Movie-A-Day #61: True Stories (1986).
Texas marks its independence on March 2, and like most things Texans celebrate, it tends to get recognized in a big way. (Never mind the fact that they’re not really independent of anything anymore.) The 1986 sesquicentennial celebration for the 150th anniversary of the state’s secession from Mexico was a yearlong affair, and it provided a great springboard for David Byrne’s examination of small-town America in “True Stories.” Besides Byrne, the film features John Goodman, Swoosie Kurtz, Pops Staples, Spalding Gray and plenty of great music. It’s quirky as hell, but it also manages to sneak in a few barbs that cut deep.
Movie-A-Day #60: Bring It On (2000).
Welcome to March! Today marks the first day of both National Cheerleading Week and National Cheerleading Safety Month. (Is it a coincidence that these events start at the beginning of Women’s History Month? I don’t know. Mmmmaybe?) And you’d be hard pressed to come up with a better, more fun cheerleading movie than “Bring It On.” Don’t agree with me? Well, tough luck. This is not a cheer-ocracy.
Movie-A-Day #59: The Elephant Man (1980).
There are so many things that can go wrong with the human body. Things like cancer, diabetes or hypertension are fairly well known and documented, but there are tens of thousands of other diseases and conditions out there that don’t get the same kind of recognition. They may have symptoms most people have never seen before, or names that many can’t pronounce. But those who live with these conditions every day suffer just the same. That’s why Feb. 28 is Rare Disease Day, with the aim of raising awareness for these diseases and helping patients get the recognition and treatment they need. Perhaps the most high profile sufferer of a rare condition was John Merrick, whose case caused a sensation in Victorian England before his early death in 1890. He was the focus of much derision and exploitation during his lifetime, and even more after his death. Even a century later, Michael Jackson tried to buy his skeleton as a curiosity. But Merrick does get a sympathetic portrayal from David Lynch in “The Elephant Man,” starring John Hurt, who manages to exude loads of humanity from under all those prosthetics.
Movie-A-Day #58: The Player (1992).
The Oscars ceremony happens tonight, marking the culmination of Hollywood’s annual slurp-fest awards season. But there’s a dark side to all the industry’s self-congratulation, and it’s captured beautifully by Robert Altman in his adaptation of Michael Tolkin’s novel “The Player.” The comedy is pitch black here, but judging by the sheer number of celebrity cameos, most of the town was in on the joke. Or at least wanted to make it look like they were. Watch it after the ceremony tonight; it makes a good bitter tonic to wash away all that saccharine sweetness.
Movie-A-Day #57: The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923).
Happy birthday to Victor Hugo. There have been approximately 50 bajillion film adaptations of his work, but still among the best is Lon Chaney’s version of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” It was probably the most extreme make-up creation of her career, and it helped him create one of the screen’s greatest Quasimodos.
Desuko Movie Spot. 