touch of evil Tagged Articles at Cinematical

This week Richard Linklater's Me and Orson Welles is finally making its way to the big screen. It's not a big buzzed-about film, but it is, indeed, one worthy of your time. The movie offers a peek at Efron's possible future (which the abysmal 17 Again completely failed to do), a delightful look into creating art in the '30s, and it recreates the nuances of theater on the big screen. And hey, it's a Linklater film, which seems to be painfully rare these days.

But none of those reasons are why I urge you to see it. It all rests on the shoulders of actor Christian McKay, who plays Orson Welles. I missed the film at TIFF, and spent the next year listening to raves over McKay's performance before I finally got the chance to make it to a screening. Even with the rave reviews and raised expectations, it was quite easy to get mesmerized by McKay, who not only bears an uncanny resemblance to the iconic actor and filmmaker, but also adeptly embodies the man's larger-than-life ways.

To get the full experience, you must be familiar with Welles, and if you're not, well, good lord, now's the time to change that. What follows are some of Welles' essential work, as well as glimpses into the man's real life so you can see just how good McKay's performance is.

Okay, really this should be more of a top 100 list, so these seven are more "off the top of my head" than any kind of definitive selection. There are several kinds of Oscar snubs. There are talented actors, artists and filmmakers who have never been nominated, and others who have been nominated many times and never won. There are great films that received one or two nominations in minor categories (Vertigo, Singin' in the Rain) and great films that received none at all. The ones I've chosen here are the ones that, especially in retrospect, seem like the most obvious omissions.

1. Naomi Watts in Mulholland Drive (2001)
Watts did receive a nomination two years later for 21 Grams, though that was clearly a case of making up for this mistake. In 2001, no one gave a slyer or more canny performance, in any film, in any category. Watts not only plumbed the depths of her soul for material, but also stretched to two opposite extremes of the character's personality, making up the two parts of this great, enigmatic film. It was historically important that Halle Berry won the Oscar that year, but considering the other nominees: Renee Zellweger (Bridget Jones's Diary), Sissy Spacek (In the Bedroom), Judi Dench (Iris) and Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge), Watts' snub is a real head-scratcher.

Above: You Don't Mess with the Zohan, The Happening, Sleeping Beauty

You Don't Mess with the Zohan
Adam Sandler wandering into topical territory, actually making sense, and stll making the funny? I was surprised too! Don't worry, he still packs in plenty of juvenile gags about the outlandish size of his package and drags in every ancient ethnic stereotype possible, but as an Israeli intelligence operative who wants to become a hairdresser, he pulls off the neat trick of creating a completely silly character in a wish-fulfillment scenario that, well, nearly everyone wants to see. Rent it. Available rated (theatrical cut) on a single-disc DVD and unrated in single-disc and double-disc DVD editions. The Blu-ray includes both the rated and unrated versions.

The Happening
Maybe the inclusion of "over 1 hour of intense bonus footage not shown in theaters!" -- extended versions of "Lion Attack" and Survivalist Porch" among them -- will convert me. Maybe I'll watch M. Night Shyamalan's first R-rated horror flick again some day to see if it still makes me roll my eyes and laugh out loud at scenes that were evidently intended to make me shiver in my seat. Maybe one day pigs will fly. Skip it. Available on DVD and Blu-ray with deleted scenes and "making of" features.

Sleeping Beauty
Scott Weinberg has already written about the awesomeness of the new edition of Disney's animated treasure on Blu-ray. This is a classic no-brainer, a movie that both young and old can dip back into time and again. Buy it. Available on DVD and Blu-ray.

After the jump: Indies on DVD, Blu-ray, and Collector's Corner. Join us, won't you?

I've lost count of how many times these movies have been released on DVD, but (wow) I don't own any of 'em yet, so here's a perfect excuse. DVDActive has the (very thorough) information on Universal's upcoming "Legacy Series" editions of (ready?) Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window, Vertigo, and Psycho! Each package is a two-disc affair, complete with all sorts of goodies both old and new. (Yes, I love film historian audio commentaries. Sue me.)

Street date for all three releases is October 7, and if you'd like a complete listing of what each disc offers you can click one of these: Rear Window, Vertigo, Psycho. Also from Universal Home Video on October 7 ... it isn't Hitchcock, but it sure is awesome: Orson Welles' 1958 mega-classic Touch of Evil, which is a whole lot more than one impressive tracking shot, believe me. Like the Hitch titles, Touch will come complete with all sorts of new bells and whistles. Plus all four of the DVD covers are all sorts of retro-cool. Can't wait to dig through these discs.

What happens when men in blue, sworn to protect and to serve, fly out of control? If we're lucky, we get a good movie out of it. If we're really lucky, we get a larger than life character to cheer and to fear. Are you feeling lucky, punk?

Keanu Reaves, of all people, will follow in the steel-toed shoes of some of cinema's finest as a cop who goes on an avenging rampage in David Ayer's Street Kings, which opens tomorrow. That made me reflect on my favorite out of control cinematic cops, men in blue who break free from the laws of god and man. Let us know who we missed in the comments section. But be nice, or we'll track you down and crack you over the head with a night stick.

1. Clint Eastwood, Dirty Harry

Clint is so cool as Harry Callahan that he can just glare at bad guys and they give themselves up. Dirty Harry never met a criminal he couldn't beat up, a sergeant he couldn't hate, or a partner he couldn't get killed. He can't help it: he married justice a long time ago and the blind old bat won't leave him alone until he takes out the garbage. Don't even think about getting in his way: he solved the Zodiac killings in 102 minutes! Dirty Harry paved the way for several sequels and countless gruff, lone wolf outlaw police detectives.

Though he was much better know as a television actor, Dennis Weaver made an indelible impression on movie audiences as the nervous hotel manager in Orson Welles' Touch of Evil. In a performance that some think was an inspiration for Anthony Perkins' Norman Bates (Psycho came out two year later), Weaver made his ostensibly minor character into a figure so unpredictable and oddly threatening that he imbued his scenes with Janet Leigh with an undeniable, frightening tension.

Apart from that single, unforgettable performance, Weaver's career was made on television, often in westerns. He received an Emmy during his nine year stint as the faithful Chester Goode on Gunsmoke, and also starred in Gentle Ben and McCloud. Respected by his peers, Weaver was elected to a single term as president of the Screen Actors Guild, a post he held in the early 1970s.

Weaver died on Friday at his home in Colorado; he was 81.