watch different...

as an unabashed movie junkie i relish the ultra rare pleasure of watching a dvd/movie that neither i nor anyone i know has heard of before and being left wonderstruck and awed. here are four i would like to share with you, all very different but each one definitely at the high water mark of entertainment. so, from the ridiculous to the sublime:


hands on a hardbody
how rare it is to see something advertised as funny that actually is! something that cracks you up so much it hurts...and hurts... and hurts. well this one sure did. it was a dvd i bought on total impulse from amazon.com - the customer reviews were such unadulterated raves i just had to - and boy am i glad i did! video quality is awful but content is king here no question - 23 texans trying to win a nissan hardbody truck come together for some sleep deprivation and philosophising in one superb rotflyao comedy. hysterical!


point of order
good documentaries are another rare item, the genre polluted by the shallow crap you generally can't get away from on tv. so this was another unexpected gem that had me alternately rolling on the floor in hysterics and then inhaling in disbelief - 36 days of a u.s. senate hearing (that signalled the welcome demise of senator joe mccarthy) condensed into 97 riveting minutes. having seen another superb documentary by this director on dvd i just can't wait until his others are available. who would have thought a senate hearing could have been so compelling!



guizi lai le (devils on the doorstep)
i don't know quite how to describe this film, other than to simply say, wow! with its star as director it is clearly the work of a major artist and this a movie you really need to experience. even though i am a huge fan of non-hollywood fare, and especially far-eastern cinema, this still took me totally by surprise. hats off to hve (now swallowed up) for bumping it into life on dvd. stunning!


hana-bi (fireworks)
last one for now, also with the director as star but this time from japan, a movie that introduced me to someone who would one of my all time favourite filmmakers - bito takeshi kitano. what an incredible and unexpectedly deep experience this film was. one of the traits i most admire in filmmakers is the courage to keep still, to keep silent, and stimulate the thoughts and emotions of the viewer. awesome!

so if you'd like to stray from the straight and narrow of the hollywood burger machine those are four good forks to take. and if you're already wandering through the deep dark otherwoods, well, jump right in!

mre
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