What You Should Watch This Week

Here we go with this week's fresh list. When you get tired of Olympic coverage you can seek out these gems. All certified COOL by our crack staff of tree knomes here at Cave of Cool Inc.


The Freshman



The best Mathew Broderick / Marlon Brando movie, EVER! I love this one for it's elaborate goofy plot twists and lovable characters. Brando brilliantly plays his character as an homage to his greatest role ever. This one shows the sweet side of organized crime. The supporting cast is uniformly terrific with Bruno Kirby as a dim witted gangster and director John Casevettes as crazy chef Hans Schleggel being particular standouts. The city of New York looks radiant here.

The Professional.




Do you all remember when Natalie was this young? Her performance was one of the greatest debuts of all time. She plays a damaged girl who is brave enough to take on the men who killed her family if she can talk the assassin next door into helping her. Who also doesn't love an out of control Gary Oldman going from sane to insane in all of ten seconds. Villains like him scare the hell out of me because of their unpredictability. The strange romantic overtones between the two leads add a quirky level to an over the top action/adventure revenge picture.

12 Monkeys

I love me a good Bruce Willis movie and there are many good ones to choose from. I know I will be including Die Hard and Unbreakable in the future. Bruce plays action everyman better than anyone out there. People also will enjoy Brad Pitt, who is great here as a lunatic that Willis meets when he is placed in an insane asylum. The time travel and mystery elements of the story are elegant and stay with you long after the movie has ended. This one gets better and better the more times you watch it.



Desperado

Antonio Bandaras is another actor I can't get enough of. Instead of The Mask of Zorro I went with this one from director Robert Rodriquez. It's a big screen remake of his own brilliant student film - Mariachi. Salma Hyack is beyond sexy in a violent, thrilling adventure that often plays like a sad Mexican folk ballad. The fight choreography is brilliant and I have rarely seen gunfights that are more beautiful to watch. There is a sequel with Bandaras, Johnny Depp and Mickey Rourke called Once Upon A Time In Mexico which is equally quirky.



Southpark - Bigger Longer and Uncut

One of the funniest musicals of all time (yes,there are song - they are filthy and terrific). It also works as biting social commentary about free speech and those who would abuse it for their own selfish interests. Eric Cartman is one of the greatest animated characters of all time and he is never better that he is here - potty mouth and all. The story is memorable for the fact that it involves a full scale invasion of Canada to capture the fugitives Terrance and Phillip who themselves swear entirely too much for the mothers of South Park. You will be humming the tunes in your head all day long.





The Prestige

Set in London around the turn of the 20th century, The Prestige (2006) is a film starring Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, and Michael Caine. Also appearing is David Bowie as Nicoli Tesla. Directed by Christopher Nolan; based on a novel by Christopher Priest. This little remembered Nolan gem tells a haunting tale, something the director specializes in, about two rival magicians and the trick they both covet. Bale and Jackman are excellent and keep the mystery going right up to the bitter end. This was one that I was glad to have seen on DVD because I needed to rewind the last ten minutes to get the full impact of the powerful ending.



Robocop

The guys I hung out with in University used to go to a lot of movies. Usually a different person made the final decision about what we were going to see. I used my influence to get everyone to go to Robocop one night. I was mocked on the way to the theatre and during the FIVE TRAILERS they showed us for upcoming FOREIGN films. I thought I would never live it down. Of course the movie was freakin' amazing and I was hailed for seeing the genius is something that on the surface was the goofiest of concepts. People forget that the trailer made the whole film look stupid - nothing like the ultra-violent social commentary it turned out to be. So many of the things that Robocop predicted have actually happened in society which is more than a little frightening. I think I actually prefer this movie version of Detroit compared to it's reality. A remake is on the near horizon.



The Name of the Rose

Based on the unreadable book by Umberto Echo, this is a top notch historical mystery from the time of the Inquisition. Many fine characters actors like F. Murray Abraham chew the scenery with Sean Connery. Added fun in seeing Ron Perlman wearing prosthetic make-up as a retarded hunchback with secrets. The gloomy setting only adds to the horror of what is happening at the Abbey.




Shadow of the Vampire.

Wilem Dafoe is fantastic in his portrayal of weird actor, Max Shreck. Malchovich is at his manic best as insane director F.W. Murnau. Nosferatu is one of those films that film buffs discover in University film classes or on their own but to a person, the film is always a revelation. It's a creepy effective horror classic. Shadow of the Vampire gives us more of the legend behind the film's creation and how a brilliant but insane director met an equally strange actor and together they made movie magic. This one has a great sense of humor and creates a strange little world of make-believe. One of the best movies about making movies.