QUICK FIX Movies To Watch #91-95

QUICK FIX Movies To Watch #91-95 are meant to mess with your head

QUICK FIX Movies To Watch is a weekly column of mixed movie suggestions for both the avid film fan and the casual movie-goer. Dive in, swim around a little bit, and come up with a new movie or two you think is worth watching. They’re all great!

This week’s QUICK FIX takes a look at Bug, Where the Buffalo Roam, Waking Life, A Scanner Darkly, and Lucky Number Slevin. Read more about why you should watch them as soon as you can after the jump!

QUICK FIX Movie To Watch #91: Bug

Release: 2006    Rating: R    Director: William Friedkin

Stars: Ashley Judd, Michael Shannon, Harry Connick Jr., Lynn Collins

Before Michael Shannon was Zod, and long after Ashley Judd was relevant (sorry Ashley), William Friedkin brought the two together to make this wildly twisted mind game of a movie. Bug plays with conceptions of reality, and what it means to muddle them up with some conspiracy theory and hillbilly know how. The atmosphere established is vividly ambiguous in the best way, and at the end of the film there are two very clear choices as to what could have happened. Bug is the kind of movie that makes you make the choice, and depending on how much you’re willing to believe you could come out the other end of the tunnel a little bewildered.

HIDDEN GEM: Michael Shannon is always a treat, and seeing him before he really hit the spotlight is a preview of what we’ve come to expect from such a great actor.

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QUICK FIX Movie To Watch #92: Where the Buffalo Roam

Release: 1980    Rating: R    Director: Art Linson

Stars: Bill Murray, Peter Boyle, Bruno Kirby, R.G. Armstrong

Bill Murray took a crack at deciphering the crazed brain of Hunter S. Thompson almost 20 years before Johnny Depp cemented the character on screen in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Where the Buffalo Roam is a Murray’s take on the man, and if you’ve come to know Thompson mostly through Depp’s performance than you may be pleasantly surprised by Murray’s incarnation. Granted, it’s a film from 1980, and everything’s just a little rougher around the edges. That said, Peter Boyle as Thompson’s famed lawyer is different yet familiarly eccentric, and Murray’s Thompson fills the mold rather well. Where the Buffalo Roam is worth the watch if only to see another chapter from the mind of easily one of the greatest madmen to ever walk the planet.

HIDDEN GEM: Murray’s Thompson is able to trash a hotel room like a professional, and his days of drug-fueled football are only the tip of the iceberg.

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QUICK FIX Movie To Watch #93: Waking LIfe

Release: 2001    Rating: R    Director: Richard Linklater

Stars: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Wiley Wiggins, Adam Goldberg

Waking Life is less a well-paced movie and more an adventure into the wild world of dreaming. Granted, things get a lot stranger in dreams than what we see on screen, but the uniquely stylized animation over live action lends a hand in creating a surreal aesthetic. Director Richard Linklater explores the inbetween of dreams, high-level interpretations and dissections of various understandings, and one young man’s struggle to determine if he’s ever truly awake. Waking Life is not a popcorn munching, sit back and watch the action kind of movie. It’s a reflective introspection that might just challenge how you view a few aspects of your own life. That said, I’ve also heard it called pretentious at times, but most art worth talking about usually is.

HIDDEN GEM: From start to finish, Waking Life’s colors and shifts in tone, as different artists take on different scenes, create a truly dream-like state, and watching each new conversation completely unfold is exciting and engaging. Each scene could easily be it’s own short film.

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QUICK FIX Movie To Watch #94: Lucky Number Slevin

Release: 2006    Rating: R    Director: Paul McGuigan

Stars: Bruce Willis, Josh Hartnett, Ben Kingsley, Morgan Freeman, Lucy Liu, Stanley Tucci

For a long while ensemble cast films were a treat that came around every few years to remind us how cool seeing great actors together on screen could be. Unfortunately, nowadays the gimmick seems to be trying to pull as many familiar faces together as often as possible, and these days it’s more a sad attempt at nostalgic good feelings than anything else. In between the greatness of “the good old days” and the ludicrousness of today we got Lucky Number Slevin. It was clever. It was funny. It had a little bit of heart and a handful of recognizable faces, and when all was said and done the movie turned out a lot better than most with the same style.

HIDDEN GEM: Easily the cutest and quirkiest Lucy Liu you’ve seen in a while. Also, the mystery is pretty fun the first time around.

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QUICK FIX Movie To Watch #95: A Scanner Darkly

Release: 2006    Rating: R    Director: Richard Linklater

Stars: Woody Harrelson, Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr., Winona Ryder, Rory Cochrane

A Scanner Darkly was Richard Linklater’s second attempt at a rotoscoped (animation over live action) feature film, and this time around he got the help of some pretty amazing talent. With Waking Life (above) Linklater seemed to be experimenting with story structure and just sort of meandering from conversation to conversation. A Scanner Darkly has the strength of being molded after the Phillip K. Dick novel of the same name, and having that story to craft characters around makes all the difference. If you haven’t read the book the movie will be a fine foray into Dick’s material, and if you have read the book you’ll be happy with the adaptation.

HIDDEN GEM: Robert Downey Jr. is simply despicable, and watching him play a fidgety, backstabbing drug addict is a nice change of pace from the suave billionaire we’ve gotten used to seeing.

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