Top ten movies you've never seen, but really should Review

Most, if not all, of these are available on DVD. Otherwise, there's always the wonderful Sundance and IFC cable channels, which cater to smaller, independent films.

 Frankie Starlight - This movie opened and closed, during the late 90s, before most people got a chance to catch it. It's the story of Frankie, a dwarf who acheives success as a writer and astronomer, but suffers from severe loneliness. Looking back on his life as he considers suicide, Frankie remembers his kind mother, Bernadette; a beautiful but troubled survivor of a WWII POW camp whose life seems to be full of sadness....the Kelly family, who offer friendship and support to the single mother and her son when they live in Ireland....and Terry, the American G.I. who travels from Kansas to Ireland in search of the woman he saw once and couldn't stop thinking about. Although it deals with sadness and isolation, Frankie Starlight also deals with relationships and human kindness and, ultimately, it's an uplifting movie about how happiness sometimes comes to us when we least expect it. You'llbe surprised by Matt Dillon's fine, sensitive portrayal of Terry Klout.

The Dead Girl - The body of a murdered young woman is found in a rural area of California, and the lives of the people touched by this discovery are the focus of this fine, absorbing film. It's not an easy film to watch, as some elements are quite upsetting, but it's never less than fascinating. It reminds the viewer that no person lives in a vacuum.

The Anniversary Party - Sally and Joe, a Hollywood couple, are celebrating their wedding anniversary in style: they're inviting their nearest and dearest to a big party at their palacial Hollywood home. What they don't expect is the web of lies and secrets that are going to be exposed - by them, by their guests, by their neighbors. This movie is wicked - it gives one the sense of being a voyeur of scenes that ought to be so very private (nothing explicitly sexual...I mean emotional intimacy.) A great cast - Jennifer Jason Leigh, Alan Cumming, Kevin Kline...) make it a must-see.

Clockwatchers - Toni Collette, Lisa Kudrow and Parker Posey plays temp workers at an average, American work place. The film takes an off-beat, whimsical look into the seemingly invisible lives of temp workers - those who don't have their owns desks, or job security, or even their own stash of pencils. It's a dog-eat-dog world, the world of temping, as this quirky and original movie illustrates.

The Daytrippers - Long Island housewife ELiza discovers a suspicious note in the pocket of her husband's dirty trousers. Anxious to confront him and find out, once and for all, if he's being unfaithful, she drives into Manhattan where he works and seems to be spendingmore and more time. BUt Eliza isn't alone...withher are her quiet father, her pushy, negative mother (played brilliantly by Anne Meara), her sister (played by indy film goddess Parker Posey), and her sister's annoying, self-important boyfriend. The entire film revolves their day in Manhattan, driving around, meeting interesting characters, getting into odd situations...all in an attemptto catch up with Eliza's husband and confront him about his indiscretions. Nothing is as it seems in The Daytrippers. great fun, but also somewhat touching and sad. New Yorkers will love it.

Fresh - Fresh, as brilliantly portrayed by a young Sean Nelson (why he isn't a major movie star today is beyond me,) is an 11 or 12 year old boy facing ugliness no one should ever have to deal with. When the mean streets serve up a dose of tragedy to him, he uses his keen mind and vast wits to outsmart just about every ugly character in his sphere. This movie has one of the most clever scripts I've ever encountered -  if you enjoyed The Sting, or Bound, or if you were a fanof the old Mission Impossible series, where pulling a fast one on the bad guys was the order of the day, this is for you. Catch Samuel Jackson in one of his early roles.

Saving Face - Wil is a young Chinese American woman devoted to her widowed mother (played by the lovely Joan Chen.) What goes unsaid between the two womenis that Wilis a lesbian. This is a sweet, funny,light-hearted movie about a topic that I've never seen tackled on film: homosexuality in the Chinese community. The subplot, which invloves Wil's mother finding herself pregnant relatively late in life, and while unmarried, is a perfect companion to the main story: both women fnd themselves in situations which are considered shameful in their culture. Should they take steps to "do the right thing" and please their elders, or follow their hearts and seekt heir own brands of happiness? This movie could have been preachy and heavy-handed, but it isn't. At the heart of it, is a really sweet and funny mother-daughter story.

The Legend of 1900 - On the morning of January 1, 1900, on board a luxury trans-Atlantic liner a baby is born and abandoned. Discovered by an engine room worker, the baby is immediately "adopted" and given the nickname "1900" to mark the fact that his birth has coincided with the beginning of the new century. 1900 is raised on board the ship and,in fact,never sets foot off the ship - that is, he never touches dry land. As the years pass, and the 1900 grows up, he develops a skill for playing jazz piano. His great talent, and the fact that he has spent his entire life sailing back and forth, never having left the ship, make himsomething of a novelty to passengers. So much time passes, that setting foot on dry land becomes a seemingly impossible feat for 1900 who is overwhelmed by the idea of miles and mile sof land before him, rowsand rows of buildings, and all those people! I don't want to say too much more about this, because it's such a rich movie, and it's really a story worth discovering as it unfolds. Few people Iknow have even heard of this gorgeous movie which is beautifully written, well-acted, lovingly filmed, and which features some amazing jazz/ragtime piano. A truly beautiful film that willmake you believe the unbelievable.

Stone Reader - First off, this is a documentary, not a drama. If you like docos and enjoy books, this is the movie for you. Long story short: during the 1970s, a Mark Moskowitz read a book called "The Stones of Summer." He loved the book; it touched him in a profound way. As the years passed, mark, who eventually became a documetary film maker, wondered why the book's author had never written another book, and whyno one he knew had ever heard of The Stones of Summer. Mark decided to track down the book's author and document his search on film. The result is a wonderful, quirky, totally original documentary/mystery about the love of reading, the cost of literary struggle, and the nature of success. This is like no other doco you've ever seen, and I can't reccomend it enough.

The Last Supper - I'd to include at least one pure comedy in this list, so I'll go with thisone, because it's so funny and so few people I know have heard of it. The premise: a group of self-important, know-it-all, hyper-liberal graduate students hit on the idea that the world would be a better place if only people who disagreed with them could be done away with. They decide to embark on this one person at a time. Their method: invite one person to dinner every week....maybe a KKK member, or a Christian fundimentalist...give that person a chance, over dinner, to prove themselves worthy of life. If, after dinne ris over, the person still appears to be completely worthless, they kill him. Sounds sick, I know, but believe me: it's a comedy. As is always the case when human beings decide to play God, egos become evenmore inflated, friends become enemies, and the definition of "acceptable" becomes narrower and narrower. This movie pokes fun at the right and the left, at the smugness of the elite, at the phoniness that often hides behind a mask called "the greater good." Great fun, this movie.

That's my top ten list - all worth searching for, even though it may take a little extra effort. I should make it clear that I don't think any of these is appropriate for young children. Kids 12 and up may be mature enough and enjoy Saving Face, Legend of 1900 and Frankie Starlight, but parents should probably check them out in advance, as they do deal with some adult themes. Enjoy!