The Day of the Locust (1975)

The Day of the Locust is based on the novel of the same name which is on several lists of Greatest novels of the 20th Century. The story is an unromantic look at the often romanticized Golden age of Hollywood in the 1920s and 30s. The movie shows the seedy side of Hollywood and also shows what happens to all those people who went into Hollywood to fulfill  their dreams, only to see Hollywood become their land of broken dreams. Burgess Meredith was nominated for an Oscar as alcoholic former vaudevillian father of Karen Black's character, who never quite made it to the big time. The movie not only shows unfulfilled dreams, but everywhere throughout the film there are signs of the darker side of Hollywood, one of the first scenes of the film shows a tour group at the famous Hollywood sign in Los Angeles, and the tour guide is talking about all the people that have jumped off the letters and committed suicide. Later a set collapses during the shooting of a film showing the more dangerous side of Hollywood, and you get to see the more inhuman side when you find out that even if anybody would have died in the collapse it wouldn't have mattered to the producers of the film. But no matter what the film is showing whether it's a cockfight or an androgynous child mocking the films main characters in song, the cinematography is at once gorgeous, and gritty. Another main element of the story is the film's female lead Karen Black who is pretty much single handedly responsible for the film's at times overwhelming sexuality. Black plays a woman who's fickle character is best described as a combination between Scarlet O'hara, Blanche from Streetcar Named Desire, and Jenny from Forest Gump, so in other words every mans downfall/worst nightmare. She and her carelessness (this is from a man's point of view mind you) with her sexuality is at least partially responsible for ruining most of the film's male's lives, or at least breaking their hearts. If for nothing else her inability to decide what she wants and the consequences that has to the people around her, makes for an interesting psychological study. The film has since become a cult classic for several  reasons: the cast is amazing, Burgess Meredith, Karen Black, Donald Sutherland, Billy Barty, Geraldine

  Page, Jackie Earle Haley as a ten year old in drag, William Atherton, and a cameo by the great B-movie director William Castle; and then the dynamics of the main male characters (I feel a connection with both and I think a lot of people might), and of course the ending. This film has an epic horrific LSD inspired nightmare of an ending that takes the film from a look at the darker side of Hollywood, to an over the top symbolic representation of an inhuman dog-eat-dog world. That attack on that age of Hollywood  may be a bit harsh in my opinion but it's how the author and the director wanted it portrayed. This film is directed by John Schelisinger (Midnight Cowboy, Marathon Man,  Pacific Heights) and the film has a lavish score composed by five time Oscar winning John Barry (the James bond theme). I highly enjoyed it though except for the very ending, and even though it is long it builds and builds and makes the climax worth waiting for. I give it a 5/5 from a technical standpoint, and a 4.5/5 as for my enjoyment of the film. You can watch the trailer below:

Inside Moves (1980)

This is a ridiculously underrated film that is one of the most inspirational films I've ever seen and is now one of my favorites. The film is about Roary a man who is crippled (he has a bum leg) from a failed suicide attempt and how he finds meaning in his life through meeting other "cripples" at the local bar, a veteran with no hands (played by academy award winning real life veteran Harold Russell), a blind man, a man in a wheelchair, a woman who is a druggie and prostitute, and his bestfriend Jerry (emmy nominated actor David Morse) who also has a leg problem and dreams of becoming a professional basketball player. If you are depressed this film is a great cure for it, this film is a great reminder that no matter who you are not only could things always be worse, but dreams can and do come true with hope and hard work and perseverance. The movie is so much more than what I'm saying here, but you'll just have to watch it for yourself to find out. The film was directed by Richard Donner (Superman II, The Goonies, The Omen, Lethal Weapons 1-4) and he said this is probably the film he holds most dear. The musical score is wonderful and understated most of the time, the music was composed by legendary five time Oscar winning composer John Barry (most known for Out of Africa, Born Free and the James Bond theme). There aren't any big name stars but the entire cast is terrific, one of the actresses was nominated for an Oscar (Diana Scarwid) but this whole film should have been nominated for a bunch of oscars. I give it a most definite 5/5;

Badlands (1973)

Terence Malick has only directed six movies in the last 40 years, and Badlands (1973) was his first film. The film is based on a real life murder spree committed by the young couple of Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate while travelling across the US in the 1950s. All of Terence Malick's films are critically acclaimed with very little to no negative reviews and I won't break the chain. Martin Sheen (father of Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez) and Sissy Spacek (the Original Carrie) are great in their respective roles: Sheen as a mentally delusional trigger happy emotionless anton Shugar (No Country For Old Men)-like character, who is simultaneously a James Dean lookalike/wannabe and mixed up youth, and Spacek as the mixed up naive 15 year old Sheen takes along on his ride. The film is beautiful visually, shot in the Badlands of South Dakota, and in telling it's story: the murders and murderers are not glorified, rather we see how delusional sheen's character is and the rise and fall of his relationship with Spacek as she realizes how crazy he really is. Think Bonnie & Clyde with Bonnie being a whole lot less involved. The film is now part of the Criterion Collection. I give it a 5/5. You can view the trailer below I recommend stopping around 2:02 though, because the rest of the trailer is pretty revealing of the rest of the movie: