Bad Genius (2017)

Testy This probably would work better for a young audience, who can relate to school, tests, and the stereotypes depicted here. It is basically a tension building project with a few side annotations: daughter and father reconciling and our heroine coming clean. Left out to dry is a victim — someone they tricked and beat… Continue reading Bad Genius (2017)

Inside Deep Throat (2005)

Momentus “Deep Throat“ is an incompetent movie that had a phenomenal effect. So I guess it is appropriate that a documentary on some of those effects be less than competent as well. Here’s the interesting thing. No one should live without understanding a few basic things about themselves. Film is a large factor in how… Continue reading Inside Deep Throat (2005)

Italian Job (2003)

The In, The Out This slick production lacks the cinematic acrobatics of “The Good Thief.” Except, except for one clever thing. The editing. The direction, acting and all that are pretty ordinary, as is the actual story and it tested very poorly. So — the story goes — the concerned producers brought in a giant… Continue reading Italian Job (2003)

Jade (1995)

Sprung Rites I think this may have been successful in its day, simply because of the sex. There is the appearance of some sex acts on the screen presented in a couple voyueristic contexts, but I think the target was a much deeper appeal: a whole world driven by insatiable, conventionally deviant female sex drive.… Continue reading Jade (1995)

Altered States (1980)

A Beautiful Mind Another director would have been better for this material in my mind. The production is off: the effects, the drama and the love story all fail. But the idea behind the story… the idea, that has power and is enough to keep you sitting through this. The idea is that certain scientists… Continue reading Altered States (1980)

Alphaville (1965)

Reduced Time gives us great advantages. One of these is that we can see art in terms other than the artist used in creating it. The French New Wave was an interesting and timely set of cinematic ideas that were burdened at the time by clumsy theory and some frankly moronic critics. Now we can… Continue reading Alphaville (1965)

American Pie (2001)

Jericho, my Butt! A very interesting film given some realities: this is successfully engineered to tap some cultural acupuncture point — and it does so after the first film provided valuable information about what audiences thought funny. The first film was uncentered by design: the idea with such things is to cheaply provide a model… Continue reading American Pie (2001)

Along Came Polly (2004)

Safe The story in this movie revolves around the choice between safety and richness. Because it assumes we are stupid, it has two story lines to hammer the point home, the point that safety is the wrong choice. And then in the highest of ironies, the picture is fabricated and presented in a way that… Continue reading Along Came Polly (2004)