Ace in the Hole - MatthewHunt

that dreams are being offered for sale; the resulting portmanteau may be unorthodox cinema,
but it's utterly fascinating to watch.
The Dresser
(Peter Yates, 1983)
Albert Finney is a roaring, hard-drinking thesp of the old school and Tom Courtenay his longsuffering
personal assistant. Yes, it is stagey - director Peter Yates doesn't have time for any
Bullitt-like car chases here - but Finney is in such magnificent form it's churlish to complain
about the difficulties of opening up Ronald Harwood's play for the big screen.
Drugstore Cowboy
(Gus Van Sant, 1989)
Van Sant's breakthrough film about an attractive quartet of junkie thieves takes a refreshingly
matter-of-fact approach to its easily glamorised subject matter. The movie draws a link
between chemical dependence and religious devotion, with lead addict Matt Dillon
approaching his recovery as a form of penance.
Drunken Master
(Yuen Woo-Ping, 1978)
Acting drunk is notoriously difficult; doing kung fu and pretending to be hammered must be
more difficult to the power of 10. One of six movies Jackie Chan made in 1978, this was the
closest fit for his comedic powers. The martial arts are fantastically controlled sprawlings that
owe as much to his Beijing Opera training as to po-faced Bruce Lee-esque mysticism.
Duck Soup
(Leo Mccarey, 1933)
It takes real brains and talent to be this silly. Without the cloying romances that sullied many
of the Marx brothers' later films, this is pure comedy from start to finish. There are enough
sight gags and wordplay here for a dozen movies. Many films deliver an anti-war message,
few coat it in jokes as funny as "Go, and never darken my towels again."
Dumb & Dumber
(Peter and Bobby Farrelly, 1994)
A relentlessly hilarious road movie that sealed Jim Carrey's fate as blockbuster clown and
also heralded the arrival of the Farrelly brothers. The loose plot is reinforced by an avalanche
of gags that make high art out of low-rent humour. Jeff Daniels proves himself no slouch in
the comedic stakes - just who is who in the title?
East of Eden
(Elia Kazan, 1955)
James Dean's big screen debut. Based on the novel by John Steinbeck, it repositions the
sibling rivalry of Cain and Abel into a post-first world war farming community in California. An
angsty Dean struggles to earn the respect of withdrawn father Raymond Massey, who favours
golden twin Richard Davalos. It may be hard to watch Dean without knowing you're watching
a doomed idol, but it's a tribute to his very real talent that the performance outweighs the
legend.
Easy Rider
(Dennis Hopper, 1969)
Drop-outs Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda get on their motorbikes and head in search of
freedom in this seminal 1960s road movie. Between LA and New Orleans, the long-haired
outlaws freak out small towns, drop acid and pick up alcoholic lawyer Jack Nicholson. Smartly
scripted by Terry Southern, with a classic soundtrack.
Edward II
(Derek Jarman, 1991)
Derek Jarman's painterly queer-cinema stylings often overshadowed his investment in
storytelling and, more importantly, character, but Edward II is his most potent amalgam of all