Movie-A-Day #154: I Shot Andy Warhol (1996).
Valerie Solanas was an extremist feminist writer who spent the late 1960s bumming around Greenwich Village and trying to find an audience for her manifestos that advocated the murder of all men and the creation of a fully female society. And on June 3, 1968, she tried to kill pop artist Andy Warhol. She had previously asked him to produce one of her plays, and when he blew her off, she returned to The Factory with a gun. He survived a serious chest wound, and although he would continue to be a celebrity for the rest of his life, his artistic output diminished and changed. His classic work was behind him and the heyday of the Factory scene was over. Mary Harron’s film “I Shot Andy Warhol,” starring Lili Taylor, gives Solanas a sympathetic portrayal, bringing out her inner conflict without endorsing her more radical beliefs.
Movie-A-Day #153: Run Lola Run (1998).
Today is National Running Day in the United States. Serious runners describe the activity in nearly religious terms. Or as a compulsion, backed by a need to hit that physical high by running as much as possible… Over and over and over again… Much like the protagonist in Tom Tykwer’s “Run Lola Run,” who must run her frantic dash over and over again until she can save her boyfriend.
Movie-A-Day #152: The Seven Year Itch (1955).
Marilyn Monroe would have been 85 today. It took several movies to build her enduring legend, but she was at her most iconic in “The Seven Year Itch.”
Movie-A-Day #151: The Insider (1999).
Today is World No Tobacco Day, a day set aside to abstain from smoking, dipping or chewing. The health consequences of tobacco are pretty dire, and “The Insider” tells the true story of the whistleblower and the journalist who uncovered just how much the tobacco industry knew about its killer products.
Movie-A-Day #150: Saving Private Ryan (1998).
Today is Memorial Day in the United States. It’s a day for remembering the soldiers who paid the ultimate price on the battlefield, both domestic – from Lexington and Concord to Gettysburg and Antietam – and abroad – from Dunkirk and Normandy to Khe Sanh and Fallujah. Several films have treated this theme well, but “Saving Private Ryan” is probably the best.
Desuko Movie Spot. 