The semester has come to a close, and Cadenza is wrapping up its final year as a separate weekly newspaper. I wish I had something planned for this occasion, perhaps a “best graduation movies” list or something, but instead I thought I would dig deep into my magical rental picks bag and pull out some worthy films that didn’t make it onto any lists this year. This technique conveniently eliminates the need for a lengthy expository paragraph, so simply read, rent, and relish!

The French Connection (1971)
Directed by: William Friedkin
Starring: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey

This highly influential flick pretty much set the stage for all future gritty police dramas, with Popeye Doyle (Hackman) as the psychotic, rogue cop, a role that seems rather pedestrian today. Hackman plays it with flair, though, drinking, cursing, and assaulting his way through almost every scene. Balancing him out is the more levelheaded Buddy Russo (Scheider), whose name itself sets the stage for police buddy films like “Lethal Weapon” that would follow. By somewhat clandestine means, Popeye and Buddy happen upon a French heroin ring headed by kingpin Alain Charnier (Rey). Soon they are tailing suspects, avoiding assassination attempts, and dismantling a Lincoln Continental to get at the heroin stash. The action culminates in an incredible car chase scene that helped garner a Best Editing Oscar for Jerry Greenberg, in which Popeye pursues an elevated train in a commandeered civilian vehicle. “The French Connection” also ends on a slightly sour note, which I won’t reveal here but which opposes the “good guys always win” mentality of earlier films. Overall, one of the most important police movies ever and an American Film Institute 100 Greatest Films inductee.

Great scene: Since the car chase scene has been discussed to death, the opening credits will suffice. Displaying two scenes from different parts of the world, Marseilles and New York City, the opening sequence shows a French assassin gun down an American police officer while Popeye and Buddy work undercover on the streets. Dressed as a Salvation Army Santa Claus and a hot dog vendor, the two partners chase down a dope dealer and beat him into submission. During this interrogation Popeye utters his famous non sequiter, “Do you ever pick your feet in Poughkeepsie?” Confused, the suspect answers yes, opening himself up for a barrage of questions.

Cube (1997)
Directed by: Vincenzo Natali
Starring: Maurice Dean Wint, Nicole deBoer, Nicky Guadagni

From two established classics to a cult sci-fi flick. That’s the beauty of end of the year rental picks. This little bit of cinema is completely situational, totally character driven, and immensely entertaining. We’re not given much of a chance to prepare for the horror of the cube; in the first shot, a man wakes up inside a strange, square room wearing a prisoner’s uniform. Not knowing what to do, he wanders into another cubical room (there is a door on every side of the room) where he is swiftly cut to bits by a swinging net of razor sharp wire. Welcome to the cube! Elsewhere, five strangers awaken, unable to remember how they arrived in the cube. However, it is clear that they all have a helpful gift – Quentin (Wint) is a police officer/born leader type, Leaven (deBoer) is a math whiz, and Holloway (Guadagni) is a doctor. They are also joined by the nihilistic Worth and Rennes, a master thief and escape artist (too bad his face is dissolved by acid early on). Working together, the remaining four attempt to make their way through the labyrinth of rooms unscathed. Like an extended “Twilight Zone” episode, “Cube” takes an absurd situation and studies the way its characters react. The acting is admittedly not all that great, but the tension remains high and the camera work dynamic. If you enjoy quirky films like “Pi” and “Run Lola Run,” you will probably love “Cube.”

Great scene: In one particularly nasty room, the prisoners must travel between the doorways in silence lest they be skewered by retracting spikes. Complicating matters is Kazan, an autistic man whom the group meets halfway through the film. Kazan has trouble controlling his outbursts, leading to several moments in which his voice could spell certain doom for the heroes.

Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Directed by: Billy Wilder
Starring: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim

In this ironic, oftentimes comedic look at the film industry, William Holden stars as Joe Gillis, a deadbeat screenwriter. At the film’s unique opening, the camera pans over the scene of policemen fishing a dead body out of a swimming pool. Joe tells us, in voiceover fashion, that it is his own body in the pool, and he proceeds to relate his bizarre story. One day he makes the fatal mistake of turning into an abandoned-looking Hollywood mansion to escape the repo men and meets the eccentric Norma Desmond (Swanson), a reclusive actress who was once the brightest star of the silent era. Norma wants Joe to read her screenplay for a production of “Salome,” and soon the much younger man is forced to live with her against his will, fearful of her suicidal tendencies. Norma and Joe live a strange existence in Norma’s Sunset Boulevard mansion, watching her old films on a customized movie screen while Max the butler (Stroheim) lingers mysteriously in the background. However, their strange relationship is jeopardized when Joe is tempted by pretty young writer Betty, and Norma strains to keep him under her wing. In addition to being a great story, “Sunset Boulevard” is also a successful satire, examining the fleeting nature of Hollywood fame and poking fun at several established actors. Buster Keaton appears as one of Norma’s “waxwork dummy” friends, in Joe’s words, and Cecil B. DeMille stars as himself and provides Norma with the infamous line, “I’m ready for my closeup, Mr. DeMille!”

Great scene: When Joe first meets Norma, she mistakes him for an undertaker sent to help bury her dead monkey, whose death foreshadows Joe’s own strange fate. Norma reveals her lunacy early on, insisting that “I AM big! It’s the pictures that got small,” when Joe asks her if she used to be a star.

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