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Sleuth (1972, 139 min, PG) ***1/2 – Directed by Joseph L. Mankewicz, starring Laurence, Lord Olivier and Michael Caine. Mankewicz’s devilishly light touch disguises the underlying creepiness of this film adaptation of Anthony Shaffer’s play, which at once relishes and re-examines the elements of the Agatha Christie-style British detective story, and the God-complex of authors in general. An aging mystery writer (Shakespearean stage pro Olivier) invites to his vast manor the half-Italian hairdresser (Cockney icon Caine) who has been cuckolding him. The author is famous for novels about an aristocrat-turned-amateur sleuth who is always making fools of working class police; the hairdresser has never read a single detective story or even heard of the fictional gumshoe. The buried class conflict and wounded male prides, that have little to do with the actual women involved, come out in increasingly dangerous, humiliating mindgames involving burglary, make-believe, and, ultimately, murder. Olivier and Caine were both Oscar-nominated for their performances in this two-man production. (’04.)
Small Time Crooks (2000, 95 min, PG) *** - Directed & written by Woody Allen, starring Woody Allen, Tracey Ullman, and Hugh Grant. Low-key and pleasant comedy about a bumbling ex-con (Allen) who tries to break into a vault and breaks into high society instead when his wife’s (Ullman) cookie store takes off. What starts off as a caper actually turns into an examination of a marriage drifting apart and drifting back together. Allen’s direction, even on such a nonchalant film, is as good as ever.
Snake Eyes (1998, 98 min, R) *** - Directed & co-written by Brian De Palma, starring Nicholas Cage, Gary Sinise, and Carla Gugino. Intriguing real-time mystery that resolves itself a little earlier and more predictably than it ought, about an attempted assassination at Atlantic City boxing match. To add moral confusion, the hero (Cage) is a dirty cop, the villain is surprisingly sympathetic, and the movie becomes an examination of how truth can and can’t change. Director De Palma is always the real star of his movies, and his camera is as athletic and self-conscious as ever.
Spartacus (1960, 187 min, PG13) ***1/2 – Directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, and Peter Ustinov. One of the last of the old-style Hollywood period epics like “Ben-Hur” and “The Ten Commandments,” “Spartacus” is all big armies, giant sets, rich costumes, grand gestures, sweeping music, and slow pans across magnificent landscapes—and, like the films of De Mille, a little tongue-in-cheek now. If “Pharaoh, let my people go!” is simultaneously immensely moving and immensely silly, the same can be said of the “I’m Spartacus!” “No, I’m Spartacus!” scene in this film. A Roman gladiator (Douglas) in the last days of the Republic fights his way to freedom and leads a slave rebellion, while a vile general (Olivier) sets out to quell him. Director Kubrick was so disillusioned by the experience that he set up shop in the UK afterwards, where he had complete control of everything, and never returned to Hollywood.
Species (1995, 108 min, R) ** - Directed by Roger Donaldson, starring Ben Kinglsey, Michael Madsen, Alfred Molina, and Forest Whitaker. Is it outer space misogyny, a parable on the plight of the sexually-empowered single woman, or both? An almost all-male group of scientists chases the ultimate shrew: a naked alien babe (Natasha Henstridge) who needs to get pregnant. When she’s not parading around with her tits out, demanding sex from strangers, getting billed sixth despite being the film’s only draw, or avoiding all forms of personality, she’s killing men in the guise of a slimy monster that reminds us of “Alien.” The image of the woman breaking free (from a secret government facility), only to be tracked down relentlessly by all the forces of man-dom and the establishment, is a potent one, although her utter lack of character may tell you where the movie comes down on this question. The camaraderie among the boys is mildly interesting: not only science, but magic and soldiery are represented, and white (Madsen), brown (Molina), black (Whitaker), and biracial (Kingsley) men have all united, classless and billed equally, in their fear of women. Their chase, however—monster jumps out, special effects ensue, stuff gets killed, rinse and repeat—is not. (’04.)
More movies that begin with S.
School of Rock (2003, 108 min, PG13) ** - Directed by Richard Linklater, starring Jack Black and Joan Cusack. Tedious formula comedy about a wannabe rock star (real-life rocker Black) who disguises himself as a substitute teacher to pay the bills and teaches his student how to rock. Black is amusing as an unleashed id but, like so many Adam Sandler and Jim Carrey vehicles, “School of Rock” does not explore the intriguing personality it creates so much as put it through the predictable motions of a disposable comedy.
Scream (1996, 111 min, R) **1/2 – Directed by Wes Craven & written by Kevin Williamson, starring Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, and Skeet Ulrich. Hipper-than-thou and self-conscious horror movie populated by kids who know all the horror movie clichés and how to defend themselves against them. The dialogue is amusing for a while, but the movie thinks that by pointing out its clichés it can get away with not having to avoid them. “Scream” is ultimately just another movie about beautiful young people getting stabbed to death one-by-one in a big house. (’04.)
Seabiscuit (2003, 141 min, PG13) ***1/2 – Directed by Gary Ross, starring Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, and Chris Cooper. Director-screenwriter Ross (“Pleasantville”) turns the feel-good, real-life tale of a down-and-out racehorse into a parable of the Great Depression. Bridges, Cooper, and Maguire star as three American archetypes brought together by the beast: the self-made man, the laconic, straight-talking loner, and the flawed by unsinkable everyman. 7 Oscar nominations including Best Picture, no wins.
The Seventh Seal (1957, 96 min, B&W, NR) **** - Directed & co-written by Ingmar Bergman, starring Max Von Sydow. Mind-blowing, timeless, and surprisingly humorous allegory about life, death, afterlife, and meaning. A knight (Von Sydow) returning from the crusades filled with doubt and questions faces Death in a chess game. His squire is an atheist, his jester is a simple believer, the jester’s wife is a pragmatist, and their views mesh and bounce off one another. Wonderfully shot and framed in black-and-white by the legendarily depressing Ingmar Bergman.
Shadow of the Vampire (2000, 92 min, R) ***1/2 – Directed by E. Elias Merhige, starring John Malkovich and Willem Dafoe. Creepy and nervously funny fantasy that claims groundbreaking silent director F.W. Murnau (Malkovich) got such a great vampire performance out of “Nosferatu” star Max Shrek (Dafoe) because Shrek really was a vampire. Director Merhige keeps everything in his “Nosferatu” homage frighteningly sterile, while we wonder who’s worse: the monster, or the filmmaker who uses people so callously? Oscar nominations include Best Supporting Actor Dafoe.