10 Cool Movies Nobody Saw……, but

10 Cool Movies Nobody Saw…
….but worth checking out on DVD, because they were all too good to just be forgotten.

1. Asylum (Paramount Classics) – An amazing drama directed by David ("Young Adam") MacKenzie, adapted from Patrick ("Spider") McGrath's novels by none other than Patrick ("Closer") Marber, this was the story of the wife of a psychiatrist (Natasha Richardson) who gets into a relationship with her husband's dangerous patient, as played by Marton Csokas. It's pretty amazing when an amazing actor like Ian McKellen takes a backseat to others.

2. The Ballad of Jack and Rose (IFC Films) - Rebecca Miller's coming of age drama, starring her hubby, Daniel Day Lewis, and the excellent Camilla Belle as a father and daughter living on an isolated island commune for most of their lives, who suddenly find their lives changed when his girlfriend, played by Catherine Keener, moves in with her troubled family. It showed that Miller inherited all of the talent of her late father, the playwright Arthur Miller.

3. The Baxter (IFC Films) - Michael Showalter's romantic comedy was rather strange in its throwback to simpler times, but Michelle Williams and Elizabeth Wanks are swoon-worthy as his love interests, and Peter Dinklage, as always, steals the movie as a gay wedding planner.

4. Everything is Illuminated (Warner Independent) - Liev Schreiber decided to direct this complicated novel as his first film, starring Elijah Wood as a young man who goes to Eastern Europe in search of his grandfather's old town. Features an amazing debut performance by Gogol Bordello frontman Eugene Hutz in a role that is hilarious at first, but then powerfully dramatic by the film's climax.

5. Heights (Sony Classics) – Merchant Ivory produced Chris Terrio's feature film debut, based on the play by Amy Fox, and while I usually hate movies about disparate strangers in New York City who connect over the course of 24 hours, this one was better than most because like Crash, it had great writing and a solid cast. Of course, Glenn Close alone could carry it, but what made this special was the opportunity for Elizabeth Banks, Jesse Bradford and James Marsden AKA Cyclops to show off their acting chops.

6. Junebug (Sony Classics) - Phil Morrison's family dramedy about a former North Carolina native, played by Alessandro Nivola, who brings his new British wife (Embeth Davitz) back home to meet his family worked on many levels, but the real standout was Amy Adams as his very pregnant sister-in-law. It really is like Meet the Parents, as written by Tennessee Williams.

7. Nine Lives (Magnolia Films) – Rodrigo Garcia (Ten Things You Can Tell Just By Looking at Her) assembled an amazing cast of women including Glenn Close, Holly Hunter, Kathy Baker, Sissy Spacek, Robin Wright Penn and Kathy Baker for nine short segments, all shot in one continuous take, that showed a moment in the lives of nine very different women. As amazing as the actresses were, it was just as good for the strong performances by underrated actors like William Fichtner and Jason Isaacs.

8. Saving Face (Sony Classics) – Alice Wu's lesbian romantic comedy starred Michelle Krusiec as an Asian American surgeon who falls for a dancer, but then has to try to keep the relationship a secret from her old-fashioned mother (Joan Chen), when they end up moving in together. It was really was like Kissing Jessica Stein meets The Joy Luck Club.

9. Thumbsucker (Sony Classics) - Video director Mike Mills kicked off his movie career with a dark comedy about a teenager (Lou Pucci) trying to overcome a thumbsucking obsession but winds up getting involved with drugs and other questionable habits. Besides its young lead, it featured some amazing supporting performances from the likes of Tilda Swinton, Keanu Reeves, Vince Vaughn and Vincent D'Onofrio.

10. Where the Truth Lies (THINKFilm) – Atom Egoyan's latest murder mystery thriller had Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth as a comedy duo from the '50s who broke up under mysterious circumstances after a teen girl was found dead in their hotel room. The intriguing plot was like Hitchcock at his best, and Bacon and Firth both were terrific.


Source: Edward Douglas

January 2, 2006