I don't know if I have shared it at all, but I have a bit of what you might call, eclectic tastes. I love music of all kinds, from classic jazz to classic rock. I love foods of all different kinds from sushi to arroz con habichuelas. And so it shouldn't really come as a surprise that in the span of a week I could enjoy a dark romantic comedy directed by Terry Gilliam as well as a pair of Roger Corman gore flicks and throw in a politically subversive satire/mockumentary from Tim Robbins.
First, was Bob Roberts, which not only starred Tim Robbins as a right-wing, folk singing, senatorial candidate, but was written and directed by him as well. As a satire, it was fairly astute in its approach, though I think the mockumentary device has been sorely overused. Don't get me wrong, I love This Is Spinal Tap, and have enjoyed some of Christopher Guest's other work, but much of the rest has just felt like a cheap imitation. Even some of Guest's own work feels like a poor substitute for his early triumphs. Of course, Guest was not the first to attempt this mode of comedy. Albert Brooks did it before Spinal Tap with Real Life, the 1979 spoof of the PBS series An American Family, a disturbing precursor to reality TV that brought audiences inside the home of the Loud Family (yes their name really was Loud). Bob Roberts does seem to work about as well as any of these other films works, drawing out characters through interviews, public appearances and best of all, the corny, troubador style stage performances. Since the character's folk singing is part of the schtick, plenty of time is spent working up some really incendiary conservative talking points into gleeful sing alongs. Depending on your own political bent, I could imagine it being either frighteningly accurate or insultingly oversimplified, or I suppose for some, well, music to one's ears. I found the commentary embedded within the lyrics to be fairly on point, even 17 years after its release.
On to Roger Corman, which, if I have a guilty pleasure, might as well be stuff of this ilk. I got a double feature which inlcluded the rather brief, and twisted, horror flick A Bucket of Blood, and the slightly more polished Bloody Mama. I say slightly more polished, because though I would say the second has significantly better production values and acting, it's always a relative term with any Corman production. To date, he has directed 55 films and produced nearly 400, and has been quoted as saying that the most important aspect of making a film is to turn a profit, or something to that effect. That's not to say that he doesn't want to make entertaining films. He has certainly succeeded in that, producing some truly unforgettable film moments. But to Corman, there is no point in spending loads of money on effects or any other aspect of the production when these costs cannot be recouped. Nonetheless, he always manages to do something interesting with limited resources. Notable in Bloody Mama is a young Robert De Niro, a sinister Bruce Dern and the mama herself, Shelley Winters. If you haven't seen anything by Corman, you should see at least one of his films. I suggest Death Race 2000, with a post Kung Fu David Carradine and a pre Rocky Sylvester Stallone, before he was a star. He didn't direct this one, but he produced it, and it definitely has his sensibilities written all over it. Another good bet is any one of the several Edgar Allen Poe adaptations he directed, with Vincent Price as the star, including a semi-comedic stab at The Raven, complete with a fully coifed Jack Nicholson and Peter Lorre as a part-time raven.
Last, I saw The Fisher King, which was not what I would say is one of Terry Gilliam's best films, though still worth going back to check out. It's one of those films that unless you are a big fan of Gilliam's work, you might overlook. Personally, I think aside from the inimitable humor of his Monty Python days, his best work as a director is clearly the trilogy which included Time Bandits, Brazil and The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen. This film includes much of the imaginitive look and fantasy of those films, but with a more conventional storyline. Don't be fooled by the oversimplified description of a dark romantic comedy. That doesn't begin to describe it. At times, it feels more like a psychotic episode, with good reason. Robin Williams plays a character haunted by paranoid delusions and Gilliam does a phenomenal job of bringing the audience into his world. Jeff Bridges turns in an equally compelling performance, with ample support from Mercedes Rhuel, Amanda Plummer and a cadre of crazies and bums, none of which disappoint.
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