The Dead Zone Another one of my region B blus. I like the movie, one of Stephen King's better film adaptations, and certainly Walken's best leading performance. I hadn't seen it in decades, since it came out probably. It's been almost forgotten now since other, glitzier King pictures like
It, The Green Mile and
The Shawshank Redemption succeeded it. One of Cronenberg's better efforts too. The transfer could be better, and there's no subtitles.
QueimadaBrando himself considered this one of his best performances, and this 129 minute version (the original theatrical version ran 132 minutes) is the best home video version available. It's in German with English subtitles, and the English language version is strangely available as a bonus feature. The print is a bit washed out and the whole endeavor could use a restoration but we should be glad to have it as such. As a film it's okay, there are better movies about English imperialism and the creation of banana republics, but its importance in the Brando myth is important to me and as such, it comes recommended.
Saturday Night and Sunday MorningFinney's breakthrough and one of the finest British films of the era. Is this the best kitchen sink drama? I dunno, is that term even in use anymore? Britain's new wave might not have panned out as much as the French one, but pictures like this,
Look Back in Anger, A Taste of Honey, This Sporting Life, Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, etc. have certainly stood the test of time. This is why I switched to a region-free disc player - this particular movie isn't even available in America on blu.
The AddictionFerrara's little high IQ bloodsucker B&W movie from the '90s still holds up. It's not
Bad Lieutenant (or even
King of New York) but it does have a Christopher Walken cameo, lots of cool photography, and enough Nietzsche, Nazi, philosophy, and deconstructionist existentialism to make you ponder its meaning for days. Are vampires really Übermensches? Hmmm....