Scarface

I first watched “Scarface” in the winter of 1984 at a theater in Hialeah, Fla. It was very controversial at the time (the film, not the theater). For the f-bombs (Cher saw it with young daughter Chastity and counted 77 of them). For the way it depicted South Florida as a drug-addled crime haven (tourism officials were not amused). But the organized crime story with a Cuban twist plays out like a violent Shakespearean tragedy that will appeal equally to Shakespeare lovers and violence lovers. How violent? Just wait for Al Pacino to shout, “Say hello to my little friend!”

State and Main

You know those movies where people are talking, but they don’t sound like they’re talking, they sound like their reading out loud? “State and Main” (2000) is one of those movies. It’s not a bad movie, per se (Right there. They would say something like “per se” in this movie). When movie people make movies about people making a movie, it’s never quite as funny as the movie people think. The movie promos make a big deal about how it’s “A Film by David Mamet.” He’s made some great movies (“Glengarry Glen Ross”). This is not one of those movies.