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O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) (****, comedy) (2-12-01) (D.-Joel Coen; W.- Homer, Ethan Coen; George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, Chris Thomas King, Charles Durning) No one has ever accused the Coen brothers of doing the same old, same old. Well, O Brother lives up to their standards. O Brother is part period piece, part road movie, part gangster movie, part religious conversion, part 30’s style home spun politics, part advertisement for Dapper Dan Men’s Hair Pomade, and 100% fun. It is a rollicking comedic fantasy loosely based on Homer’s Odyssey set in 1937 depression-ridden Mississippi. Ulysses Everett McGill (Clooney), Peter (Turturro) and Delmar (Nelson) escape from a chain gang and begin a series of adventures and travails worthy of the original. To refer to our heroes as not too swift is to do them a disservice. Common-sense challenged would be a starting point. As our boys go gophering (think cubicles) through the field to escape, we are certain that this is not serious business. However, they will encounter the equivalent of the blind boatman and the River Styx, the Lotus Eaters, the Sirens, and the Cyclops to name the obvious ones, although not always in an immediately recognizable form. Ulysses’ wife Penny (Hunter) is another reference. The journey is unified with a spectacular period sound track made up of classic bluegrass, gospel, blues, folk, and country music. What separates this from a musical is that the music is an inherent and natural part of the film.

The movie is beautifully filmed, the acting first rate, the music stellar. The story virtually indescribable. As a comedy it is entertaining (***1/2), but its the total integration, especially with the music, that raises it to ****. Clooney demonstrates again his acting skill by showing a real flair for light comedy. Turturro, a Coen regular, shows comedic genius here, and Nelson is frequently priceless.

The Coen brothers deny having ever read The Odyssey. If you believe that, I have a bridge for sale. They also claimed that Fargo was based on a true incident. As with this blarney, O Brother always has its tongue fully in cheek.

What is a fact is that when Clooney was asked to be in the film, he accepted without ever reading the script because he so wanted to work with the Coens. The Coens assumed that since he is Rosemary Clooney’s nephew, he could sing. After his initial attempt, everyone was looking in all directions except at George. George mouth-syncs the songs.

For the music you will be treated to material from a real 1959 chain gang, a 1928 rendition of “Big Rock Candy Mountain” by Harry McClintock, the sonorous sound of the “The Soggy Bottom Boys” (yes, Soggy), The Cox Family, the Fairfield Four, the Stanley brothers, Gillian Welch, Emmylou Harris, Alison Kraus, and numerous others. If you like the movie, you will love the CD, which has a lot of extra information on the artists and the integration of the music into the film.

I will put a few facts in order. Babyface Nelson died in a shootout 3 years before the film was set. Superb blues man Chris Thomas King’s portrayal of Tommy Johnson is based on Depression-era Robert Johnson, who allegedly sold his soul to the devil at a crossroads for his musical genius. There really was a Pappy O’Daniels (Durning) who campaigned to country music but in Texas not Mississippi. “You Are My Sunshine” was a campaign theme song in Louisiana. And that is definitely not a horny toad! But who cares about the details. Just remember, “We’re in a tight spot.” Beginning

Object of Beauty, The (1991) (***1/2, dramatic comedy) (D.- Michael Lindsay-Hogg, John Malkovich, Andie MacDowell, Lolita Davidovich, Rudi Davies, Joss Ackland, Peter Riegert) Offbeat, but quite intriguing film that is really more about people than plot. The "object of beauty" is a small bronze Henry Moore sculpture. It appears to be from his Mayan period, and "beauty" is not a word that comes easily to my mind. However, everyone here finds something beautiful about it, although rarely the same something. Jake (Malkovich) is a jet set high stakes wheeler dealer and Tina (MacDowell) is his girl friend. They are holed up in a swank London hotel waiting, literally, for his ship to come in. If it doesn't, all their accumulated hotel bills and overdrawn credit cards are going to come down on him like a semi on an armadilloit isn't going to be pretty. For Jake who sets everything on appearances and trappings, this is a fate worse than death. A way out of their dilemma is her security blanket, which is the statue from her ex-husband. If it were to be "stolen", it would be worth a cool $50,000 in insurance that would tide them over. Unfortunately for them, "it speaks" to a deaf-mute maid (Davies) who pockets it. Jake and Tina then each thinks the other has surreptitiously gone through with the plan and a major crisis of trust develops. Throw in the maid's juvenile delinquent brother, a brutal fence, the ex-husband, dogged security-insurance men, and a publicity sensitive manager, and you have all the elements of a fascinating moment in everyone's life. Is everyone profoundly affected by the object? Without a doubt. Is anyone actually changed? I think quite possibly not. However, that is one of the real fascinations of the film: quarterbacking what will happen to everyone after the fade to black. A fascinating, cerebral evening. (4-19-94) Beginning

