Updated RankingsThe Left Handed Gun (1958)
* * ½ It’s rare to see Paul Newman chewing scenery. As Billy the Kid, Newman is like Gary Oldman in The Professional, only it doesn’t suit him and makes the film silly at times. His best scene is alone with a flute, staring out a broken window. The one moment of quiet intensity Newman does so well. Then again, the silly scenes are when this is less of a conventional western and closer to the rule breaking radicalism associated with Penn.
Alice’s Restaurant (1969)
* ½What kind of hippie-dippy B.S. is this? This adaptation of a popular folk song I only kind of remember the chorus to is forever stuck in its time period. I can name movies about the hippie culture that are still worth watching today and maybe this is closer to the center of the movement than those. I don’t know. It’s incredibly aimless and after about a half-hour, I used it as background while I filled out my Filmspotting ballot. That said, the final shot is incredible and I wish there were more evocative and poetic images like it.
Dead of Winter (1987)
* * ½A typical 80s thriller that looks slick and acts silly. Characters either get to come to life in off-center, curious ways or they're so stock they become boring distractions. As good for you and as lasting as a milkshake. This doesn't even seem like the work of the same director, or any director at all. That could be because Penn replaced the original director early on or it could be when Hollywood entered the 80s there was no place for Penn's unique voice, so in fitting in he became just another studio hack.