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52. I SERVED THE KING OF ENGLAND

(2006)

Directed by Jirí Menzel

Screenplay by Jirí Menzel

Based on the novel by Bohumil Hrabal

Actors:

IVAN BARNEV

OLDRICH KAISER

JULIA JENTSCH

MARTIN HUBA

MARIÁN LABUDA

MILAN LASICA

JOSEF ABRHÁM

ISTVÁN SZABÓ

In the late 1960s, film critics and discerning moviegoers took note of some striking imports that came to represent the Czech New Wave. One such import, called Closely Watched Trains, won the Academy Award as Best Foreign Language Film for 1968. Forty years later, that same filmmaker, Jirí Menzel, sent another movie to our shores from a novel by the same author who wrote that Oscar winner. It’s a story that manages to be whimsical and wise, serious and sexy.

The film opens in the 1930s. Ivan Barnev plays Jan, a slight but ambitious young man whose goal is simple: he wants to be a millionaire. He notices, early on, that money has extraordinary power—so much so that even wealthy men will get down on all fours to pick up change on the floor. Jan works his way up the ladder as a waiter in a series of increasingly plush restaurants, cafés, and hotels, learning about human nature in the process, witnessing the indulgences of the wealthy, and loving a series of beautiful women.

The last woman he meets is the one he marries, and here he makes a fateful mistake. He’s never had any interest in politics, so it means nothing to him that his bride is German, but when the Nazis invade Czechoslovakia he has to choose which side he’s on…and his decision will affect the rest of his life.

The story is told as a series of flashbacks, after Jan, now an old man, has been released from prison. It’s a wistful story of how even a seeming innocent can be swept up by the winds of political change.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a film that embraced so many emotions, or was so open in its treatment of sexuality. I Served the King of England is based on a novel by one of Czechoslovakia’s leading writers, Bohumil Hrabal, who knew of what he spoke: his book was banned by the Communist government that seized control of the country in 1968.

Menzel manages to combine elements of whimsy—perfectly realized by his innocent-looking leading man—and visual flights of fancy with a serious story. With a flair for illustrating life’s incongruities, this charming, disarming, highly sexual film is like a breath of fresh air that comes to us from the hands of an old master.

53. IDIOCRACY

(2006)

Directed by Mike Judge

Screenplay by Mike Judge and Etan Cohen

Story by Mike Judge

Actors:

LUKE WILSON

MAYA RUDOLPH

DAX SHEPARD

TERRY ALAN CREWS

DAVID HERMAN

ANDREW WILSON

BRAD “SCARFACE” JORDAN

JUSTIN LONG

THOMAS HADEN CHURCH

SARA RUE

STEPHEN ROOT

NARRATED BY EARL MANN

I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s concerned about the dumbing down of America, but you wouldn’t automatically think that this issue would be important to the man who brought us Beavis and Butthead. In truth, Mike Judge is a very bright guy who also created King of the Hill (and provided the voice of its hero, Hank Hill). He also wrote and directed the enduring cult-favorite feature Office Space. He certainly can’t be accused of cultural elitism; that makes him the perfect candidate to take on the issue of rampant stupidity.

In Idiocracy he states his case right up front: stupid people procreate at a much higher rate than smart people. Hilarious “interviews” with prospective—and actual—parents prove his point. (And remember—this movie was written long before the Octomom came along.) Just think what that means about our future as a society!

Luke Wilson plays a soft-headed army file clerk who’s chosen to participate in a time-travel hibernation experiment, along with a hooker, played by Maya Rudolph. Naturally, things don’t go as planned and the two are propelled five hundred years into the future, when the world has devolved into a planet of morons. There’s ample evidence everywhere they turn, from tumbling skyscrapers to mountains of garbage. (In fact, this is one