Octopus (2000) (**, horror) (3-5-01) (D.- John Eyres; Ravil Isyanov, Jay Harrington, Ray Turner, Carolyn Lowery, Chris Innis) Time for my horror fix. Certainly direct to video. I cannot imagine a reputable theater showing it. SO bad it is fun. A load of toxic material is dumped in the Atlantic during the Cuban missile crisis. Then forward to the present. A terrorist attack. A novice CIA agent (Harrington). An atomic submarine carrying master terrorist Casper (Isyanov) back for trial. The Death Eye where 27 ships have completely disappeared. A captain who has already lost one atomic submarine. A giant octopus with tired blood. Doctor Lisa Finch (Lowery ) on board who just happens to be an expert on our tentacled friends and strip poker. A hijacking of a luxury liner on the open sea. A bomb that needs to be disarmed as it ticks towards doom. Did I forget anything? There must be a kitchen sink in there somewhere.

Don’t ask how a terrorist can manage to wander around a submarine without being noticed. Why the sub only fills partially? What happened to most of the crew? How "anthrax virus" (it isn’t a virus) can produce a giant octopus? You probably don’t want to know.

Judging from the number of Slavic names on the credits and that the film was processed in Bulgaria I would say the film is an import, although all the actors seemed to be American. The DVD (at Beyond Video) has a nice video short on the FX. It is quite fascinating to see what went into the models and the animatronic tentacles, especially a 10 m one. Incidentally, we think we picked up German, Russian, and French being spoken in the background during the FX video, so it must have been a very international crew.

So if you want a REALLY bad 50s style sci fi horror, check out Octopus. Beginning

Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) (***, crime, noir) (D.- Robert Wise; Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan, Shelley Winters, Ed Begley, Gloria Grahame) Past the end of the formal noir cycle, but nevertheless a viciously effective film noir. Taut, brutal, unsettling. Odds has elements of The Asphalt Jungle and White Heat. Three losers plan the perfect heist. The mastermind is Begley, an ex-cop who kept his self-respect but nothing else when he stonedwalled on a big scandal. Belafonte is a jazz musician with plenty of brass, but he never saw a pony he couldn't lose on. Ryan is a hair trigger racist who is kept by a fading woman (Winters). Ryan's earlier downfall came when he killed a man, probably with his bare hands. This point is ironically made in a bar scene. In reality, Ryan made a living as a fighter before acting, and, in spite of his age, would have been the soldier's worst nightmare. This brutally unmatched trio is as likely to succeed as a dog will survive crossing an eight lane freeway during rush hour. The only question is the agent of destruction.

Bleak, stunning noir cinematography, a haunting jazz score by John Lewis, fine acting, and a classic existential noir story make for a disturbingly unsettling evening. One unusual element that I really liked was the wind. Frigid. Sterile. Remorseless. Clearly a metaphor for the characters and their interactions with the world. As in much noir, the characters' weaknesses drive them with relentless predestination towards their fate. (11-17-97) Beginning

