Downfall

You've seen the parodies ... or ... have you? If not, time to do some catching up. One of my favorites is when Hitler finds out his so-called "friends" aren't going to Burning Man after all.

But have you seen ... the movie? There are about 150 other minutes of film you could catch up on.

I saw the DVD on the rack as I scoped out the one-last-dying-breath Hollywood Video, and yes, I found it hard to watch the fateful scene of hubris personified without cracking up and thinking of poor Hitler being banned from XBox Live.

You probably read about it in the papers already, so I'm not spoiling anything (and hopefully prepping you and the kids) by pointing out that nearly everyone in the Third Reich's inner circle ends up being shot, killed and murdered onscreen ... except for Hitler. He is given respectful privacy when he reaches the end. Kinda ironic, wouldn't you say?

The Children Are Watching Us

A classic of Italian neo-realism, the genre which dealt with real life after wartime, this one from the perspective of a child who learns that adults are not who they seem to be. Just as we always suspected.

Did I watch this film because it was restored as best as could be? Possibly, but... no. Because I nabbed it for only a few bucks at Hollywood Video's Death Watch sale? Good idea, but... meh.

Because it's from Italy? Directed by Vittorio de Sica? No.

No, I watched it because it was 10:15 PM, and I had to wake up at 7 the next morning for work. It's a classic, but also it is brief. 84 minutes brief, not 110 or 129 or 142 minutes like SOME of those films... [rolls eyeballs, goes to sleep]

Variety Lights

Long out of print, I found this Criterion disc at Hollywood Video's Death Watch liquidation for about seven bucks. No extras, no commentary, no insert, no original case, no dignity. Just the disc, please. Oooh, with Hollywood Video stickers all over it?! Thank you sir!

Federico Fellini's directoral debut, with co-direction from Alberto Lattuada. After Fellini established his career and hit the inevitable roadblocks, he made a film about a director who doesn't know how to make his next film, which he called "8 1/2." Because that's how many films he had made up to that point: "Variety Lights" is the one-half of "8 1/2."

A band of lowbrow stagemongers make their way across the map, with some guy in charge who might know what he's doing ... or, maybe not. He is pretty good at picking out talent, even if he doesn't have the ability to hang on to it.

The Passenger

A double feature -- after coming home from "Crazy Heart" at the CCC, I put in this disc from the Seattle Public Library. Maybe Michelangelo Antonioni's best, most accessible film. And defintely an understated performance from Jack Nicholson, if you're wondering whether he ever did that sort of thing.

Antonioni's MO was to use landscape to separate his characters and emphasize their isolation, usually to the general derision of moviegoers but not necessarily critics. Here, most of the landscape turns out to be run-down hotel rooms, and long single takes seeing what happens in them, and looking outside their windows. At last, something we all can relate to?

Mamma Roma

A former prostitute tries to make a better life for her son, but her pimp still comes around ... and does that better life include relationship advice from one of her former colleagues?

And this one of Pasolini's gentler, more accessible creations!