Video Picks from Old Town

We love movies. In addition to viewing hundreds of videos, Old Town Cinema sees us munching popcorn at about 70 theatrical releases a year. Here is where we weed out the tired and hyped from the movies (in bold below) that have something better than the rest in script, dialogue, acting, images, and even sound. They range from action to drama and comedy to sci-fi, and they are very often not blockbusters. But, when you want to see something that others have missed, we think you'll enjoy these suggestions.

Movies with this symbol deserve the big screen.

You don't need the overwrought Wings of the Dove when you can have Washington Square with Jennifer Jason Leigh and Ben Chaplin.

Don't miss Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, and Jude Law in the futuristic drama Gattaca, whose cool, stylish surface reveals a noble heart. And, if you enjoyed Saving Private Ryan, catch Ethan Hawke again, with Gary Sinese, Kevin Dillon, and Frank Whaley in the smaller but equally original and moving A Midnight Clear.

Polished humorist Stephen Fry was born to be Wilde, the ingenious wit as incomparably brilliant now as at the last turn of the century. With Vanessa Redgrave and Jude Law.

Sure he's cocky, but intercept Bruce Willis and a bangup cast in Armageddon, which is to Deep Impact what nitro is to a wet firecracker. Every director has to use familiar images to tell a story; Michael Bay's are as stunning as they are powerful.

Wesley Snipes as superhero Blade battles vampires Stephen Dorff and Udo Kier. Visually and viscerally exciting, the real bleeding edge.

Matt Damon and Edward Norton gamble (and gambol?) in Rounders. From the director of Red Rock West.

If Kung Fu movies drive you to despair, prepare to detour discrimination during Rush Hour, with Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan.

Robin Williams goes through heaven & hell for the woman he loves. The story is a little overwrought but in images and special effects What Dreams May Come draws beautifully from Orpheus, Dante, and Maxfield Parrish among many others.

Love Is the Devil paints the portrait of our master artist of angst, Francis Bacon.

Payback is a . . . fun heist thriller with Mel Gibson & Deborah Ungerer.

Ian McKellan finds a young neo-Nazi an Apt Pupil of a master horror monger in this Stephen King lesson. From the director of Usual Suspects.

Ian McKellan again, this time with the under-appreciated but ever good Brendan Fraser in Gods and Monsters, about the screenwriter who gave us Frankenstein. Three Academy Award nominations.

Joan Allen & William Macy are literally perfect in Pleasantville, a 50's sitcom fable, until "living color" takes on a new meaning in their black-and-white lives. "A perfect film."

Taking leave from his acclaimed performance in Checkov's The Cherry Orchard, Kurt Russell is a tough, wise-cracking, high-tech Soldier of the future.

John Carpenter makes Vampires of James Woods &Thomas Ian Griffith. With Maximillian Schell

He infamously used Barbie in a surprisingly poignant film about Karen Carpenter's death from anorexia. Then he gave you Poison. Now Todd Haynes gives you Ewan McGregor in Velvet Goldmine, mining the 70's Gary Glitter rock scene. Never merely interesting.

If you haven't yet seen Scream, you don't know how cleverly Kevin Williamson has turned the horror genre on its severed head. Scream 2 is just as good and, for those who aren't hoarse yet, Scream 3 is on its way.

How about a comedy of errors that's just as you like it? Lord, lady, or groundling, you'll enjoy Shakespeare in Love with Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Affleck, Judith Dench, and Geoffrey Rush. Academy Awards include Best Picture.

Bulletin Bulletin Bulletin DARK DELIGHTS: Catch on video the two dark and extremely funny comedies Bulworth and The Opposite of Sex as well as the beautifully surreal, noir thriller Dark City, which Robert Ebert called the "best movie of the year" in his year-end review.

At war in the Guadacanal, The Thin Red Line, are John Travolta, Sean Penn, George Clooney, Nick Nolte, Woody Harrelson, and Ben Chaplin. The first 20 minutes of this film are even more powerful than Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan. The rest is, much as Homer's Aneid, a magnificent poem about war, in sound and image.

The sharp wits of Kevin Williamson take a stab at The Faculty, a new twist on those body-snatching alien flicks (see also, Donald Sutherland in Puppet Masters). Bebe Neuwirth (Lilith from Cheer's ) and Jon Stewart (Late Night ) are reason enough to check this one out. Directing is Tarentino chum Robert Rodriguez, whose startling success with Mariachi led to its being remade with a real budget as Desperado, starring Antonio Banderas.

Another new "Kevin," Kevin Smith, is smart, funny, deftly observant, and one of the most emotionally honest writers and directors working today. He's the antidote to fears, while challenging with new hopes. Just look beneath the surface of Clerks and Mallrats. That's where Matt Damon and Ben Affleck of Good Will Hunting, and the lovely Joey Lauren Adams got their starts. Even if you think you aren't interested, check out Chasing Amy. And then get ready for the long-awaited Dogma, which will star Alanis Morissette (as God), Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Chris Rock, and Jason Lee.

Sometimes a masterpiece of aspiration and imagination is cast aside because its medium is considered childish. Fantasia is such a work. If you have never seen it on a movie screen you will have a wonderful chance when Disney expands the original work to include new pieces in Fantasia 2000. Not yet on video, but coming to IMAX theaters 31DEC99.

Bulletin Bulletin Bulletin NO HEAD CLEANER STRONG ENOUGH: If you like Tom Wolf's chronicles of Hunter Thompson, if you like Johnny Depp, if you like Terry Gillam, if you like movies, under no circumstance insert Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas into your VCR deck.

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