Greetings from Amazon.com Delivers Art House and International Video Editor, Simon Leake FEATURED IN THIS E-MAIL: * Word for Word: "Rounders" * New Releases for Sale: "Faces," "Raising Arizona," "Last Year at Marienbad" * This Month's Top 5: "Insomnia," "The Wages of "Fear," "Tokyo Drifter," "Blood Simple," "Lolita" * Focus On: John Sayles * The Essential Sergio Leone * Advance Orders: "Peeping Tom," "Elizabeth," "Shoah" WORD FOR WORD ************* "Listen, here's the thing. If you can't spot the sucker in the first half-hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker." --Matt Damon as Mike McDermott in "Rounders" You can find "Rounders" at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6305240655/entertainmentsit NEW RELEASES FOR SALE ********************* "Faces" (R) starring Gena Rowlands and Seymour Cassel; directed by John Cassavetes http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6304192312/entertainmentsit John Cassavetes trusted his actors, encouraging them to improvise, and the results were often stunning. This 1968 movie about the disintegration of a marriage earned Oscar nominations for Seymour Cassel and Lynn Carlin, whose performances form just half of the film's emotional foursome. John Marley and Cassavetes favorite Gena Rowlands turn in equally powerful performances in a movie that proves that watching great actors at work beats special effects every time. "Raising Arizona" (PG-13) starring Holly Hunter and Nicolas Cage; directed by Joel Coen http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6300249964/entertainmentsit The Coen brothers' stylishly skewed world-view shines in their funniest movie. Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter play a young couple (one a cop, one a crook) who want a family so much that they steal a baby from a local unfinished- furniture magnate. Joel Coen's direction, Ethan Coen's script, and perfectly pitched performances from every actor combine to create a film that is deliciously farcical without ever becoming mere caricature. "Last Year at Marienbad" (NR) starring Delphine Seyrig; directed by Alain Resnais http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1572522240/entertainmentsit One of the most ferociously iconoclastic and experimental films of the French New Wave, Alain Resnais's 1961 feature, winner of the grand prize at that year's Venice Film Festival, is based on a script by Alain Robbe-Grillet. At its center is what seems to be a simple but unanswerable puzzle: Did its protagonist (Giorgio Albertazzi) have an affair the year before with a woman (Delphine Seyrig) he just met (or possibly re-met) at his hotel? This was for many years the quintessential art-house flick--complex, difficult, allusive, and compelling. Almost 40 years later, it remains an extraordinary work. THIS MONTH'S TOP 5 ****************** Amazon.com's Art House and International Video editor, Simon Leake, selects five great films to buy. "Insomnia" (NR) starring Stellan Skarsgard; directed by Erik Skjoldbjaerg http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/078002219X/entertainmentsit Stellan Skarsgard--best known to American audiences for his roles in "Good Will Hunting" and "Breaking the Waves"--gives an intense, daring performance in this gripping Norwegian thriller. He plays a detective who, during the pursuit of a vicious murderer, accidentally kills his own partner. The cat-and-mouse game between the cop and the murderer (who witnessed the death of the partner) is gripping, and Skarsgard's portrayal of a man descending into chaos is breathtaking, and often painful to watch. "The Wages of Fear" (NR) starring Yves Montand; directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6302969441/entertainmentsit Perhaps the most suspenseful film ever made, Henri-Georges Clouzot's masterpiece is the story of four men who volunteer to drive a truck full of nitroglycerine across 300 miles of very bumpy roads. Combining edge-of-your-seat tension with an intense psychological study of these desperate men, this film will help you find out what it feels like to hold your breath for 148 minutes. "Tokyo Drifter" (NR) starring Tetsuya Watari; directed by Seijun Suzuki http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0780020510/entertainmentsit Seijun Suzuki transforms the yakuza genre into a pop-art James Bond cartoon as directed by Jean-Luc Godard in this giddily entertaining story of a suave mobster on the run. The director's extreme stylization, jarring narrative leaps, dazzling use of color, and wild plot devices combine to create a pulp fiction on acid, equal parts gangster parody and post-modern deconstruction. Truly a unique film, and one that should inspire further exploration of Suzuki's remarkable work. "Blood Simple" (R) starring Frances McDormand and John Getz; directed by Joel Coen http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6300184110/entertainmentsit The Coen brothers' first film is a terrific film noir, built around a wonderfully nervy performance by Frances McDormand, as a woman whose husband suspects her (rightly) of adultery. With typically inventive camerawork from Barry Sonnenfeld, a skin-crawlingly sleazy turn from veteran character actor M. Emmett Walsh, and a plot filled with twists and betrayals, this assured debut was undoubtedly one of the best films of the '80s. "Lolita" (1962) (NR) starring James Mason and Shelley Winters; directed by Stanley Kubrick http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0792837983/entertainmentsit Kubrick's black-comic version of Vladimir Nabokov's playfully perverse story plays fast and loose with its source material, but although it lacks some of the complexity and subtlety of the novel, the movie is still an immensely entertaining satire. James Mason gives a convincing performance as a man trapped by his obsessions, Peter Sellers dances perfectly along the line between enough and too much as the wicked Quilty, and Shelley Winters proves once again that she is one of Hollywood's greatest actors. FOCUS ON: JOHN SAYLES ********************* John Sayles's uncompromisingly independent vision is one of the treasures of American cinema. This uniquely versatile director has brought his talent to bear on a broad range of themes, from the political drama of "Matewan" to the magical realism of "The Secret of Roan Inish." Whatever the subject, audiences are guaranteed an intelligent and emotionally satisfying night at the movies. Art House & International THE ESSENTIAL SERGIO LEONE ************************** Like Sam Fuller in the U.S., Sergio Leone worked within the confines of genre movies to create films that truly broke the mold. His Westerns, often inspired by Japanese samurai films, have a grim, sun-bleached grandeur, and "Once Upon a Time in America" is--with apologies to fans of "The Godfather"--probably the best gangster movie ever made. Here's our selection of his greatest films. Art House & International ADVANCE ORDERS ************** Order these titles now, and we'll ship them to you as soon as they're released. "Peeping Tom" (NR) starring Carl Boehm; directed by Michael Powell http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6302969255/entertainmentsit A young man, scarred by an abusive childhood, murders women and films their final moments in this extraordinary film. Better than "Psycho"? Perhaps, but whatever the verdict, Michael Powell's deeply disturbing meditation on sex, cinema, and murder is a lurid, twisted masterpiece. "Elizabeth" (R) starring Cate Blanchett; directed by Shekhar Kapur http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6305358567/entertainmentsit Director Shekhar Kapur paints a dark picture of the rise of Queen Elizabeth I. Cate Blanchett gives a powerful and utterly convincing performance as the young queen who must sacrifice her innocence in order to save her country, and the stunning art direction evokes a world in which death lurks in every shadowy corner. "Shoah" (NR) directed by Claude Lanzmann http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567302017/entertainmentsit This nine-hour documentary records the memories of those who suffered in, those who orchestrated, and those who stood back and watched the Holocaust. Director Claude Lanzmann has a remarkable ability to pull tiny details from the people he interviews, details that combine to create an utterly compelling and deeply moving testament to one of the darkest moments in human history. ****** You'll find more great videos, articles, and interviews in Amazon.com's Art House & International Video section at Art House & International
Search: All Products Books Popular Music Classical Music Video Toys Electronics
Enter keywords...