface in a small French town letting loose
horrific consequences. Shot during the German occupation, the film was
quite controversial at home in France because of its backing by a Nazi film
studio and the perception that it was anti-French.
 

Leningrad Cowboys Go America

As they used to say on Monty Python, "...and now for something completely
different..." This is a deadpan comedy about a group of minimally talented
Finnish musicians who embark on a tour of the U.S. in a disintegrating
Cadillac hearse with their late, lamented bass player iced down in a coffin
on top. Screamingly funny if your comedy appetite strays to those outer
limits occupied by such people as Jim Jarmusch and Michael Palin.
 
 

Love and Other Catastrophes
 

What sitcoms could be if they had a modicum of smarts and were to lose
their commercial and censorial constraints. This is a bright, energetic
import from Australia that concerns a group of college students facing
social, sexual and educative dilemmas. Granted, in sum it's a trifle, but a
tasty one. Rapid fire, audacious dialogue, an edgy soundtrack and compact
running time reflect a director who is clearly in love with the medium of
film.
 

Lovers (1991)

Based on a notorious Spanish murder case in the 50s, a young rake recently
discharged from the army begins two-timing his virginal girlfriend by
carrying on a steamy affair with his landlady. Strong performances by all
concerned with an arresting production design and sure handed photography.
 
 

Lovers of the Arctic Circle
 

Reminiscent of "Map of the Human Heart" for both its polar settings as well
as an unusual love story underpinned by themes of synchronicity and fate,
both the lovers, Otto and Ana, and the story arc are palindromes, ending up
where they started out. The story is told over the course of three periods
in their lives, beginning as children. Their love is predestined. Every
event of the sprawling plot is connected to another and is seen as an
inevitability; Ana and Otto were meant to be together. The three sets of
actors who play the lovers are uniformly fine and the story keeps us
guessing from beginning to end. Or is it end to end?
 

Lost in America

Seeing Albert Brooks' recent "Mother" ( a nice commentary on American
mothers and sons) prompted me to go back and check out this great little
road movie. Two yuppies decide to drop out of their high-pressure careers,
buy a motor home, travel a while, then settle down in some rural Valhalla.
Along the way, things go terribly wrong. The mood ranges from low-key
wistful gags to full-blown hilarity.
 
 

London Kills Me

I've never read a complementary review of this comedy, but I like it a lot.
A London druggie decides he wants to go straight and through a series of
misadventures, just about pulls it off. With an interesting cast, this is
the directorial debut of Hanif Kureishi who wrote the screenplays for
"Sammy and Rosie Get Laid", "The Buddha of The Suburbs" and "My Beautiful
Laundrette", which are all well worth a look, especially the latter, if you
haven't seen them.
 
 

Living in Oblivion

Steve Buscemi is a film director working on a low budget flick where
everything that can possibly can go wrong does. Very clever script and
great performances from a cast that also worked behind the scenes on the
real movie adds up to plenty of grins. If you like this, check out "The
Real Blonde" reviewed elsewhere.
 
 

The Loved One

A biting satire on the American death industry. It was originally (and
truthfully) advertised as a film with something to offend everyone. Very
funny and raunchy all at once, it takes apart the institution of a Forest
Lawn-like cemetery operation.
 
 

The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne

An ageing spinster comes to live in a Dublin boarding house on the heels of
some undisclosed trouble at her last lodgings. Initially we see a prim and
proper part time piano teacher who is devout in her Catholicism, with thin,
pursed lips that suggest frugality in all things. She becomes enamored of
her new landlady's brother (Bob Hoskins) recently returned from a long stay
in America and due to mutual misunderstandings thinks that he is attracted
to her. In time we discover that Miss Hearne is struggling with demons
that threaten to bring her carefully constructed veneer shedding down about
her. Maggie Smith is touching and brilliant in the lead role as she lets
her guard down in the face of infatuation. This is an often grim and moody
film that will appeal to the viewer seeking rich characterizations.
 
 

The Long Good Friday

This ranks right up there with the best gangster flicks. Set in 80s London,
it examines the rivalries between competing racketeers with excellent
performances by Bob Hoskins as a gangland heavy and Helen Mirren as his
moll. The plot occasionally gets a bit confused, but is more than made up
for by gripping situations.
 
