Kick-Back Friday: March 2009 Archives
Film noir in sunny California: John Boorman's Point Blank (1967).
A double-crossed thief, Walker (Lee Marvin), is after the guy who stole his wife and his share of a cash heist in this very conscientiously (perhaps too conscientiously) photographed story of vengence. The film gains steam after an initial, wooden performance by Sharon Acker as Marvin's wife. With Angie Dickinson, Keenan Wynn, and Carroll O'Connor.
Patty Hearst (1988): A 25-year-old Natasha Richardson is Patricia Hearst aka Tania aka Pearl in Paul Shrader's visually striking adaptation of the newspaper heiress's story of her kidnapping by the Symbionese Liberation Army in 1974. Several then-unknown actors who played Hearst's captors went on to have enduring careers, including Ving Rhames, Francis Fisher, and Dana Delany.
Note: This movie is not currently available on DVD (US format) but can be watched "instantly" at Netflix.
See No Evil*: Long before Woody and Soon-Yi, an eternally vulnerable Mia Farrow had trouble seeing dead people in this really illogical, but still effective, thriller from 1971. (Keep in mind, however, this recommendation is colored by the powerful memory of first seeing the movie through spread fingers in the sixth grade.)
* Do not confuse with the identically titled teen-slasher flick from 2006.
The Beatles, The First US Visit: Nearly a decade before the Maysles brothers, Albert and David, filmed the dispossessed life of Edie Beale (Grey Gardens), they obtained seemingly unfettered access to the greatest rock n' roll band ever during their 1964 tour.
Watch Ringo play with a new-fangled transistor radio!
Hear John shriek when Paul plugs Capital Records on the "Ed Sullivan Show"!
Miss a sick George during a Central Park photo shoot!
(But the real highlight: John's on-air performance of "This Boy.")
