DVD

Somebody in Hollywood thought there was some fish-out-of-water potential in this teaming of wild man Woody Harrelson and slow-burning Kiefer Sutherland as a pair of New Mexico cowboys who go to New York to tame the wild, wild, uh … East. Well, they were mistaken, because this 1994 action-comedy is little more than a tiresome reworking of Crocodile Dundee. Woody and Kiefer head for the Big Apple to rescue the illegal-immigrant daughter of one of their rodeo buddies (who has mysteriously disappeared), and what they discover is a sweatshop operation run by a hot-tempered thug (Dylan McDermott, before his role on TV’s The Practice). That’s when the boys start using their ropin’ and shootin’ skills to foil the bad guys. One measure of this film’s credibility is the inevitable scene of the boys riding on horseback through the gridlocked streets of Manhattan. Uh huh. You know how it goes… you just have to go with it or marvel at the sheer stupidity of it all. Of course, forget all the sniping if you’re a fan of Harrelson or Sutherland — they’re both doing their best under the burden of disadvantage.

Where to find the Twin Towers:

Definitely on the DVD cover (pictured); does anyone know if the WTC is seen in the film itself?

DVD

When Dr. Henry Harriston (William Hurt) makes the uncharacteristically spontaneous decision to swap apartments with someone in Paris, he opens his life up to the possibility of new things. The woman who answers his ad is Beatrice Saulnier (Juliette Binoche), a dancer looking for respite from an onslaught of lovesick admirers. In New York, Beatrice inadvertently finds herself analyzing Henry’s patients through a series of misunderstandings on their part that she is his replacement during his vacation. With help from her friend-secretary Anne (Stephanie Buttle), she continues Henry’s practice and brings light and happiness to his patients, until Henry himself — who has returned early to New York — shows up and, his curiosity piqued by what seems to be going on, gains access to Beatrice as John Wire, a supposed patient of himself. What follows, and how it ends, makes for perhaps the most charming romantic comedy to come along in ages, and rivals the great The Shop Around the Corner, Ernst Lubitsch’s 1940 film. Binoche is impossibly charming, Hurt creates a wondrously believable suppressed psychoanalyst reborn through love, and Chantal Akerman as director pulls it all together with deft skill.

Where to find the Twin Towers:

Definitely on the DVD cover (pictured); does anyone know if the WTC is seen in the film itself?

VHS

 
Peter Falk, Dianne Wiest, Emily Lloyd, Michael V. Gazzo, Brenda Vaccaro. Director: Susan Seidelman.

Comedy about a young, lively Italian-American woman and her ex-convict father who sting the Mafia and the law.

Where to find the Twin Towers:

Definitely on the VHS cover (there is no DVD in release), and on the original poster (pictured). Does anyone know if the WTC is seen in the film itself?

DVD

Was author Whitley Strieber telling the truth about extraterrestrial visitations in his bestselling book, Communion? Perhaps no one can really prove or disprove it, making the enigma of Strieber himself more interesting than his allegations. That’s precisely the angle taken by this film adaptation, in which Christopher Walken’s richly eccentric performance becomes a fascinating portrait of something more important than rumors of alien abduction — that is, human resistance and surrender to transformation. The script does an end run around the deductive process and research Strieber employed in his book to substantiate his claims. Instead, the story concentrates on the impact of those experiences on Strieber’s own psyche: the disbelief, the repressed memories, the mounting helplessness and futility as the years go by.

Walken makes it all terribly compelling, from his childlike compliance to the diminutive aliens who turn up in his home at night to an unexpected story climax in which Strieber demystifies the little buggers on his own surprisingly comic terms. The supporting cast is terrific, including Lindsay Crouse as Strieber’s concerned wife, Frances Sternhagen as a doctor, and Joel Carlson as Strieber’s son. This is not an offering that panders to today’s alleged abductees, but rather a study of a sole survivor who finds his peace on his own terms.

Where to find the Twin Towers:

Definitely on the DVD cover (pictured); does anyone know if the WTC is seen in the film itself?

