OK dear Listener, it’s Gareth here – some news just in, in order to interpret which here’s a list of 10 Hollywood films released since 1975, all of which I would happily re-watch any time; classy entertainment from an age when I was discovering the movies for myself. There’s a common denominator to this bunch though – and it’s the little bloke above.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – one of only three films released in my lifetime over which I cannot disagree with the Academy’s decision to name it Best Picture
Romancing the Stone – one of the smartest and wittiest adventure films of my childhood
Batman Returns – German Expressionism meets Tim Burton’s dark fantasies; and the guy eats live fish!
Get Shorty – The best comedy about the film industry
Mars Attacks – More Tim Burton, more craziness, this time 1950s Cold War paranoia with a CGI twist
L.A. Confidential – Elegant and classy and far more than a detective thriller, featuring what is probably his best performance
The Virgin Suicides – The first film from Sofia Coppola, the strongest film starring Kirsten Dunst, the saddest film with James Woods, and the best use of Air music on a cinema screen
Man on the Moon – A biopic in which he plays himself 25 years ago and no one notices the difference
Heist – David Mamet’s frivolous and terrifically entertaining thriller – in which Gene Hackman utters the line that changed my life more than any other I’ve seen in a movie (ask me and I’ll tell you)
Big Fish – Some say it’s cheesy, some say that’s the point: if you believe that our lives are shaped by the stories we tell ourselves, maybe there’s an emotional truth that can transcend the facts.
Two and a half words for you: Danny de Vito.
I read this morning that he is to direct another film, which, it may come as some surprise, is a source of cautious delight to me. Why? Because the man knows how to direct movies – at least movies of a particular kind. De Vito as director is responsible for three of the darkest, most vicious comedies of the past 20 years – ‘Throw Momma From the Train’ (which is Hitchcock’s ‘Strangers on a Train for Woody Allenesque neurotics), ‘The War of the Roses’ (which is the funny parts that were deleted from ‘Kramer vs Kramer’, and has one of the best opening title sequences of the 80s), and ‘Death to Smoochy’ (which is a bit like The Muppets meets ‘Fatal Attraction’). Please don’t think I’m kidding, dear listener. DDV is about to direct an as-yet untitled movie starring Pierce Brosnan (currently providing immense value for money in ‘Mamma Mia’ as an actor who doesn’t take himself too seriously in a film that has no reason to exist other than the music they perform in it) and Morgan Freeman (currently disappointing me to the quick in ‘Wanted’ by not taking himself too seriously in a film that has no reason to exist other than the fetishisation of violence); along with the young Irish actress Saoirse Ronan who made such a huge impression in ‘Atonement’. I’m looking forward to it.
Now before anyone gets too exercised about this, let me offer a gentle reminder that Mr de Vito deserves a far higher reputation as an actor and film-maker than many might think; in the films listed above, he’s just been doing his thing (the dude was even in an episode of ‘Starsky and Hutch for goodness’ sake), a journeyman who found some success in his chosen field, and sometimes makes pretty decent movies. So, a question: is there anyone out there who can’t think of a Danny de Vito performance that they liked?
