There are some fine sleepers out there, and I don’t mean Rip van Winkle. A sleeper is a movie, often a low-budget one, that is artistically superior but which may not achieve top flight box office success. Typically they involve a theme on some deeply human issue or characteristic that lends the film a uniquely memorable quality. I have taken some liberties with this strict definition re the eight films I am going to list over the next eight days. You could say they represent my subjective feeling that they are films worth watching that I suspect may not be as widely known and appreciated as they ought to be. They are not in any particular order, and I invite your commentary if you've seen the film. First up is:
“Clockwise” is a 1986 film starring John Cleese at his best, a character in many ways similar to his incomparable Basil Fawlty. Cleese plays Mr. Stimpson, a headmaster obsessively organized and punctual, who has been chosen to preside at a conference of headmasters. In his efforts to get there, he encounters one adverse circumstance after another, leading to a string of hilarious misadventures. The film returned less than half its budget at the box office, but it is hysterical watching Cleese struggling to hold it together as he faces one impediment after another to his getting to his destination on time.
