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Jade (1995)
Some fantasies go too far.
Filmmaker(s): William Friedkin

Someone does a nasty hatchet job on a San Francisco big shot and the Assistant D.A. takes charge of the investigation. Through a web of blackmail and prostitution involving the Governor, an old lover of the lawman emerges as a prime suspect and he has to deal with his personal feelings as well as the case.

Sprung Rites 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 voyuerist contexts, but I think the target was a much deeper appeal: a whole...


Published March 12, 2023
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Antonia’s Line (1995)
A motion picture that celebrates everything you love about life.
Filmmaker(s): Marleen Gorris

After World War II, Antonia and her daughter, Danielle, go back to their Dutch hometown, where Antonia's late mother has bestowed a small farm upon her. There, Antonia settles down and joins a tightly-knit but unusual community. Those around her include quirky friend Crooked Finger, would-be suitor Bas and, eventually for Antonia, a granddaughter and great-granddaughter who help create a strong family of empowered women.

Lined Up movies are there just to make you feel good about your self. And among those, most do so by showing you values you admire. Characters inhabit those values so we admire them as well. But the whole thing is engineered to parade Hallmark...


Published April 5, 2023
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Assassins (1995)
In the shadows of life. In the business of death. One man found a reason to live.
Filmmaker(s): Richard Donner

Assassin Robert Rath arrives at a funeral to kill a prominent mobster, only to witness a rival hired gun complete the job for him -- with grisly results. Horrified by the murder of innocent bystanders, Rath decides to take one last job and then return to civilian life. But finding his way out of the world of contract killing grows ever more dangerous as Rath falls for his female target and becomes a marked man himself.

Chunky Mix project fascinates me. Donner is legendary for taking “chunks” out of genres, attaching them to characters, and jamming them together to make hits. Sometimes it works, and sometimes the experiment gets out of hand. This one is a failure, but an interesting one. Start...


Published May 16, 2023
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Before Sunrise (1995)
Can the greatest romance of your life last only one night?
Filmmaker(s): Richard Linklater

A young man and woman meet on a train in Europe, and wind up spending one evening together in Vienna. Unfortunately, both know that this will probably be their only night together.

The Movie Not Married think the memory of this is better than the movie itself. I recently saw the sequel. It was one of the most delicate and perfect things I know so far as that shell of romance which is outside of intimacy. That was...


Published June 29, 2023
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Exit to Eden (1994)
To crack this case, these two cops will have to flash more than their badges.
Filmmaker(s): Garry Marshall

Photographer Elliot Slater has inadvertently snapped the only existing photos of elusive jewel thief Omar. When Elliot leaves for a private vacation on an S&M island, he is followed by Omar; Omar's partner, Nina; and police officers Fred and Sheila. Unaware of the number of people chasing him, Elliot enjoys his stay at the resort, and finds himself falling in love with head dominatrix Lisa.

Whipped am particularly attracted to odd genre-crossing experiments that fail. When they work, the reasons why are too tied to the mysteries of perception to tease out. Like explanations of the economy, they are all speculations bound to be bogus. But failures are easier to...


Published May 13, 2022
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Alicia (1994)
Filmmaker(s): Jaume Balagueró

After her first menstruation, Alicia is kidnapped and led by fly-men into a surreal and dirty underworld ruled by a disgusting being.

Stillborn is purely personal, but I have a few wickets through which a film must pass for me to willingly splice it into my imagination. I’m only talking here about films that present themselves as art. — It has to be competent, which for me can...


Published May 21, 2023
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Intersection (1994)
Make every move as if it were your last.
Filmmaker(s): Mark Rydell

During a car accident, Vincent Eastman watches his whole life flash before his eyes, and he doesn't like what he sees. While maintaining the semblance of a marriage with his wife, Sally, Vincent has been carrying on with a mistress, Olivia. She's everything Sally isn't -- warm, passionate, carefree. So why can't he choose between the two, especially when his indecision is taking its toll on his daughter?

West Coast Architecture admit to a weakness for any film that attempts to be architectural in some fundamental way. Even the failures — and they are mostly failures — are usually interesting. And this one features a redhead as well, a cinematic device that is...


Published January 24, 2024
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Alleyn Mysteries: Final Curtain (1993)

Exit Stage Left haven’t seen all of these productions. Usually I go through the whole series, and I may eventually come back to this. I watched this because I saw “Death at the Bar,” which was truly superb. It was because they built it around director...


Published May 13, 2022
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Indochine (1992)
A great film from a mysterious world
Filmmaker(s): Régis Wargnier

Set in colonial French Indochina during the 1930s to 1950s, this is the story of Éliane Devries, a French plantation owner, and of her adopted Vietnamese daughter, Camille, set against the backdrop of the rising Vietnamese nationalist movement.

Communism as Theater has the same flavour of sadness as a film gone awry, especially a film with weight. And this has weight at least from its aspirations and budget — even more from the much delayed European examination into their colonial crimes. There’s some lovely...


Published September 19, 2022
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A Few Good Men (1992)
In the heart of the nation's capital, in a courthouse of the U.S. government, one man will stop at nothing to keep his honor, and one will stop at nothing to find the truth.
Filmmaker(s): Rob Reiner

When cocky military lawyer Lt. Daniel Kaffee and his co-counsel, Lt. Cmdr. JoAnne Galloway, are assigned to a murder case, they uncover a hazing ritual that could implicate high-ranking officials such as shady Col. Nathan Jessep.

Rosencrantz and Guidenstern writing this in 2025 more than 30 years after seeing it, and probably 25 since writing the first IMDB comment, alas now deleted because of some complaint to IMDB. Watching it now, the whole context has changed. I know quite a few unbalanced...


Published June 17, 2025
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