Welcome to The Penny-Pinching Cinephile, a weekly spotlight of the best free flicks on the web. ‘Cuz sometimes you gotta eat.
1.) Four Rooms
Anchored by a manic comedic performance from Tim Roth that would make Jerry Lewis jealous, the portmanteau film Four Rooms is an interesting experiment if not a fully successful cinematic venture. Made up of four segments, each directed by a different auteur (Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell, Robert Rodriquez and Quentin Tarantino), Four Rooms is set in a Los Angeles hotel on New Year’s Eve. Roth plays Ted, the hapless bellboy tasks to take care of the eccentric guests’ increasingly bizarre demands. Featuring witchcraft, dangerous sexual fantasies, a dead prostitute and the possible execution of a pinky finger, Ted night plays out like a surreal nightmare, eventually driving him completely batty. Everyone has a different favorite segment (mine happens to be Rodriguez’s) but each offers an unique perspective on the premise, making Four Rooms a one-of-a-kind, madcap comedy.
2.) Lust, Caution
Set in WWII-era, Japanese-occupied Shanghai and Hong Kong, Ang Lee’s 2007 film Lust, Caution is a suspenseful erotic thriller about the sacrifices one woman makes for the survival of her country. University student Wong Chia-chi (Wei Tang) goes undercover as a member of the Chinese resistance to spy on and ultimately seduce a powerful collaborator Mr. Yee (Tony Leung). Sumptuously photographed and beautifully designed, featuring a faithful and impressive recreation of ’30s and ’40s, Japanese-occupied China, Lust, Caution is an especially gorgeous film to look at. The performances are engrossing (particularly Wei Tang as the conflicted but seductive Wong), and Ang Lee’s direction of this sweeping epic is dynamic yet intimate. The film’s explicit sex scenes earned it an NC-17 rating in the US, even though the sex doesn’t even occur until more than halfway into the film and then only makes up a few minutes in the film’s two and half hour runtime.
3.) Stagecoach
John Ford’s seminal Western, Stagecoach is the film that made John Wayne a star. As the fugitive outlaw Ringo Kid, Wayne makes quite the impression, even amongst the stellar ensemble cast that includes Claire Trevor as Dallas, the prostitute with a heart of a gold and a scene-stealing Thomas Mitchell as an alcoholic doctor. The motley stagecoach gang must make their way through dangerous Apache territory to reach their destination. Featuring a thrilling Indian raid with impressive stunt choreography and trick riding, Ford’s film is an action-packed classic.
4.) Fat City
One of the most underrated movies of the 1970s, John Huston’s gritty boxing drama Fat City stars Stacy Keach as an aging pugilist and a young Jeff Bridges as his up-and-coming sparring partner. Set amidst skid row in Stockton, Ca, all the characters are loveable losers, more concerned with their next drink than their next bout. Huston’s film rejoices in their little triumphs, in the rare moments of success amid a lifestyle of failure and stagnation. Aided by Conrad Hall’s beautifully realistic photography, Huston captures the rough-hewn existence of Stockton’s unwise and unlucky bottom-feeders. In the film’s only boxing sequence, it doesn’t matter so much whether Keach wins or loses–it’s enough of a triumph that he got up there in the first place.
5.) Rashomon
One of Akira Kurosawa’s greatest films, Rashomon helps introduce the West to Asian cinema in 1950. More than sixty years later, it remains as refreshingly innovative and entertaining as the day it was released. Rashomon tells the story of a hideous crime from multiple perspectives, each different from the other. Ultimately, it is up to the viewer to piece together the events of the story and decide which version, if any, is the correct one. Featuring a breakout performance from frequent Kurosawa collaborator Toshiro Mifune as the bandit, Rashomon won an Academy Award and is generally regarded as one of the greatest films of all-time, and a landmark in international and Japanese cinema.
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