Office Space (1999) (humor, ***1/2)(2-22-99) (D.-Mike Judge; Ron Livingston, Jennifer Aniston, Stephen Root, Gary Cole, David Herman, Ajay Naidu, Richard Riehle, Diedrich Bader) A Dilbertesque nightmare that will strike a response cord in everyone. You do not have to live in a cubicle to relate to the dehumanization and the frustrations of dealing with a bureaucracy that the principals of Office Space contend with daily. From the opening moments with the accounts receptionist we will all be right at home. Space is as savagely satirical a look at the human condition in a modern world as I have seen in a long time. The story is built around three young engineers in a dehumanizing company, Intech, which has a middle management that is more concerned with the cover sheet on theTPS report than the contents of the report or the morale of the employees or customers. The atmosphere is clearly spelled out as the buddies lament their dismal fate and one asks "What if we are still doing this when we're 50?" Which brings the immediate response "It would be nice to have that kind of job security!" This not very well-oiled machine is upset and scattered over the landscape by two apparently unrelated incidents. Peter (Livingston) goes to an Occupational Hypnotherapist and the company brings in two efficiency experts--"consultants, sort of helping us out". As one of the cubicle rats clearly recognized, it is a euphemism for the voice of doom and the pink slip for many.

Aniston is a waitress in a restaurant frequented by the engineers. Her role is to show that not all business horrors come in suits as we learn about flair and attitude. Also, she ends up being the conscience of the movie. Milton (Root) replays his role from Saturday Night Live. The efficiency experts give us a savage short course in firing--how to minimize the trauma to the managers.

Many of the scenes are nearly lethally funny and borrow from about every film type imaginable. You will long remember the culmination of the theft from the office--something all of us can relate to. The scene over the window is dead on; in real life there are near fist fights over who gets the cubicle near the outside window. The opaque walls also lead to the phenomenon of "prairie dogging" where people pop up to look over the walls to see what is going on. In one company that I heard about, the new cubicles had little windows in the wall. But, either by accident or design, the windows opened into their neighbors' cubicles. Exploiting the absence of written rules pertaining to this situation, the enterprising occupants moved the windows to the outside walls. However, in some ways the film does not go far enough. Clearly, Intech has a weak Cubicle Police; the walls of their cubicles have pictures and other personal items--a no, no in many companies. Surprisingly, Space works as a big screen movie. You really need the expansive view to get the full claustrophobic environment of the cubicle world.

Just remember: "You have two options. Unemployment or early retirement." Beginning

Old Dark House, The (1932) (***1/2, horror) (D.-James Whale; Boris Karloff, Melvyn Douglas, Charles Laughton, Gloria Stuart, Lilian Bond, Ernest Thesiger, Raymond Massey, Eva Moore, John Dudgeon) A genuine horror classic by that master of the offbeat macabre, James Whales. You have seen it all more recently, but this is where much of it was first put together--and it still packs a punch. In 1932, the unhardened audiences must have been quivering in their seats. House is actually a tongue in check distillation of the earlier shock and horror techniques interleaved with nasty black humor. Two car loads of weary travelers are stranded in the ultimate old house, a Welsh mansion, during the peak of an awesome storm. The house is creepy, but the family is your worst nightmare. It includes a mute wild man butler (Karloff) and a crazed aristocratic family made up of a prissy brother (Thesiger), a nasty religious fanatic sister (Moore), a locked away pyromaniac brother (Wells), and a dying paranoid 102-year old father (Epseth Dudgeon billed as John Dudgeon (Kael, Cinemania '95)). On the other hand, maybe the father isn't paranoid; maybe he is right. The wayward travelers (Laughton, Douglas, Massey, Stuart, Bond) might be considered a bit eccentric elsewhere, but pass for screaming normalcy here. Beautifully atmospheric with superb lighting and, in place of music, a symphony of the raging storm. Based on J.B. Priestley's Benighted, which ultimately kills one more person than the film-- clearly considered by the director, but probably rejected because it would spoil the tongue in check style. Review based on AMC showing. It is clear from film stills that the AMC print is seriously degraded and lacks much of the subtle tonality of the original. An entertaining film for horror fans. (1-8-96) Beginning

