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Paul Verhoeven, director of the original Basi.

Instinct, must be great in bed. The women in his films attest to this assumption. They dont just make love  they soar athletically about bedrooms and swimming pools. They dont simply orgasm - they erupt, cascade and convulse. Who can forget the otherwise forgettabl.

Elizabeth Berkeleys rodeo pool ride atop the bucking and bullish Kyle Maclachlan in Verhoevens surrealistically brilliant Showgirls.

And no man could etch from his memory the opening of the original Basi.

Instinct  where a woman reaches such a state of thrill in conjugation that with her climax comes the crushing force of an ice pick into her partners chest. Quite a release.

If art imitates life and artists draw from experience, Verhoeven clearly has another skill set somewhat more impressive than his directorial abilities. Verhoevens energy, his thrust if you will, informs Basi.

Instinct 2, a sequel he wisely chose to avoid.In the tradition of hyperbolic orgasms, the opening of Basi.

Instinct 2 finds us in a car with Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone) pleasuring herself with the hand of a drugged passenger while speeding through the streets of central London. Howling to her peak, Tramell drives the car through a roadblock and into the Thames. She survives. Her passenger does not. The accident and its involvement with popular author Tramell becomes a sensation and a mystery to the bottom of which detective Washburn (David Thewlis), a hard-worn London cop, seems unusually desperate to get. Tramell, in the course of the investigation, is sent to visit Dr. Michael Glass (David Morrissey) in order to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

As those viewers of the first film know, an interview with Tramell is no tame affair; an immediate attraction grows between doctor and patient that will end inevitably in blood, tears, and plenty of the good stuff that defined Verhoevens earlier film.If only it were as good as it sounds. Though it purports to pulsate with the lascivious misdeeds of its source material, and certainly, it strains at capturing a certain edgy, sexy cool, this new film directed by Michael Caton-Jones is decidedly limp. Caton-Jones is clearly not the directorial Don Juan Verhoeven almost was. He strips the film of all sensuality and fun, rinsing the color palate of every scene until it is as grey as London itself. He sits his camera still and unimaginatively before his drab sets, moving the action about as little as possible and offering only keyhole intrusions into the sex scenes many audience members will be coming to see. These moments of “passion” are handled particularly poorly. Caton-Jones seems unbothered with sensationalizing the sexual act in the way of his predecessor, instead opting for lame quickies in which Stone is obviously instructed to snarl at camera 1..

It is disastrously uninspired direction from a man who once made his name with the glorious Rob Roy.Perhaps he is a director uninspired by his script and by his cast. Leora Barish and Henry Beans screenplay forces Tramell and Dr. Glass into unlikely situations of cat-and-mouse dialogue that fizzle under their haughty aspirations. These scenes, with their intense close-ups and underlying score seem aimed at a Lecter and Clarice dynamic that they could never dream of achieving. The cleverest line is from Tramell: You look a little divorced, and this is hardly Shakespeare.

Of course, the performers only further deflate any potential the script might have had. Morrissey is a Liam Neeson impersonator and fails even at that. He is amazingly wooden, and his character, given the very dangerous and sexy motivation of needing to earn a chair at a university, is colorless. Not for one second do we believe Tramell could ever be interested in this mediocre dumpling.If Morrissey is mediocre, and Caton-Jones uninspired, then Sharon Stone surely has a “risk addiction.” Defined by Morrisseys Dr. Glass muddily as a compulsive need to take risks and survive them, it is a condition that seems to have defined Stones career since her rise to fame in the late 1980s. Diabolique, Sphere, and Catwoman all came to her with the risk of being unwatchable. Basi.

Instinct 2 comes with a similar risk, which she takes with a surprising lack of enthusiasm given how hard she worked to have the film made. Stones Tramell desperately strides through each scene pronouncing her words with amazingly sexless sizzle and staring with vague determination at every camera of which she gets a hold. She seems to see in the murderous author a franchise character, but takes the assumption at face value, not being bothered to invest actual effort into the performance. Tramell is no Hannibal Lecter, and Stone no Hopkins, but at least vamp it up for us, Sharon!It is this that the film ultimately lacks. The only hope Basi.

Instinct 2 had of any type of success was to revel in its vices  its sex, its violence, and ultimately its ridiculous flamboyancy.

It might have been a hilarious romp if everyone wasnt taking themselves so seriously. The film simply isnt bad enough to be any good.

It is guilty of the cardinal cinematic sin.

It is unforgivably and unstoppably boring. The most thrilling moment for me was catching a glimpse of a universit.

I once attended substituting fittingly as the set for a psychiatric hospital& and for you, this thrill will likely go unfelt.

It is a superbly banal exercise. Sharon Stone has been falling from grace for about a decade now, and here, with her great vanity project, she hits the ground with an inglorious thud.

I do not know that this is a risk she will ultimately survive.The DVD includes a pile of deleted scenes (with barely-different alternate ending), commentary track, and a featurette.Aka Basi.

Instinct 2: Ris.

Addiction.I’ll throw in a free undercarriage rust coat.

Director: Michael Caton-Jones
Producer: Mark Albela, Moritz Borman, Mario Kassar, Dan Maag
Screenwriter: Leora Barish, Henry Bean
Stars: Sharon Stone, David Morrissey, Charlotte Rampling, David Thewlis, Hugh Dancy, Anne Caillon
MPAA Rating: R

Seldomly hav.

I been so outright disappointed by a film..

Othello’s problems are numerous, and given the outstanding cast put together for the film (and an admitted masterpiece to work with), it’s amazing that this film comes off as being so downright bad.The story’s been around for 400 years..

Othello (Lawrence Fishburne) is a Moorish general in th.

Italian army, and he is the victim of constant prejudice. Desdemona (Irene Jacob) is hi.

Italian lover, and when the pair secretly marry.

Othello finds himself the victim of a fiendish plot by his servan.

Iago (Kenneth Branagh)..

