Some Like it Dark

Christina Ricci and Vincent Gallo, “Buffalo 66″

Winter is a perfect time for snuggling up and watching movies. The past two days I checked in with On Demand and watched two of my favorite movies from 1998, “Buffalo 66″ and “High Art.”

I highly recommend both, and they are very deep and dark.

“Buffalo 66″ is about an ex con who kidnaps a pretty young tap dancer to impress his parents who never cared for him or believed in him. It’s a dark film, but offers dark humor as well. Gallo’s character is a real piece of work and I found myself laughing at him often, especially knowing that he wrote the lines and Ricci has more than once referred to him as the “most handsome man in the world.” This was the first movie I saw with Ricci as an adult and she’s been one of my favorite actresses ever since.

“High Art” starring Ally Sheedy is about a young girl who has a bright future after being made editorial assistant at an art magazine but life changes for her when she falls in love with an artist (Sheedy) who lives in her apartment complex and is very much into the heroin lifestyle. Sheedy was once a famous photographer and now lives off her trust fund and is supported by her mom. The storyline is intense and complex.

What I’ve always loved about indie movies (and foreign films) versus Hollywood is that the endings are unpredictable. This is similar with much older Hollywood films too.

I love a movie that you can get lost in, that gives you the same “can’t put down” effect as a book and I feel that way about both of these movies. I’d give them both a five-star rating and it was great watching them again after 15 years! (“High Art” I think I watched on HBO or Sundance channel back in the day, but I went to the movies in NYC, alone, to see “Buffalo 66.”)