The Perfect Crime

The Perfect Crime (El Crimen Perfecto) is a Spanish-language comedy about an arrogant department store salesman and the mess he gets into when his rival ends up dead.

Rafael (played by Guillermo Toldeo), the head of the Women's apparel department, is quite the ladies man. In fact, he's had all the ladies in his department. All but one, that is. When ugly duckling Lourdes (Monica Cervera) helps him get out of a murderous predicament, his bachelor days are over as are his plans for his "perfect" life.

This farcical film is filled with much comedy, slapstick, unhappy clowns, ugly wallpaper, crazy in-laws, and lots of fun. Check out the film's opening.

The Man With The Golden Arm (1955)

This past month Turner Classic Movies has been paying tribute to Frank Sinatra by showing a wide scope of his many films. During this fest I finally got to see Ocean's Eleven, which showcased the entire Rat Pack and was quite fun. I also saw Sergeants 3 (Gunga Din as western? I don't accept that.) which wasn't quite as good as I had hoped. However the best of the bunch has to be The Man With The Golden Arm, the story of heroine addict who has a chance at better life through his talent as a drummer.

Directed by Otto Preminger, it starred not only Sinatra but Kim Novak & Eleanor Parker. Parker's performance was so incredible that I don't understand how she was not awarded anything for her work. She didn't even have to say anything to convey everything. Of course Sinatra is excellent in this. Lots of people highlight the heroine withdrawal scene, but to me it's the bulk of his performance as a lost and, unfortunately, weak man that really shows what a top-notch actor Frank Sinatra is.

The excellence continues not only in every other actor's performance, but also to the stunning cinematography of Sam Leavitt and phenomenal jazz soundtrack of Elmer Bernstein, both which highlight the gritty setting of this tragic story.

Available: Netflix, Amazon

Three Fantastic Supermen

Three Fantastic Supermen is the first in a series of Italian films in the vein of Danger: Diabolik. Two of the supermen are playful thieves who always escape danger with their bullet-proof suits and excellent acrobatic abilities. The third one is an FBI agent with more honest intentions who has to recruit the other two in battles against more corrupt criminals.

In this first adventure, the supermen are up against Golem who has kidnapped their Professor friend (the same man who makes their supersuits). Golem is a former colleague of the Professor and forces him to perfect the duplicating machine. He already has the machine spewing out copies of gold bars and wads of cash, but now he wants the machine to make copies of people.

This film is a lot of fun with car chases, beautiful women, mad scientists, wacky inventions and more. Check this out for hip montage to whet your whistle.

To purchase copies of the films go to ZDD or Super Strange Video