As so many of us (unfortunately not all of us yet) self quarantine at home, we look for things to occupy our time other than reading articles about what is going on and depressing social media posts and comments. So naturally we watch TV. Lots of it. Super Extra Binge mode. Only “Netflix and Chill” has become “Netflix and Try Not To Freak The F$*@ Out.”
Movies can be a nice escape, a good place to get lost in other worlds, other universes. Except when they remind us of how our own world used to be only a few weeks ago. A good friend of mine posted this on Facebook the other night: “Watching movies every night. Nice escape. Except in every scene people gather in restaurants and bars, shake hands and hug, hop on airplanes and trains ... and it reminds me of the simple things we took for granted and how much our lives have changed, all in a few short days. I look forward to getting back there!”
It got me thinking about movies with tiny casts and very few, even a single, location. Watching some of these may make us all feel better about our own isolation and, in some cases, maybe even make us feel like “hey - my life is not as bad as that character’s!”
So here is a list of 10 movies with tiny casts, small locations, and a brief synopsis on what it is about. I will post more film lists, some with this theme, in the coming days.
Moon (2009) - Director Duncan Jones’s first movie was a brilliant sci fi chamber piece. Sam Rockwell stars as the sole staff person on a moon base at the end of his 3 years stint there. He’s waiting for his relief to arrive so he can finally return home to his family. What follows is a clever investigation into what it means to be human, with excellent production design and a great performance by Rockwell. Jones’s subsequent films have been spottily received (video game based World of Warcraft, Amazon Prime’s sci fi film Mute) by audiences and critics alike, but Moon remains a great debut. (available on netflix, $2.99 to rent on amazon)
Rope (1948) - Largely considered a failed experiment by Alfred Hitchcock (and many Hitchcock fans), Rope is a thriller based on the infamous Leopold-Loeb murder. Two wealthy, private school classmates decide that murder is a sport for those like themselves and murder their classmate, then follow it up with a small dinner party in which they’ve invited the victim’s father, girlfriend and their old professor, whom they used to engage in philosophical discussions about the ethics of murder. Shot to look like a single take (at the time film roles were only 12 minutes long, so cuts are cleverly “hidden”) and taking place in real time, the only location is the apt where the murder and party take place. I disagree with those who say it is failed. It is one of my favorite Hitchcock films, with Jimmy Stewart as the professor. (available on hulu, $3.99 to rent on amazon/youtube/googleplay free w starz subscription)
Clerks (1994) - Kevin Smith’s ultra low budget black and white talkie film about two slacker store clerks (one in a convenience store and one in the video rental store next door) helped launch the indie movie craze of the 90s. Filled with a range of acting from ok to not so great, the dialog, relatable situations and then the insane situations that occur make this a very entertaining film, one where, like the basis of a famous 90s sitcom airing, really nothing happens. Being trapped in the convenience store may be very relatable for us right now. (available on hulu, $3.99 to rent on amazon/youtube/googleplay)
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) - One year before making The Graduate, Mike Nichol’s debut film based on Edward Albee’s play, is a helluva debut. Starring real life couple Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor with George Seagal and Sandy Dennis, Wolf is about two couples where the men are faculty at an unnamed college. Burton is the longtime professor, henpecked and cuckolded by his wife, Taylor, who is the daughter of the college’s president. Seagal is the young upstart professor looking to get a leg up (which apparently you can do sleeping with Taylor) and Dennis his wife. What follows is 2 hours and 11 minutes of weird pscychological games, extraordinary acting, a witty script, I believe only 2 or 3 locations and just those 4 people. It’s great. ($2.99 to rent on amazon/vudu and $3.99 on iTunes)
Dead Calm (1989) - For many Americans, this thriller was our introduction to Nicole Kidman. Kidman and her husband (Sam Neill) are sailing around the world on a small sailboat after experiencing a tragedy. They rescue a stranger (Titanic’s heel, Billy Zane) from a lifeboat who says he has abandoned a sinking ship. What follows is an interesting cat and mouse game as both men battle for control of the ship and “possession” of Kidman. A pretty good thriller. ($2.99 to rent on amazon/youtube/googleplay, free with cinemaxgo)
Knife In The Water (1962) - Roman Polanski’s first film, and the only one he made in his native Poland (so it is in Polish). This one also follows a couple on a sailboat with another male interloper, but in this case the couple picks up the interloper hitchhiking, while they are on their way for a day on their sailboat on a lake. The husband is a member of the ruling communist party and so there are themes related to living under the iron curtain in the 1960s. I realize that Polanski brings up many conflicting issues for people, but I would argue that an artist’s work is seperate from an artist and that any positive a problematic artist brings into the world ought to be appreciated if only as an offset to the damage that artist may have cause. Besides, despite the horrendousness of his actions, Polanski has remained an insightful and even humane observer of the human condition. ($2.99 to rent amazon/vudu/itunes)
Stranger Than Paradise (1984) - The film that put quirky indie director Jim Jarmusch on the map. Willie’s (saxophonist/painter/twitter poet John Lurie) low key life is interrupted when his cousin Eva (Eszter Balint) visits him in NYC from Cleveland. Then eventually Willie and his buddy Eddie (Richard Edson - a “that guy” you may know from films like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off who was also the original drummer for Sonic Youth) go visit Eva in Cleveland and go to Florida. Mostly taking place in rooms, this black and white film is truly a place where nothing happens. (free on kanopy, $3.99 to rent on amazon/itunes)
My Dinner With Andre (1981) - The very famous arthouse film about 2 dudes in the 70s/80s NYC theater scene having dinner, catching up and discussing both their work and their world views. While one definitely needs to be in the mood and open to its charms, the discussion is actually extremely interesting, esp given the different fortunes of their careers at the time of the film. Real life NYC theater scene members Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn play versions of themselves and worked out the script from their actual conversations. Sharp eyed viewers may recognize Shawn as Vizzini from The Princess Bride. Sharp eared listeners may recognize Shawn’s voice as that of the T Rex from the Toy Story films. (free on kanopy, $3.99 to rent on amazon/itunes)
The Thing (1982) - John Carpenter’s cold horror classic has been atop many of the best horror films lists for better than a decade now, but when it first came out in 82 it was dismissed as a meh flick. But the stellar cast (Kurt Russell, Keith David, Wilford Brimley and a host of That Guys), creatively gorey practical special effects and claustrophobic direction by Carpenter make this a fantastic film - it’s much easier to understand why it tops so many lists now than why it initially was considered a flop. And while Carpenter famously does the fantastic music in so many of his own films (Halloween of course), it is interesting to note that Carpenter managed to get the magnificent Ennio Morricone (The Good, The Bad & The Ugly) to write this score. (available on hulu, $3.99 to rent on itunes/youtube/googleplay, $6.99 on amazon)
The Martian (2015) - The surprise minor hit starring Matt Damon, and even more surprisingly subtly directed by Ridley Scott of 2015 is another sci fi movie about an isolated man, this one stranded on Mars. After an accident destroys any ability to communicate with Earth, astronaut Mark Watney must figure out how to save himself and then survive on Mars long enough to figure out how to communicate with Earth and then be able to wait years for a rescue mission to make it to him. A film with much more humor than may be expected from such a situation, The Martian does have an overall larger cast than many of the films in this list, but it focuses on Watney’s complete isolation and how he manages to survive it as sanely as possible. And while Ridley Scott was always able to direct subtly, before this film it was many years since he actually had. (available on hulu, $3.99 to rent on itunes/youtube/googleplay, $14.99 on amazon ye gods)
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