Gothic (1986, Ken Russell)

Gothic is filled with Russellian touches that will either annoy or delight the viewers. Naysayers will undoubtedly accuse the controversial director of control and purpose. But I enjoyed Russell’s audacity and total commitment with creating a film that is like nothing you’ve seen before. It’s based on a true story. Lord Byron (Gabriel Byrne), Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (Natasha Richardson), Percy Shelley (Julian Sands), Dr. Polidori (Timothy Spalland) and Claire Clairmont (Myriam Cyr) spend a wild weekend at Byron’s estate in Switzerland. It’s a get-together filled with crazy orgies, opium-induced hallucinations and philosophical debates. Like the characters in the film, the viewer has trouble establishing what is real and what is the product of too much liquor and drugs. Even though the film can be confusing, I loved the fact that Gothic looks like a nightmare. For an interesting comparison, watch the 1988 film Haunted Summer, which covers same material in a more conventional fashion.

Intolerable Cruelty (2003, Joel Coen, Ethan Coen)

Is it possible? An old-fashioned romantic comedy by the Coen brothers? I honestly thought that they couldn’t pull it off, but I’m happy to report that the experiment worked. The masters of the quirky and bizarre have made an entertaining and charming film that pays tribute to old classics like Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night and George Cukor’s The Philadelphia Story. It doesn’t have the Coens’ trademark crazy twists and turns, but Intolerable Cruelty made me laugh out loud. Fans of the brothers, expecting some bizarre moments of lunacy, are going to be disappointed, but I think regular viewers will enjoy the film – it is definitely one of their most mainstream confections. Personally, I can’t stand George Clooney but his imitation of classic leading man (Cary Grant?) is delightful. The beautiful Catherine Zeta-Jones is a pleasure to watch too. I crossed my finger and I prayed that the naughty brothers wouldn’t ruin the movie with one of their cockeyed finales, and my prayers were answered. Intolerable Cruelty is elegant (it is beautifully photographed by the talented Roger Deakins), witty and charming.

The Shop Around the Corner (1940, Ernst Lubitsch)

In this charming and endearing classic romantic comedy, James Stewart and Margaret Sullivan give memorable performances as a pair of store clerks who fight bitterly at their work place, not knowing that they are each other’s secret pen pal. Director Ernst Lubitsch’s legendary magic touch has never been more evident than on this trifling yet thoroughly delightful drama-comedy. The Shop Around the Corner is a relatively small-scale movie, with a big heart and plenty of clever, understated humor. The classy production benefits from the astute manner in which Lubitsch inserts humor throughout the film, never missing an opportunity for high comedy and sharp satire. The romantic angle of the piece is not neglected either.

As I said before, Stewart and Sullivan are great, and it is a pity that they didn’t make more comedies together; they are a perfect screen couple. In 1940, Stewart won the Oscar for The Philadelphia Story, but while the Academy Awards got the correct year, they did get the wrong movie. Here is where Stewart gives an award-caliber performance. Frank Morgan is also delightful as the shop’s good-hearted owner. It’s definitely a genuine American classic. The film was remade (with music and songs) in 1949 under the title In the Good Old Summertime, starring Judy Garland and Van Johnson, and again in 1998, with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, it was called You’ve got Mail. As in most cases, the first version is the best.

Polyester (1981, John Waters)

Filmmaker John Waters’s sensibilities are an acquired taste, but if you manage to make the necessary adjustments, you will be able to appreciate the director’s wacky sense of humor. I have seen most of his films, and I feel that Waters and I have a similar sense of humor. I think Waters is one of the best satirist working nowadays – a sort of garage sale version of Billy Wilder. Polyester is an excellent example of Waters’s peculiar style. I pretty much laughed and laughed, throughout most of the film. It is a spoof of middle class values, with the one and only Divine as a housewife whose life goes topsy-turvy when she finds out her husband is cheating on her.

From the silly title song, to the hysterical, over the top finale, this is one energetic exercise in lunacy. It’s very screwy, but surprisingly perceptive, believable . Divine is unforgettable, making you forget that you are watching a man in drag.  Tab Hunter is a hoot as Divine’s unfaithful husband. The remarkable Edith Massey has a few funny scenes. The film was originally presented in “Odorama”. The gimmick consisted of numbered sniff cards that were handed out to the audience, to be smelled when the correct number showed up on the screen. Anyhow, Polyester is one of those movies that you’ll want to re-watch as soon as the final credits start rolling in.

Female Trouble (1974, John Waters)

The message of the film is clear: the world is a better place when Divine owns a pair of cha-cha shoes. Looking for thought-provoking cinema? Look elsewhere! Female Trouble is one of John Waters’s tackiest productions, which in plain English means that it is lots of fun. Divine plays an unruly High School girl who goes bunkers when her parents don’t buy her a much-desired pair of shoes. After beating the hell out of her old folks, she leaves home and begins a life of crime. It is another film in which Waters mocks our fascination with criminals, fashions and celebrities. Waters is operating under an almost non-existent budget, so this is guerrilla filmmaking in its purest form. Female Trouble is crude and disorderly but it is also one of the director’s funniest films. There are many jaw-dropping moments (Edith Massey steals every scene she’s in). Typical of Waters, the humor is offensive, nudity is gratuitous and the acting is not acting – it is “freakting.” No one has mastered the art of bad taste as well as Waters – he is an original filmmaker. Female Trouble is one of his most outrageous “masterpieces.”