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Rize (2005)
Filmmaker(s): David LaChapelle

A documentary film that highlights two street derived dance styles, Clowning and Krumping, that came out of the low income neighborhoods of L.A.. Director David LaChapelle interviews each dance crew about how their unique dances evolved. A new and positive activity away from the drugs, guns, and gangs that ruled their neighborhood. A raw film about a growing sub-culture movements in America.

Their Space, My Breath I suppose there will be great numbers of viewers who will come away from this feeling good. The myth of the movie, pounded over and over, is that the art these kids devote themselves to elevates them, saves them. There are copious...


Published May 13, 2022
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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 I 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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Go (1999)
Life begins at 3am.
Filmmaker(s): Doug Liman

Grocery store clerk Simon occasionally sells drugs from his cash register at work, so when soap opera actors Adam and Zack come looking for Ecstasy on a quiet Christmas Eve, they are surprised to find Ronna covering his shift. Desperate for money, Ronna decides to become an impromptu drug dealer, unaware that Adam and Zack are secretly working for obsessed narcotics officer Burke.

Unbearable Lightness of Going Critics and commentors have beaten to death the Pulp Fiction' comparisons. Yes, this has parallel stories, time folding (but not the time shuffling of Pulp'), black and white shuffling, guns drugs and ironic violence, diner scenes and a hip perspective. But to...


Published May 13, 2022
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Snake Eyes (1998)
Believe everything except your eyes.
Filmmaker(s): Brian De Palma

All bets are off when shady homicide cop Rick Santoro witnesses a murder during a boxing match. It's up to him and lifelong friend, Naval intelligence agent Kevin Dunne to uncover the conspiracy behind the killing. At every turn, Santoro makes increasingly shocking discoveries that even he can't turn a blind eye to.

The Eye That Lies This is a wonderful experience. Never mind that the acting is poor and the story weak — that was never the point. This film was made because DePalma knows how to make his camera dance and wanted to make a film based...


Published May 13, 2022
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Good Will Hunting (1997)
Some people can never believe in themselves, until someone believes in them.
Filmmaker(s): Gus Van Sant

When professors discover that an aimless janitor is also a math genius, a therapist helps the young man confront the demons that are holding him back.

Snark Hunting I admire films that shoot high and miss. But it really rankles me when a film pretends to shoot high, avoids doing so because of lack of talent, and lies to us in the process. There's great drama in the mere existence of an idiot...


Published May 13, 2022
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Crash (1996)
Shocking. Powerful. Scandalous. Provocative. Erotic. Brilliant.
Filmmaker(s): David Cronenberg

After getting into a serious car accident, a TV director discovers an underground sub-culture of scarred, omnisexual car-crash victims who use car accidents and the raw sexual energy they produce to try to rejuvenate his sex life with his wife.

Not Sufficiently Extreme ‘Fight Club’ meets ‘Zed and Two Noughts’ meets ‘Bladerunner’ meets ‘Fearless’ meets ‘Leaving Las Vegas.’ I celebrate the intelligent vision of this film. But ‘Fight Club’ wove a more engaging neurosis; ‘Zed’ had a stronger disturbing vision; ‘Bladerunner’ a more thorough sense of programmed...


Published May 13, 2022
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Lovers of the Arctic Circle (1998)
Destiny cannot be denied.
Filmmaker(s): Julio Medem

Otto and Ana are kids when they meet each other. Their names are palindromes. They meet by chance, people are related by chance. A story of circular lives, with circular names, and a circular place where the day never ends in the midnight sun. There are things that never end, and Love is one of them.

Geometric Cosmologies This is so beautiful, it hurts. Tender. It is a lacy filigree in what it is, essentially a story about longing, urges and space. But that filigree extends to the nature of the space that surrounds the story on screen. And the motion of weaving...


Published May 13, 2022
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To Sleep So As to Dream (1986)
Filmmaker(s): Kaizo Hayashi

An aging silent film actress hires a private eye and his wacky but helpful assistant to track down her missing daughter, Bellflower. The two follow a succession of bizarre, obscure clues, until they track down the location of the kidnappers and the daughter.

Mysterious Silences As my readers know, I study folding in film; when films have parallel positions for the viewer as supported by the construction of the thing. Usually, this is a fluid contract between filmmaker and viewer that requires deeper engagement. I like these in part because...


Published May 13, 2022
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Aunt Peg’s Fulfilment (1981)
Shocking...Daring...Erotic
Filmmaker(s): Anthony Spinelli

The continuing lustful sexual adventures of Hollywood producer Aunt Peg as she tries to continue with financing her latest movie project.

Unfulfilling Classic porn, the kind celebrated in “Boogie Nights”, cannot be avoided if you are serious about studying film. An amazing number of these, mostly from the 70s, have pretty cleverly engineered contexts. It is completely different than the porn of today, where there is no attempt...


Published May 13, 2022
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War Games (1983)
Is it a game, or is it real?
Filmmaker(s): John Badham

High School student David Lightman has a talent for hacking. But while trying to hack into a computer system to play unreleased video games, he unwittingly taps into the Defense Department's war computer and initiates a confrontation of global proportions. Together with his girlfriend and a wizardly computer genius, David must race against time to outwit his opponent and prevent a nuclear Armageddon.

Winken and Blinken There is less reason to see this now than when it was made, except for the lesson that is more clear here than in current filmdom: how do you cinematically convey concepts that don’t fit our fairly limited vocabulary? The lesson here is stark,...


Published May 13, 2022
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