 

The Long Day Closes

A remembrance by the writer-director of growing up in a blue collar
neighborhood in bleak and dreary post-war Britain. The Technicolor allure
of Hollywood is the one bright spot in his life, leaving an indelible
impression that leads to his later career in films. If you enjoy this,
check out "Distant Voices, Still Lives" by the same director, Terrence
Davies, which explores more of this same territory. Both films share a
good bit of the ambience of the very successful "Hope and Glory"
(thumbnailed next).
 
 

Love and Death on Long Island

John Hurt, the British actor who always appears to be at death's door is
superb as a patrician member of the literati who, locked out of his flat
one day, decides to kill time in a local multiplex cinema. He inadvertently
buys a ticket to a schlocky teen comedy import from the U.S. Just as he's
about to walk out in disgust on this drivel, he's unaccountably arrested by
the apparition of its young male star with whom he promptly becomes
infatuated. His obsession grows immense as he learns everything he can
about the object of his affections ultimately traveling to New York to
manipulate a meeting with the actor. Watching Hurt attempting to confront
American culture and ways is a hoot. A telling scene has him placing his
shoes outside the door of his sleazy motel room only to withdraw them a
moment later in recognition that the presence of a bootblack on the
premises is most unlikely. This is a lovely and gentle comedy which has in
its examination of obsessive love from afar resonances with "Lolita" and
"Death in Venice".
 

La Strada

Federico Fellini cast his wife, Giuletta Messina in the starring role as an
elfin woman sold to a brutish roadshow strong man played by Anthony Quinn.
She's perfect in the part which calls for her to be clownish and
coquettish; at times her performance recalls Charlie Chaplin and Harpo
Marx. Considered one of the great neorealist films that followed WWII.
 

Lolita (1962)

Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of the Nabokov novel about a lecherous
professor's obsession with a nymphette was highly controversial when
originally released in the 60s. Though the film's somewhat sanitized
treatment may not raise as many eyebrows today, the performances by James
Mason as the professor and Peter Sellers as his nemesis, Quilty, still
crackle. Shelley Winters is pathetic as Lolita's love-starved mother. A
recent remake with Jeremy Irons as Professor Humbert is yet to play in
American-no distributor has been found willing to take the risk on what is
a very touchy subject. I believe it has been shown on cable TV though due
to my culturally-deprived rural West Virginia location, (no cable hookup
available) I've not seen it.
 

Los Olvidados

After a long layoff, Luis Buñuel went to Mexico in 1950 to make this
stunning film about juvenile delinquents in the slums of Mexico City. Far
less surreal than his other work, this has a near-documentary feel and
resembles in many respects the best work of the Italian neo-realists.
 

The Lady From Shanghai

Though perhaps not of the same stellar quality as his prime works: "Citizen
Kane", "The Magnificent Ambersons" and "Touch of Evil", this movie offers
rewards of its own including the famed shootout in a hall of mirrors. In
fact it is the camera that is cast in the leading role here; many of the
effects and angles were groundbreaking and are mimicked to this day.
 
 

Last Exit to Brooklyn

A very stylish and vicious look at the title borough in the mid-50s. Every
kind of violence - physical, sexual, verbal and mental is aired out in this
dark adaptation of a rather notorious novel of the same name by Howard
Selby, Jr.
 
 

Love Serenade

If the above two films strike a positive chord, then check out this oddball
comedy from Australia. The two Hurley sisters, Vikki Anne and Dimity live
lives of quiet desperation in the stultifying backwater town of Sunray.
Into their ennui bursts a ray of hope in the form of a thrice-divorced DJ
who moves in next door and buys the local moribund radio station where he
cranks out an endless parade of 70s love ballads, notably by Barry White.
The sisters find themselves in grim combat for the DJ's affections which
ends in a rather surprising way. Perhaps the movie's most impressive
aspect is the powerful sense of place that it generates. The desolation of
Sunray is made palpable through fine photography and a soundtrack peppered
with nuances such as insect and machinery sounds. This is director Shirley
Barrett's first film and shows great maturity and skill.

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