Gate of Flesh
January 14, 2006
Based on the novel by Taijiro Tamura, Seijun Suzuki’s Gate of Flesh (1964) explores the harsh world of post-World War II prostitutes in Tokyo, in particular, a group whose already tenuous relationship with each other is put to the test when a wild,...
Belle de jour: Criterion Collection
January 9, 2006
In 1967, master provocateur Luis Bunuel released one of his most celebrated films Belle de jour, an erotic tale of an unhappy bourgeois Paris housewife who works part-time at a posh brothel in order to act out her complex psychosexual fantasies. It was...
Carlito’s Way: Ultimate Edition
January 3, 2006
There was a lot of anticipation when Carlito’s Way was released in 1993. Director Brian De Palma had just come off a lukewarm reception for yet another Hitchcock homage, Raising Cain (1992) and was in need of a hit to appease the studios. And so, a...
The Machinist
December 30, 2005
After seeing Christian Bale all buff and beautiful in American Psycho (2000), it comes as quite a shock to see the physical transformation he underwent for The Machinist (2004). No trickery was done with CGI or make-up to convey his gaunt, emaciated appearance....
The Jacket
December 28, 2005
Like the similarly themed The Machinist (2004), The Jacket (which was released in the same year) is all about the fractured perception of its protagonist. Jack Starks (Brody) is a U.S. soldier badly wounded in the first Persian Gulf War that resulted...
Vital Signs
December 21, 2005
Made in 1990, Vital Signs still carries residual of the ‘80s with its cheesy soundtrack. The film follows the trials and tribulations of several third year medical students as they compete for limited internships and to do so they have to earn enough...
Prozac Nation
December 10, 2005
Based on the autobiographical novel by Elizabeth Wurtzel, Prozac Nation (2001) has had a troubled past. Intended for release in 2001, Miramax buried it when Wurtzel made some controversial remarks about 9/11 and then criticized the film itself. Some reports...
The Family Stone
December 7, 2005
The Family Stone (2005) belongs to the eccentric family comedy sub-genre where a straight-laced protagonist that the audience can identify with meets a clan of lovable oddballs usually in the context of a holiday setting (see Home for the Holidays, Pieces...
C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation: Season 4
December 6, 2005
There’s a scene in Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle where the girls arrive at a murder scene and promptly discover the whereabouts of the killer by the taste of his sex-wax residue. It’s a direct nod (or homage if you want to get French)...
Purple Butterfly
December 6, 2005
Purple Butterfly (2003) is Lou Ye’s follow-up to his dreamy Suzhou River (2000), a Wong Kar-Wai-esque tragic love affair. This movie is also a tale of doomed romance set in 1930s Shanghai. In some respects, this is Ye’s In the Mood for Love (2000)...
