The Stepford Wives

Is there something in the water? What exactly is going on in Stepford?

The Stepford Wives (1975) is a chilling movie based on the book (1972) by Ira Levin (who also wrote the novel Rosemary's Baby). The film stars Katherine Ross, whose character moves to a "perfect" town in the suburbs. However, strange things are happening in Stepford. The men of the town go to mysterious meetings, while the women dutifully stay home and do chores. The wives of Stepford not only keep a clean house but their lawns are well groomed, they wear frilly outfits, they don't raise their voices and most importantly they are happily at their husband's beck and call. Aren't they aware of the female revolution?

The film examines the changing role of women in the 70's, through the use of a fictional utopia/distopia setting. It brings into focus mens' unease with women's liberation. Times were changing for women; they were moving their attention away from the home and concentrating on their own needs and desires. This film demonstrates the paranoia that society was going through during the 70's women's movement. 

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Angel Heart

Life is a twisted mess when you sell your soul to the devil.

Angel Heart is a mysterious, dark tale that includes voodoo and satanism with a backdrop of New Orleans and Harlem. The film stars Mickey Rourke, one of my all time favorite actors in one of his very best performances. As always, he is able to create a character with multiple layers, through facial expression,  body language, inflections in his voice and complex delivery of his lines. Robert De Niro plays a supporting role. Although his screen time is rather short, his performance is extremely memorable and creepy. 

Angel Heart was directed by Alan Parker (Fame and The Commitments) who masterfully constructs a world that pulls the viewer in through intriguing visuals and strange clues. Parker causes the viewer to have an unsettling feeling; he creates intangible evil currents which wax and wane throughout the telling of the tale. 

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Seconds

I think therefore I am..but am I me?

Seconds stars Rock Hudson, as a man who ends up undergoing a life-changing operation, which completely alters his appearance. He is given a new identity to go along with his improved face. His old self, as a stodgy, boring man is now "dead". He has been replaced as a handsome, swinging-playboy artist who lives in a community amongst other "Reborns".

Seconds raises many questions about self worth, vanity and the social expectations and taboos that hold us back from being our real selves. The film's contemporary subject of plastic surgery demonstrates that altering your outward appearance doesn't change who you are on the inside. The film offers a profound examination into one's psyche and the happiness within ourselves.

Seconds (1966) directed by John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate) is clever and disturbing. The film was shot in black and white, which gives it a foreboding feeling of loneliness and despair. The cinematography is at times avant garde and surreal, creating a twisted reality.

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Liquid Sky

80's New Wave. UFOs, fashion, drugs, bisexuals, and night clubs. The sound track is awesome too.

Liquid Sky is one of my favorite movies of all time. Anne Carlisle who co-wrote the screenplay plays two characters, one female (Margaret) the other male (Jimmy). She's so convincing in both roles that most people don't even notice that Ann is playing two characters within one scene. 

After a UFO lands on Margaret's rooftop, she suddenly has the ability to make people disappear when she has sex with them. One body after another starts vanishing. What does it all mean? You must watch the film to find out. 

The film's backdrop is the East Village, NYC during the early 80's. The soundtrack is very new wave and sets the mood throughout the film. Fashion is another driving force in the film; with awesome costumes, make-up and hair. 

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Repo Man

Aliens, punk rock, AND Harry Dean Stanton. This is one of my FAVE movies of all time. Lot's of quotable lines too.

Repo Man 

Directed by Alex Cox (Sid and Nancy, Wonderland)

Starring Emilio Estevez and Harry Dean Stanton

Produced by Michael Nesmith (former Monkee and whose mom invented white-out)

Emilio Estevez plays Otto, a punk kid whose parents are more interested in their cult leader than him. So what's an ex-stock boy to do for cash? He reluctantly gets a job repossessing cars, but soon finds out that the life of a repo man in always intense. Meanwhile, there's a crazy dude driving around with radioactive aliens in the trunk of his car. 

Not only is this movie funny but on a higher level it deals with the power of chance meetings and their consequences. But are these mere coincidences or the result of fate? Is everything in the universe actually connected? 

Repo Man has an awesome soundtrack that includes the title song by Iggy Pop along with Circle Jerks, Black Flag, Suicidal Tendencies, Fear, etc.  

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