CULT MOVIE: SECRETS & LIES (1996)

An unusual box office success for writer/director Leigh. Despite the potential minefield implied by the title, this is more about how each member of the impressive ensemble cast reacts to each other's secrets than any intrigue. These are ordinary people with ordinary secrets, and the usual fixtures of the modern dysfanctional family. Although Leigh can take credit for the essence of the film, he allowed the actors to develop the characters of their onscreen personas themselves, with much of the interaction being improvized. Blethyn and Jean-Baptiste had never met before their initial onscreen meeting as mother and long-lost daughter. A fine, bittersweet comedy.
Director: Mike Leigh Cast: Timothy Spall, Brenda Blethyn, Marianne Jean-Baptiste

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CULT MOVIE: REQUIEM FOR A DREAM (2000)

Based on the novel of the same name by Hubert Selby (the author behind the equally impressive Last Exit To Brooklyn), this is the story of dreams and addictions and how they affect our lives. Burstyn is Sara, whose addiction to television and sugar soon becomes an addiction to diet pills when she believes she is set to appear on her beloved television and just must fit into her favourite red dress. Her son, his girlfriend and best friend are all in turn addicted to heroin, their dream being to become major dealers. The psychological effects of each addiction are remarkably and realistically played out, possibly enchanced by the director's insistence that Leto and co-star Marlon Wayans give up sex and sugar for a month so they would understand their characters more. A remarkable movie.
Director: Darren Aronofsky Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto

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CULT MOVIE:ERASERHEAD(1977)

Lynch's first major film tells the strange tale of Henry (Nance) and Mary X's (Stewart) bizzare relationship when, during a family dinner, they are informed that they are now the proud parents of a helpless, mewling, phallic-necked premature baby creature. Essentially about the horror of procreation, Eraserhead is full of subliminally sexual nightmare images of tiny bleeding chickens, exploding womb sacs and Henry's slowly plummeting severed head. Eraserhaed has echoes of Bunuel and Dali's Un Chien Andalou, as though Lynch had allowed that film's dark dreams to mutate and fester anew through Henry, the hysterical Mary, the bandaged, fly-blown baby, and the putty-faced Radiator Lady who exists in Henry's imagination. Jack Fisk as the Man In The Planet is surrounded by the same aura that made Bunuel's moon-gazing eye-slasher so memorable.
Director: David Lynch Cast: Jack Nance, Charlotte Stewart, Laurel Near, Allen Joseph

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CULT MOVIE:FLAMING CREATURES(1963)

Jack Smith (1932-1989) was a writer, photographer and filmmaker who soared to (underground) fame with this Baudelairean epic, made the same year that Warhol shot Blow Job. Like Warhol, Smith was surrounded by his own coterie of talent such as the astonishing Dolores Flores (aka Mario Montez), a transvestite who appears as a fandago dancer with a rose between his/her teeth. This eye blast of soft focus genitalia and transexual frolicking--all of which leads up to the notorious "earthquake orgy" section, where a group of Flaming Creatures grapple a scantily clad Delicious Dolores (Bick) to the ground and crawl all over her-- has been hailed as high art by those enchanted by Smith's deliriously original vision, and an obscenity by the authorities. John Waters was obviously influenced by Smith's masterpiece when he assembled his own cast of social misfits (Divine, Edith Massey and Mink Stole ) to make Pink Flamingos(1972).
Director: Jack Smith Cast: Sheila Blick, Joel Markman, Marian Zazeela, Mario Montez

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