New Rose Hotel

The Tivo grabbed this on its own. I’d never heard of it, but it starred Willem Dafoe and Christopher Walken, so I kept it around six months before I watched it. As it happens, its based on a very short piece by William Gibson. It’s not terribly good, but it’s not outright bad, either. The lead comment at IMDB calls it an “interesting mess,” which is fair.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Who knew George Clooney could direct? The Charlie Kaufman script helps, I’m sure, as does the cast — Sam Rockwell is brilliant, as are Drew Barrymore and Clooney himself. Was Chuck Barris a CIA hitman? Who knows. It hardly matters. The end result is a splendid film.

The Bourne Identity

Drastically better than I expected. Damon sells action in a way that Affleck cannot. Foolishly, I watched the extra behind-the-scenes featurette on the DVD, wherein they refer to how “new” and “fresh” this film is — which is sort of odd, since the same source material was used for a 1988 TV version starring Richard Chamberlin.

Hulk

Ang Lee can do no wrong, but his casting director fucked him. Neither Eric Bana nor Jennifer Connelly can act for shit; only Sam Elliot is right for his role as “Thunderbolt” Ross. There’s also a fantastic moment when Stan Lee and Lou Ferrigno make cameo appearances as security guards. Worth my time, but not spectacular.

D.O.A. (1949)

Noir on parade, complete with femme fatale and snappy dialog. Frankly, the 1988 version is probably better, but isn’t really noir. The 1949 film is an excellent time capsule, and was well worth my time.

Next of Kin

Sue me. I’m sick. It’s one of my favorite bad movies. Oddly, I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen the whole thing before today, since I didn’t realize that its cast includes not just an up-to-then unknown Liam Neeson, but also small roles by Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, and Ben Stiller.

Best In Show (partial)

Yes. Christopher Guest’s accent more than makes up for Neeson’s (above).

Narc

Essentially a debut by Joe Carnahan, this one was made for virtually nothing pretty much because Ray Liotta got involved. Eventually, Tom Cruise took on a production role, Jason Patric signed on, and they had a movie on their hands. It’s a dirty-cop drama, but a very good one. Liotta and Patric turn in great performances, and the cinematography is outstanding.

Next up: Far From Heaven.I mean, after I work some, and watch some bad TV, and sit on the couch sneezing and coughing.