lee_eisenberg

In the '90s, Todd Haynes emerged as a leader of New Queer Cinema, often directing movies about who see their seemingly ideal lifestyles upended (Safe, Far from Heaven, Carol). What you might not have known is that his directorial debut was not only the ultimate experimental movie, but is now illegal to buy or sell. "Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story" tells the story of the smooth-voiced singer and her anorexia that eventually killed her...and the whole thing is acted out by Barbie dolls.

I should note that I'm not a fan of the Carpenters' music; it seemed like a reaction to the rebellious rhythms of the '60s. Even so, the movie does point out the commodification of women's bodies (as represented by the Barbie dolls) and how that leads to eating disorders. To be certain, the Karen doll gets whittled away to represent her self-starvation. It creates sympathy for her by making the people around her unsympathetic.

However, you're not likely to immediately find a copy, as Haynes didn't get the rights to use the Carpenters' music, and so Richard Carpenter ordered the movie banned. It's only available on bootleg copies, and on YouTube (where I watched it). I recommend it if you get a chance to see it. Whatever you think of Karen Carpenter, she was clearly a tragic figure.

I saw the first "Final Destination" many years after it got released, and have only now gotten around to seeing the sequel. It's pretty much the same idea as the first movie, but this time focuses on a group of people who narrowly avoid a horrible collision, only to discover that death doesn't like getting cheated. The movie adds an extra dimension by adding a connection that the people have. Like the first movie, it's got some shocking, innovative death scenes consisting of Rube Goldberg-style processes.

The only returning cast members from the first movie are Ali Larter as Clear and Tony Todd as the mortician who understands death's schemes. It's not a great movie, but certainly has some clever stuff. I particularly liked the whole scene in the apartment. The star is A. J. Cook (of "Criminal Minds"), while also appearing is Justina Machado (of "Six Feet Under" and "One Day at a Time").

When we think of intense movies, we usually think of stuff like "The Shining" and "Joker". An early intense movie was this 1939 effort from Marcel Carné. "Le jour se lève" ("Daybreak" in English) focuses on a foundry worker who reminisces on what led him to kill a man. A notable characteristic of the movie is its use of dissolves to show flashbacks, one of the first movies to do so. But even without that, the acting and cinematography - showing some dismal environs - turn this into one of the most nail-biting movies out there. I haven't seen many Carné movies, but this shows that he was just as masterful a director as Hitchcock and Kubrick. Whatever you think of the protagonist's actions, you have to admit that you'd be left with few options if you were in his place. Definitely check it out.

I don't know if it's available on streaming, so you might have to go to a video store to find it.