1. Suicide Club (a.k.a. Suicide Circle) - My God its going to be (well, was) beautiful. A complete package, with all the hallmarks of being the best film to grace this festival this year. Scary, outrageous, camp, horrific, meditative and a bloody good laugh. Without massive spoilers, I have to somehow do justice to the originality of this number... think many, many protagonists, and just as we get familiar with them, they kill themselves, spliced with mass suicides and brutal autopsies here and there, you've got one hell of a watch! Fine acting, beautiful shots, huge suspense and gruesome deaths combine in an orgy of psychosexual terror. Catchy music and haunting pop idols, Sion Sono has got it 'sussed'. It's so refreshing to see a film that actually gives its audience room to move. Indeed, don't go to this film expecting 'satisfaction', because it won't give you anything but questions. Feel it out for yourself, and rate it for yourself. I'll admit there were scenes I felt violently physically ill (and this is no understatement), but ultimately my love for Asian New Wave triumphed. A Japan so bereft of identity may find its cinematic niche yet. This film promises great things, and would have to join the top three from last year in the "must-track-down-and-own-on-DVD list". Not for the faint of heart, but nonetheless an astonishing film. [Having an intimate knowledge of this film, I think I can concretise its position at number one (1) as of 13/6/03: This film just sticks in your head. From the music, to some of the most surreal shots, to the terrifyingly stoic acting: "Hey guys, let's kill ourselves!" - Ed.]

Cinematography: 9
Message: 9
Imagery: 8
Acting: 7.5
Sound: 9
Non-Sequitur Mark out of 100: 91

2. Dead or Alive 2 - And with this movie, I find a "sequel" that I actually prefer to the original. Wow! Not only that, but Takashi Miike takes his place as my most esteemed director for the moment. Wow! This film is a stunner, and I have trouble depackaging it... is it an apology for Dead or Alive, perhaps? All I know is that I wept for a good 20% of the film and that it really touched me. If Miike is still playing around with crazy gimmicks, he is doing so more adeptly, and with more mature images. I should probably make it known that this film is called Dead or Alive 2: Birds and they feature prominently throughout. The characters are always in flight, and this opens up great possibilities for the film. I think a quick plot synopsis is needed: basically, a Japanese hitman takes out a job with an eccentric magician, goes to carry it out on a group of triad (he's just hitting one man) when one of the men starts killing all the others just before he's to take the shot. Japanese guy (Mizuki) takes credit, then takes flight back to his home island to escape the Triad who will come after him. On the boat he runs into Shu, the real assassin, who happens to be his ancient best friend from the island . It turns out they grew up in an orphanage together, until the Christian patron of the orphanage dresses up as a woman and commits suicide (cue the most amazing image of a burning cross collapsing), and they eventually lose contact. However, both have become involved in organised crime, specifically with the Triad/Yakuza turf war in Tokyo. However, this is largely forgotten as they return and reminisce about days gone by, meeting up with other old friends and doing odd jobs. They soon learn the value of helping kids (sound moralistic yet?) and decide that they will begin working together, after 'doing the math' and working out that it will cost 30 cents to get one child in Africa vaccinated, and they can get $30, 000 per 'hit'. They go into 'business' together back in Tokyo donating all their proceeds to African children (UBA), and what follows is a scene of quick fire 'hits' spliced through with shots of happy, dancing African children and crazy music. If the sentimentality and occasional utter ridiculousness hadn't put you in tears than this scene will. Ahh dear, this moves through to an ending which ressurects the ghost of Japan's youth identity as the main characters rise to meet every challenge in a way dramtically different to what we see them envisioning as young children. A masterpiece.

