DVD Clip: Hard Eight

“It’s just a rule with me, OK? I don’t use matches.”

It’s a good day when “Hard Eight” arrives in your mailbox. The movie is a reminder of the reason I first started to seek out obscure films on my own, a brief excursion into a charming and intriguing world — here, petty grifter-gamblers and their realm of late-night kino parlors and craps tables, an enjoyable sketch of figures the movie makes both realistic and enigmatic.

“Hard Eight” tells the story of a mysterious “old-timer” (Philip Baker Hall) who takes a down-and-out young man (John C. Reilly) under his wing when he finds him crumpled by the door of a Nevada diner, and shows him how to make a living grifting at casinos. Years later the two are best friends, still at their shady but carefree lifestyle when their friendship is threatened by the foolishness of a part-time prostitute (Gwyneth Paltrow) and a small-time operator (Samuel L. Jackson).

Iron Man

This review first appeared on StyleWeekly.com

Advanced Composite Ceramics Man

The new “Iron Man” carries an old-fashioned worldview.
by Wayne Melton

Robert Downey Jr. supposedly spent several weeks getting in shape for the strenuous duty of lurching around in a superhero costume for his role as an armored crusader in “Iron Man.” Luckily, he had decades to prepare for his role as the hero’s alter ego, billionaire playboy weapons manufacturer Tony Stark, who idles his time between what amount to acting gigs (showmanship sells warheads, the movie tells us), gulping down mixed drinks and leggy starlets. When Downey sits down on the floor in front of a bunch of reporters to announce that he has had a problem with something but plans to quit and turn over a new leaf, you almost have to pinch yourself to remember he’s talking about gazillion-dollar war toys. The sometimes troubled actor does bring some credence to the role of an arrogant, tempestuous young man who becomes enlightened from his dangerous ignorance, though at times he crosses the line between realism and spoof.