by DaleTremont on Fri May 01, 2009 4:19 pm
I had an awesome movie month. Hands down, no question, best of the month was the Pusher trilogy. But I kind of feel like I'd be cheating by naming all 3 movies as one favorite so I'll go ahead and say Pusher 3: I'm the Angel of Death was the creme de la creme just for sheer ingenuity. The character work in all 3 films is brilliant (Mads Mikelssen gets the superstar prize, I think) but the very fact that Milo was in all 3 films and you see his evolution over 10 years culminating in that one really shitty night of this the day of his daughter's birthday...for me that just makes the 3rd film that much more special. Plus the fact that you have some of the more minor players showing up like Kurt the gentleman, Radovan, and the prostitute Mads refused to kill for his dad makes it seem like the perfect way to bring the story to an end while giving the illusion that it will still continue on, whether we see it or not (although hopefully Refn will do a Pusher 4!)
Anyway I'm rambling but suffice it to say these Pusher movies totally knocked my socks off.
Also, I have to give props to stereos for his stellar recommendation of Primo Amore, which was such a beautifully fucked up little movie. It seems like not too many people tackle the subject of eating disorders unless it's one of those cheesy 2pm Lifetime movies, and Garrone does it in a way that taps into more vital issues of love, loneliness, obsession, and domination. I'd say it's the best modern Frankenstein-ian story I've seen. It came as an especially nice surprise as I was slightly disappointed by Gomorrah.
Shit I promise I'll wrap this up! So worst of the month was tied between Mail Order Bride and Broken English, but really it was probably Broken English. See, Mail Order Bride was a hallmark movie starring Daphne Zuniga, and considering it probably had the budget of an episode of Seinfeld and it was a hallmark movie called Mail Order Bride, all told it wasn't too bad. I mean it was enjoyable for what it was. Broken English had a lot better cred to it to begin with. It starred Parker Posey, had a respectable art house pedigree, was written and directed by the daughter of John Cassavetes, and boasted a cameo by the director's mom, aka Gena Rowlands. But the movie was trite, recycled crap that had nothing new to say about anything and even somehow sapped all the charm out of the lovely and talented Parker Posey. So boo to that!
