Queue Tips: Hot, Hot, Hot
By Rob Christopher in Arts & Entertainment on Aug 2, 2008 2:30PM
Movies are really good at showing sweat, which is perhaps why there are so many great ones that take place in sweltering heat. Here are some suggestions for the sedentary sadists out there who wish to mirror the brutal temperatures outside using their TV screens.
1. Touch of Evil (1958, directed by Orson Welles)
A bomb goes off in a Mexican border town, and sanctimonious narc Charlton Heston decides he doesn't like it. But first he'll have to tangle with corrupt cop Welles, who won't hesitate to use Heston's new bride (Janet Leigh) as a bargaining chip. Every closeup in Touch of Evil is a portrait of flop sweat, especially when Orson's involved. The movie completely captures those agonizing summer midnights when the sun has gone down but the thermometer hasn't. You can catch Welle's noir masterpiece on Wednesday night for free at the Block Museum's Summer Outdoor Movies.
2. The Wages of Fear (1953, directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot)
An assortment of desperate characters jump at their last remaining second chance by agreeing to transport a truckload of nitroglycerin through the jungles of South America. You'll be sweating as much as the characters onscreen as you watch this exquisitely suspenseful tale. And, because it's the jungle, there's a fair amount of mud involved too. Criterion's DVD is loaded with interesting bonus features, including an analysis of cuts that were made for the film's initial American release.
3. Barton Fink (1991, directed by Joel Coen)
Awkward screenwriter Barton Fink suffers through his writer's block in a seedy LA hotel, which is so hellish that at one point it literally bursts into flames. The last fifteen minutes tests the audience's tolerance for curveballs, but really this Coen Brothers movie is about atmosphere. It's crammed with queasy details: peeling wallpaper, lazy flies, damp undershirts, and (naturally) lots of sweat. John Turturro and John Goodman make a great odd couple, and Judy Davis (one of our favorite actresses) contributes some perverse moments.