More Movies that fans of Todd Solondz ought not to miss

Thanks for your comments. I'm glad you enjoyed some of the movies I recommended. Here are some more (for those who have seen all the other ones)

1. The King of Comedy- This underrated Scorsese picture is the funniest and most subtle (and therefore less mean spirited) of all the films about Tinsle-town (aka Hollywood). This movie is a hilarious movie about what a man will do to reach fame, and also about how the famous are bitter becuase they did not realize what the cost of fame is. It is not as provacative as the other movies I put up, but it is still definatly checking out. Robert De Niro gives his best performance (and that's saying quite a lot) as Rupert Pupkin. The theme behind this film can be summed up in one sentence. When obsessed fan Rupert Pupkin talks to Jerry Langford (played by Jerry Lewis, and yes I don't think he is funny, but thankfully he plays it straight as a dramatic character, and who knew Jerry Lewis could actually act), Rupert says, "I know Jerrry that you are just as human as the rest of us if not more so." The film is filled with many funny lines such as: Rupert: "I made a mistake. Jerry: "So did Hitler".

2. Seven Beauties- This and Swept Away (By An Unuasual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August) are the best foriegn films I have seen. This film is the only Holocaust film I have seen that is not black and white. The main suriviver is just as bad (or quite close) as the Nazi's. Seven Beauties is at once a film about the destruction of a person's soul, what a person will do to survive, what makes someone become evil. The film shows parallels between the prisoners behaviors and the Nazi's and is the only film I have seen that makes one understand why the Nazi's did what they did (and no, not becuase they are crazy). This film was famouos for the writer/director being the first woman directed nominated for an Academy Award. This film is not everyone's cup of tea, but it is a film no one sees can ever forget. I never thought I would see a film that put me into the shoes of a Nazi. Uncomfortable for some, but important.

3. Swept Away (By An Unuasual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August)- Forget the awful Madnonna remake (which I confess I have not seen), this execellent Italian film from the writer and director (same person) who did Seven Beauties (see # 2). Some consider this to be a romance movie, but the main characters hate each other, and though they have sex, the only people who would find this movie romantic are people into S and M. Rather, this film is really about the power and sex and social class differences-- disguized as a "romance movie" if you want to call it that. Swept Away is a sardonically funnny movie that is very similar to movies by Todd Solondz. If there is a foriegn film director who I would compare to Todd Solondz it is Lina Wertmuller (the director of films 2 and 3 on this list). Wertmuller's character's are also full of both pros and cons; and I can see a little bit of myself in these character's too (even if I don't want to). This movie is a hilarous movie, but it is a movie a lot of feminists don't like (since it portrays women, as people who look for a guy with power and money, even if they are *beep* This movie is about role reversals, and it starts with a rich women, and here poor servant on the yacht, than they get stranded on an island, and he decides to switch roles. Since he has the skills to catch fish and find shelter, and she can't do this (some say becuase she is a woman and he is a man, but I think the gender differences are only there to rile Conservatives; but for a different reason, which I will let you figure out (I feel I am telling to much already). Enjoy, and if you are an anti-feminstist (which you don't have to be to enjoy the movie) you will like the movie even more.

I know I only gave three new films, but that is enough for know, let me here your thoughts on these (and the the films from my first posting) films, and what you liked and didn't like about them, so I know what type of movies I can recommend for next time. Well, anyway, enjoy. And films 3 and 4 are worth owning, Live dangerously, you can by both of them on dvd for $20 each on amazon.com (I did) if you can't find them. Although if you are a member of the NY Public Library, go to nypl.org and reverse them, that is where I was able to see them.