And the Band Played On: Matthew Modine as CDC Doctor who was in the vanguard of the AIDS discovery.

Baghdad Cafe: One of Ginny's favorite movies. A Percy Adlon film-- surreal friendship between a black woman and a German woman in the middle of the American Desert.

Baraka: Music and Images only (Dead can Dance). Images of spiritual places around the globe, and portraits of life in different cultures.

Barbarella: Cult. Like seeing Jane Fonda in the orgasmatron. Good 60's Kitsch

Belle Epoque: Spanish soldier gets it on with four sisters. Loved the cross dressing scene. Cute and Erotic, beautifully filmed and set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War.

The Best of Everything: A terrific, campy portrait of NYC gals trying to make it in the 50's. Great Technicolor.

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure: Started the Moron Trend... the Bevis and Butthead tradition. Like, a total late 80's classic, and yes I do think this has cultural merit.

The Bird Cage: Robin Williams in the first role I have not objected to. Brilliant remake of the French 70's classic. Beautifully filmed, great dialogue, over the top, but... that's the point, isn't it?

Bob Roberts: Smart film about the strategy of an ultra conservative candidate and his rise to power. Tim Robbins directed, and was, as always, great in it.

Breaking Away: Indiana townie finds himself by becoming an Italianato and riding a racing bike. A root for the underdog, feel good classic.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Great kitsch flick, very different from the show. Love it that she gets menstrual cramps when she senses vampires are near.

A Clockwork Orange: How many times did I see this film at Leshu's in high school? Excellent vision of the future and filming, though I don't think I could stomach it again now.

Closely Watched Trains: Funny Czech film about one kid's quest to get laid, and to gain respect as a station conductor. Very amusing, but a bit slow in the beginning, perhaps due to inadequate subtitling.

The Coca-Cola Kid: My first Dusan Makajev film. It's quirky and sexy and truly original, though the charm comes from the details more than from the plot which is kind of uneven and mediocre. Original, but mediocre.

Delta of Venus: SPICY! But a bit overdone in the "lyrical" department, though you can lose yourself in the atmosphere. Based on bits and pieces of stories by Ana�s Nin from her collection from the same name. Dialogue B, Filming A. Singer is delicious.

Ferris Bueler's Day Off: This was really an innovative movie: Narrative Filming style, etc. A classic.

*Flash Gordon: Even better 70's Kitch, a favorite when I was a kid. Queen did the AWESOME soundtrack.

A Foreign Affair: Marlena Dietrich: interesting film, a bit campy. Some might think boring, but still, nice picture of Post-war Germany.

Foul Play: 70's Classic. Favorite movie when I was 10, and boy, I was blind to the sexism! Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase, and some great 70's clothes.

French Twist: (A- B+ but very entertaining) Saw this movie in NY with Ivan when it came out. I had been in a terrible mood, but when I came out, I was in a much better frame of mind. Even Ivan liked it. Rented it two years later, and by mistake asked for "French Kiss". Imagine my horror when I was greeted with a Hollywood feel-good romance with Kevin Kline and Meg Ryan instead.
Victoria Abril (of Almodovar fame) plays a Spanish Housewife married to a French Philandering real estate broker. She meets this butch woman when her car breaks down, and they fall in love. Great dyke / poly movie in the guise of one of those wacky French comedies.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell-- there's some serious secret energy there... or was I the only one to notice this? Jane Russell is larger than life, and though the plot is somewhat lacking, there's a bit of good repartee, and an hilarious scene where Jane Russell impersonates Marilyn. Thank you ever so....

Grease: My first favorite movie.

The Grifters: Good small crime flick, great plot twists and great acting.

I was a Male War Bride: Cary Grant and Claudette Colbert in this silly love story which includes an amusing cross dressing scene.

La Cage au Folles: The version I saw was dubbed. It's very 70's and I loved it. Bird Cage does a wonderful updating and adding to the original.

La Dolce Vita: Loved some of the scenes, though Fellini's disjointed visual essays on Ennui tend to try my patience. Loved the party scene, loved the big fish, loved the fountain, loved the spiral staircase. Magdalena and Marcello are dishes.

Lacho Drom: Musical and images of the Gypsy life around Europe and the Middle East.

Larry Flynt: Myopic and humorous view of Hustler Mag. founder. A funny ride, but seems a bit too clean to be real.

