Bay Area denizen and comments section gadfly Denny gave me the idea several months ago to discuss current DVD releases on APCB. His thought was that I should offer recommendations, which is increasingly difficult, considering the overall gloomy state of movies these days. What follows, therefore (and which may become a weekly feature, depending on how often I remember to do it), is a recap of the highlights and lowlights of the week's offerings (links go to my review, if applicable).
All the President's Men - Alan J. Pakula's 1976 dramatization of Woodward and Bernstein's Watergate investigation gets the double-disc treatment it deserves. No car chases, no gunfights, and no irrelevant romantic subplot - just dogged investigative journalism and great performances all around.
I hear of calls to remake this now and again, and I feel pretty comfortable in saying it will never happen. No CGI opportunities, for starters, and even if they tried to modernize it, what would they use? Monica Lewinsky? There's some hard-hitting political intrigue. Maybe the Swift Boat Veterans could talk to the guys who made the Oliver North biopic.
No, in spite of the plethora of opportunities to go after the criminal conduct of the Bush Administration, today's journalists are far too intimidated to take the risks WoodStein did back in 1973.
Vice Squad - You can keep your Freddys and your Jason Voorhies...es. Ramrod the pimp - as played by Wings Hauser - remains one of the most fearsome villains in cinema history. His performance goes beyond his B-movie environs into true evil, as he tortures his way to the prostitute who got him arrested. Watch for former MTV VJ Nina Blackwood as the hooker Ramrod beats to death with a coat hanger, and look for Fred "Rerun" Berry as a fellow pimp.
Class of 1984 - 1982 was a banner year for cinema nastiness. Anyone who remembered Timothy Van Patten fondly from his days as "Salami" from The White Shadow is in for a rude awakening here. In the best tradition of exploitation cinema, director Mark Lester (later of Commando and Showdown in Little Tokyo fame) convincingly portrays a near future where punk rockers run wild, raping teachers' wives and shanking poor Alex P. Keaton (a chubby pre-Family Ties Michael J. Fox). This was a lot nastier than it had a right to be.
North Country - Not a great film, and not a bad one either. North Country simply suffers from poor execution. What starts as a fairly gripping examination of the events leading up to the landmark court case that forced American companies to recognize sexual harassment ends up as a familar courtroom drama. France McDormand also gets negative marks for her "disease of the week" character.
First Descent - Not horrible, but would've been much better in the hands of Stacy Peralta. Poor resolution and a grating "alt rock" soundtrack don't help either. Still, there are some impressive scenes, and the shot of Travis Rice riding out an avalanche is one of the few "heart in throat" moments of the last year.
Rent - Abandon hope, all ye who watch this.
Actually, I initially suggested that you provide live video feeds to Thai cock fights. The movie rental review suggestion was more of a back up plan.
You should be ashamed of yourself for neglecting Jay Mohr's Action.
I expect better in future installments of the Discotheque; otherwise, this fellow vociferous parasite--er, gadfly--will dog you mercilessly.