Religions All religion is about sex, all tribalisms about religion, and all film about tribalism. This is the form of how I approach things these days, with three layers of introspective epiphany, and a token from the film for each layer. In this case, I thought to share...
Self with Shoes On As I understand it, this was concieved in the breakup of a marriage. The voice and most of the script is by the disappointed wife, and the surrounding framing by the presumably inadequate husband. The actual events had some videos posted to YouTube,...
A documentary about the Electronic Dance movement of the '90s. It is the first such full-length film on the topic. It was produced by Cleopatra Pictures and Entertainment Group, presided by Cleopatra Records founder Brian Perera. The film features interviews with BT, The Crystal Method, Electric Skychurch, Genesis P-Orridge, Frankie Bones, DJ Spooky, Roni Size, and DJ Keoki.
Honest Music, Dishonest Business Social trends are often shaped by strange overlaps in market forces. You have to have a steady stream of “artists” who are compelled to do their thing, driven primarily by an urge to express. We have that in this music, because the...
Offbeat fashion student Betsy Hopper and her straight-laced investment-banker fiancé Jake Lovell just want an intimate little wedding reception, but Betsy's father Eddie, a Long Island construction contractor, feels so threatened by Jake's rich WASP parents that he blows the ceremony up into a bank-breaking showpiece, sending his wife Lola into a financial panic.
Pillow Fight This is a significant failure for interesting reasons. Situations can be funny. Worlds can be funny. People can be too, but not all at the same time. Alda comes from a tradition where people are funny. Situations are there, and worlds too, but only so that...
Gloria is kidnapped and taken to a theater where she is told that she will have "the most exquisite moment of her life." She shares many sexual and intimate experiences on a stage in front of a small masked audience that grows increasingly aroused as the performance progresses.
Taxi Driver’s Eyes Wide No history of film can evade porn. Some of it contains some clever ideas and every once in a while it actually influenced something. That’s the case with this. Schrader has explicitly said that this influenced his “Taxi Driver” in the notion of...
For everyone who's always envied the life of the legendary Rolling Stones frontman, this behind-the-scenes documentary lets you in on Mick Jagger's private life, with family home movies and interviews, and also follows him recording and performing songs from his solo Goddess in the Doorway" album. Special appearances by Bono, Pete Townshend, Wyclef Jean, Lenny Kravitz, and others are featured.
Walking Trousers I have such a long list of films to watch that there is often a long lag between the time it appears on the list and the actual watching. Then, part of the fun is figuring out why I was so excited about getting...
It's the hope that sustains the spirit of every GI: the dream of the day when he will finally return home. For three WWII veterans, the day has arrived. But for each man, the dream is about to become a nightmare.
Slow Meditation on Observation This treacly story hides some masterful filmmaking. Film is all about observation, except the observed usually contrive to make the observer feel unobtrusive. During this period, intelligent filmmakers were playing with the form so that often films were not only engineered observations but the...
Julia Lambert is a true diva: beautiful, talented, weathly and famous. She has it all - including a devoted husband who has mastermined her brilliant career - but after years of shining in the spotlight she begins to suffer from a severe case of boredom and longs for something new and exciting to put the twinkle back in her eye. Julia finds exactly what she's looking for in a handsome young American fan, but it isn't long before the novelty fling adds a few more sparks than she was hoping for. Fortuately for her, this surprise twist in the plot will thrust her back into the greatest role of her life.
Unaware This is a well made movie. Such things are rare, and when they come around, we celebrate them. Many extend this celebration to Bening, who is similarly competent. But something is ajar. The project is based on a familiar device: we see a film (really a...
Encouraged by her managers, rising pop star Mima takes on a recurring role on a popular TV show, when suddenly her handlers and collaborators begin turning up murdered.
Great Double Reality Until the End I get nearly all my movie recommendations from IMDb readers of my comments. I'm a student of "folding," which often exhibits as a mix of reality, a movie within the movie, or an imagined reality. Here we have all three in...
Fletcher Reede is a fast-talking attorney and habitual liar. When his son Max blows out the candles on his fifth birthday he has just one wish - that his dad will stop lying for 24 hours. When Max's wish comes true, Fletcher discovers that his mouth has suddenly become his biggest liability.
Anti Vax Sometimes a film is just a wrapper for a broken person, who when unconstrained amuses us. Robin Williams, Peter Sellers, Jerry Lewis are examples. These are souls we accept because we find an endearing core around which the outrageous behaviour orbits. So far as...