Les Compares: A wacky French farce. Always wanted to write that. This one has a great premise which throws Gerard Depiardu and Pierre Richard together again.

Liquid Sky: Rough, very rough production, miserable dialogue, but great premise and philosophical monologues. Aliens seeking heroine come to NYC and instead find that they get off on sex more. Search the Cult section of your video store.

Married to the Mob: Michelle Pfeiffer as a big haired ex-mob moll, and Matthew Modine as a Narc. Really great characters, filming and plot. Jonathan Demme directs, and thus there's this strange pre-Terantino penchant for humor and brutal violence mixed together unpredictably.

Maurice: Merchant / Ivory tackle Edwardian homosexuality. Some wonderfully poignant scenes, and some really sentimental. Beautifully filmed, would we expect less? And a great adaptation from the E.M. Forster (semi-autobiographical) book.

Midnight: Entertaining B&W. Claudette Colbert and Don Amici. John Barrymore is hilarious in a small part. Though it's kind of predictable, there are some nice twists. It's really fun.

Nobody Loves Me: Written and directed by Dorris D�rrie of M�nner fame. Fanny Fink facing her 30th birthday desperate to find love before it's too late. "Ich bin stark. Ich bin klug. Ich bin sch�n. Ich liebe, und ich werde geliebt..." Great characters, and a kind of offbeat aesthetic with an original plot. Great gay character in supporting role.

Percilla:Queen of the Desert Great Cross dressing film.

Post Coitum, Animal Triste: 40-year old French woman has affair with pretty 25 year old engineer, and gets really depressed when it ends. good movie, not great, but the guy-- Boris Terral is unspeakably hot. Love it when she cuts her hair shorter and shorter as her depression progresses.

*Princess Bride: Love the fights, love the humor, love the fantasy. Cast is easy on the eyes. Great family film as well. Decent adaptation of a funny book.

The Prime of Miss Jane Brody: Was a stage drama, which makes sense. Fun 60's version of a charismatic teacher who introduces sophistication and fantasy into the minds of schoolgirls. Kind of shocking, her being a sexpot and all.

Repo Man: Emelio Estevez, surrealism, aliens, and a great hard-core soundtrack. One of my high school favorite movies. Plate O' Shrimp.

Sex, Lies and Videotape: I loved it. It had this really minimalist feel to it. Others hated it.

She's Gotta Have It: Very witty and unpretentious for Spike Lee, if anyone can believe it. Fun, but those stereotypes... that dialogue... though I really liked Nola.

Shirley Valentine: Self indulgent, and sentimental, but still liked it a lot. Housewife in Birmingham gets fed up with daily life, and goes on permanent holiday in Greece. Great accents.

Story of O: Woman goes to school to lean to be a submissive. Wonderfully done SM fantasy.

Story of O (Part III) Spicy and perverted. Not great, but very erotic and well filmed.

Tampopo: A Japanese Spaghetti Western. All about food and sex.

A Taxing Woman: Japanese tax collector and her innovative tricks of entrapment.

Thelma and LouiseGirl Buddy movie with some great scenes. For the life of me, I can't see why this film raised such an anti-feminist squabble.

Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down: Almodovar explores bondage. If one thinks about this, it's quite disturbing, but at face value it's kind of a cool love story, and because it's Almodovar, it's filmed beautifully with plenty of life.

Torch Song Trilogy: Nice Drama about gay love. The most moving thing is the confrontation with Mom about lost love. The rest of the movie is good, but unmemorable.

True Lies: Great humorous action flick. Jamie Lee Curtis steals the show.

Unforgettable Summer: Romanian movie about this military officer's family in the 20's, and how political problems with the Bulgarian situation affect his family. Beautifully filmed, engaging story. Kristin Scott Thomas speaks Romanian in the film. Go figure.

Wild Orchid 2: Shades of Blue: Hollywood stuff, but interesting and spicy. Well filmed. Brendan Frasier in an early role.

Sometimes I give an original or innovative film three stars if there are serious flaws which cannot be overlooked.

Aladdin: Aladdin=Andrew, Jason's old roommate. Kind of want to see a porn version of it, though...

The American President: Cute film, but I have many questions: Why does Annette Benning play only stammeringly cheerful supporting women? Why do all movies about a whimsical President involve making a president who actually accomplishes THINGS? (Like Dave, My Fellow Americans.) Why does Michael Douglas have that bemused look that Ivan has: Nostrils flared and a sardonic smile.