O Lucky Man! (1973) (***1/2, drama, comedy) (D.-Lindsay Anderson; Malcolm McDowell, Rachel Roberts, Arthur Lowe, Ralph Richardson, Alan Price, Lindsay Anderson, Helen Mirren, Mona Washbourne) If you are looking for something out of the ordinary, check out Lucky. Sprawling (at almost 3 hours, ultimately a little too sprawling) allegorical tale of the travails of a young man on the rise. Distinctly paranoid and surrealistic with elements of If...., 1984, and Clockwork Orange. McDowell is superb as the upbeat young man who suffers travails that would crush Job--a modern update of Voltaire's satirical Candide. Unfortunately, humanity hasn't changed much. Many of the episodes are skillfully played by the same actors in different parts--I found this took some getting used to. Numerous beautiful visual images and vignettes and a knock-your-socks-off score by Alan Price, who also acts. Warning: The film is particularly bleak towards the end, and my family is not unanimous in their enjoyment of it. Beginning

Omega Man, The (1971) (**, sci-fi, horror) (D.-Boris Sagal, Charlton Heston, Anthony Zerbe, Rosalind Cash, Paul Koslo, Lincoln Kilpatrick, Eric Laneuville) Based loosely on Richard Matheson's I Am Legend. A human survivor (Heston) of a germ war fights the other "survivors" of the plague, who are fundamentalist style night-loving vampires. The movie is quite effective at the beginning. Heston, a true survivor, has developed a sophisticated and very believable range of mental and physical strategies to cope with the loneliness of being apparently the last man on the earth as well as having to survive the nightly vampire assaults. In particular, the movie theater scene is quite moving. Unfortunately, the movie degenerates into standard formula fare after he meets other human survivors. Most unforgivable, however, is the ending which guts the theme of Matheson's superb book. I Am Legend is a classic, and as with much science fiction manages to deal boldly with very real issues couched in the guise of futuristic fiction. Read the book.. See Vampires. (2-8-93) Beginning

One False Move (1992) (***1/2, noir, crime, drama) (D.-Carl Franklin; Bill Paxton, Cynda Williams, Billy Bob Thornton, Michael Beach, Jim Metzler, Earl Billings, Natalie Canerday, Robert Ginnaven) Taut vicious modern noir. So beautifully atmospheric with an edgy build up that you can forgive the plot lapses and occasional slow spots.

Two low lives (Thornton and Beach) and a girl friend (Williams) carry out a crime of matchless brutality in LA that sets them on a predestined collision course in Star City, Arkansas with two LA Cops (Metzler, Billings) and local sheriff good ole boy "Hurricane" (Paxton). The film builds inexorably and relentlessly to the final confrontation by intercutting between the two groups. Everyone makes at least one false move that contributes to the ultimate downfall. The cinematography and the music is crucial to the continually rising tension as you try to anticipate what confluence of circumstances will bring them together and how it will end. However, as with much noir, not everything is as it seems. For me, the only disruption in the building tension was the extended interplay between Paxton and Williams that should have been substantially reduced. As an aside, the director ends the film exactly where he should and avoids the Hollywood plague of spelling out everything in detail.One Step Too Far

The cast is excellent. The characters and their motivations are all believable. The chemistry between them is such as to keep your interest. Although, for plot development the intelligent Pluto (Beach) never seems to have any impact on the others behavior. Thornton is a loose cannon criminal type who wants instant gratification with no thought of the consequences of his actions. He is also coscripter of the film with Tom Epperson. The film was shot in and around Brinkley Arkansas just off the interstate--we've spent many a night there. This is your quintessential small town rural America. Beginning

