Melissa Kaercher

Every Monday, each of us will suggest a film that we feel too few people have seen.

Melissa’s Pick of the Week: Sorcerer

Whenever someone starts complaining about remakes being no good, I bring up Sorcerer. Sorcerer is a 1970’s remake of the French suspense classic The Wages of Fear, one of my favorite films of all time. Sorcerer is different enough from the original to be its own thing, and thus it is amazing in its own right as well as being a worthy heir to the Wages of Fear mantle.

Sorcerer is a film about a team of down-and-out foreigners in South America, whose luck turns when an oil well catches fire. The only way to extinguish the oil fire is an explosion that will smother the flames, and the only way to generate that explosion is to haul a couple trucks full of dynamite over the mountains. The problem is that the dynamite is leaking nitroglycerine, which will explode upon experiencing any physical shock. Thus, the team of men who drive these trucks very carefully over the dangerous mountain road must be both money-hungry and expendable, and so that’s where our protagonists come in.

The film is a master class in tension, and it would probably be a classic of the 1970s if it weren’t for the fact that it opened in theaters against a little movie called Star Wars. Did I mention it was directed by The French Connection‘s William Friedkin? And it has Roy Scheider. And a bizarro soundtrack by Tangerine Dream. And a brand-new, gorgeous Blu-Ray release. Yeah, you should see this one.

Windy’s Pick of the Week: Main Hoon Na

Continuing with my Bollywood recommendations, this is an accessible film for a first time Bollywood viewer. Starring the incomparable Shah Rukh Khan, this is a spy/action/fish-out-of-water/prodigal son movie. It’s Bollywood, so it is ALL THE GENRES! Shah Rukh stars as the super spy sent undercover as a college student to protect a government muckety-muck’s daughter. The action scenes are beautifully over-the-top, some wonderful visual comedy (especially the violins!), plus Shah Rukh Khan cries more beautifully than any man ever.

Every Monday, each of us will suggest a film that we feel too few people have seen.

Windy’s Pick of the Week: Kal Ho Na Ho

It’s time to start recommending Bollywood to you. Kal Ho Naa Ho is an excellent starting point for Bollywood – it’s got high production values, and a star-studded cast (if you know your Bollywood stars). Shah Rukh Khan is arguably the biggest movie star in the world, if you go by number of people who know his name. Preity Zinta is his love interest. There are complications, and dance numbers, and a lot of drama. It’s Bollywood, and Bollywood means a little bit of everything – comedy, drama, hijinks, slapstick.

I recommend watching with subtitles since I do believe a lot of the emotional nuance gets lost with dubbing – and the Hindi language is just so beautiful.

Melissa’s Pick of the Week: Hausu (aka House)

You get a two-fer of foreign films this week! Hausu is one of the strangest films I’ve ever seen in my life, and as you know, I’ve seen some pretty strange stuff. This Japanese haunted house movie from the late 1970’s involves seven young girls who visit a rural house for a vacation. Of course, the house is possessed. Director Nobuhiko Ôbayashi wanted to make a movie that tapped into primal fears, so he asked his own young daughter about what frightened her, and then put that on the screen. The result is both weirdly stylish and downright surreal. If you can, track down the Criterion Collection release of this film — the restoration is beautiful.

Every Monday, each of us will suggest a film that we feel too few people have seen.

Melissa’s Pick of the Week: The Final Member

This film just hit streaming channels, so now I can share it with you.

So, there’s this museum in Iceland called the Icelandic Phallogical Museum, where curator Sigurður “Siggi” Hjartarson collects, well, penises. This documentary begins with him lamenting that he has examples of penises throughout the animal kingdom, but he still does not yet have what should be the jewel in the museum’s crown: a human penis. He then begins a search for a donor, and finds an American man who insists that he wants to donate his penis right now… and that’s when the communication starts to go awry.

This strange film is fascinating primarily for the interactions of its major players; the penises is simply the environment wherein this whole situation happens. Funny and bizarre. If you’re not squeamish about seeing penises in a documentary, check out this movie.

Windy’s Pick of the Week: The Witches

Based on a Roald Dahl story, this adaptation comes off more true to the author’s original tone than the more well-known Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  The movie is alternately scary, bizarre, funny, and fantastical.  Angelica Huston has a diabolical good time, and you will too!