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The Mother (2003) --> This film is a difficult watch. Centered on an aging widow and her dysfunctional family, it tells the story of the pains of old age. Anne Reid stars as May, a grandmother who when her husband passes while on vacation at their children's home decides to stay rather than return to her empty house. As her daughter and son look at her as an inconvenience, she strikes up a relationship with her daughter's boyfriend. A man who has rugged good looks and a penchant for extramarital affairs (he is married), Daniel Craig plays Darren, a handyman who gets involved with May to the detriment of his own personal life. When May's daughter finds out her mother is sleeping with her boyfriend everything hits the fan (albeit in a reserved English fashion). The film has little to offer in positive relationships which strikingly realistic for many families of modern times.


Full Spectrum Staff

Cover Girl (1944) --> There are many things that are great about this movie, most of all its contributors. Directed by Charles Vidor, one of Hollywood's most technically efficient film makers, and starring Rita Hayworth, one of the most beautiful actresses in film history, and Gene Kelly, who along with Fred Astaire was Hollywood's best performers. Add in music by the iconic Ira Gershwin and there is much to highlight in this '40s musical. When putting all these parts together you would think the movie couldn't fail and for the most part it doesn't. But it doesn't reach the heights that it might have. Kelly and Hayworth are stiff in their romantic scenes and Vidor seems to focus too often on facial shots of Hayworth to the detriment of the story. This film along with Gilda (1946) were two collaborations of Vidor and Hayworth that made Hayworth a star of the '40s cinema so you might look to that as the reason for Hayworth's special attention.


Full Spectrum Staff

Psycho (1960) --> The greatest Hitchcock thriller and probably the greatest thriller of all time, Psycho is synonymous with the genre. It tells the story of a secretary who steals $40,000 from her employer to help rid a lover of his debts only to meet up with a psychopath at an out-of-the-way motel. Starring Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh, Psycho is most famous for the shower scene that has made women rethink bathing behind a plastic curtain. When looking back, Psycho can be seen as the genesis of the slasher films that have been scaring audiences for 40+ years now. Psycho, as well as most of Hitchcock's other film are must additions to a comprehensive DVD library.


Full Spectrum Staff

La Guerre de Feu [Quest for Fire] (1981) --> One of the greats in modern French filmmaking, Jean-Jacques Annaud received international recognition for this great film. Although he is best known for his films (including this one) that contain little or no dialogue (L'Ours [The Bear] (1988) and Two Brothers (2004)), he has directed both action and drama to equal success. This film tells the story of a tribe of pre-humans who lose their fire-source and send a small band out to find more. Set 80,000 years in the past when the access to fire is a matter of life and death, the group's success is paramount to the continuation of the tribe. Facing rival tribes and hungry predators, the band must overcome daunting challenges that test their will to survive. Annaud makes a plausible case in anthropological terms for how the art of fire-making spread and solidified the survival of our ancestors and hence us. The cinematography is captivating and progression of the film is both endearing and humorous.


Full Spectrum Staff

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