I had never realized Honeymooner Art Carney had won an Oscar. But he did for his '74 starring role in Harry and Tonto. I bolted over to Boite Noire (only their St-Denis outlet has a copy) to rent it, thinking the plot sounded like a sweet bit of melancholia. This Paul Mazursky film involves a retired widower who finds himself at wit's end after he's evicted from his Manhattan apartment. He tries to live with one son, but his daughter-in-law is too uptight. So he takes off to visit his other offspring (Ellen Burstyn as his estranged daughter and Larry Hagman as his financially-strapped son) in the hopes of connecting somewhere. All the while he's accompanied by his faithful cat. Harry and Tonto's episodic form makes for an entirely hit-and-miss film; while some vignettes are lighthearted and funny, others seem rather dull. This disappointment was a real blow for me--I'm usually a sucker for movies about seniors bonding with other species.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's last film, End of Days, is out on video this week. While I didn't advocate anyone dropping 10 bucks to see this in the cinemas, this Schwarzenegger-versus-Satan action movie might (stress might) be worth a rental for diehard fans of the beefcake. :

--Matthew Hays