DVD (2003)

This complex 1996 drama directed by Harold Becker (Sea of Love) attempts to explore big-city corruption and the flexibility of what’s right and wrong in the political arena. John Cusack (Say Anything) plays the senior aide to mayor John Pappas (Al Pacino), a popular and seasoned politician whose administration is threatened when what seems to be an accidental shooting of a child reveals a nest of corruption and lifelong personal debts that tests Cusack’s loyalty to the man he thought he knew. Pacino turns in a finely textured performance as a man who has his own lofty ideals, but whose pragmatism sets in motion a series of events with tragic results. Cusack admirably captures the essence of someone polished and savvy at his job who must cope with fundamental disillusionment. This political thriller suffers at times from a lack of focus, but still offers an insightful and poignant treatise on the quagmire of politics in the modern age and the human toll it sometimes exacts.

Where to find the Twin Towers:

Definitely on the DVD cover; does anyone know if the WTC is seen in the film itself?

VHS (1997)

DVD (2003)

Michael J. Fox plays the most sympathetic cocaine addict you’ve ever seen in the movie of Jay McInerney’s popular novel Bright Lights, Big City, the book that famously chronicled the coke- and cash-fueled era of the 1980s. Jamie Conway (Fox) works as a fact-checker for a major New York magazine, but because he spends his nights partying with his glib best friend (Kiefer Sutherland), he’s on the verge of getting fired. His wife, a fast-rising model (Phoebe Cates), just left him; he’s still reeling from the death of his mother (Dianne Wiest) a year earlier; and he’s obsessed with a tabloid story about a pregnant woman in a coma. …

Where to find the Twin Towers:

I believe there’s at least one establishing shot of the twins (can someone help me out on this?); I know the WTC is pictured on the cover of the VHS (above), but not on the DVD.

DVD

Steven Spielberg produced this underwhelming 1986 effort at a slapstick spin on Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. The pre-Oscar Tom Hanks stars with Shelley Long as a married couple whose efforts to finish construction on their home are sabotaged by costly and sporadically funny accidents. The unfinished domicile becomes a metaphor for their troubled relationship, as evidenced by Long’s character’s attraction to a madman violinist (Alexander Godunov). Hanks is the only reason at this point to check this film out. Richard Benjamin (My Favorite Year) directs but with no flair or distinction.

Where to find the Twin Towers:

[The Money Pit] features the Twin Towers in the opening credits and also during the film. I haven’t seen it for a few years, but I’m sure the WTC towers feature in a few background shots.

Christian Slater plays Lewis, a florist who looks up one night during one of his habitual nocturnal walks and spies Mary Stuart Masterson weeping in a window. The next day he follows her to work and delivers a gorgeous arrangement of posies, leaving her guessing as to the identity of her secret admirer. We must wonder why Lewis pursues her with abandon, as Masterson’s character Lisa seems nothing but a dull workaholic. Well, okay, she’s also neurotic. First-time director-writer Michael Goldenberg’s lopsided script lets us see the psychic damage harbored by both of the main characters, but doesn’t make Lisa interesting enough to warrant all the attention heaped upon her, whereas Lewis is a model of perfection. …

Where to find the Twin Towers:

A movie that my husband took me to on our very first date has various shots of The WTC in it. The movie is Bed of Roses with Mary Stewart Masterson and Christian Slater. I didnt see it on the list so I thought I would email it to you…thanks a bunch for doing this.

DVD

If you’ve ever indulged a rock & roll fantasy, Rock Star will give you the vicarious thrill of seeing that fantasy come to life. That’s what happens when talented tribute-band singer Chris Cole (Mark Wahlberg) is tapped to replace his idol as frontman for 1980s metal gods Steel Dragon. Chris becomes the groupie-laden “Izzy,” his manager girlfriend (Jennifer Aniston) grows weary of sex ‘n’ drugs on tour, and Rock Star plays out its utterly conventional plot line. Despite the casting of real rockers to support Wahlberg’s underrated performance (nicely matched by Aniston and Timothy Spall as Steel Dragon’s road manager), his character is too rigidly written to follow an obligatory rise and fall, and even its basis in fact (inspired by Tim “Ripper” Owens’s recruitment into Judas Priest) can’t conceal the movie’s predictable formula. As a cautionary tale it’s routine, but as a leather-pants love story, Rock Star’s got enough good karma to keep its dream alive.

Where to find the Twin Towers:

Only in the trailer. No shots of the WTC were edited out of the film, but there is one quick shot in the original trailer (left).