One Night At McCool's (2001) (***1/2, black comedy) (11-26-01) (D.- Harald Zwart; Liv Tyler, Matt Dillon, John Goodman, Paul Reiser, Michael Douglas, Andrew Dice Clay, Reba McEntire) One word describes McCool’s. Quirky. Oh, yes! Very, very blackly funny. McCool’s can be thought of as the comedic twin of Rashomon. The story is basically three men describing their relationship with one woman, Jewel (Tyler) and, where their paths intersect, the other two men. The three men include a cop Dehling (Goodman), a bartender Randy (Dillon), and a businessman Carl (Reiser). Then throw in a criminal Mr. Burmeister (Douglas), a psychiatrist (McEntire) and another criminal low life (Clay) to round out the cast. As with Rashomon, the accounts frequently bear little resemblance to each other. The reason in this case is Jewel. Exuding charm, sex appeal, and innocence she is seen by each man as what he wants to see. Or perhaps, what she wants them to see. Regardless, they are all willing participants as the intertwined plot lines rush headlong towards a stunning conclusion.

The cast is excellent with each actor filling a particular niche flawlessly. However, the central role belongs to Tyler. For the film to work, she has to be all of the things that the different men see as well as genuinely likeable and a sympathetic character to viewers. She doesn’t want a great deal out of life and is willing to put up with a lot to get it, but she is not above being cunningly manipulative. She achieves this balancing act beautifully, and the behavior of the men falls into place.

The end is very black. Both my wife and I agree that it could have been slightly less black and still worked. However, the adage about being careful what you ask for in case you get it applies here perfectly. If you miss the reference, go back and check out the psychiatrist’s session. If you think the ending is too black, do check out what the director first did. This looks like a Sunday school picnic by comparison.

The DVD has a fine director’s voice over supplementary track. The deleted scenes with director’s comments are informative and entertaining, but the “Making of” is so-so.

If you like black humor, quirky situations, and acting, don’t miss McCool’s. I am waiting with enthusiasm for his next film. Incidentally, Tyler is Arrowsmith’s lead singer’s daughter. If you don’t understand the reference to Rashomon, run, do not walk to the nearest video store and rent it. This 1950 film on reality, truth, and perception is stunning, and the title has even found its way into our language.

Once Upon a Time in America (1984) (****, crime) (D-Sergio Leone; Robert De Niro, James Woods) "Ring, Ring". It will be a long time after seeing this movie before you can hear a ringing telephone without conjuring up certain images. A lovely tale of friendship, deception, and revenge. Leone is a master of visual imagery, but I consider this his greatest movie--as opposed to just entertaining. The movie died at the box office in its 227 minute version, was chopped to 139 and still failed. I have not seen the 139 min. version, but have heard it is incomprehensible because of the cuts. Be sure to rent the full one. The plot starts with everything falling apart for DeNiro, a hood during prohibition, springs forward to the present with someone reawakening DeNiro past. The plot then unfolds with DeNiro jumping back and forth between the present and the past where he relives the events leading up to his fall.

The two plot lines are skillfully interwoven and converge inexorably to a common point. This technique is frequently used, but rarely with the skill and success that Leone achieves. This is one of those movies that probably shows better on a video than on a large screen. The plot unfolds elegantly, but slowly, and being able to discuss what is happening as it occurs aids in following it. Superb performances, as usual, by De Niro and Woods. Woods plays his best part--on the surface reasonable, but with a very thin veneer, which is not always successful in covering a lethally explosive psychopath. You can never be sure what will set him off and what he will do when he blows. Not for everyone because of the slow pace interposed with very graphic violence, but definitely a thinker for those who like lush, well- acted films. Beginning

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) (***, western) (D-Sergio Leone; Charles Bronson, Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robard) Stunningly photographed western with outstanding score. Fonda is a totally ruthless hired gun with his own code of honor (another superb villain) who is trying to get land away from Cardinale. Bronson is his foil. The opening scene is classic Leone--an unforgettable confrontation with elegantly understated set up and explosive conclusion. Beginning

The One Step Too Far Rule. Many films, especially Hollywood productions, insist on adding one or more scenes past where the movie should have ended. Generally, these are used to tie up all of the loose ends. They are frequently mental pablum that assumes that the audience is incapable of interpreting the ending and thinking through its consequences. In short, for me, they remove one of the intellectual pleasures of film watching. Courage Under Fire was an especially egregious recent case where scene was heaped on scene to tie up every imaginable loose end. Beginning