Iago’s motives are also magnified by the presence of young Cassio (Nathaniel Parker), who serves a.

Othello’s right-hand man despit.

Iago’s longer term of service.And as with any Shakespearean tragedy, there are a number of misunderstandings and, as a result, everybody dies.The prime difficulty wit.

Othello is the language. Dripping with archai.

English, anyone unfamiliar with Shakespeare’s original play is going to have a really tough time following the barest facts of the story. The truly sad thing is that the archaisms are largely not Shakespeare’s. Rather, first-time writer/directo.

Oliver Parker changed 70 percent of the play during his adaptation, in order to.

I guess, make it much more confusing than it really is.Other problems abound..

Iago’s motivation (in the film) is never clear at all, Branagh’s acting here is pathetic, the very French actress Jacob is woefully miscast as a.

Italian speaking i.

English, and while the last 20 minutes of the film are pretty good, they don’t make up for the first 100, which are just dreadfully boring. By the time the end finally rolls around.

I was hoping they’d all die, and soon.The few good points?.

Othello’s thinly-veiled message about racism is worthwhile, if a bit obvious, and Fishburne does turn in a great Moor..

If he’d had more to work with here, we’d probably have the definitive version of the play..

As it is now, it’s just a lot of death in Venice.

Director: Oliver Parker
Producer: Luc Roeg, David Barron
Screenwriter: Oliver Parker
Stars: Lawrence Fishburne, Irene Jacob, Kenneth Branagh
MPAA Rating: R

It’s been 24 years since 1983, and it’s time to ask… is Cujo deserving of a “Specia.

Edition” DVD?Inexplicably marketed as a 25t.

Anniversar.

Edition (close enough.

I guess), Cujo tells the now-often-imitated story of a vicious animal/monster and couple of people trapped by it.

In this case, the animal is a once-super-happy St. Bernard bitten by a rabid bat, and the people are mom Donna (Dee Wallace) and her son Tad (Danny Pintauro).There’s plenty going on before that happens: Mom turns out to be having an affair despite her boyish looks, and Dad (Daniel Hugh Kelly) leaves on business for 10 days as part of an attempt to fix a marketing campaign for cereal that’s making kids sick. That’s an awful lot of character development for a movie about a rabid dog, and you’ll be hard-pressed to remember any of it the minute Cujo takes his first big snack by eating some dude’s face. This movie is all about Donna and Tad, trapped in their crappy Pinto in the middle of nowhere, while a vicious dog tries to wiggle into the car to eat their faces off too. (Then again, that’s only about a 30-minute movie…)As thrilling and scary as Cujo can be, it’s dreadful for long stretches. This is a Stephen King story, after all. The first half hour is complete drivel, and Pintauro’s Tad is the most useless kid in the history of movies. Tad spends most of the time having panic attacks whenever the two have a chance to escape, only to die later in the film. Don’t worry: Mom knows CPR. Pintauro of course would later go on to star in the show Who’s the Boss?, strangely also playing the most useless kid in the history of TV.The film is memorable enough in the end, and there’s a legacy here, of course. Since the movie’s appearance, the name “Cujo” can no longer be used for any animal unless you want people crossing to the other side of the street when they see you.

It’s a little like the name Damian for kids.DVD extras include a commentary track from the director, and a three-part making-of documentary.

Director: Lewis Teague
Producer: Daniel H. Blatt, Robert Singer
Screenwriter: Don Carlos Dunaway, Lauren Currier
Stars: Dee Wallace, Danny Pintauro, Daniel Hugh Kelly
MPAA Rating: R

Horror at its most bizarre, and PG rated, to boot! The Baby stands as one of the genre’s most perverse pictures, a simple tale about a social worker (Anjanette Comer) who becomes obsessed with her new case: a 21-year-old boy being raised as a baby, complete with crib and diapers. No one really thinks to ask mom (Ruth Roman, a Joan Crawford lookalike) if she’s hatched some insane abuse plot. Rather, our heroine seemingly falls in love with the overgrown lad, and eventually kidnaps him. The ending is widely heralded as one of the most surprising in cinema history… and whil.

I was sur.

I had it figured out, eve.

I — cynical film critic tha.

I am — nearly fell off the couch.Recommended.

Director: Ted Post
Producer: Abe Polsky, Milton Polsky
Screenwriter: Abe Polsky
Stars: Anjanette Comer, Ruth Roman, Marianna Hill, Susanne Zenor, David Manzy
MPAA Rating: PG

Sorry, there is no description for this story.

Arye Gross plays the shortest gay man alive in Bi.

Eden.

In this little indie, Gross returns to a small Montana town to care for his grandfather where he finds that gays are — gulp — embraced, not shunned. He quickly gets involved in a love triangle with two men who literally tower over him.

If this wasn’t so absurd and corny it might be sweet. But it cetainly doesn’t look like any Montana tow.

I’ve ever heard of.

Director: Thomas Bezucha
Producer: Jennifer Chaiken
Screenwriter: Thomas Bezucha
Stars: Arye Gross, Eric Schweig, Tim DeKay, Louise Fletcher, George Coe, Nan Martin
MPAA Rating: PG-13

“Inspired b.

Evita!” it says on the poster.

I’ll say. Little Mother is a.

Evita clone all the way down to the costumes — just with a few orgies thrown in here and there — and it’s just as awful.The “Little Mother” is Christiane Krьger’s Marina Pinares, a mournful woman looking back on her life after becoming the wife of a Sout.

American dictator and — egomaniacally — hoping to be deified by the Pope. The film comprises mostly those recollections, as Marina remembers her early life as a hooker and a maneater, clawing her way through orgies and torture chambers all the way to the top.Well, as bas a.

Evita is, this (non-musical) character study’s got nothing going for it at all, with the grainy production values of an underground porn movie and a cast with all the charisma of rock salt. Metzger — a notorious fan of elaborately staged sex scenes — seems paralyzed by the idea of working with costumed actors in what is essentially a period piece, and his passion is wholly lacking in Mother.

