On the Edge: The Brown Bunny, Montenegro, Downfall

After taking a little more than a week off, I've returned with a few recommendations for films recently added to Netflix Watch Instantly.

Vincent Gallo's The Brown Bunny isn't nearly as bad as its reputation (and even Roger Ebert modified his stance on the film somewhat after seeing its post-Cannes shorter cut).  In fact it is reasonably good if you're game for a good old-fashioned existential crisis art-cinema excursion.  Self-indulgent?  Sure.  Any time you have a actor directing himself getting fellated in a scene, there's a degree of self-indulgence (and somehow Chloe Sevigny's career survived this).  But I still think it is worth a watch and I hope to catch up with Gallo's most recent film, Promises Written in Water (released in 2010 based on its IMDB entry, but to be honest I hadn't heard of it until I looked it up).

The Brown Bunny (Vincent Gallo, USA, 2004, 93 minutes) 
Netflix: Director Vincent Gallo stars as Bud, a competitive road biker riding from New Hampshire to California for a race. But the journey is also an attempt to erase his memory of the one true love he can't forget, even as he beds other women.  Netflix link.

Dusan Makavejev is a truly great Yugoslav/Serbian filmmaker, and one of his better known films, Montenegro, is now streaming on Netflix Watch Instantly.  If you're not familiar with his work, one of many online interviews with Makavejev is Ray Privett's piece for Senses of Cinema from 2000.  Montenegro is an English-language film shot in Sweden starring American actress Susan Anspach.



Montenegro (Dusan Makavejev, Sweden, 1981, 91 minutes)
Netflix: Housewife Marilyn Jordan (Susan Anspach) seems to have everything she could possibly want -- a successful husband, two beautiful children and a palatial house by the sea ... until she meets a group of Yugoslavian immigrants at the airport. Before you can say "unbridled abandon," Marilyn finds herself swept up in a bohemian world of dangerous pleasures and newfound freedom in this surreal black comedy.  Netflix link.

While certainly a respected film in itself, Downfall is probably best known for its bunker scene with Adolf Hitler that has been re-subtitled numerous times in parody videos (or Hitler Downfall Memes).  We've all seen at least one of the parodies by now, here's a chance to see the original film.

Downfall (Oliver Hirschbiegel, Germany, 2004, 155 minutes)
Netflix: After introducing audiences to Adolf Hitler's stenographer, Traudl Junge, in the gripping documentary Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary, director Oliver Hirschbiegel brings Junge to life in this Oscar-nominated drama. With painstaking realism, Hirschbiegel's Best Foreign Language Film contender adopts Junge's (Alexandra Maria Lara) point of view to recreate Hitler's (Bruno Ganz) final 12 days in his Berlin bunker.  Netflix link.

Horror: Let the Right One In, Let Me In, and Classics

Today just a quick list of Horror recommendations, with Halloween being right around the corner, starting with Let the Right One In and its remake, Let Me In.  I'm a big fan of the original, and while I haven't seen the remake I know many fans of it as well.  I hope to compare the two in the near future, and both of them are streaming on Netflix Watch Instantly.

The others are well tested classics, most of which I have not seen in a long time, but hope to revisit during Halloween season.  I have not seen Dario Argento's giallo classic Deep Red, which looks like something I need to finally catch up with.

Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, Sweden, 2008, 114 minutes)
Netflix: Twelve-year-old Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant), the constant target of bullies, spends his time plotting revenge and collecting news items about the grisly murders plaguing his town. But things change when he meets a new girl named Eli (Lina Leandersson), a misfit vampire who steals his heart. As a serial killer continues to prey on teen boys in their small Swedish village, Eli helps Oskar find the courage to stand up to his tormenters.  Netflix link.

Let Me In (Matt Reeves, USA, 2010, 116 minutes)
Netflix: When 12-year-old Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) befriends his mysterious next-door neighbor, Abby (Chloe Moretz), the two outcasts form a tight-knit bond that gives Owen the courage to stand up to school bullies. But he slowly begins to suspect his new friend has a secret. Matt Reeves directs this uncommon coming-of-age thriller based on the award-winning Swedish film Let the Right One In. Richard Jenkins co-stars.  Netflix link.

The Exorcist (William Friedkin, USA, 1973, 122 minutes)
Netflix: When movie actress Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) begins to suspect that an evil spirit is possessing her young daughter, Regan (Linda Blair), she calls in two priests (Max von Sydow and Jason Miller) to try and exorcise the demon against frightening and formidable odds. Writer William Peter Blatty scored an Academy Award for his big-screen adaptation of his own novel; the film also won an Oscar for Best Sound.  Netflix link.

Deep Red (Dario Argento, Italy, 1975, 104 minutes)
Netflix: In Dario Argento's horror classic jazz pianist Marcus Daly (David Hemmings) witnesses the murder of his neighbor, a psychic who had read the mind of her killer. Marcus soon teams up with a resourceful reporter (Daria Nicolodi), and the two set out to find the killer. After the professor (Glauco Mauri) Marcus called on for help turns up dead, Marcus realizes that he'll be the next to die if he can't track down the killer.  Netflix link.

An American Werewolf in London (John Landis, USA, 1981, 97 minutes)
Netflix: John Landis writes and directs this bloody yet black humor-injected thriller that tells the story of American backpacker David (David Naughton), who, after surviving a vicious werewolf attack that left his friend, Jack (Griffin Dunne), dead, becomes a murderous werewolf himself. Prowling the streets of London, David learns that his living-dead victims will wander in limbo until he is dead. This film garnered an Oscar for Best Makeup.  Netflix link.