Origins of Cinema-Volume II, The (***) Kartes Video Communications. At Sneak Reviews. A fascinating collection of early films and shorts. In the first decade of this century remarkable special effects, coherent story telling, and amazingly sophisticated cinematography and editing had been achieved. The Origins of the Cinema series is a delightful window into this early days of film and provides considerable insight into the development of cinematography. The biggest problem is the lack of editorial comment. You are largely presented with the films and must make the connections yourself. Included in Volume 2 are such gems of special effects as The Tired Tailor's Dream and The Sculptor's Nightmare (1908). The Hero of Liao Yang (1904) was a real surprise and showed the rather surprising interest of the U.S. in the Sino Russia War. (9-25-95) Beginning

Others, The (2001) (***, horror, suspense) (10-22-04) (D.-Alejandro Amenabar; Nicole Kidman, Fionnula Flanagan, Alakina Mann, James Bentley, Fionnula Flanagan, Eric Sykes) This is a classic ghost story. No special effects to speak of. Just building uneasy, disquiet, and then fear at what you really cannot see. It takes place on the Island of Jersey during WWII. Grace (Kidman) and her two children Anne (Mann) and Nicholas (Bentley) are in their isolated home. The husband was in a major battle and has not been heard from for months, a very ominous sign. The film opens with the woman lamenting the sudden disappearance of the servants overnight without warning, leaving her and the children unattended. Perhaps not completely surprising as this is not your normal household. Both children suffer from a lethal sensitivity to light (a real genetic affliction) and must be kept in the dark as much as possible and must never be exposed to direct sunlight. To insure their protection, Grace has developed an elaborate compulsive-obsessive set of rituals including that all the doors in the house must be locked and only one door in a room can be unlocked at a time. A group of servants in need of a work wander up to this less-than-well-poised household. Grace badly needs help, and they had previously worked in the house so they are familiar with it. With their arrival, the already strange happenings in the house increase exponentially. But enough about plot. The film is dark, brooding, beautifully filmed and exhibits an almost palpable growing sense of dread. In the hands of a less-skilled actress than Kidman, Grace could just be another overwrought actress. However, given the uniqueness of her situation, she gives a genuinely touching and believable performance. The two children, Anne (Mann) and Nicholas (Bentley), carry off amazingly believable performances given their ages. Their behavior clearly demonstrates the versatility of humans to adapt to and even flourish under unfavorable circumstances.

So if you like classic ghost stories, well worth checking out. If your taste runs to gaudy special effects, look elsewhere. Beginning

Outbreak (1995) (**1/2, sci fi) (D.-Wolfgang Petersen; Dustin Hoffman, Morgan Freeman, Rene Russo, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Patric Dempsey, Donald Sutherland, Kevin Spacey) I have a weakness for "Swords and Sorcery" and "The Germ That Takes Over The World" films. Outbreak clearly falls in the latter group, so you may wish to take my view with some skepticism, especially since the critics generally savaged it. The plot is rather routine and strains even my credulity, the love interest between Hoffman and Russo is far fetched, the science doesn't bear close scrutiny, and Sutherland's villainous general is comic bookish. However, in spite of these weaknesses, Hoffman, Russo, and Spacey are good enough actors for you to develop enough empathy to really care about their health. "How are you feeling" is no longer an idle greeting when Mataba Fever invades a small California town with Russo and Peterson from different health organizations helping to fight it. Mataba is a viral hemorrhagic fever that makes Ebola look like a mild cold. It kills swiftly, brutally, with 100% mortality, and spreads like flu. Also, Peterson knows how to set up scenes with real tension. The spread of the disease and the military occupation of the town are out of your worst nightmares. One of the special effects, adopted from the Vietnam war, is frighteningly effective. Some of the aerial sequences are breath taking. Peterson also recognizes the Hitchcockian adage that real horror can frequently be conveyed more effectively by watching the faces of those involved rather than the event itself. In one of the opening sequences the facial transitions from elation, to puzzlement, to recognition, to mind-numbing horror stayed with me long after the film. So, if you are interested in an evening without redeming social value and like "Germ Versus The World" films where Vegas bookmakers aren't even taking bets on humanity, you may wish to hit Outbreak at the Jefferson where the full visual impact can be realized. (7-12-95) Beginning

