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AMATEUR/B+, C+
US/1995/COLOR/WIDESCREEN 1.66:1/STEREO
SURROUND/105 MINUTES/DIRECTED BY HAL HARTLEY/STARRING ISABELLE HUPPERT, MARTIN
DONOVAN/COL-TRISTAR/CLV/$34.95
A purveyor of what might be dubbed
"Cinema Bizarre," Amateur, director Hal Hartley’s latest feature film is
his most accessible. Hartley’s writing moves left when you think right and basks in
its own eccentricity, but it often works incredibly well. A former nun sits in a diner
"pounding" out pornography one finger at a time on a notebook computer when a
disheveled stranger enters the eatery and her life. This is the beginning of a
"neo-noir" standing on its head.
Hartley puts together a company of
nuns, pornographic stars, former business school grads turned hit men, sleazy amnesiac
producers, accountants with fried brains roaming the streets of lower New York City with
oblivious abandon. Primed with the director’s signature flat dialogue, Amateur is
often hilarious. But this is not pure comedy. The theme of redemption permeates every
frame and the religious imagery is evident by the film’s end outside the bucolic
setting of a rural convent.
Isabelle Huppert makes a perfect
marriage with Hartley’s style as the lapsed nun. Her serious ruminations on the most
outrageous things are delivered with perfect sangfroid. Martin Donovan, a Hartley regular,
is excellent as the amnesiac sleaze Thomas who can’t remember if he smokes or abuses
women. Elina Lowensohn’s kinetic style is a hallmark of Hartley’s "Cinema
Bizarre." Damian Young is preposterously funny as Thomas’s accountant.
The laser images on Amateur are sharp
and clean, but the contrasts lack the pop of the theatrical presentation. When Huppert
dons a black leather suit it lacks the sparkle that should set it off perfectly. Colors
are too laid back for the thematic material. The soundtrack is delivered in clean, audible
fashion and the pressing is delivered with no obvious flaws. The world of Hal
Hartley’s Amateur is definitely worth a film visit. |
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|
Laser Disc
Ratings
|
12
Monkeys Special/A-,B+ |
12
Monkeys/ B+,B |
1941
SE/ C-, B- |
a
la Mode/B+,B+ |
A
Pure Formality/C,B |
After the Fox/C+,B |
Alaska/B,B+ |
Albino
Aligator/C+,B |
Alfie/B,B |
Amateur/B+,C+ |
American
President/ B+, B+ |
Apache/C+,C+ |
Apocalypse Now/A-,A- |
Apollo
13 SpecialA,A |
Apollo 13//A,A |
Appaloosa/C+,C+ |
Assassins/C,A |
Bad
and the Beautiful, The/A,B+ |
Basquiat/C+,B |
Bend of the River/ B, B+ |
Belle Epoque/B+,A- |
Bhagdad
Cafe/B,B |
Big
Country/ B, C |
Big Deal on Madonna Street/B,B |
Big
Picture, The/B,B |
Big
Trees, The/C+,C+ |
Bingo
Long and His Traveling All-Stars/B+,A |
Blood and Wine/B,B |
| Blue Kite/B+,B |
Bogus/C,C+ |
Bordello of Blood/C-,A- |
Borderline/C+,B |
Bound/B+,B+ |
Brazil
Special Edition/B+,A- |
Bride
Came COD/B-,B |
Bringing
Up Baby/A,B |
Brute Force/B+,B+ |
Bulletproof/C,B+ |
| Butch
Cassidy and the Sundance Kid/B,A- |
Call
Nothside 777/B+,C+ |
Camille
Claudel/ A, B+ |
Canterville
Ghost/C+,C+ |
| Caro Diario/A-,A- |
| Captain from Castile/B,B+ |
Casino/
C+, B |
Casper/C+,A |
Cause
for Alarm/C,B- |
Celestial
Clockwork/B+,B- |
| China Moon/B+,A |
Christmas in July/A,B+ |
Christopher
Columbus(1949)/C,C |
| Come and Get It/B,B+ |
Commandments/C+,B+ |
Courage Under Fire/B,A |
Crash/C+,B+ |
| Crimson Tide/A-,A |
Crossing
Guard, The/B,B+ |
Cutthroat
Island/C, A |
Dante's
Peak/B-/B |
Daylight/B,A- |
Dead
Man Walking/C+,B+ |
Dead Man/C+,A- |
Dead
Presidents Special/ B+,A |
Dersu Uzala/B+,B |
Diabolique(1995)/C+,C |
Diary
of Ann Frank/ A-,B |
Dodes'ka-den/ B+, B+ |
Double
Happiness/ B+,B+ |
Dragon/B+,A |
| Dune/C+,B+ |
Earrings
of Madame de.../ B+, B+ |