Batman III: Don't remember it, but I liked it. Wait. This was the one with Robin, and Val Kilmer as bat boy.

Bio Dome: Another in the incredibly profound Pauly Shore oevre. I liked it, but I was in a really dumb mood.

Bull Durham: If you could get rid of Kevin Costner, this would be much better. First sighting of Tim Robbins. Love Susan Sarandon, in a great role.

The Big Chill: What ever happened to those good old college days, and who the hell are we now? Boo hoo.

Bridge Over the River Kwai: My dad watched this movie 3 times in the last month. I thought it was good. Like the accents, and whistled that damn tune for a week.

Chain of Desire: Good NY movie. Like the vignette idea.

Coneheads:

Dave: Kevin Kline as Presidential wringer. Amusing love story.

Disclosure: Good twists too, and nice revenge.

Dirty, Rotten Scoundrels: A HOOT! Steve Martin / Michael Cain really play it up. They can be a bit trying, but it is worth it.

Do The Right Thing: Nice funny Plot, nice silly characters, then, suddenly, BIG SOCIAL MESSAGE. When it comes, it hits you over the head. Love the stereotyping.

81/2: Fellini stuck in glamorous ennui. Again.

Enchanted April: Sweet, but this ain't no Forester novel done by Merchant Ivory.

French Kiss: Dumber and not as good as IQ, but again, I liked it for schlock value. Liked Kevin Kline. Meg plays herself again.

Get Shorty: Entertaining but kind of directionless.

Goldeneye: Yeah, yeah Nice escapism. Pierce is kinda suave, but not very lovable. Liked the perversity of this one and wonder how they can get away keeping it PG. Hmmmm....

Greencard: I kind of liked this cheesy romance. Pot belly and all, Gerard was kind of cute.

Great Balls of Fire: Winona and Dennis Quaid in the 50's. Cradle robbin' fun.

High Heels: Another beautifully filmed, acted, Almodovar disappointment. This one has good transvestitism. He's still stuck on tragicomedy with the tragedy outweighing the comedy, and I'm not havin' it.

History of the Word Part I: Mel Brooks at his wittiest and raunchiest. Yes, no no no no no no YES!

Howard's End: Just the story is a bit elusive, and hard to care about. But it IS Merchant/Ivory, and there's something to be said for that.

IQ. : I liked the premise, and one always likes Tim Robbins. Meg plays herself, as usual, but this time she's a genius.

Jamon, Jamon: Spanish Western and soap opera, but though I liked the scenery, it cannot compete with THAT OTHER Spanish director, nor escape comparison. The shocking, not as shocking, the perverse, not as perverse, the soap opera not as soapy...

Johnny Dangerously: Same as below, but with Michael Keaton.

Just One of the Guys: Good 80's nostalgia. Kitsch. Entertaining, and will soon be resurrected for Marge Garber's class on cross dressing.

Kama Sutra: Story like an Opera, or a Fairy Tale: B-. Filming, from the gods: A.

La Chevre: another funny French farce.

La Donna E Mobile: Bulgarian Film! Just TRY to find this one in the video store! Very... uhh... Hollywood, but still interesting plot and twists, however improbable. Filmed very well.

Last Chance for Earth: A Roger Corman space odyssey where women run this peaceful, boring society where the men are pleasure toys. Sperm supply is running out, so they have to back in time and get some REAL MEN with testosterone and its accompanying violence. fun premise, but annoyingly violent, and kind of anti-feminist in a way, but kind of not.

Let's Make Love: Marilyn Monroe, Yves Montand: Nice NY-in-the 50's movie.

Letter to Brezhnev: (very roughly made, but a good portrait of Liverpool)

Maybe, Maybe Not: German film dealing with the question of whether or not the hyper hetero hunk, Axel can be seduced by various men. Some great scenes, but overall, just good movie.

Madonna: Truth or Dare: Of course she discovers Antonio Banderas YEARS after we all did... Gee, it's lonely at the top.

Malcolm X: Entertaining. Myopic view of X's rise to heroism. Like Denzil Washington a lot.

Mediterraneo: Sweet, but I didn't get the hype.

Montenegro: Another Makavejev Femme Fatale sex farce, with a dark side. Unflattering portrait of Yugoslav gypsies in Northern Europe, and interesting study of neurosis in women. Some funny quirks, the signature of Makavejev, make it amusing.