Outland (1981) (**, Sci-Fi) (D.-Peter Hyams, Sean Connery, Peter Boyle, Frances Sternhagen, James B. Sikking, Kika Markham, Clarke Peters) Visually impressive, but ultimately bankrupt High Noon set in space. A new marshal (Connery) investigates even more suicides than normal in Jupiter's moon mining colony--bad practice going for a stroll outside without a space suit. The unscrupulous Boyle runs things and will stop at nothing to maintain power and profits including adding one more untimely death to his charm bracelet. The movie is at its best on a visual atmospheric level. This includes the awesome outside shots with Jupiter as the backdrop, the nasty living conditions, the concessions to morality necessary to keep the crews happy, etc. Unfortunately, the plot is consistently unrealistic, and the movie falls apart at the critical emotional level. There is virtually no feeling of suspense, and you never develop any emotional attachment to the marshal, the villains, or the miners. This is most conspicuous while the marshal awaits the henchmen on the incoming shuttle when his only hope would be to elicit some help from the residents or prepare a suitable series of defensive surprises; both cards are played poorly. The final shoot out at OK Corral is satisfactory. However, the director should have learned more from High Noon and so should you. See High Noon and forget Outland. Note the falling of the shadowing panel in a vacuum where it actually loops upward due to air resistance. Also, Io has 1/6th Earth's gravity, and the director mixed low gravity movements with normal gravity ones--certainly an acceptable error given the difficulty of making all normal activities look as though they were at 1/6 G. (11-1-93) Beginning

Out Of Sight (1998) (***1/2, crime, romance, humor) (D.- Steven Soderbergh; George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Ving Rhames, Isaiah Washington, Don Cheadle, Steve Zahn, Dennis Farina, Albert Brooks) Delightful romantic crime film based on Elmore Leonard's book. Jack Foley (Clooney) is a career criminal who never saw a bank he didn't like--his style is elegantly memorable. Karen Sisco is a federal agent. How this unlikely pair becomes romantically entangled is the main thread of the film. A prison break sets up one of the most amusing "meet cute" in years. Surrounding them is as delightful a collection of scalawags, rogues, and off beat personalities as you are likely to have seen in years. Jack's buddies include Glenn (Zahn), who is still floating on a marijuana cloud out of the 60's, and Buddy (Rhames), who always and sometimes inappropriately uses his born-again sister as a confessional for his illegal exploits. Throw in ex-boxer and psychotic Maurice (Cheadle) along with a bit of easy loot, and we are off. Karen is smart but quirky, which helps set up the romance. She also killed her last boyfriend who was a criminal--making Jack's interest in her less than intellectually inspired. Karen's father (Farina) is into security and clearly dearly loves his daughter even if he frequently disagrees with her life choices. His birthday gift to her is a hoot and totally appropriate given the personalities.

The dialogue is classic Leonardesque. Sharp, literate, and frequently very funny. Many of the scenes are so beautifully crafted that one would be worth the price of admission. The chemistry between Lopez and Clooney is palpable, hot, and believable. Clooney's slightly bemused demeanor shows his understanding of the absurdity of life and human nature. This role clearly shows his ability to make it on the big screen. Lopez is in fine form as she tries to balance the fact that she wants Jack in more ways than one. The supporting actors are delightful. Michael Keaton has a quirky cameo as one of Karen's boyfriends, who gets the third degree from Karen's father--and you thought you could avoid this as you got older.

