“The Fisher King” to “The Fly”
The Fisher King (1991) One from the heart from Terry Gilliam. A beautiful movie about regret and redemption in which Jeff Bridges and Robin Williams act their little cotton socks off to a wonderful soundtrack. Mercedes Ruehl picked up a Supporting Oscar for her sweet performance. Often described as a modern day fairy tale but it isn’t, really. Rather it’s about the depth of human compassion. Recommended to everyone with an intact soul. (KT)
Fist of Legend (1994) Jet Li remakes Bruce Lee (Fists of Fury) and, dare I say it, surpasses him. The fight scenes are stunning, central to the plot and, unlike many of Lis films, are done without wires or special effects and therefore highlight his timing and acrobatic ability. To put it bluntly, this is one of the best marital arts films ever made. (GS)
A Fistful of Dynamite (1971) The fifth, and least well known, of Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Westerns, which is a tragedy, frankly, as this brilliantly comedic Mexican Revolution saga makes the most of its epic scope and stunning direction. But the casting of Rod Steiger as a Zapata-style revolutionary and James Coburn as an IRA-man whom he befriends is genius. Terrific Ennio Moricone score. (KT)
Flirting (1991) The second in John Duigans Danny Embling Trilogy (the first was The Year My Voice Broke and the third, sadly, never filmed), stars Noah Taylor, Thandie Newton and Nicole Kidman as boarding school students in 1960s Australia. A warm and thoughtful film thats deserving of attention. (GS)
The Fly (1958) For some reason, Al/David Hedison tends to disavow this one. He’s great and Patricia Owen is brilliant as a wife/mom who might be mad or might be pretending or might be both, and of course there’s Vincent Price being worried and supportive. Oh, and Herbert Marshall and his gorgeous voice. Yet another that made its way into our culture and our hearts. “Help meeeeeee Help meeeeeee…” (KCL)
Originally published in Raspberry World – Volume 2, Issue 1 (June/July 2007)