At the top of the world in 1990 on her “Blonde Ambition Tour,” Madonna allowed Alek Keshishian metaphorically into her bed (but mostly backstage) for his documentary, “Truth or Dare.” One of the best and most enthralling documentaries I have ever seen, Keshishian films the backstage scenes of his Madonna glorification in black-and-white and the provocative concert footage in color. This balance is perhaps why the film is so effective—the black-and-white contributes a certain grit, i.e. realism, to Madonna’s “private”…
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Fargo 1996
1996’s “Fargo” is perhaps the recently rewarded Coen Brothers’ (2007’s big Oscar winner, “No Country for Old Men”) masterpiece, a violent black comedy about one man’s thirst for money and respect at the expense of his wife, whom he hires a pair of killers to kidnap for a reward from which he will collect half. William H. Macy delivers his best performance on film as the whimpering husband, Jerry Lundegaard, but Frances McDormand steals the show as the clever, moral,…
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The Tin Drum 1979
“The Tin Drum” is a controversial, lengthy German epic that boldly pushes viewers to see how much they will react. Graphic sexuality, intense shots, and a disturbing story are but a few of the shocking and visceral features that are embodied in this uncanny, surreal World War II story.
In the film, a young boy named Oskar (David Bennett), with a tin drum he receives on his third birthday, narrates his life relative to changes in German society. Because of…
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Grand Hotel 1932
In a studio system dependent on its stars to generate bucks at the box office, MGM assembled the cream of the crop for an ensemble cast-driven melodrama called "Grand Hotel." The 1932 Oscar-winner for Best Picture (with, curiously, no other nominations) was likely rewarded more for its scale than for any other reason. Although some of the stars do hold their own―namely Greta Garbo as the tired Russian ballerina who becomes reinvigorated by love (and who utters one of the…
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