The plot is nonlinear and frequently unpredictable, although it ultimately makes perfect sense. Soderbergh's experimentation with novel editing generally works well with his off-beat plot and subjects. The sound track effectively supports the subject. (6-29-98) Beginning

Out of the Past (1947) (***, crime, drama) (D.-Jacques Tourneur; Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas Rhonda Fleming, Richard Webb, Steve Brodie, Virginia Huston) At Sneak Reviews. Beautifully textured and atmospheric film noir by that mood master Jacques Tourneur. Mitchum got his big break here and is already a master of the understated. He is an ex-private eye who cannot hide from his past, which is in the form of gangster Douglas and lover Greer. While the plot doesn't bear too close scrutiny, the inexorable dragging down of Mitchum no matter how hard his struggles is classic noir. One point that we thought was a cutting room error, but actually turned out to be a perhaps too-subtle directorial touch was how Mitchum knew where to go in San Francisco and whom he encountered there. The screenplay is by Geoffrey Homes from his novel Build My Gallows High. (9-11-95) Beginning

Outrage, The (1964) (**1/2, drama) (D.-Martin Ritt, Paul Newman, Edward, G. Robinson, Clarire Bloom, Laurene Harvey, William Shatner) Well acted and filmed but a disappointing attempt to translate Rashomon to America's Old West for Western audiences. Kurosawa's films have frequently been used, with varying success, as models for other movies (Yojimbo-->, Seven Sumarai-->The Magnificent Seven, The Hidden Fortress-->Star Wars). Unfortunately, Outrage is an outrage. However, the basic story is so powerful that no matter how badly mangled, it still has impact--thus, the rating. First, it is a blatant rip-off; in black and white like the original with almost every scene being a direct copy. The real disappointment, however, comes not in what is kept, but in what is changed. The director or money men apparently thought that the ambiguity of the original was too much for American audiences who had to have a pat, clear ending. Horrors that they might actually have a thought and discuss it afterwards. And with one stroke, the entire point of the original, the ambiguity of human thought and behavior, is irrevocably shattered. Our recommendation is to see the original. Then if you are interested in comparative cinema, check out the Americanized form. (11-30-92) Beginning

Outrageous Fortune (1987) (***1/2 action, humor) (D-Authur Hiller, Bette Midler, Shelley Long, Peter Coyote) High spirited buddy picture with two of the most mismatched buddies since Abbot and Costello. Brassy, earthy, overbearing Midler and prissy, priggish Long discover, after he is killed in an explosion., that they have been sharing Coyote's bed. Neither can believe that Coyote had the poor taste (fidelity be damned) to sleep with "that other woman" who represents each others worst nightmare in taste. However, there is something very odd about his death, and they end up having to come to an, at first very begrudging, accommodation with the other--if they want to survive. A delightful super high energy movie that ranges from the concrete jungles of New York to the blazing New Mexico desert finale. George Carlin does an entertaining cameo as a worthless trading post owner who is less than amused to have his dilapidated post shot out from under him. Also, the movie gives a good reason for why you shouldn't have given up your ballet lessons. Beginning

Ox-Bow Incident, The (1943) (***, western) (D.- William A. Wellman; Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Mary Beth Hughes, Anthony Quinn, William Eythe, Henry Morgan, Jane Darwell, Frank Conroy, Harry Davenport) It has been said that the intelligence of a mob roughly equals its average intelligence divided by the number of members. Thus, a mob of fifty has roughly the intelligence of an earth worm. Based on an event that occurred in 1885 in Nevada, the evil perpetrated in the name of justice is frightenly portrayed in Ox-Bow based on Walter Van Tilburg Clark's book. Fonda and Morgan ride into Bridger's Wells, Nevada only to get involved in a mob seeking the murderers of a popular local rancher. The participants all carry their own personal baggage and, ultimately, the twenty eight members prove that the above rule overestimates their intelligence. Fonda is one of the few voices of sanity in a maelstrom of hate, testosterone, and animal blood lust. Excellent performances. Most of the movie takes place at night and has a stark, claustrophobic feel. It should, since the director shot most of the film on a sound stage where he could tightly control everything. Fonda's performance here strikes eerie images of his much later part in 12 Angry Men, which I think is a better film. Nasty, believable, and singularly unflattering of human's inability to control our baser instincts. (12-11-95) Beginning