As for Krьger, she mopes through each scene with minimal commitment to the role. Why would anyone in this beat-down country love their Little Mother? Because she makes a moving speech about matches?Pffffft.The film is now available as part of The Radley Metzger Collection Volume 2, with The Dirty Girls and Score.

Extras include production stills, the original trailer, and more.(Easter egg: The side of the DVD case reads “Little Motherr.”)

Director: Radley Metzger
Producer: Ava Leighton
Screenwriter: Brian Phelan
Stars: Siegfried Rauch, Christiane Krьger, Ivan Desny, Mark Damon, Anton Diffring, Elga Sorbas, Vida Jerman, Branko Spoljar, Andrea Saric, Ignac Pavkovic, Ivica Pajer, Marina Nemet, Hermina Pipinic, Slobodan Dimitrijevic
MPAA Rating: R

Sorry, there is no description for this story.

In 196.

Italian director Gillo Pontecorvo made this film tracing the efforts of the native population i.

Algeria, the 2nd largest nation i.

Africa, to rise up and liberate themselves after their French colonialist masters reneged on a promise to cut them loose.

As much for its style as its even-handedness, his film raised a stir, received recognition, honors and condemnation, and went on to influence cinematic story-telling technique.

Its re-creation of how terrorist movements grow and how they might be eliminated is, apparently, applicable enough to the current resistance i.

Iraq for the Pentagon to screen it privately for its military personnel.Because of that relevance, new prints from the original negative have been struck for theatrical re-release, that we might all judge and reconsider its instructions and its messages.

One of these is that the battle for hearts and minds can’t be won so easily by a rebellious people when sympathetic observers can taste the malice behind the deaths they cause, no matter what the political context.In a prologue, French military interrogators apply pressure to an ol.

Algerian nationalist until he reveals the hiding place of the last remaining guerrilla leader.

Ali La Pointe (Brahim Haggiag). When his hideout is efficiently surrounded, La Pointe hides in a blind behind a wall, which is quickly discovered. He’s given a choice to come out or die.

As he contemplates his options, we flashback three years, to the point of origin of the conflict, when the National Liberation Front, the NLF (aka FLN), issued a proclamation calling the population to unite in a struggle for independence.Soon thereafter, the strutting, heroic figure of French Colonel Mathieu (Jean Martin), a character based on Jacques Massu, the actual commander of the French forces, arrives with his elite force of French paratroopers to deal with the problem.

In a strategy virtually paralleling the one that Colonel James Hickey used i.

Iraq to find Saddam Hussein, Mathieu outlines for his troops the cleverly compartmentalized structure of th.

Algerian NLF’s command and charges his men to find the foot soldiers of the rebellion. Through coercion and torture, they will force these lower level terrorists to identify the leader of their cell and his location amidst the native sympathizers.In this way, the French troops gradually expose the hierarchy of tactical cells and eliminate them one by one, though not without some loss to themselves. When the story leads back to the last of them, La Pointe chooses death over surrender and the Battle o.

Algiers ends. While this squashing of a persistent enemy force represented a victory for the French, the cause of the revolution didn’t die. The complaints of inequality and suppression remained, and the roots of rebellion sprouted again three years later leading, finally, t.

Algeria’s independence in 1962.Pontecorvo’s characters are political figures first and foremost. While they tend to be two-dimensional archetypes, they serve to concentrate our interest and arouse complex sympathies. The balance of viewpoints is the most stunning accomplishment of Pontevorvo’s film, elevating its effect far more than if it had told the story from only one side.High-speed cutting, amateur actors culled from the environment, extraordinary coverage in the streets, back alleys and safe houses o.

Algiers’ Casbah, details of the grass roots movement as it grows into a well organized instrument of mortal danger, all of these elements lend the film the aura of a documentary and the sense of historical accuracy. The drama it develops tends to overcome what might appear to a modern eye as awkward formality in the characterizations.Underlying the film’s insights is the fact that some of the actors were actually involved in th.

Algerian struggle, most notably, produce.

Yacef Saadi’s part o.

El-hadi Jaffar, which is based on his real-life role as a general in the NLF.

It was Saadi’s original treatment for the film — written in a.

Algerian jail after capture by the French — which provided the basis for Pontecorvo’s and co-writer Franco Solinas’ screenplay. The tense score was composed b.

Ennio Morricone. This lesson in modern warfare is not only instructive to the Pentagon’s military but is of considerable value to any generation’s fascination with law, order, anarchic behavior, and classic storytelling technique.The Criterion edition DVD offers three full discs of material on the film and the titula.

Algerian struggle. Seven documentaries — from 17 to 69 minutes long — weigh in on the film’s influence on contemporary directors, th.

Algerian experience during these years, an expose on tortures of the era, an investigation into terrorism, and several more.

A 1992 documentary returns t.

Algiers to examine what 30 years of independence have done to the area’s people — and a 55-page booklet puts most of this in printed form. Whew!Aka La Battaglia d.

Algeri.Angry i.

Algiers.

Director: Gillo Pontecorvo
Producer: Antonio Musu, Yacef Saadi
Screenwriter: Gillo Pontecorvo, Franco Solinas
Stars: Jean Martin, Brahim Haggiag, Yacef Saadi, Tommaso Neri
MPAA Rating: NR

Reminiscent of the Joseph Losey-Harold Pinter collaborations in the 60s, or Roman Polanskis psycho-sexual thrillers of that same era, Dark Harbor is an understated thriller rippling with forbidden passions under a veneer of false calm. David (Alan Rickman) an.

Alexis (Polly Walker) are suffering through an unhappy marriage where every look and gesture has fifteen shades of meaning, most of it tinted with frustration and hostility. Taking a page from Polanskis Cul-de-Sac, these characters are taking their vacation on a remote island off the coast of Maine.

En route to this retreat where they may rekindle the last coals of their deteriorating marriage, they discover a young, bedraggled stranger (Norman Reedus) on the side of the road. He appears to have been severely beaten, but refuses to accept their help if they call the police. Before long, hes been invited to join them at their home for the weekend and becomes a catalyst for the couple to express their true intentions toward each other.The stilted, controlled dialogue clearly aspires to be Pinter-esque, but never really moves beyond the old mantra of characters who are talking about one thing but really mean something else. This quickly becomes an obvious dramatic choice, and never moves beyond the superficial.The thuddingly obvious notes hit by writer-directo.

Adam Coleman Howard include a moment where David an.

Alexis are planning their evening with grim resolve. What do you want?.

Alexis demands. Oh, for dinner? Lobster. is Davids curt non-response.The characters continually shift around each other using their words as weapons or defense mechanisms, but never really move beyond the cipher characterizations of an unhappy couple and a non-emotive mystery man.

Of course, as usually happens in a sexual thriller.

Alexis falls for this man and gazes longingly at him when he rubs her back with lotion, much to the chagrin of David. Before long, David is going off to play golf whil.

Alexis and the young man have the house all to themselves. Sensual thoughts are sure to follow, as is the notion of betrayal. The deliberate pace of the film allows plenty of room for the characters to sit around and talk through their subterranean impulses.

Alan Rickman and Polly Walker make for strong screen presences, and work their way through the clunky dialogue with grace and reserves of intensity. Norman Reedus isnt called on to do much more than be handsome and speak in a soft voice, but is appropriately sexy in an understated way.Dark Harbor might have been rescued from its own absurdity by the rich acting trio, but it fumbles toward a twist ending which is screamingly lacking in common sense, centering on the trust betwee.

Alexis and her newfound friend.

It also takes a few twists and turns reminiscent of Th.

Usual Suspects or Wild Things. When did things are not what they seem become so painfully familiar?The cinematography seems to favor the lush autumn and rich blues of coastal Maine, but the staging of action feels somewhat unclear much of the time. When the three characters are rushing through the woods in the grand finale, one is often confused (and not deliberately) as to exactly where people are in relationship to one another. This could also be because the script never allows us to make an emotional investment in these people, despite their handful of contrived monologues talking about happier days gone by.Financed by Killer Films and Hart Sharp Productions, who also brought us the powerfully moving Boys Don’t Cry, took a gamble with this one.

It may have felt like an interesting story on paper, bu.

Adam Coleman Howard delivers this meal overcooked and underlayered. Perhaps that explains why it took two years to be released on home video.

Director: Adam Coleman Howard
Producer: John Hart, Jeff Sharp
Screenwriter: Adam Coleman Howard
Stars: Alan Rickman, Polly Walker, Norman Reedus
MPAA Rating: R

Here’s a textbook case of how a film can lose its appeal over the years.Florenz Ziegfeld (played by William Powell) was a real man responsible for creating Broadway as we know it. The three-hour opus traces nearly his entire life. He began by producing carnival-class shows, low-rent vaudeville acts designed to appeal to the common man — wrestling, animal acts, and the like. Bored with philistine work, Ziegfeld raised lots of money to build a big show, starting with Broadway’s Follies and culminating in the production of the classic Show Boat.

Along the way, Ziegfeld loses everything more than once, owing to his addiction to gambling, but he always fights his way back to the top.Up and down, up and down, Ziegfeld has more rises and falls than a Ne.

York elevator.

And boy does this get old. The film follows a reliable formula: Broke Ziegfeld scrounges up money, Ziegfeld and his leading ladies (played at various times by Myrna Loy and Luise Rainer) struggle to get the show on, finally the show goes off without a hitch, culminating in the lavish musical numbers for which the film has become justly famous. Then we start all over, until eventually an ancient Ziegfeld simply dies and the movie ends.Ziegfeld’s musical sets are truly spectacular, but there’s so much of them that even the most patient viewer will be bored still come the halfway point of the film. The film may not have a cast of thousands, but it certainly feels like it does. These numbers paved the way for every big-budget musical that would follow, from Singin’ in the Rain to Moulin Rouge. But what Ziegfeld is utterly missing that its contemporaries have is any kind of compelling story to string these scenes together. Ziegfeld as a character wants to be like Citizen Kane but comes off with none of Kane’s power or natural interest. He’s a crotchety and naive man that merits little of our attention aside from the fact that he had a knack for making musicals.Modern audiences may as well zip through the “plot” scenes and head straight for the musical numbers. This still won’t cut the film down to a length appropriate for its subject matter, but it’s a start.I’ll take a slice of that cake.

Director: Robert Z. Leonard
Producer: Hunt Stromberg
Screenwriter: William Anthony McGuire
Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Luise Rainer, Frank Morgan
MPAA Rating: NR

Sorry, there is no description for this story.

Christine (Sash.

Andres) is an office temp suffering from some sort of spiritual malaise brought about by Frances cold, impersonal capitalist society.

Or is it just that shes a strange, socially retarded whack-job incapable of making friends or interacting with coworkers? Siegri.

Alnoys She.

One o.

Us presents Christines dilemma as an ambiguous mixture of aimless dissatisfaction and desperate alienation, yet the film is so infuriatingly languorous and studied that it feels like 3 Women (or Crime and Punishment, or an.

Alain Resnais effort) as adapted b.

Albert Camus.

Alnoy seems to have a gripe against the dehumanizing modern world.

Unfortunately, as far as one can tell from the directors debut, such displeasure is as unfocused and amorphous as her films torpid, affected narrative.She.

One o.

Us international title, For Shes a Jolly Good Fellow, might have added a touch of wry irony to this ponderous pseudo-thriller.

As it stands, however.

Alnoys formalized film plods along with an unwarranted air of profundity. Christine, her last name (Blanc) hinting at her overwhelming vacuity, shuffles wide-eyed from one high-rise office job to another, failing at each to make an impact on her disinterested colleagues. Determined to make nice-nice with someone, she latches onto her temp agency boss Patricia (Catherine Mouchet), lying about a shared affinity for collectible glass owls and repeating snippets of conversation shes overheard at the grocery store. For reasons unknown, Patricia begins to spend her free time with Christine, but things go haywire when, in a fit of embarrassed rage while at a local swimming pool, Christine lethally lashes out at her new friend.Having now committed a (rather disturbing) crime, Christine is reborn as a confident, popular, and ruthless businesswoman, acquiring a live-in boyfriend and a full-time job where her subordinates fear her. Her transformation, however, doesnt alter the empty expression  a look of bemused nothingness tha.

Alnoy doggedly shoots in close-up with clinical fascination  thats permanently etched on her face, nor the fact that the films set-up is so contrived and artificial that it nearly howls with pretentiousness.

A low, steady hum of electronic noise, frequently punctuated by sharp noises, follows Christine as she visits menacing locales of consumerism like the supermarket and the mall (where she enjoys placidly sitting amidst the rush of busy shoppers). But though the films icily composed and detached mise-en-scиne contains an unsubtle critique of materialism and market capitalism, Christines beef against her callous environment and compatriots is so ill-defined that the film eventually becomes more maddening than unsettling.As Christine ingratiates herself into the society that had previously rejected her  Im like everyone else now, she tells Degas (Carlo Brandt), the cop hot on her trail for Patricias death  she becomes a nasty, vicious woman who (likely intentionally) orchestrates the suicide of her affable work associate. She.

One o.

Us seems to make the case that becoming a participating member of the repulsive modern world is akin to (or somehow necessitates a form of) murder, and thus the films optimistic ending finds Christine making a clean break from her not-so-improved life. To be happy, people must not be one of us (i.e. the lemmings who mindlessly accept routine lives) but rather unique, non-conforming individuals who recognize that toeing the company line is a useless, soul-crushing dead-end.

On the other hand, perhap.

Alnoy is saying that Christine becomes one of us  namely, the iconoclastic rebels like herself who dont kowtow to perceived norms  by rejecting 21st century society.

Either way, if audience members are able to refrain from scoffing at the ludicrousness of such nebulous discontent, their tolerance for meandering, second-rate existential hogwash is greater than mine.The DVD includes a making-of featurette, more than half an hour of deleted scenes, and the short film No.

Enfants.Ak.

Elle est des nфtres.

Director: Siegrid Alnoy
Producer: Bйatrice Caufman
Screenwriter: Siegrid Alnoy, Jйrфme Beaujour, Franзois Favrat
Stars: Sasha Andres, Catherine Mouchet, Carolo Brandt, Eric Caravaca, Pierre-Fйlix Graviиre, Daniel Ceccaldi, Jacques Spiesser, Mireille Roussel
MPAA Rating: NR

There’s nothing more annoying than a music geek..

You know, the kind of guy who hangs out in record stores reminiscing about Camper Van Beethoven, Stereolab, and the roots of Green Day.As such, a movie full of music geeks may seem a little unbearable, and in a lot of ways, High Fidelity is. That it manages to often redeem itself is the biggest surprise in the movie, and not for the reasons you might think.Let’s start out with what doesn’t work. For starters, purist fans of Nick Hornby’s novel will be disappointed to find their favorite record store moved fro.

England to Chicago. John Cusack’s Rob is, of course, not British — he’s a typica.

Yank with a perpetually broken heart. Rob spends much (or all) of the film narrating to the screen, as if the moviegoer is in the room with him, wherever he goes. This gets old, awfully fast, quickly losing its charm and becoming obvious as a crutch used to mask lazy, sloppy writing.Rob is also as shallow as they come. He lives his life like a Billboard chart..

Everything is a “top five,” and the movie centers around his current girlfriend Laura (the fittingly unknow.

Iben Hjejle — her real name!) leaving him, thus entering the charts as his
5 Heartbreaker.The problem isn’t really Rob’s shallowness; it’s that Laura turns out to be pretty worthless as well. Hjejle clearly has no chemistry with Cusack, and her character has no redeeming qualities either except that “she smells good.” (And you have to take Cusack’s word on that.).

On the road to getting Laura back, Rob visits the rest of the top 5 heartbreakers — including Catherine Zeta-Jones and Lili Taylor, but nothing really comes of this. The song of Rob’s life remains utterly the same. (There’s even an inexplicable fling with Lisa Bonet of The Cosby Show fame, particularly ironic since the 80s standard is mocked elsewhere in the film.)Fortunately, throw Jack Black (best known as Matthew Broderick’s friend in The Cable Guy) into any of the above scenes and it becomes a laugh riot..

You will forget about the rest of the movie (thin.

Empire Records grown up) when Black struts his stuff. The man should kil.

Adam Sandler and takeover his life as a real comedian. Demure newcomer Todd Louiso, like Black an employee in Rob’s record store, provides excellent counterpoint to Black’s over-the-top character. Literally, the scenes in Rob’s store are so funny they make you forget about the rest of the film.A hilarious supporting role by a pony-tailed Tim Robbins notwithstanding, that “rest of the film” is pretty much a drag..

It’s uniformly shallow and vapid, and the reliance on Hjejle (imagine Mia Farrow with a bad haircut and a language barrier) to carry a lead role was a fatal error for High Fidelity’s producers..

All the talk of avant-garde bands may make you envious of the boundless musical knowledge these guys possess..

Or, like me, you may just want to skip to the tracks you like. Cusack pouts, Black punches.

Director: Stephen Frears
Producer: Tim Bevan, Rudd Simmons
Screenwriter: D.V. DeVincentis, Steve Pink, John Cusack, Scott Michael Rosenberg
Stars: John Cusack, Jack Black, Lisa Bonet, Joelle Carter, Joan Cusack, Sara Gilbert, Iben Hjejle, Todd Louiso, Lili Taylor, Natasha Wagner, Chris Rehmann, Tim Robbins, Catherine Zeta-Jones
MPAA Rating: R

When a red curtain opens and an orchestra conductor emerges to “direct” the unmistakable 20th Century Fox theme music, we know we’re in for something different. Really different. Good different.Filled with virtuoso special effects and spectacular song-and-dance sequences, Baz Luhrmann’s long-awaited Moulin Rouge makes every minute of our collectively held breath worthwhile..

In fact, during its opening hour, this critic found it hard to look away even for a second to jot down a note, for fear of missing even a nuanced sparkle in the eye of some French whore.But enough about me.Somewhere between a fairy tale and an episode of Sesame Street, sitting on a strange line between history and fantasy, lies Moulin Rouge, a vaguely familiar story about a love affair between a penniless writer and a dying courtesan. Set in Paris in the year 1900, in and around the infamous Moulin Rouge — a brothel/dancehall in the seediest part of town — the film quickly tosses us into a whirlwind of a story, windmill included.Christian (Ewan McGregor) arrives in Paris, eager to make his mark as a writer. No sooner does he begin to type than a band of bohemian poets and actors literally fall in on him, including the crazed and diminutive Toulouse-Lautrec (John Leguizamo, acting on his knees). Together they hatch a plot to take a new musical across the street to the Moulin Rouge in search of a backer for their thrilling new show.Naturally, before midnight strikes, Christian has fallen in love with the star of the Rouge, the “Sparkling Diamond” Satine (Nicole Kidman), while her boss, the maniacal Zidler (Jim Broadbent) looks on disapprovingly. The man with the money is the Duke of Worcester (Richard Roxburgh), to whom everyone must suck up. But it wouldn’t be a movie unless the Duke was also in love with Satine — and boy does he have a mean streak….Its plot is as old and trite as the most overdone of Greek tragedies, but the fun of Moulin Rouge is all in its telling. Far and away the best part of the movie are the spectacular musical numbers performed by some very good (not great) singers. (All the actors did their own voice work.) When they simply talk, you’ll find yourself drumming your fingers, hoping the next number will come along soon..

And they always do — like a machine gun, some 19 performances appear in rapid succession.The songs are all contemporary numbers unknown to 1900s Paris. While the use of pop songs in period pieces has actually been a mainstay of the musical since the 1940s, it’s never been taken to the extremes of Rouge..

A Knight’s Tale tried this stunt only a few weeks ago, with mixed results..

In Moulin Rouge, McGregor belts out “The Sound of Music” in one scene, Broadbent vamps through “Like a Virgin” (yes, Jim Broadbent), McGregor and Kidman duet memorably through a host of love-themed songs while standing atop the elephant in which she lives (yes, elephant), and the entire cast tangos to a Latin-infused version of “Roxanne,” with Jose Feliciano backing the group..

You won’t even realize Marilyn Manson is covering “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”.

A Knight’s Tale’s “We Will Roc.

You” comes off as lame in comparison. Put simply, Moulin Rouge rocks.The cast is uniformly superb. Jim Broadbent appears larger than life (and he is larger than life to begin with), while John Leguizamo is astonishingly smaller than life… with a French lisp to boot (”the Thpawk-leeeng Die-aaay-mon!” — try it out loud)..

Of course, this is Kidman’s and McGregor’s movie, and when they’re together on screen the picture shines brighter than ever..

In fact, for their duets, Luhrmann (William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet) really cranks things up, laying on the dazzle and pouring his heart into the movie. The three of them form a remarkably apt trio.Still, there’s only so much of this anyone can take. Moulin Rouge is a movie that wears down the audience and its cast. While it starts off as an unmitigated five-star extravaganza, it eventually flags into mere four-star territory as the film becomes repetitious and a bit slow (heresy!). Still, it’s one of the best films of the year to date, following Memento as the only award-caliber film released so far in 2001.But forget all of that. What you will have witnessed after seeing Moulin Rouge is nothing short of the rebirth of the movie musical..

It will certainly be a love-it-or-hate-it experience for moviegoers — but like they say, if you don’t get it, you’re just too old. Way too old.Dead, probably.As good as the film is, the Moulin Rouge DVD is better, a lavish, two-disc affair replete with extras. Luhrmann appears on two commentary tracks, and (much like The Matrix) a “follow the green fairy” feature takes you to mini-making-of bits in context with the movie..

And if all that’s not enough, just pop in the second disc, for inside looks at early script drafts (amazing!), deleted scenes (inspiring!), and just about anything else you could want to see — including the performance of “Lady Marmalade” at the MTV Movi.

Awards..

Outstanding disc. The rogues of Rouge

Director: Baz Luhrmann
Producer: Fred Baron, Martin Brown, Baz Luhrmann
Screenwriter: Baz Luhrmann, Craig Pearce
Stars: Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, John Leguizamo, Jim Broadbent, Richard Roxburgh, Kylie Minogue
MPAA Rating: PG-13

Before the epic rancor of Ran.

Akira Kurosawa told a more intimate, but no less tragic story with Kagemusha.

Also set in feudal Japan, but based on real events, the film tells the tale of a thief set in place to impersonate a dead warlord to prevent the warlord’s enemies from gaining control.

Its kind of like Dave, but much slower and in Japanese.The film opens in 16th century Japan. Two warlords.

Ieyasu (Masayuk.

Yui) and Nobunaga (Daisuke Ryu), take on a third, Shingen (Tatsuya Nakadai), for control of the country. So far, Shingen has them on the run. But a lucky sniper gets off a round that may or may not have killed the warlord. While his enemies wonder, a wounded Shingen demands that should he die, his passing be kept a secret for three years, lest his rivals be emboldened. When Shingen finally gives up the ghost, its up to his brother Nobukado (Tsutom.

Yamazaki) to come up with a plan to carry out those wishes.Fortunately, Nobukado has thought ahead.

In the gripping first scene, he introduces his brother to Kagemusha (also Tatsuya Nakadai), a thief about to be crucified were it not for his resemblance to Shingen.

As the moment unfolds, Kagemusha challenges Shingen, claiming that it is Shingen and not himself who is the criminal. The warlord owns up to that and, impressed by the thiefs honesty, agrees to have him trained as a double.

Its how Kagemushas perspective changes once he finally assumes that role that creates the arc of the film.And what a slow arc it is.

Once Shingen dies, the film takes a turn for the inert. Things do happen, but they unfold with all the forward momentum of a Jarmusch flick.

Its a difficult pace to get used to, but the viewer is rewarded with some striking visuals. Kurosawas use of color is radiant. From the deep reds and purples of battle to the soft, golden browns of the Suwa castle where Kagemusha carries out his charade, the film is sumptuous.The imagery supports the film thematically as well. Kurosawas visuals emphasize shadows (Kagemusha is a shadow of the dead warlord) and crucifixion without being overbearing. The film builds to some unforgettable images, but even they overstay their welcome after a while.

Its as if a 90-minute version of this 180-minute film would have been just right.There are some advantages, however, to the pace Kurosawa establishes. Theres time to see the relationship between Kagemusha and his would-be grandson Takemaru (Kot.

Yui) develop, making the conclusion all the more heartfelt. We can see the rage in Shingens son Katsuyori (Kenichi Hagiwara) seethe and grow steadily as the overlooked heir to the throne. But none of this is entertaining for very long. Suffice it to say there are many& long& pauses& and few of them seem worth it.Nakadais performance as Kagemusha and Shingen is impressive, creating two distinct characters, one of whom eerily mimics the other. This is particularly impressive from a technical standpoint as in the opening scene he must act opposite himself, all in one shot. Today that might not be impressive, but in 1980 without a computer graphics department its a little harder to sneeze at.The battle scenes are epic but lack the energy of Kurosawas follow up.

It almost seems as if the ideas, both thematic and technical, that he mastered in Ran were being worked out here. This makes Kagemusha an interesting blueprint for works to come, but less outstanding on its own merit. The Criterion DVD includes two discs: The feature incorporates a commentary from a Kurosawa scholar, disc two includes executive producers George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola (!) discussing their involvement with the film, two making-of documentaries, some odd Suntory Whiskey commercials shot on the set, and a 48-page book about the film. Whew!Aka The Shadow Warrior.

Director: Akira Kurosawa
Producer: Akira Kurosawa
Screenwriter: Masato Ide, Akira Kurosawa
Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kenichi Hagiwara, Jinpachi Nezu, Hideji Otaki, Daisuke Ryu, Masayuki Yui, Kota Yui
MPAA Rating: PG

Rose (Juliette Binoche) is an accomplished beautician traveling t.

Acapulco to flee her rage-aholic boyfriend. Fйlix (Jean Reno) is a chef whos traveling to Munich to attend the funeral of his ex-girlfriends grandmother, much to the dismay of his former lover.

In Daniиle Thompsons breezy romantic comedy Jet Lag, the two meet in a Parisian airport brought to a standstill by a public utilities strike, and its not long before these opposites realize that, despite their first assessments of one another, they just might be a perfect match.No one should fret over the fact tha.

Ive just revealed the films ending, since all but the most novice filmgoers will deduce such a conclusion from Jet Lags opening moments, in which we find Rose  who, to top off a bad day thats left her stranded indefinitely in the airport, has lost her phone down a toilet  asking to use Fйlixs cell. Decked out in stylishly alluring attire and an abundant amount of make-up, Rose seems, at first glance, to be a somewhat trashy primadonna. However, despite her appearance, Rose has set herself down a life-altering path  finally seizing the opportunity to break free from her no-good boyfriends violent control  even though waiting for her flight provides numerous chances to give up the escape plan and return home, Stockholm Syndrome-style, to her tormentor.Fйlix is a thrice-divorced perfectionist whose perpetually grumpy face perfectly matches his emotionally constipated life.

Once a gourmet chef, Fйlix is now beginning a new career hawking a line of mediocre frozen foods, which is apt for a man whose outlook on life is decidedly chilly.

Yet as such cinematic confections dictate, Jet Lag repeatedly thrusts Fйlix into Roses life via his cell phone, which incessantly rings with Roses calls long after the two strangers have initially parted ways. These calls are just the first of a number of divinely orchestrated chance encounters between the two, who eventually wind up sharing a hotel room together (outwardly claiming its a platonic agreement, both subconsciously hoping for more) after they discover that their flights will be delayed until the morning.Over a room service meal that Fйlix snobbishly deems sub-par, the two find that they cant stand each other  while shes a sensitive, needy extrovert who likes to comfort those who hurt her, hes a cranky businessman whose quirks include a vehement objection to the scent of womens perfume. But as the night goes on and their arguments force them to confront their own (quite obvious) shortcomings, the two find common ground on which to build a tenuous friendship.

And as their spats gradually give way to googly-eyed stares, director Thompson (working from a script she wrote with Christopher Thompson) effortlessly alternates between farcical playfulness and sweet romance, guiding her accomplished stars through somewhat familiar territory with the no-frills ease such a story demands. Never allowing the film to be overrun by cloying sentiment, Thompsons nimble touch  seen in everything from the comical image of Fйlix that accompanies a magazine article about his business, to the cross-cutting of the films fate-assisted finale  provides this romance with a shimmy and bounce that quickly allows us to ignore the hackneyed narrative formula at work.Binoche brings a tender depth to the role of Rose, artlessly embodying a woman whose childhood dream of living out a Hollywood fairy tale has manifested itself in a habit for hiding behind layer after layer of eye-liner and blush.

Its a lighthearted performance that perfectly complements Reno, whose competent turn as Fйlix is most notable for the way in which the actor never (save for the heartwarming ending) allows himself to look even modestly happy. That these charming French stars turn an otherwise predictable romance into something pleasantly diverting is no small feat, but Binoche and Renos contentious chemistry gives Jet Lag an irresistible vivacity.The DVD includes a.

English dubbed version of the film along with the original (subtitled) French.Aka Dйcalage horaire.After dinner, he shaves.

