Prime for May - Screengrab Roulette
Monday, May 1, 2017 at 3:00PM
NATHANIEL R in Amazon, Cecil B DeMented, Charlton Heston, Dale Dickey, James Spader, John Waters, Katy Jurado, Life is Beautiful, School Ties, Winter's Bone, streaming

A new month, a smattering of titles freshly available to stream for free at home, provided you have certain subscriptions. Let's play screengrab roulette. The following images are what came up (no cheating!) when I blind "scrolled" these newly streaming films on Amazon Prime. I only allow myself a second spin if the image is a complete blur or contains something really upsetting/violent [Complete list of titles is after the jump]

All extras, keep eating the oysters or you will be shot and killed!

Cecil B DeMented (2000)
This is the John Waters movie with the biggest divide for me between how much I love the concept (a guerilla filmmaking unit kidnapping an A list actress and forcing her to star in their film) and what I think of the actual movie. But, damn, Alicia Witt was on comic fire in this movie as "Cherish". It's clear that Melanie Griffith who headlines had seen Serial Mom (1994) and thought 'I could do that!' Only, she couldn't. I forgot how many stars were in this before they broke out: Adrian Grenier, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Michael Shannon! 

I want you to listen to me, child. You need to turn around and get yourself on home.

Winter's Bone (2010)
Dale Dickey was so damn great in this movie, wasn't she?

But only Jennifer Lawrence and John Hawkes were nominated for it. Dickey just missed my own supporting actress ballot that year

Look at you!

-Your friend François is here.
-[Confused] François?

Bad Influence (1990)
Oh no, no, Marcia Cross, look at you and that clingy sleeve dress and time capsule "claw" hair! I didn't actually know that Marcia Cross from Desperate Housewives was in this thriller which pits James Spader against the titular Rob Lowe. Or is it the other way around? Spader is so creepy even when he plays good guys. (Spader is about to realize that Lowe has infiltrated this party pretending to be an old Parisian friend of his. Clearly none of the wealthy party attendees have ever met a real French person because THAT ACCENT. Eeet eez like Pepe LePew) 

I'm sure of one thing. I'm going to have you locked up for a long time. The Apache in you won't like that! 

Arrowhead (1952)
Charlton Heston is such a dick -- don't be mean to Katy Jurado, Chuck! She already had to put up with the Academy nominating her for the wrong movie to make up for that High Noon snub. 

[YAWNING]

Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977)
awwww, Snoopy.

You guys, isn't that French class?

School Ties (1992)
This movie is like a who's-who of emerging stars. In this one single frame above there's Anthony Rapp (just a few years away from the youthquake of Broadway's "Rent"), Chris O'Donnell (hot off a wonderfully sympathetic debut double: Men Don't Leave / Fried Green Tomatoes though he'd be prematurely headlining films just after this), and Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, who both had just a single feature behind them plus a few random itty bitty things on big and small screens, sometime uncredited. And those faces and the leading man (Brendan Fraser) isn't even in the shot! 

Life is Beautiful (1998)
The Film Experience wasn't yet a thing when the 1998 Oscar race was on but it sure would have been a doozy to talk about daily, don't you think? And not just from the Shakespeare in Love vs. Saving Private Ryan thing. 

Also newly available on Amazon Prime

Later in the Month


Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).
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