Movies You Might Have Missed: Queens Logic

QUEENS LOGIC (1991) - dir. Steven Rash

I miss these great personal films that came out in the 90's, especially those based in New York, like 1991's "Queens Logic." These types of dialogue-heavy films were usually ensemble pieces, and Queens Logic boasts an incredibly great cast for a small movie about around-the-way Queens folks who reunite for their friends' upcoming wedding.

Two of my fave actresses grace this film: The resplendent Queen of Mean, Linda Fiorentino, who came to some acting fame in the mid-80's through her parts in "Vision Quest" (1985), "Gotcha!" (1985) and "After Hours" (also 1985 and my favorite role of these three---she's an aloof sculptor who seems hellbent for leather, among other things).

These are all fine, but the Fiorentino Holy Grail comes in the form of her character Bridget/Wendy Kroy in the bitch-tastic 1994 John Dahl neo-noir classic, "The Last Seduction." Believe me, I will gush about that film at length in a later "Movies You Might Have Missed" post. Needless to say, you would do well to beat me at the punch and add it to your Netflix queue immediately.

The wonderful New York actress Chloe Webb will live on in the public imagination as the infamous punk rock groupie Nancy Spungen in the 1986 Alex Cox-directed film, "Sid and Nancy," as fine a punk rock movie as they come. I love her specifically New York-quirkiness, as expressed through her tough, raspy voice and twisty, bendy vowels and inflections in her 'Noo Yawk' accent.

This brand of provincial New York toughness mixed with quirkiness pretty much sums up "Queens Logic." Not heavy on plot, the film relies on the above lovely ladies' characters and their male counterparts, including a very good Joe Mantegna, Kevin Bacon (as a quintessentially dazed and confused N.Y. ex-pat, who now lives in Los Angeles), John Malkovich and a much younger Tom Waits in a supporting role. If you love snappy, witty dialogue, N.Y. stories, and generational tourism (and I know you do if you read Damn The Man), "Queens Logic" is for you. Oh, and it's got a pretty kickin' soundtrack full of oldies if yr prematurely jaded like me.

Please check out the few clips I could find on You Tube. Enjoy!