Tape (unnumbered)

Exotica (1994)
Drama
Rated R, 103 min
Directed by Atom Egoyan

I got off to a rocky start with Egoyan films. I caught Speaking Parts late night on cable and was hopelessly confused... mostly about whether the male and female leads were the same person or not. I was tired. Exotica is the one that broke big for him, and deservedly so. It's got all his best stuff... voyeurism, sexual confusion, past secrets, and sadness... and it's told in slow unspooling way that jumps around in time. This kind of temporal shiftiness has been employed lately (and wonderfully) by folks like Alejandro González Iñárritu (Amores Perros, 21 Grams), but was risky at that time. Great performances by Bruce Greenwood, Elias Koteas and Mia Kirshner... and a story that's set around a high end strip club, but the broken heart of the story likes elsewhere in the characters' shared past.

Replacement status: I have Exotica on VHS... will eventually get DVD.

Spanking the Monkey (1994)
Comedy/Drama
Rated R, 100 min
Directed by David O. Russell

This little indie got David O. Russell started on his quirky road... leading eventually to things like Three Kings and I ♥ Huckabees. Essentially a three hander (no pun intended) about a father who tasks his son to stay home from college for a term to take care of his ailing mom. This is something the son is less than keen on doing. Sound simple? Well the mom, played by Alberta Watson, is ailing because of an attempted suicide (never really revealed... but hinted at very directly) due to her husband's infidelity. Son (played by Jeremy Davies who now stars on Lost) eventually gives in and stays home to take care of Mom. Things are a little tense, in a sort of quietly desperate way, until they come to an Oedipal head (pun mostly intended). I love black comedy.

Replacement status: Don't currently have Spanking the Monkey... but would pick it up on DVD either cheaply or if it had a Director's commentary (Russell's are among the best)