Il Sorpasso (June 19th and 21st at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[IL SOPRASSO screens Thursday June 19th at 7:45 pm and Saturday June 21st at 5:00 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

Wow, twice in two weeks, two black-and-white movies from the early 1960s that most of you have never heard of (one that I confess I had never heard of), with not a bit of CGI. Yet they gave me more entertainment value than whatever sequel or superhero junk made millions at the multiplexes. And both were scheduled at the illustrious Cleveland Cinematheque, run by John Ewing. Gee, can there be a subtle lesson here?

Yes: Hollywood must work harder on even more expensive and action-filled superhero movies. That's the only lesson most filmmakers and moviegoers will take home.

Lost in Thailand (now on video)

[LOST IN THAILAND is now available on home video.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

I've been very bad this year about going to see the mainstream blockbusters, the sort of prefab Hollywood "event" product that rules for a weekend. I didn't even get around to watching the Cleveland-connected DRAFT DAY or CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, sorry. And the rest of the commercial junk (comic-book superhero sequels, basically) has gotten along without me in the audience. Which is just fine. Movie tickets are out of my range anyway.

Still, even as I keep a steady intake of decent-quality alt-cinema, foreign imports and documentaries, O my brothers, I confess that sometimes I do wonder what a crummy first-run popular "entertainment" actually still feels like. Verily, I felt a strange pull to want to see TRANSCENDENCE, THE OTHER WOMAN, OCULUS or FADING GIGOLO, just to confirm for myself that I wasn't missing anything.

My jones for PG-13 style proletarian pablum was satisfied unexpectedly by LOST IN THAILAND. I am given to understand that this middlebrow farce was a smash in its native China, amounting to that nation's top-grossing comedy hit to date. And they've got all the jobs and pretty much own America now, so that counts for something. I think it might have even gotten a token release in some USA theaters in 2013 prior to hitting the video racks (our DVD and Blu-ray players all being made in China, of course).

The Guilt Trip

Review by Pete Roche

The passengers in road trip movies are usually best buds or soul-mates (THELMA & LOUISE), mismatched professionals (MIDNIGHT RUN), or happenstance polar opposites whose Oscar and Felix personalities test each others’ limits (PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES, DUE DATE). 

THE GUILT TRIP tweaks the formula by setting salesman Andy Brewster (Seth Rogan) on a cross-country drive in a cramped car with his overbearing single middle-aged mother, Joyce (Barbara Streisand).  Organic chemist Andy must pitch the biodegradable cleaning agent he’s invented to wholesalers in several major markets from New Jersey to San Francisco.  He funded the project with his father's inheritance, so he’s determined to hide his lack of success from his proud mother.