Director: Richard Kelley
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze, and Noah Wyle
What does the engine from a 747 that mysteriously crashes through the ceiling of a surburbian home, Patrick Swayze as a cheesey self-help guru, a six foot tall imaginary demonic bunny, and neurotic teenager Donnie Darko have to do with an eleborate possible time travel conspiracy? And does Donnie really see the dead and a gateway to the afterlife...or is he just crazy? Find out in this mind-f*ck of a flick which is an incredible piece of film by first time director Richard Kelley and quite possibly one of the weirder movies you'll see in a while. Plays like a demented cross between Harvey and Catcher in the Rye, with Stephen King's The Dead Zone thrown in for good measure...I absolutely love it.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Adrian Pasdar, Jenny Wright, Lance Henricksen, Bill Paxton
Forget goth Eurotrash with cheesey accents that reside in Anne Rice novels...the vampires from Near Dark are the real deal, and ten times as scary and likeable. Out of print on VHS for over a decade, and hardly seen during it's theatrical run, the flick reunites most of the cast of Aliens (at the time of it's filming, director Bigelow was married to Jim Cameron , the director of the above mentioned sequel to Ridley Scott's Alien) as a clan of nomadic hill-billy bloodsuckers in one of the most violent (lots of gunplay and gore) vampire flicks around. Real treats are pre-stardom Bill Paxton as the crazy as bat-sh*t Severin and Lance Henricksen as Jessie, the leader of the group who, when asked by star Pasdar about his age, replies, "Let's just say I fought for the South..."
Pasdar: "The South?"
Jessie: "....we lost."
Director: Lance Mungia
Starring: Jeffery Falcon, Justin McGuire
Described as "A Rock 'n' Roll Fairy Tale" by it's creators, Six Sring Samurai caused quite the buzz amongst cult film fans when it was released which continues on to this day. It may not be art...but it sure is fun as hell to watch, but may be an aquired taste.
Set in an alternate future version of the present in which the dirty pinko commies nuked the U.S. in 1957, where in which Las Vegas was the last free city left and Elvis Presley was appointed king, the flick is the story of Buddy, portrayed by Jeffery Falcon, a lone guitar playing samurai wandering the wastelands trying to reach the city of "Lost Vegas" accompanied by "The Kid", a coonskin cap wearing ragamuffin that may be destined for something great. Along the way they encounter other samurai, stereotypical Russian soldiers, cannibals, and Death (who looks lot like Slash from G-n-R), who wants to stop Buddy from becoming the new King of Lost Vegas.
Featuring goofy ska-punk act The Red Elvises in a cameo (they provide the rockabilly guitar soundtrack), it's not a film for everyone...but it's worth a few laughs.
Director: Roman Coppola
Starring: Jeremy Davies, Angela Lindvall, Gerard Depardieu, John Philip Law, Dean Stockwell, Billy Zane
Barbarella fans, be on the look out for this flick. Written and directed by Roman Coppola, son of Francis ( Apocalypse Now, The Godfather) Ford Coppola, CQ is the fictional story of a young film editor (portrayed by one of the most under-rated young actors out there, Jeremy Davies) who is thrust into the world of Codename: Dragonfly, a very campy 1960s sci-fi spy flick (who seems to have been heavily influenced by the aforementioned Jane Fonda film). It's "world" meaning the production of it in 1968 France, when after a dispute with the studio, the flakey French director (Gerard Depardieu) is fired, and Davies is promoted to the director's chair, and...after several bouts of neurotic depression, the actual "world" of Dragonfly herself. The film jumps from the film within a film Codename: Dragonfly (which featured a supporting role for John Philip Law, Mr. Danger: Diabolik himself), Davies' "real world", and Dragonfly's imaginary spy hijinx at a rapid pace. If you can keep up with it, it's a blast. The DVD has the "film" version of Codename included as a special feature, which is almost as fun as watching the flick itself.