The best Paul Bartel’s drama movies
If you love cinema, you will share this ranking of the best Paul Bartel’s movies, although you may have ordered them differently. In any case, we hope you love it and with a little luck discovering a movie that you still don’t know about Paul Bartel.
The Usual Suspects
8.5/10
Held in an L.A. interrogation room, Verbal Kint attempts to convince the feds that a mythic crime lord, Keyser Soze, not only exists, but was also responsible for drawing him and his four partners into a multi-million dollar heist that ended with an explosion in San Pedro harbor – leaving few survivors. Verbal lures his interrogators with an incredible story of the crime lord's almost supernatural prowess.
Big Bad Mama
5.7/10
Mama and daughters get forced by circumstances into bootlegging and bank robbing, and travel across the country trailed by the law.
Into the Night
6.4/10
Ed Okin used to have a boring life. He used to have trouble getting to sleep. Then one night, he met Diana. Now, Ed's having trouble staying alive.
Basquiat
6.9/10
The brief life of Jean Michel Basquiat, a world renowned New York street artist struggling with fame, drugs and his identity.
Hi, Mom!
6.1/10
Vietnam vet Jon Rubin returns to New York and rents a rundown flat in Greenwich Village. It is in this flat that he begins to film, 'Peeping Tom' style, the people in the apartment across the street. His obsession with making films leads him to fall in with a radical 'Black Power' group, which in turn leads him to carry out a bizarre act of urban terrorism.
White Dog
7/10
A trainer attempts to retrain a vicious dog that’s been raised to kill black people.
Frankenweenie
7.2/10
When young Victor's pet dog Sparky (who stars in Victor's home-made monster movies) is hit by a car, Victor decides to bring him back to life the only way he knows how. But when the bolt-necked "monster" wreaks havoc and terror in the hearts of Victor's neighbors, he has to convince them (and his parents) that despite his appearance, Sparky's still the good loyal friend he's always been.
Shakedown
6/10
When a local drug dealer shoots a dishonest cop in self-defense, lawyer and renegade undercover cop join forces to clear him. But when their investigation leads them into a maze of greed and corruption, they learn that in a town where everything is for sale, anything can happen.
Hamlet
5.9/10
Modern day adaptation of Shakespeare's immortal story about Hamlet's plight to avenge his father's murder in New York City.
The Living End
6.5/10
Luke is a restless and reckless drifter and Jon is a relatively timid and pessimistic film critic. Both are gay and HIV positive. After an unconventional meeting, and after Luke kills a homophobic police officer, they go on a road trip with the motto "Fuck everything."
The Inheritance
6.9/10
A beautiful orphan of mysterious parentage is asked by her adoptive family to help find a husband for their niece, but when two suitors both fall for the orphan girl, the niece instigates a scheme to discredit her in the eyes of her guardians. Based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott.
Heart Like a Wheel
6.7/10
Shirley Muldowney is determined to be a top-fuel drag racer, although no woman has ever raced them before. Despite the high risks of this kind of racing and the burden it places on her family life, she perseveres in her dream.
The Elevator
4.3/10
Things are going swimmingly for the film producer Roy Tilden, his last film is a success and he will soon receive an award for it. But his perfect day changed quickly when he takes an elevator with a keen writer. Directly after the door is closed, the emergency stop button is pressed and he is caught with a bunch of mildly different people.
Naomi & Wynonna: Love Can Build a Bridge
6.9/10
This is a true story about the relationship between a mother and her daughter, and their struggle to make it to the top in the music world. It is about hopes and dreams... about relationships and about growing up.
Hard Time: The Premonition
5.1/10
Burt Reynolds plays Logan McQueen, the hardest and most fearless cop in Florida. A series of attacks begins to happen in Miami, everyone of them meticulously carried out by a person who seems to be an extremely lethal terrorist. Buildings, schools, public places, everything is destroyed by the bombs. When trying hopelessly to find and to destroy the terrorist, Logan McQueen ends up getting closer to a convict who says that he is capable to foresee the explosions. Now, Logan will have to team up with the man and find the terrorist.
Baja Oklahoma
5.7/10
Juanita Hutchins works at Texas bar, but she aspires to be a country songwriter. When she's not looking after her impulsive daughter, Candy, or vouching for her promiscuous friend, Doris Steadman, she's trying to maintain some semblance of a romantic life. As Juanita prepares to make the leap to Nashville, her former boyfriend, Slick Henderson, returns to town, further complicating her situation.
Red Ribbon Blues
4.2/10
After attending his 23rd funeral for a friend with AIDS, Troy and his friends hatch a plan to steal the HIV drugs that they need. One sucessful heist leads to another and another until they have so much inventory they decide to begin their own community distribution program.
Shelf Life
6.9/10
Trapped in a bomb-shelter for thirty years, three adult children act out scenes from television shows in an imitation of 1960's life.
Skeletons
5.2/10
A heart attack moves a Pulitzer winning journalist to leave NY for the peace of a small New England town, but he soon finds himself pulled into a case of a man accused of killing his gay lover with the blade of a shovel. Wanting to keep the case quiet, the town turns against the journalist and his family when he begins digging into its secrets, until finally the accused man is found hanging in his cell and the truth comes out about more than just the killing.
Round Up: Deposing 'The Usual Suspects'
7.3/10
Documentary that includes interviews with Singer as well as the rest of the cast - mainly Spacey. There is no "plot" or "promotional" elements to this documentary - all of the information offered is substantial and informative as we are let in on all the details of trying to seek out the right actors for the parts, as well as the thoughts of the actors about joining an independent production helmed by a young director. Part 2 is a more interesting look at the production itself, complete with the problems and obstacles that faced the low-budget feature, as well as the happier memories of the work that the cast and crew went through. There's a lot of discussion of the infamous laughter during the lineup sequence, complete with a few outtakes of the scene.
