Code 46
Director Michael Winterbottom makes the most of his visually interesting settings below the fanciful Shanghai skyline in this near-future science-fiction drama. Tim Robbins stars as an insurance investigator (aided by an “empathy virus”) lost in the corporate labyrinth of a society like our own but worse—entangled in an uncaring global economy, environmental degradation, genetic engineering and the power to medically eliminate memories. Samantha Morton co-stars and the wonderful Om Puri plays a supporting role.
The Decline of Western Civilization / The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years
Director Penelope Spheeris remains best known for Wayne’s World, but broke into filmmaking with a subcultural documentary, The Decline of Western Civilization (1981). Her subject: Los Angeles’ nascent hardcore scene where musicians scoffed at rock stars and the audience filled mosh pits. Decline vividly records the early days of X, Black Flag and less remembered bands. Part II: The Metal Years (1988) focuses on the wave of aggressive metal led by Megadeth and Faster Pussycat.
Cop
The inept burglar phoning in a 911 from a payphone provides a comical opening for Cop (1988). The crook stumbled onto a scene of gruesome carnage; James Woods plays the LAPD detective dispatched to the crime scene. Based on a James Ellroy novel, the story follows Woods down a dark hole of corrupt cops and sex crimes. When his superiors balk at his investigation, the tightly wound detective goes seriously rogue in this hardboiled drama.
Pressure Point
In the Freudian drama Pressure Point (1962), Sidney Poitier stars as a World War II psychiatrist confronted by a psychopathic racist played by Bobby Darin (of all people!). The setting is a federal penitentiary, where the pro-Nazi Darin is imprisoned for sedition. Stanley Kramer produced this cinematic essay on the pathological roots of totalitarianism featuring a tense jazz score (plus spooky theremin) and intriguing visualizations of Darin’s memories under psychoanalysis. Peter Falk plays a flustered psychiatrist