Director: Daniиle Thompson
Producer: Alain Sarde
Screenwriter: Daniиle Thompson, Christopher Thompson
Stars: Jean Reno, Juliette Binoche, Sergi Lуpez, Scali Delpeyrat
MPAA Rating: NR

Jean-Luc Godard’s Band o.

Outsiders isn’t his best work, but it’s full of interesting little touches and stolen moments that make it worthwhile. Most notable is the smashin.

Anna Karina’s performance, which glues together a tepid, self-confessed dime-store novel-class story of Karina and two friends (Sami Frey and Claude Brasseur) who hatch a harebrained plan to rob Karina’s aunt.

A pair of set pieces — the trio dancing in unison in a bar and their famous 9-minute, 43-second run through the Louvre — make the movie worthwhile alone, but the disjointed, meandering, and somewhat random narrative isn’t anything to write home about.Aka Bande а part.

Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Producer: Jean-Luc Godard
Screenwriter: Jean-Luc Godard
Stars: Anna Karina, Daniиle Girard, Louisa Colpeyn, Chantal Darget, Sami Frey, Claude Brasseur
MPAA Rating: NR

Satire updates any number of cheesy horror flicks and throws in a little Psycho just for kicks. Carol Kane is perfectly cast as the demure office rat who slowly offs her co-workers one by one..

Extra points for liberal use of chicken innards as wholesale gore. Minus points for not being funny enough.Director Cindy Sherman is a world-famous photographer who made her name producing vaguely erotic “clichй” prints during the 1970s. This is her first (and only) film.

Director: Cindy Sherman
Producer: Pamela Koffler, Christine Vachon
Screenwriter: Tom Kalin, Elise MacAdam
Stars: Carol Kane, Molly Ringwald, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Barbara Sukowa, Michael Imperioli, David Thornton, Mike Hodge
MPAA Rating: R

The Rolling Stones’ founder Brian Jones’ drowning death in 1969 is another check mark in that long list of rock ‘n’ roll artists who died early and in their prime. His legacy as a musical genius aside, Jones is also remembered for his sartorial flamboyance and for his quintessential rocker’s lifestyle of drugs, booze, and sex, all in big gulps.It’s at the shit end of excess that we find Jones (Leo Gregory) in Stephen Woolley’s directorial debut, Stoned, which explores the rocker’s final days, after he’s alienated himself from his band, leading up to his mysterious drowning in the swimming pool of his country estate.

Officially, the death was ruled an accident, but loose ends linger off the record, particularly with regard to Jones’s relationship with Stones’ manager, Tom Keylock (David Morrissey), and Frank Thorogood (Paddy Considine), a builder contracted to remodel Jones’s estate. Woolley’s movie runs on the notion that Thorogood was no mere working-class lackey, but a mole of sorts, employed by the Stones organization to keep daily tabs on Jones’s erratic behavior.To Frank, Jones is an exotic figure — possessed of rare artistic talent, unfettered in his pursuit of sexual, narcotic, and alcoholic pleasures. Slowly, the humble builder’s inhibitions chip away, replaced by a deep desire to sample Jones’s drugs, his women, to partake in his creative process.

On hand is Jones’s current flame.

Anna Wohlin (Tuva Novotny), an enticing blonde, who drifts on and off the estate to cater to Jones’s needs, and stir Frank’s pot now and again.In Woolley’s treatment, it’s Jones’s obsession with former girlfrien.

Anita Pallenberg (Monet Mazur) more than anything that spirals him deeper downward into self-destruction.

Anita becomes something of a litmus test for Jones: his adoration of her, complicated by his jealousy after her dumping him for Keith Richards, clashed with his self-styled notions of sexual liberation. Much of the couple’s tensions play out in a short holiday sequence set in Morocco in which Woolley and cinematographer John Mathieson cleverly inject the drama with stark, sunburned hues that offer no shade and no forgiveness.Writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade juxtapose Frank’s descent into Jones’s inner circle with flashback vignettes of the rocker’s heady days.

As Jones and his bands’ career takes off and orgiastic pleasures abound, Woolley can’t resist lensing all of it with psychedelic candy colors, quick cuts, flash frames, laid over with ’60s-flavored covers of the rock and R&B tunes — Robert Johnson and Jefferso.

Airplane, most notably — that Jones loved. Like all nostalgic riffs on ’60s bohemia, this smacks too hard of Midnight Cowboy and Blow-Up. Still, it’s an irresistibly fun effect, and, in a scene set in a packed Munich auditorium as the Stones wind down a riotous gig, it’s exhilarating to take in the unhinged quality of the grainy stock and newsreel-like camerawork.Its sharp sense of style aside, what trips up Stoned is the fumbling psychodrama between Frank and Jones. Woolley can’t get inside Jones’s headspace to render a full-blooded characterization of the volatile man behind the myth.

Instead, he manages a series of hyper-stylized, dramatically incoherent snapshots of Jones in interchangeable states of anger, madness, and dissipation. That scattered approach to character reduces Gregory to flouncing around in a dressing gown, simpering vacantly, and leaves Considine’s Frank to suffer a similar fate. Without a compelling Jones, Frank’s fixation on him, tinged with class resentments and latent homoeroticism, never parses out neatly; his self-loathing confuses more than frightens.

Ultimately, any sense of tragedy following Frank and Jones’s wet, grim finale feels painfully false, even amidst the surging music that Woolley floods the sequence with.

As the credits roll, we find we’ve drowned in Woolley’s pool long before Jones has.Don’t call me Nico.

Director: Stephen Woolley
Producer: Finola Dwyer, Stephen Woolley
Screenwriter: Neal Purvis, Robert Wade
Stars: Leo Gregory, Paddy Considine, David Morrissey, Ben Wishaw, Tuva Novotny, Amelia Warner, Monet Mazur, Luke De Woolfson, David Walliams, James D. White, Josef Altin, Will Adamsdale
MPAA Rating: R