Man in the Shadow (1958)

Featuring: Jeff Chandler, Orson Welles. Director: Jack Arnold.

Warning: This movie is only supposed to be available for streaming until Jan. 1st. Act fast!

Orson Welles is probably the most interesting figure in the history of the silver screen. He directed what is widely considered the greatest movie of all time and is also acclaimed by many as one of the best actors of all time. He was larger than life and the legacy he left behind was even greater. I think it is perfectly fair to consider him a genius.

The trouble with geniuses, however, is that they see things before the rest of us do. Insert your favorite "ahead of his time" cliche here. Today, directors like Scorsese can produce some of their best work late in their careers. When Welles got started, the term "filmmaker" wasn't something that carries the weight that it does now. The movie going-public today (or at least a segment of it) is more educated and interested in risk taking in the cinema. Sadly, Welles' failures at the box office left much of his career's potential untapped. Instead of crafting masterpieces, he was relegated to acting in b-movies such as this one. That makes me sad, but such is life.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad movie. It features Welles as a plantation owner out west who is the lord over all of the migrant workers at his establishment. Welles character is charming and slimey all at once and the protagonist (Chandler) does a good job playing a straight arrow of a sheriff who is determined to get to the truth no matter how powerful the toes that he is stepping on may be. This is a decent movie with political undertones that are very relevant today, but it still makes me sad. Mostly because instead of directing his version of The Departed, he was acting in a b-movie with a predictable plot. Such is the curse of genius.

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According to Netflix this movie will stop streaming on 1/1/12. Of course, sometimes they lie.

The Standard 5:

Why is it in your queue? Pretty much anything with Orson Welles is in my queue.

Is it artsy? No.

What stood out the most to you? That conditions for Mexican immigrants have only marginally improved in the last 60 years.

What mood should I be in to watch this movie? You should be an Orson Welles aficionado. It isn't his best work, but he's still interesting.

What rating did you give it on Netflix? 3 Stars.

Sorry, couldn't find a trailer for this one. 

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Following (1998)

Featuring: Jeremy Theobald, Alex Haw, Lucy Russell. Director: Christopher Nolan.

Christopher Nolan is an interesting director and the nice thing about interesting directors is that they can tell a good story with a minimal budget. The other thing about interesting directors that got started in the 90's is that they can't seem to tell stories in sequential order. I've always wondered why that is. Is it the Tarantino effect or do they teach you in film school that telling a narrative from beginning to end is just too mainstream?

Luckily, Mr. Nolan was, and is, a talented enough storyteller to avoid having this movie become one of those cliches and now his movies have made billions of dollars. Following is the story of a guy who well, follows people. Yes, this movie embraces the creepers of the world. What keeps this movie from becoming a voyeuristic bore is that the people he follows turn out to be even stranger than he is. Considering the low budget, this film has just enough twists and turns to be a pretty good movie. Don't expect incredible acting or many pretty shots. But the story moves well and is unique enough to carry the film. If you're a fan of Nolan, I suggest giving this one a shot.

 Click here to add this to your Netflix queue.

According to Netflix this movie will stop streaming on 11/20/13. Of course, sometimes they lie.

The Standard 5:

Why is it in your queue? Christopher Nolan has made some interesting movies so I thought it'd be work checking out his early stuff.

Is it artsy? It's an indie and it's in black and white, so yes. Not overly artsy though, more a having no budget kind of artsy.

What stood out the most to you? How much an interesting story can cover up poor production values.

What mood should I be in to watch this movie? Just don't have a fear of being watched and you'll be fine.

What rating did you give it on Netflix? 3 Stars.

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Clockers (1995)

Featuring: Mekhi Phifer, Harvey Keitel, John Turturro, Delroy Lindo, Michael Imperioli. Director: Spike Lee.

Warning: This movie will only stream until May 11th so act fast!

Spike Lee has always been a controversial director. I'm cool with that, I like to the stir the pot and I admire a guy that is determined to do things his own way. I don't even mind that 95% of his films are made with the purpose of making a political or societal statement. What bothers me about Spike Lee is that he doesn't really have a sense of humor. Even films on the most serious of topics are enriched with a little humor. Spike usually comes up with great ideas for films, the dialogue is just often lacking. Because of this, if the actors in his films don't give transcendent performances their characters come off as a little boring.

I think of how awesome this film could have been if Scorsese had directed it instead of just producing. He spends the time to make sure every word and shot is necessary and interesting. That's why he's Martin Scorsese and we're not. This movie is centered around a drug dealer who makes some really questionable decisions and is played by Mekhi Phifer who gives an admirable performance. He's the kind of guy that has a lot of potential but a very questionable moral compass.

For most of the film he and a homicide detective played by Harvey Keitel go back in forth over a case Phifer's character is very involved in. Keitel's partner is played by another Netflix Stream favorite, John Turturro. The best performance in the movie, however, comes from Phifer's boss played by Delroy Lindo. He was really the most interesting part of the movie and that is my biggest problem with this film.

The other actors are all professionals and turn in decent performances but their dialogue just isn't interesting enough and it slows down the movie. I really wanted to like this movie, but I didn't. I wish Spike would slow down a little more sometimes and spend more time fleshing out the characters in his movies. He's got the ideas, he just needed to focus more on the execution here.

To add this movie to your Netflix queue click here.

According to Netflix this movie will stop streaming on 5/11/11. Of course, sometimes they lie.

The Standard 5:

Why is it in your queue? I'll watch anything with Harvey Keitel or John Turturro in it.

Is it artsy? Sort of, it is definitely trying to imprint a message. I'm just entirely sure what message that is.

What stood out the most to you? Delroy Lindo was awesome. Almost worth watching just to see him kicking ass and taking names.

What mood should I be in to watch this movie? You ran out of crime movies to watch.

What rating did you give it on Netflix? 2 Stars. 

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London to Brighton (2006)

Featuring:  Lorraine Stanley, Georgia Groome, Johnny Harris.

Director: Paul Andrew Williams

I'm not sure why but I have a particular affinity for British crime movies. I think it's got something to do with the accent that you usually associate with gentlemanly class being used for violent purposes. It might also be that there are just some pretty good British crime movies out there like Snatch and Get Carter.

London to Brighton is another good crime-thriller from our friends across the Atlantic that tells the story of a pimp, a prostitute, a crime boss and a 12 year old runaway. I'm sure that from just mentioning the players involved in the movie that you can tell some pretty awful stuff goes down. The story may be a bit cliched but the acting is all really good and the gritty, sometimes frantic style was well done and works well with the genre.

The one gripe I have with the movie doesn't have anything to do with the substance or the acting, but with a stylistic choice the director made. Does every single gritty, independent movie have to do the whole jumping around in time bit? Yea, I get that everyone loves Pulp Fiction (I do too) and that movie influenced a lot of people, but can't we just have a linear story every once in a while for this kind of movie? It's done well sometimes (and it's not like it's down horribly here) but really it's becoming a bit cliched. Aside from that personal rant, overall this is a pretty good flick and you should give it a look if you enjoy the gritty sort of crime movies the British seem to be so good at.

To add this movie to your Netflix queue click here.

According to instantwatcher.com this movie will stream on Netflix until 8/11/2011.

The Standard 5:

Why is it in your queue? I'll be honest, the cover looked cool. The plot sounded somewhat interesting as well.

Is it artsy? No, except for the whole bouncing around the timeline thing.

What stood out the most to you? How easily some people seem to be able to justify doing something horrible.

What mood should I be in to watch this movie? Looking for a crime thriller that will keep you interested and entertained..

What rating did you give it on Netflix? 3 Stars. 

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Bad Boys (1983)

This movie has been in my queue for a while now. I put it in my queue because of Sean Penn and it stayed there for so long because of this incredibly cheesy line in the description: "On the mean streets of Chicago, Mick O'Brien (Sean Penn) plays by the rules -- the wrong rules." That little gem of a sentence just screamed cornball after-school special to me. If it wasn't for an interesting acting job by Penn and the antagonist Esai Morales this probably could have been an unwatchable movie.

Penn and Morales play teenagers trying to make names for themselves on the streets. Each one does pretty awful things to the other and they both end up in a tough juvenile detention facility where most of the movie takes place. It becomes abundantly clear that one of them has to go and the movie builds to an exciting climactic finish.

Despite having a predictable plot, this is a pretty interesting movie thanks to the performances from a couple of good young actors. If you're a fan of crime drams, prison movies or Sean Penn you'll probably want to give this one a shot.

To add this movie to your Netflix queue click here.

According to instantwatcher.com this movie will stream until 7/1/11.

The Standard 5:

Why is it in your queue? Sean Penn.

Is it artsy? Not at all though it did have a sort of cheesy message to bad news teens.

What stood out the most to you? The finale.

What mood should I be in to watch this movie? Looking for a well-acted prison drama.

What rating did you give it on Netflix? 4 Stars.

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