Enemy
Below/ B, B |
| Englishman Who Went..../C,B |
English Patient/B+,A |
Ermo/B-,B- |
Escape from LA/B-,A |
Everybody's
Fine/C+,C+ |
Executive
Decision/B+,A |
Eye
for an Eye/B,B+ |
F.I.S.T./B,B |
| Face-Off/B+,A |
| Family Thing/B,B+ |
| Farewell My Concubine/A-,A |
Far
Country/ B-, C+ |
Field
of Dreams Special/A-,B+ |
Field
of Dreams/ A-, B |
Fierce Creatures/B-,B+ |
| Fires on the Plain/B+,B |
Firestarter/C+,C+ |
First
Knight/ C-, B+ |
First
Wives Club/C+,B+ |
| For Whom the Bell Tolls/B-,B+ |
| French Kiss/B-,B+ |
| Fugitive,The(1947)/B-,B |
Frankie
Starlight/B+,B |
Freaks/B+,B |
Free
Willy 2/B-,B+ |
Funny Bones/A,A |
Get Shorty/ A, A |
Goldeneye/
B, A |
| Ghost Story/B,B |
Great
Escape(MGM)/A-,B- |
Great
Expectations/A,B+ |
Greystoke:
The Legend of Tarzan/B+,C |
| Grosse Point Blank/A-,A- |
Grumpier
Old Men/B-,B+ |
Gun
in Betty Lou's Handbag, The/B,C- |
Happy
Gilmore/ B-, A- |
| Hard Boiled/B-,B+ |
Hard Eight/B,C+ |
Harriet
the Spy/B,A |
Haunting,
The/A,B+ |
Head
Above Water/D+,B |
Heat/A-,B |
| Heaven
and Earth/B+,A- |
Helen
of Troy/C+,B+ |
| Henry V/A,B |
Hill,The/A-,B |
Hoop Dreams/A,A |
| Horseman on the Roof/B-,B |
Innocent,
The/ C, C |
Innocents,
The/ A, A- |
Interrupted
Melody/C+,C |
| Into the West/A,B+ |
Inventing
the Abbots/B-,B+ |
| Jack/C+,A- |
Jean
de Florette/ A-, B- |
Jumanji/
B+, B+ |
Kansas
City/D+,C+ |
Kentuckian/B-/B |
Kingpin/B,B+ |
Kolya/A-,A- |
Kwaidan/A,A- |
La
Dolce Vita/ A, B |
Last
Dance/B,B+ |
Last
Man Standing/C,B |
Last
Supper, The/B-,B+ |
League of Gentlemen/B,B |
Leave
Her to Heaven/B+,B+ |
Les
Miserables/ B, B+ |
Liar,Liar
Special/B+,A |
Lili/A-,C |
List
of Adrien Messinger/B,B+ |
| Lonely are the Brave/A-,A- |
| Lord of Illusions/B,A- |
Love
Jones/B,A- |
| Malice/B+,B+ |
| Mask,The/A-,A |
| Mi Familia/A-,A- |
| Michael/C+,A |
Miracle
of Morgan's Creek/B,B- |
Mirage/B,B- |
Mission
Impossible/C+,B+ |
Mona Lisa/B+,B+ |
Morgan/B,C+ |
Mulholland Falls/C+,B |
Muriel's
Wedding/ B, B+ |
My
Name is Nobody/C,C |
Mystery of Rampo/ A-, B |
| Natural Born Killers/B,B+ |
Nell/B,A- |
Net,
The/ C, B+ |
Nixon/B+,A |
Nothing
Sacred/B,C |
Old
Man and the Sea/B,B |
Othello/A-,B+ |
| Peeping Tom/A-,A- |
| Raw
Deal/B+,B |
| Red Firecracker,Green Firecracker/B+,A |
| Repulsion/A,A |
Restoration/B+,A |
Richard III/A,A |
Ridicule/A-,B- |
River Wild/B+,A- |
| Romy and Michele's High School Reunion/B,B |
Room
at the Top/A-,B |
Rosewood/B,B+ |
Scopio/B,C |
Seven
SE/ B+, A |
| Shawshank Redemption/A-,A |
| She/B,B- |
Shining
Through/C+,B |
| Silence of the Lambs/A,A |
| Sling
Blade/A,B+ |
Slingshot/A,A- |
Something
to Talk About/ B-, B+ |
| Spartacus Special Edition/A,A |
Species/C,B+ |
Star
Trek: First Contact/C+,A- |
Stars Fell on Henrietta/ C+,B+ |
Stealing
Beauty/B,B |
Strange
Days/ C+, B+ |
Striptease/D,A- |
Sudden
Death/ B, A- |
Sullivan's
Travels/B+,B |
Surviving
Picasso/C,B+ |
| T-Man/B,B |
That
Old Feeling/B-,A- |
That
Thing You Do/B,C+ |
They
Drive By Night/B,B |
| Thieves(Les
Voleurs)/B,B |
Things
You Do in Denver When You're Dead/D+,B+ |
This
Sporting Life/A-,B+ |
Timemaster/
D, C |
Tom
and Viv/B-,B- |
Tortilla
Flat/B+,B |
Trainspotting/B-,B+ |
Trees
Lounge/B-,B- |
| Trigger Effect/B-,B+ |
Two
Bits/C,B |
Unforgettable/C,C+ |
| Umbrellas of Cherbourg/B+,B |
Unzipped/B-,B- |
Usual
Suspects/ B-,C+ |
| Valdez is Coming/C+,B- |
Vengeance
Valley/B,C+ |
Vertigo/A-,A- |
Virtuosity/
C+, A |
Wait
Until Dark/B,B- |
Walk in the Clouds, A/ A-, |
Walkabout/B/B- |
Waterworld/ B+, B |
White
Man's Burden/ B, B+ |
White
Squall/ B,A |
| Whole Wide World/B,B |
Wicked
City/ B, C+ |
Wild
Bill/ C+, B |
Window
to Paris/ B,B |
| Witness/B+,A- |
| Wonderful,Horrible World Life..../B+,B |
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