SOFIA COPPOLA 

Sofia Coppola is an astonishingly talented young director. Granted she has great bloodlines- her father Francis (The Godfather Trilogy, Apocalypse Now) won five directorial Oscars. Sofia is only 50. She made her directorial debut at 28. Her first seven movies are uniformly good, unusual, and different from each other.

The Virgin Suicides (1999) is unusual to the point of weirdness, but intriguing and expertly done. James Woods and Kathleen Turner are the beleaguered parents of the five beautiful Lisbon sisters. Their attempts at protecting the girls is way over the top, as is the reaction of the daughters. Based on a Jeremy Eugenides novel, it leaves the friends of the girls, their parents (and us) wondering what went wrong.

Her first effort’s success (and the Coppola name) enabled her to sign up A-list actors Bill Murray and Scarlet Johansson for Lost In Translation (2003). Ms. Coppola won an Oscar for the screenplay about an aging actor (Mr. Murray) trying to get it back together in Tokyo. He is in Japan to film a TV commercial for which he will be paid a bundle. He encounters Ms. Johansson in the hotel and an interesting, platonic friendship develops as they discuss Japan, America and the differences in people of their respective generations. 

Marie Antoinette (2006) stars Kirsten Dunst in Ms. Coppola’s affectionate and sympathetic,  if biographically questionable, story of the girl-queen of France. Married to the very strange Louis XVI when she was only 14, she is ripped from her friends and family in her native Austria. Her extravagance and thumbing her nose at French mores do not endear her to the locals in court or in the countryside. The revolution is upon the royals as the movie ends. 

In Somewhere (2010) Stephen Dorff plays Johnny Marco, a movie actor who seems to have everything yet is beset by depression and lethargy. His libertine lifestyle is gradually changed by the presence of his 11-year-old daughter, Cleo, played by an amazingly good Elle Fanning. 

The Bling Ring (2013)  is the story of a gang of Hollywood teenagers whose lives revolve around robbing the homes of absent celebrities. Ms. Coppola’s portrayal of these vapid young women is both eye-popping and sad. The actors are all unknowns except Emma Watson from the Harry Potter films. 

The Beguiled (2017) is another Coppola outlier. Colin Farrel plays a wounded Union soldier who is taken in by the residents of an all-girls school in Virginia. As each of the girls (including Nicole Kidman, Elle Fanning and Kirstin Dunst) react to the handsome stranger, things get very sticky. The ending will astonish. The 1971 version of this same story, with Clint Eastwood as the soldier, is also quite good. 

Ms. Coppola’s most recent release stars Bill Murray, one of her favorite actors, as the urbane father of straight arrow Rashida Jones. She worries that her husband is cheating. Her dad is convinced that he is and wants to help her catch him. On The Rocks (2020) is fun and ultimately surprising. 

All of the movies in this column are available on DVD. All are for grown-ups. 

                                                              UNLIKELY SUSPENSE

It’s interesting that three of the movies nominated for Best Picture Oscar from 2012, including the winner, fit into a very tiny corner of film categories. These are movies where you know the outcome and yet they are suspenseful throughout.

In Argo, we know the American embassy employees escape. In Zero Dark Thirty, we know that Osama Bin Laden is found and killed. In Lincoln, we know that the 13th amendment ending slavery was enacted. Nevertheless, in each of these films we’re on the edge of our seats!

There are a few other movies that fit this corner admirably. Ron Howard’s superb Apollo 13 (1995) has Tom Hanks, Ed Harris, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton and Gary Sinise in the true story of an aborted moon mission. There is an explosion in the spaceship taking out most of the oxygen and all of the automatic steering. The mission changes to getting the astronauts back safely. Yeah, they were. But wow! What suspense!

We know that Charles DeGaulle was not assassinated in 1963, though it was attempted. . But that takes nothing away from the suspense in The Day Of The Jackal (1973). Edward Fox is the Jackal, a skilled killer hired to gun down the French leader. His planning and execution are faultless, but luck robs him of success. 

We know that Richard Nixon is exposed and forced to resign the presidency in disgrace. But All The President’s Men (1976) is a genuine nail-biter. Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford are Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Their boss is editor Ben Bradlee, ably played by Jason Robards. They discover the Watergate break-in, orchestrated by Nixon’s inept henchman, and deliver one of the biggest stories of the century. This film won the Best Picture Oscar and a fistful of others. 

We know that the USA men’s hockey team not only defeated the seemingly unstoppable Soviet Union team, but went on to win the gold medal in the 1980 Winter Olympics. But getting there is all the fun, and this movie provides it. Kurt Russell is coach Herb Brooks; the players are unknowns. Miracle (2004) is a heart-stopper and a splendid film about the best in America. 

Finally, we know to our dismay that she is discovered and killed, along with millions of her Jewish brethren. But The Diary Of Anne Frank (1959) is incredibly suspensful. Millie Perkins is memorable as the unlikely heroine. Anne’s story is entirely inspiring and very sad. 

All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. And all of them are fine for all ages but keep in mind little peoples’ attention spans.

                                                                     PREACHERS

Preachers are major players here in the South, key figures in the religious and political life of our communities. How have they fared on the silver screen? Pretty well.

The Apostle (1997) was a labor of love for Robert Duvall, its director and star. A genuine study of a man of God with personal problems, it rings as true as a church bell. It takes its subject very seriously, with no winks or condescension. Duvall is super. Billy  Bob Thornton as a renegade red neck brought literally to his knees by a confrontation with his roots and his Lord is not to be missed. 

The Little Minister (1934) is old but remains a great story and a fine film. John Beal is the title character, in love against his will with the beauteous, wilful Katherine Hepburn. This film still has much to teach about how we perceive our ministers. One character observes that he would have preferred that the minister chase his windblown hat “more reverently.” 

Peter Marshall was as famous in his day as Billy Graham is today. Mr. Marshall was a fine minister and for some years the chaplain of the U.S. Senate. His life and times are celebrated in A Man Called Peter (1955). Richard Todd is convincing and winning as Marshall and Jean Peters is excellent as his wife and biographer, Katherine. Not many people seem familiar with this film anymore, which was very popular when released. 

Bing Crosby seemed almost born to play Father O’Malley in the wonderful Going My Way (1944). Bing, relaxed as always, must convince the irascible Barry Fitzgerald (his boss) to loosen up. This film deservedly won a carload of Oscars (best movie, director, song, actor, supporting actor) and it holds up well. Especially charming is Crosby’s winning over the neighborhood’s roughneck kids. The sequel, The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945),  isn’t nearly as good.

The other side of the coin in its treatment of ministers is Sinclair Lewis’ Elmer Gantry (1960) with Burt Lancaster having a ball as a tent-show charlatan parading as a man of God. This film does a fine job  showing what’s wrong (then and now) with some parts of religion and its practitioners. Somewhat tame after 60 years, it was a sensation when it was released.

And finally, two films about disgraced pastor Jim Bakker’s somewhat clueless wife, Tammy Faye. She was known for her outrageous eye makeup. The Eyes Of Tammy Faye (2000)  is a friendly documentary about her. The 2021 version (same title) features Jessica Chastain as Tammy and is worth a look. 

All of the films in this column are available on DVD  The Apostle and Elmer Gantry are for 12 and up only. The rest are okay for kids, who would probably be bored.