New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

Wednesday 11/14/07

2:30 AM Showtime
Glow Ropes: The Rise and Fall of a Bar Mitzvah Emcee (2005 USA): Don't be put off by the surprisingly low rating Glow Ropes gets on IMDb: it's actually a thoroughly enjoyable social satire about the second most important job in the world (number one, of course, being birthday party clown). The story revolves around eponymous entertainer Taylor James (Tom Peper), who's trying to parlay his wildly successful New Jersey act into success on the biggest stage of them all: The Big Apple. Told in mockumentary fashion via teenage filmmaker Barry (former Sesame Street regular Carlo Alban), the film chronicles the disastrous after-effects of Taylor's unfortunate encounter with some defective glow ropes (you know, those phosphorescent tchotchkes so beloved of adolescents the world over). You've seen this sort of ethnic indie comedy before, but this is a good one—especially if like things schmaltzed up a little.

5:00 AM Sundance
Topaz (1969 USA): It's poorly regarded by most critics and disliked by many Hitchcock fans, but I have a soft spot for the great director's third-to-last feature, a Cold War tale of Soviet spies infiltrating the highest reaches of the French government. It's one of Hitch's most complex and overplotted pictures, with a narrative arc more reminiscent of Day of the Jackal than Dial M for Murder. Little-known Frederick Stafford (who had served his apprenticeship in the popular OSS 117 spy series) is fine as a French secret agent assigned to uncover the spy ring, Dany Robin adds the va-va-voom factor as his wife, John Vernon offers a hilariously enjoyable turn as a Cuban revolutionary, Roscoe Lee Browne plays a Haitian agent masquerading as a flower salesman, and solid, reliable John Forsythe is fine, if somewhat left in the shadows, as Stafford's CIA counterpart. Topaz is also technically superb, especially Jack Hildyard's wide-screen cinematography and Michel Legrand's lush score. If you like Torn Curtain (as I do), you'll enjoy Topaz. Also airs at 1:30 PM.

6:00 PM Sundance
Transylvania (2006 FRA): Okay, I admit it: I kinda have a thing for Asia Argento, and as a result have frequently overlooked some of the embarrassing inadequacies of her film thesping. In Transylvania, however, we have a film that even folks not pre-disposed in Ms. Argento's favor might also enjoy, as long as they can put up with lots of gypsy music. The film offers Asia an opportunity to show off her admittedly limited range to best effect as Zingarina, a French wild woman searching the wilds of Romania in search of gypsy lover Milan, who has decamped for his native land without so much as a by your leave. Barefoot and pregnant, Zingarina soon finds herself immersed in the world of Romany music via itinerant tinker Tchangalo (Head-On's grumpy looking Turkish actor Birol Unel), who leads her on a liberating chase across the highways and byways of southeastern Europe. Directed by Gadjo Dilo creator Tony Gatlif, Transylvania looks terrific thanks to Celine Bozon's magnificent cinematography, which also captures the divine Ms. A to best effect.

Continued:       1       2       3       4