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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The Spirit of '76

People from the future go back in time and end up in the bell-bottomed, eight-track loving 70's.

The Spirit of '76 is a spoof of our abysmal future and our groovy past. Three time travelers, in search of answers, find themselves in the decade where everyone looked bad. Jeff and Steve McDonald (from the band Redd Kross) stumble upon their time machine and help the travelers assimilate. 

If you lived through the 70's, you'll relate to the sets, costumes, dialogue, cast and dialogue. Plus the film stars 70's icons Lief Garret and David Cassidy, who poke fun at themselves and the era that made them famous. The all star cast also includes Devo, Moon Unit Zappa, Tommy Chong, Olivia D'abo and Rob Reiner. 

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