Two and one third movies reviewed

There are a slew of films that have a cult like following that I've never seen yet but I've heard about them and read about them many times. I finally got to see one of those films the other night and it was indeed everything it was cracked up to be. The name of this film was Billy Liar.

It was directed by the late John Schlesinger, he also directed Marathon Man and Cold Comfort Farm, among many others. It stars Tom Courtney and Julie Christie. The film is about a young man in a dead end job in a northern British city in the early 1960's. In order to cope with his lot in life young Billy develops a vivid imagination. He creates a rich fantasy life which we get to see in all it's humorous detail throughout the film. But as so often is the case Billy's lies and his fantasy comes crashing down around him in the end. His employers find out about his theft, his dream of becoming a paid comedy writer gets squashed, and his two financees find out about one another. But just when Billy has the chance to escape it all by running off to London with the one woman, Julie Christie, who understands and accepts his ways, he blows it and he runs back to the life he knows.

The accents were hard for me to understand at times but that was the only problem I had with this film. It was shot in beautiful black and white, which I'm guessing was a deliberate choice because it highlighted Billy's reality, everything was either black or white to him. Courtney was great in his first starring role and Julie Christie was luminous. In fact she almost looked out of place in this film because she was so beautiful and modern looking. This one is one of those classics you really should see if you get the chance.

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The other movie I saw recently was Dusk Till Dawn. This film was so wildly over the top in every way possible I could not help but like it. The violence was cartoony, the horror elements were dopey but funny, and the acting was way out there, with the exception of Harvey Keitel's very controlled and self contained performance. This movie is a big dopey guy flick and I loved it. The only problem I had with it was Quentin Tarintino. He really should stay behind the camera because that boy can't act for shit. Oh wait, I had another problem with this flick, there was not enough Salma Hayek in it.

Sure she played the seductive vampire who did that great dance with that python, but she was only in the film for like five or six minutes. They let Cheech Marin do three roles in this flick and they only let Salma be in it for five minutes? It's a travesty I tell ya!

And why she was not nominated for an Oscar for her sensitive yet sensual performance is beyond me. Hey you Hollywood phonies, how long will you ignore Salma's talent? Give her an Oscar already!

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I caught most of Fast Times at Ridgemont High last night on the Movie Channel. I read the original Rolling Stone article that the later book was based on and I read the book as well. However I had never seen the film all the way through and since I missed the first 20 minutes I still haven't. But what I did see I liked and it was not just because I got to see Jennifer Jason Leigh in the buff, I missed Phoebe Cates big nude scene darn it, well okay maybe seeing Ms. Leigh nude did have a lot to do with why I liked this movie so much. Damn it, I'm shallow like that.

Oh wait, I liked the soundtrack too. And Jennifer Jason Leigh didn't go all "Actor's Studio" on our asses in her performance and she was naked in it too. yeah, that's why I liked it. Maybe one day I'll see it all the way through. But I have a feeling if I don't that I've already seen the best parts.