Monster in a Box: Good- more Spalding Gray Neurosis

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House: Cary Grant, Claudette Colbert: A bit dull, but fun if you have built a house, or have lived in NYC.

91/2 Weeks: (actually saw it dubbed in German.) Good sex, but was it really, or just hyped. Mickey is disgusting, and Kim is annoyingly Bimbo-ish. Are they really actors?

*Nine to Five: Classic. First song to top both the rock and country charts simultaneously.

Orchestra Wives: Glenn Miller film. Good kitsch, great scenes of the Glenn Miller Orchestra in action, but pathetically dumb plot.

Predictions of Fire: A documantary about NSK and Laibach and their origin and philosophies kind of outlined. Lots of great footage, and music. This is for the mind, not the soul.

Primary Colors: Not a good date movie, as I found out, due to it's length, and that it drags. Nonetheless, surprisingly good characterizations and acting. I like the fact that it did not dwell on the typical action oriented conflicts, but glossed them over in favor of moral and character driven issues. Loved Kathy Bates, and the whole gay subtext... was it just me?

Princess Caraboo: Fun and a nice idea, carried off well, and well filmed Regency adventure.

Pretty in Pink: Brat Pack

Protocol: Goldie Hawn goes from Bimbo to Harem Odalesque to Politico.

Pulp Fiction: Good Dialogue, but too damn violent. Not worth it. Like the circular film idea. Uma looks bad as a brunette.

Real Genius: Same old sexist shenanigans at Cal Tech.

Reckless Kelly: Has some wonderfully clever Aussie humor thanks to Yahoo Serious.

The Seventh Seal: Personally I didn't GET it. Why is this film so GREAT? Persona kicked its ASS.

Shawshank Redemption: Good Prison Drama with innovative twists.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers: (love those shirts) Kitschy 50's musical with an absurd presmise.

Some Kind of Wonderful: Damn, I just wish Mary Stuart Masterson had jumped Leah Thompson in the end. Would have made this a real movie.

Something Wild:Jonathan Demme film about a wild woman (Melanie Griffith) who takes a working stiff (Jeff Daniels) on a wild ride. First half is funny, second half surprisingly violent, and there's no connection between the two making it feel completely disjointed. David Byrne compiled the soundtrack which is not bad.

Stalag 17: The basis for Hogan's Heroes. A great war film and a great comedy.

Stand and Deliver: Good drama about an inspirational teacher in East LA who pushes his students to academic acheivement.

Time Cop: Van Damm's buns are unstoppable. Nice story twists, in a standard way.

That Sinking Feeling: (Only if you are a Bill Forsyth fan, otherwise it's not worth it.) Bored out of work Scottish teens knock over a sink factory.

Where the Angels Fear to Tread: Beautifully filmed version of a mediocre E.M. Forster novel which again pits Italian and English Edwardian sensibilities against oneanother.

Total Recall: Amusing twists and fantasy, but mired in sexism. What was I expecting from Arnie, anyhow.

Top Secret: Val Kilmer doing Slapstick, if one likes that sort of thing.

2001: Good.

2010: also good, in some ways better, in some ways more trite.

2069: A classic soft core porn: German from the late 60's, kitsch as all get out.

Under Siege: Decent dick flick.

Under Cover Blues: Kathleen Turner and Denis Quaid are parents and under cover agents in this silly but entertaining comedy.

Usual Suspects: Too violent. Like the unpredictability, but hard to follow chronologically.

Until the End of the World: (3.5) Visuals! Plot line is trying, but this movie was filmed on 4 continents, and has some very neat ideas about technology and dreams.

Valmont: Not so spicy, lush, nor as brutally well acted as Dangerous Liaisons.

Wall St.: As if he could afford THAT apartment as a first year trader, 80's or not. "Greed is Good."

Weird Science: Two Geek Dr. Frankensteins build themselves the perfect woman. "Chips Dips Chains Whips." "All that time I thought you were combing your hair!" Liked this movie at 15. Now it is particularly offensive. Krasi delights in calling me "Lisa" with that silly inflected surprise the geek uses in the movie.

Wild Orchid: Supposed to be this great erotic masterpiece. Actually I was kind of indifferent to it, having better things to distract my attention during the viewing...

Wings of Desire: (3.5) Story pathetic, Visuals and poetry amazing. And way too long.

Working Girl: In a surprising plot line, the underdog triumphs.