Cinematography: 9
Message: 8
Imagery: 10
Acting: 8.5
Sound: 9
Non-Sequitur Mark out of 100: 87

3. Soft For Digging - Consider my Conceptual Framework™ irreparably altered. This movie is really something. Refreshingly original, it brings a new twist to the horror and silent movie genres (like its not actually silent!) that can't go ignored. Released just last year, it shows that some American film-makers have not yet lost focus of their own mortality as artists and human beings. I'm the first to admit I really like what this film does... ressurect the silent movie genre (to some extent) by having no more than three (3) dialogue sequences in the entire movie (two of which are single-line dialogues). Removing the necessity of speech to convey emotion, the movie is able to rely more on the strength of its acting, and its flawless musical score. The absence of dialogue but the presence of music and sound effects makes us frighteningly aware of the surreality of the whole movie. Whether this film is truly terrifying, I am undecided... it is horribly pretentious (okay, any attempt to ressurect the silent movie was always going to come across this way), the environs are beautiful and the scenario is increasingly unbelievable. Stabbing at religious puritanism through the "old orphanage trick" must be seen as subtle referencing to the movie's predecessors to avoid the whole thing looking a little bit trite, but it is an assumption I will make. Ultimately however, the movie's focus is on loneliness and alienation that comes with age, and the terror of truly accepting one's mortality. The appearance of the supernatural is modest and believable (apart from the interference of the supernatural at the climax that seems to dramatically alter the logical outcome) and adds to the experience of Virgil Manoven which we become deeply involved in. While the subject matter (i.e. the witnessing of a murder) is far from fresh, the deftness and originality with which it is handled is moreso. And since the last 10 minutes were at near unwatchable quality, who knows? I might return again.

Cinematography: 9
Message: 8.5
Imagery: 8.5
Acting: 8.5
Sound: 10
Non-Sequitur Mark out of 100: 84

4. Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 - Yet another truly incredible film! FCSJ41 replaces The Beast as the oldest film viewed at the fest so far, and what a film it is. Dripping with psychedelic excesses and a handful of very nice images, I've had difficulty judging this number relative to others. It is simply in a league of its own. Exploitation? Maybe, but hidden under the thinly-veiled guise of an intellectual argument. Borrowing heavily from theatre, particularly Kabuki, the actors performances are stoic, but by no means banal - this is high drama, a land of obstacles that threaten the "weak emotional fibre" of the female. The sets, too, look like they could be set up on a stage in terms of lighting/realism, and those that don't are just expansive wastelands and rubbish heaps. A Feminist Manifesto? Not quite... this film ranges from sympathetic, to man-hating, to downright exploitative of women... think frantic(...hot!) lesbian sex providing a backdrop for a conversation, extreme sex appeal, use of makeup (one wonders where these prisoners source it from!) to light-hearted rape scenes... and I mean, the audience were laughing, it was just a joke in places. Think waterfalls of blood and an obnoxious prog theme song and here you have it, Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41!

Cinematography: 9
Message: 8.5
Imagery: 10
Acting: 8
Sound: 10 (or 0, I'm not decided on that)
Non-Sequitur Mark out of 100: 82

5. Dead or Alive - Japanese action as it should be. Thoughtful and ultra-violent. Execution? A point of hot debate it seems. I guess I should explain how it reached its current status. Dead or Alive is a classy act. Takashi Miike (director of last year's Happiness of the Katakuri's and the banned Visitor Q exploits his god-given talent to the fullest, and unlike many isn't afraid to reference and 'pay homage' in the creation of his films. It would be painfully callous [a contradiction in terms? - Ed] to dismiss this as "just an ultra-violent standard action movie" but I would disagree whole-heartedly. Dead or Alive goes to a lot of places. Sure, it takes ultra-violence to new heights (think fresh noodles spilling from bullet-strewn bellies) but does it rely on crappy chase scenes, excessive verbosity (no, no, not targeting any movie in particular here) and "cool clothes"? I think not. It has its glam element, its "human interest story", and a true cross-section of Japanese society that defies Japan's self-proposed homogenous image. Miike has the balls to depict Yakuza and police alike as socially-alienated and takes it upon himself to subvert traditional notions of 'nihonjinron', and for pulling this off in a lively way he gets my full applause. My single concern is that in doing so, he risks marginalising minority groups like the Chinese (who are pretty horribly stereotyped) and women (who are utterly mis-treated, largely by 'bad guys', but all the same). Does this detract from the enjoyment of the movie? Hell no, it contributes to its utter excess without presenting any characters that are truly worthy of our respect. You'll find no 'idol worship' here, just a whole lot of dancing-on-the-table-being-pumped-full-of-lead-guy-in-a-birdlike-creature-suit. Success!

Cinematography: 9
Message: 6
Imagery: 6
Acting: 8
Sound: 9
Non-Sequitur Mark out of 100: 81

6. Dahmer - A film with cojones, ready to try something new, and understandably controversial. If sympathising with serial killers sounds 'in bad taste', think again. Dahmer admits to being a work of fiction, simply inspired by Jeffrey Dahmer, so I guess its attempts to humanise if not 'make excuses for' the actions of a psychopath can't be too offensive. The movie is about a 50/50 mixture of events 'in the now' and flashbacks, that try to document Jeffrey Dahmer's transition from disturbed teenager to a full-blown psychopath/sexual killer. The picture we're left with is of an essentially tender, intelligent human being with an obsession with colonising and possessing other male bodies, and eventually destroying them. However, there is a strong undercurrent of self-loathing in the film, and the means by which Dahmer achieves his sexual gratification (apparently by switching identities/drug-rape) indicate a great degree of insecurity. We see Dahmer grapple with the pain of guilt after his first kill, until he nonchalantly slits open a drugged victim at the seam in order to hold his heart in the palm of his hand. While the film does extremely well in all it seeks to achieve, I think it stops a bit short in its explanation for Dahmer's transition into killing. It teases us with details and cross-sections of his family life (all seemingly in line with "pop-psychology") without really stabbing the issue in the heart [or would that be drilling it in the head? excuse the turn of phrase - Ed.]

Cinematography:7
Message: 8
Imagery: 8.5
Acting: 10
Sound: 8
Non-Sequitur Mark out of 100: 80

7. Battle Royale - Having already seen this film multiple times on a computer screen, I felt ready to finally see it inflamed to the Civic's mighty proportions with all the excessively loud volume I could ever hope for. I am intrigued by the genre from which this film is spawned, I admire the acting skills, particularly those of Beat Takeshi, however, I am suspicious of the motives in making such a movie. Ostensibly, this is a movie about friendship, its highs and lows, and its extremes. However, I believe something deeper and darker is at work. The film is constantly urging us to "go for it", "to ascend our limits (and everyone elses'!)", and presenting us with well-groomed heroes coming to honourable deaths with laughable indifference. Indeed, there is a similar vein to Suicide Circle in the way in which this movie seeks to highlight the problems with (and go further by imposing) an identity for the Japanese youth. In this flick, its the adults who are the enemy, and have put the children in this horrible position (read children of the Bubble Economy) and the children that must fight their way out to restore Japan to its former glory and prevent it from being "no good" any longer. While the adults in the film approach this by making the children fight to the death (as a type of punitive/disciplinary exercise which they apparently believe will strengthen the nation), the adults who created this film could easily be said to be doing the same. The honourable ways in which the best-looking actors die (see 'Arigato, blurgh' [dies] on multiple occasions) set a standard for the youth of Japan to aspire to. Indeed, its a dangerous game and one that (thankfully) Suicide Circle doesn't dare play.

Cinematography: 9
Message: 7.5
Imagery: 7.5
Acting: 7
Sound: 5
Non-Sequitur Mark out of 100: 78

8. Ken Park - Ah yes, yet another film about today’s disjointed youth, but a distinctively “less-Japanese” take on it. Pardon the essentialism, but I can confidently say the portrayal of this was far more naturalistically presented than Battle Royale… the symptoms are presented, the preceding generation is pretty much blamed, but no solution is offered… apart from sex! Sex with themselves, sex with their friends, sex with their girlfriends, sex with their girlfriend’s mothers. That’s right, the only antidote the characters find for their alienation is sex, and while that might sound a little far-fetched, there’s never any suggestion this is a realistic or long-term solution. Ohhhh if only this were a viable solution for me! However, this is not to say I admire the characters in Ken Park… I can identify with them to some extent and even sympathise – but there is no mistaking the film for a portrait of smalltown America (not quite so rural as Waiuku, unfortunately), the closest we have to a protagonist has a bad case of “backne” (why hasn’t that icon returned), or more correctly full body blotches, but he does seem to get a lot of sex. There is something mildly disturbing about the meandering narrative, but there is no mistaking that the sex scenes he offers us are genuinely erotic and I believe the director(s) are sincerely sympathetic (and even apologetic) to today’s youth.

Cinematography: 7.5
Message: 8
Imagery: 5
Acting: 8
Sound: 6.5
Non-Sequitur Mark out of 100: 75

9. Dans Ma Peau - The Corporation equals self-destruction. Or does corporate success equal self-destruction? Corporate failure? Just failure? Or maybe just Diet Coke equals self-destruction? I'm not sure, but there is a distinctive empathetic and sociopathic undercurrent to this film. Admittedly this is not always clear... "In My Skin" is truly gory, and undeniably the hardest film I've had to watch (and rate!) thusfar. It centres around the auto-cannibalism of Esther, and her growing obsession with 'cutting'. The reasons for this habit are never explicitly made clear beyond a grim fascination, and this is fair enough. However, it also tends to leave us in doubt as to whether the habit is a product of self-loathing or narcissism and self-obsession. Is this problematic? Not really, it makes the truly gruelling scenes a little less satisfying over all. Without drawing comparissons to the true horror of Gaspar Noe's Irreversible, there is a clear sense of a 'World gone mad', where Esther's business associates are more concerned with her failure to 'sell' her business plan to them rather than her failure to control (and indeed refrain from stabbing) her left arm. Her progress into making this self-destruction from a punitive measure for failure at work into an almost sensual/sexual habit is a little quick to give us any true insight into the reasons for her plight, but follows (distinctly human) logic that all things must be taken to the greatest extreme, in this case what begins as 'cutting' (quite a normal process for some people) turning into auto-cannibalism. Her obsession with preserving her "soft, smooth skin" is irreconcilable with any real notion of self-hate, but at the same time anyone who has ever had a 'dirty little secret', or even a 'not so dirty, but awkward private habit' can relate to Esther's isolation, and understand her withdrawl from a truly bizarre and frantic World into the only thing that can be trusted: herself.

Cinematography: 8
Message: 7.5
Imagery: 5.5
Acting: 9
Sound: 9
Non-Sequitur Mark out of 100: 73

10. Visitor Q - A complete oddity, I guess this movie demonstrates the range of cinema that Takashi Miike is interested in making... but why? Again, I can't help but feel this is at the conservative, patronising camp of Japanese cinema... kind of like the opposite to national literature. How long can a country spend putting itself down? A welcome relief from American flags flying everywhere, and definitely not simplistic propaganda... the subject matter and scenes that the movie deals with, and the censoring of associated "rude bits" seems a complete contradiction... if Miike wanted to truly rock the foundations of Japanese cinema I don't think this is the way to go about it... with that said there are many, many things that no Western director (ohmigodhe'sorientalising) would have the balls to deal with... incest, domestic violence and necrophilia, all as graphic as it gets... but what about the Visitor Q? A healer, and an interesting concept indeed. I have struggled with where to place this movie and while it is definitely worth seeing, one should be prepared for a pretty slow-moving movie... obscure in plot and execution it enjoys a minimalism and brutality that aren't often seen together... furthermore it has some really funny moments, its black-comedic undercurrent being the only thing to drag it out of a Once Were Warriorsesque depression. Well acted, nicely put together, and just plain odd, the Q will have to stand in for a "question mark" for the time being...

Cinematography: 6
Message: 6
Imagery: 8
Acting: 8
Sound: 7.5
Non-Sequitur Mark out of 100: 72

11. Kaante - Bollywood has her day in the sun! And how she shines! Well, for the first half of the movie anyway, until the 'intermission' (how delightful and authentic). The movie is essentially about 6 marginalised Indian (but how Indian are the actors, really?) individuals living in Los Angeles, and partaking in an official Grand Heist, each for his or her very well reasoned reason. Think terminally ill wives, retarded sisters, prostitute wives and legal battles for custody of their own children. It was great to see moral puritanism rearing her ugly head, and interesting that while in fact this film was a complete clone of Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, there was no attempt to emulate the repugnant individuals that populated that movie. Indeed, it has to be said my enjoyment of the film dropped sharply as the second half came about and the film became a direct clone of Reservoir Dogs, from character stereotypes, to dialogue (see 'Are you just going to bark all day or are you gonna bite?'), to scenes (see cop being brought back to hiding place, beaten up, then wounded informant within crime group killing fellow criminal before he could kill cop), to the closing sequence (see 4 way shootout, with the only morally incorrupt and wily character making off with all the loot at the end). It was absolutely shocking. Not because it was poorly executed, because with nine song and and dance sequences for all, how could you really go wrong? It strikes me as ridiculous that those who published Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs wouldn't have taken legal action against Kaante's producers unless some serious money had changed hands. With that said, it was a fine film. The song sequences read like slightly toned down Britney Spears videos. The cinematography was interesting (yet highly derivative of that P.O.S. Traffic in its overbearing yellowness) and the acting was pretty near flawless (though the constant hybrisation of English and Indian was a bit of a throw-off), if not original. And as for the appearance of Superstar and 'Bad Boy of Bollywood' Sanjay Dutt, the hysterics it sent me into were priceless. Contrary to rumours spread by a certain other SJD, he hasn't even died of a heroin overdose! Yet.

Cinematography: 8
Message: 6
Imagery: 5
Acting:9
Sound: 8
Non-Sequitur Mark out of 100: 71

12. Avalon - "Altrenate Worlds" strike again, and unfortunately with fewer typos this time around. Verging on eye candy, Avalon is a thoughtful piece, don't get me wrong. However, I'm not quite sure how far they're following these thoughts through. It is heavily derivative, looking something like Tron meets the Matrix meets Counterstrike meets Dungeons and Dragons, and I while I don't doubt that the creators are sincere in this meditation on obsession, particularly the disturbing modern trend towards games like Counterstrike. They might find this disturbing, sure - and there is something quite spooky about watching grown Korean men file out of Internet Cafés at 4am for a quick smoke before returning to their match. In truth, the producers did a great job of latching onto this modern phenomenon, and bringing it to its next logical step. But did they go far enough to really hammer their message home, or did they rely on a cliché non-sensical-sequence (which incidentally I have big thoughts about, but wouldn't reveal here for fear of 'spoilers') to tie things up? I would say the latter. If the concept sounds derivative, the shooting of it is less so. While it looks like the film reel has gone through the wash a couple of times, or perhaps just been left out in the sun for a week, the washed-out hazy colours of the first 3/4 of the movie serve to complicate the message somewhat more. I'm sure a quick nod to our old friend "perception is reality" is an order, but it allows for some pretty stunning looking shots (the extent to which CGI is a factor here isn't quite clear). Whatever the case, the images are obvious and boring, right down to the "Crown of Doom" (okay, that's not quite what it's called) that the main character places on her head as she prepares to enter Avalon (or at least what she believes to be Avalon [dramatic chord]). That said, the film presents concerns worthy of a few moments of thought and does so in a pleasing, if sometimes trite, manner.

Cinematography: 9
Message: 6
Imagery: 6
Acting: 7.5
Sound: 8
Non-Sequitur Mark out of 100: 70

13. The Beast - Cinematic atrocity or masterpiece? I don't know, okay? I'm undecided. This is definitely a movie that takes some mulling over - I will definitively state now though that this movie is NOT pornography - I don't care what anyone else tells you. This is movie does not attempt to become pornography at any stage, and while I'm sure the director is conscious that his movie will be linked to the pornographic genre (and so he should, Boroczyk had a large finger in the pie of the notorious-late-night-Sky 1 'Emmanuelle' series) the movie itself is a light farce, with some pretty unoriginal (but how can I say that, it was 1975 when it was made!) but subtly-stated social commentary. I'll freely admit its a "heavily endowed" movie which oozes sex at times, but not that (as the audience seemed to have mistaken it) it was meant to be a Dirty-Old-Man-At-The-Back-Of-The-Movie-Theatre-On-A-Thursday-Evening Movie. Essentially an attack of bourgeois ideals (is this all the French do?) it plays with a variety of genres: essentially fantasy, gothic and farce. The farcical, satirical element is obvious from the outset. The whole premise is that two must be wed by a certain time as according to a Will 'or else'. The gothic manifests in the lurking menace, symbolised by the Beast (I'm yet to decide what it represents, but I think I admire it), that only the purity of an absentee hero, the Cardinal can avert. The female lead, Lucy Broadhurst (young English maiden bride-to-be... hehehe) is slowly succumbing to temptation in the world of dreams, and the lines between what is real and what is just a reaction to a very puritan upbringing are blurred in some pretty grotesque (but quasi-erotic) sexual images. It's truly unfortunate that Boroczyk made a mess of this and that so many people will have left the cinema thinking it 'pretty shitty porn'.

Cinematography: 8
Message: 7
Imagery: 8
Acting: 7
Sound: 7
Non-Sequitur Mark out of 100: 69

14. Wet Hot American Summer - Is it any surprise? The film kicked off the festival nicely with a visit by the director in a "fuck you censors" type sketch... I must say it was most impressive to see the last ten years of the festival in a wee montage, not to mention 'meet' the director of the film I was about to see! And to think I was 8 when the damned thing started! Anyway, in terms of the movie, I must say it was awfully cynical for American comedy... a welcome change. A bare-bones budget, some acting talent and "Talking Mixed-Veges" saved the flick from what was a pretty lukewarm reception (apart from the 80's dress and generally drunken atmosphere!) I found myself breaking into hysterics in places where the cinema was silent, and drawing disturbing comparissons with American Pie 2 at others. I mean, don't get me wrong, this is a funny movie, I enjoyed my night, but don't expect anything much from the movie. Watch it for the characters, the "Fuck my cock!" line and as I said, the talking mixed vegetable can. Remove the opening night party and this is pretty much all that's left to make you laugh. [Usurped so soon? Bwahaha - Ed.]

Cinematography: 7
Message: 5
Imagery: 5
Acting: 7.5
Sound: 8
Non-Sequitur Mark out of 100: 67

15. Orphans and Angels - New Zealand's only contribution to the festival... and a bit of a disappointment at that. When Ant said that the movie couldn't get a distributor in New Zealand and hence probably wouldn't get a cinematic release, my suspicions were roused... however it wasn't until I got into a (full) cinema and the producer and director started arguing over who would introduce the film (insisting the other did) and when the director started talking about the film, he pointed out that "10 year film making fucking oddyseys" didn't always pay off. That said, by then I was in my seat, and surrounded by Shortland Street crew and stars (estimates would suggest that up to 75% of the audience were employed by TVNZ). With that excitement out of the way, however, the film was somewhat bland. Essentially concerned with the possession over the female body by the male (in this case by inciting a drug addiction - 'E laced with tranquiliser' - delightfully devilish!) for a means of sexual gratification had "the usual" results. Ripe with catharsis (oh yes she snaps out of it and blows his brains out at the end in an unconvincing move after being 'tipped off' by his friend) the film never really achieves the heights of sinister darkness it aims for... instead a somewhat trite concept is exploited with mediocre execution, and 'better-than-average' New Zealand acting talent, with my only concern being that these actors are becoming quickly type cast...

Cinematography: 6
Message: 6
Imagery: 7.5
Acting: 8
Sound: 8
Non-Sequitur Mark out of 100: 61

16. Blue Spring - Fucking amateurs! Hehe, erm... excuse me. Blue Spring is a film I had high hopes for. I am the first to admit that I liked the premise as it was set out in the festival guide. Unfortunately, this couldn't be further from the truth. The film is derivative, not of Battle Royale, but every cheesy cliché, image, ultra-violent movie, action movie, buddy movie you can ever think of. I mean, blooming flowers for fucks sake? If not for fucks then for whose sake? Amateurish to the extreme, the inept handling of mediocre content had disastrous results. Biting social commentary aside (because this opportunity was not exploited whatsoever despite obvious opportunities) the movie is utterly patronising in its depiction of Japan's wayward youth. Exploitation of midgets may be the only real good point to this movie given its sickening attempts to put forth an accurate depiction of people my age (in an entirely different cultural frame, admittedly). Similar to Battle Royale in its presentation of "idols" (the digust, or rather sympathy we are meant to feel for these individuals is never fleshed out) obnoxious JRock provides a background to their violent exploits (though again this violence for all its gratuitousness is never depicted graphically... convenient camera angles ensure this) to the point that I'm weighing up whether I would have preferred an Irreversible "inyourfaceness" (though at this point in cinematic history this seems a little unlikely from Japan). The acting is unconvincing and the leader/gofer (basically the submissive partner to a leader that constantly waits upon the leader) relationship fails to add anything to the social dynamic beyond a trite "leadership challenge".

Cinematography: 6.5
Message: 5
Imagery: 5
Acting: 7
Sound: 5
Non-Sequitur Mark out of 100: 54

17. Wattstax - So much for a Mysterious Evening for One! "If Love is wrong then I don't wanna be right!" Indeed... this movie started with wild costumes, singing and dancing, and this was pretty much the way it continued the entire time with the novelty significantly wearing off as it went until it became an obnoxious self-promotional, nay racist piece of work. Black pride, sure... but the extent to which the interviews revealed greater prejudices, against white people and beyond... "Ahh mean I don't dig white birds, but I got a friend he lahk even the Chaaaaahneeeeese!"" - indicative that the suppression of black people had only spawned greater problems... the so-called tribe of "Nigger" reinforces that although most interviewed seem to think America is the greatest country in the World, they purport the racial stereotypes by pandering to them and producing their own. I'm all for singing, dancing, and dressing craaaazeh, but this occasionally moved into a zone of danger and pop-politics in a disconcerting manner... no I'm not threatened by an entire stadium of black people raising their fists in a repeated salute, I just don't know this film does anything for the case of the liberty of the afro-American people. If you're an afrophile and think this kind of obnoxiousness sounds entertaining (like Eddie Murphy stand-up comedy entertaining) then by alll means go, but otherwise: avoid like the plague.

Cinematography: 6
Message: 2.5
Imagery: 1 (you don't trick me with superimposed shots of faces!)
Acting: 0 (N/A)
Sound: 9
Non-Sequitur Mark out of 100: 51

18. Irreversible - I expected to either love or hate it, that it would make itself or break itself, but with that said, I still can't discount it quite so callously as I did that heap of shit Baise Moi. I would be the first to admit it has cinematic value as a shock-piece, and the shocking tenderness in the second half of the film (complete with cheesy crap) is just an attempt to legitimise the first half of the film. You see, despite 10 minute long rape scenes and brutal sexual violence, this film is as conservative as it gets. Yes, its opening credits are cool, yes there is some cool imagery, though the film makes a few propositions that are just such crap, and can be boiled down to "Drugs are bad, Gays are bad" type stuff. Seriously, for its guise of liberalism (and equally hallmark French pretentiousness) it is horribly conservative. Starting in a "gay dungeon" called "Le Rectum" we watch as (horrible) "original camerawork" surveys the scene, regularly moving between different rooms with men committing various "depraved" sexual acts upon themselves. In fact, as our hero beats the living crap out of a submissive queer, all he says is "Oh fist me! You'd fuck so good! I want your dick right now!" - and the thing is, all the gays are like this, apart from the mysterious Tenia, who made a point of raping and beating to death the hero's wife (who we later find out was pregnant). As he fucks her (up the ass) he exclaims "Fucking call me daddy you rich little bitch. You ride like a queer, tight little ass. Oh boy I'm fucking your hot little ass" (or words to that effect) - the same queer who later tries to rape the hero when he briefly "gets the better of him" in a fight down in y'olde "Rectum". That is before we watch him get beaten and his head be utterly pulverised into little pieces of skull by a fire hydrant, by our other dominant heterosexual hero. I mean this is lowest of the low crap, there are such lame excuses for "deviant" sex scenes (not just in Le Rectum) with a few really cool images (think spinning around top down view of children jumping over a sprinkler) which Noe utterly fails to include in a credible manner. Other than that its all constantly spinning camera (and I mean constantly, everywhere except the 10 minute anal rape scene) and abrasive sounds I'm afraid. To briefly compare it to Baise Moi, it mercifully lacked the hardcore porn-type filmography (no dick plunging into ass shots anyway). With that said, a hideously executed, cheesy, moralising and distressing film. Consider yourselves spared that this will never screen again in New Zealand.

Cinematography: 5.5
Message: 1
Imagery: 7
Acting: 8
Sound: 3.5
Non-Sequitur Mark out of 100: 36

So that's my life... limboed perhaps but fucked public law essays and horrible social situations put me in pole position for a trip to Rotorua tomorrow. Back Friday. Rumination of the Moment™: Ke te pai.

20 June

Overture to the Sun

impermeable

Itaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalia... its insane how with only 2 days to prepare for my coming exam, I still can't sit myself down and work... harking back to the days to saving the World from Alien Invaders and the haunting sounds of Phillip Glass by night. Something else is needed? I don't know... but I'm here to excuse myself for the next couple of days...