October 10, 1995

Cool Devices (1995) ****

Japanese hentai at its best. It consists of 11 "operations". "Operation" 3 is divided into 3 episodes: "Lover Doll", "Winter Swimsuit" and "Enema". Episode "Slave Warrior Maya" is divided into 2 "operations" (8 and 9).

"Curious Fruit" 

An innocent girl named Ai is lured by her curiosity into the underground world of bondage, rough sex, sado-masochism and exhibitionism. The experience transforms the girl, who embraces the lifestyle.

"Sacred Girl"

A reclusive young man and his sister live in a mansion, where the young man frequently hosts sex parties, which he watches in his room via a network of surveillance cameras.

"Lover Doll"

A female rabbit is held in a cell as sexual slave. Soon, a Catgirl enters her room and has sex with the rabbit through the cell. Later, a man comes in and punishes the Catgirl for wandering off. 

"Winter Swimsuit"

A couple has sex in a public bath house in the middle of winter. A reluctant girl is fondled, has her bathing suit cut off to expose her erogenous zones, and is coerced into performing various sex acts. 

"Enema"

A girl is coaxed into having sex in a bathroom. The ensuing sex acts culminate in anal sex which cures her constipation. 

"Kirei"

On a tropical island, two girls called Rui and Kirei are on vacation. As time progresses, they notice that there is something unusual with the natives and the beautiful butterflies that inhabit the island. As they begin to notice these oddities, they begin to have sex with each other and the natives.

"Slave Girl Marino"

Marino, a virgin, is captured by the dominatrix Saki and her master, who spend the episode training Marino to be their sex slave, a process which involves Marino being forced to perform various sex acts and submit to the demands of her masters. 

"S+M Queen Saki"

This episode is a continuation of "Slave Girl Marino", with the same characters. It takes place during a sex party. 

"Yellow Star"

Ayana's mother remarries a famous detective, who had been investigating the distribution of an illegal drug, called "yellow star", which is a mild hallucinogen, paralyzing agent, and aphrodisiac. The detective is buying a steady supply of the illegal drug so he can sexually abuse his stepdaughter. Ayana kills her stepfather and returns to a normal life with her boyfriend, Kohei. In the final scene, Ayana waits in a park for her boyfriend, but is abducted by the distributors of "yellow star" who force her into another round of sex with them. The character designer for this episode was Yasuomi Umetsu. It can be seen as a precursor to "Kite".  

"Slave Warrior Maya"

A story of Maya Misutani, an average Japanese teenager who is transported to another world, where she meets two lizard-like creatures who convince her to take all of her clothes off. She is then sold into slavery to Lord Estilgar, and used in experiments to turn her into a sex slave. She escapes and evades recapture by using a hidden power within herself to slaughter her opponents. This display of power gets the attention of two warring human and alien factions. Maya is recaptured, subjected to more sexual experiments, and is transformed into a hermaphrodite. Maya is then transferred to a dominatrix who is given instructions to break her will and turn her into a sex slave. In captivity, Maya meets another slave, Leyna, who is not used for sex. They escape, but are quickly caught. 

"Binding"

Masaki is on a train, dreaming about a woman he has never met. When he wakes up, he finds that his belongings have been stolen and that he is stranded. Masaki follows the woman who stole his things, which leads him to her mansion, where she lives with a group of other women. Masaki stays the night and soon realizes that the oldest woman is the mistress of the house and the younger women are her slaves. This leads to his voyeuristic observation of various sexual acts, before actually engaging in sex with several of the residents. Eventually there's an earthquake which destroys the house, though Masaki and one of the girls manage to escape. 

"Fallen Angel Rina"

Pop idol Rina is renowned for her amazing stage shows and musical talent, which gets her noticed by a new production company, Angel Productions. At one of her concerts, she learns that her father has suffered a medical emergency, and has been hospitalized. The manager of Angel Productions approaches her about switching to their company, and after learning her father owes the company a substantial amount of money, she agrees to sign on with them. It turns out that AngelPro also works in the flesh peddling business, and under the guise of giving her a "new image", her new managers subject Rina to public humiliations. She is taken to a sex shop pretending to be a porn actress and masturbates in a porn cinema. Later, she's auctioned off at a BDSM auction as a sex slave for 580 million yen. Six months later she returns to her career as a singer. During her performance, Rina strips naked and begins masturbating with her microphone. The final shot shows the all male audience rushing the stage and crowding around her as she smiles vacantly, with a tear streaming down her cheek.

Episodes:

"Curious Fruit" ***
"Sacred Girl" ***
"Lover Doll" ***
"Winter Swimsuit" ***
"Enema" ***
"Kirei" ***
"Slave Girl Marino" ***
"S+M Queen Saki" ***
"Yellow Star" ****
"Slave Warrior Maya" ***
"Binding" ***
"Fallen Angel Rina" ***

Wrony (1995) ****

Palookaville (1995) ****

Waterworld (1995) ****

Le Hussard sur le toit (1995) ****

Get Shorty (1995) ****

Brilliant black comedy about a Miami gangster who wants to become a Hollywood producer.

A Comedia de Deus (1995) ****

Antonia's Line (1995) ****

Braveheart (1995) ****

12 Monkeys (1995) ****

Excellent sci-fi thriller starring Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe and Brad Pitt. It presents a genuinely frightening vision of the future.

To Die For (1995) ****

Nicole Kidman is terrific in this black comedy about an ambitious woman who gets away with murder. Or does she? The last image gives "freeze frame" a whole new meaning.

The White Balloon (1995) ****

A stubborn little girl wants to buy a goldfish, but she encounters countless obstacles on her way to the market. A simple, quiet masterpiece. One of the best films about children.

The Thief And The Cobbler (1995) ****

Stylistically, this is one of the greatest animated films ever made. Edward Summer called it "a modern reinterpretation of Persian design: succulently colorful, whimsically minimal in character design, phantasmagorically rich in background detail". Unfortunately, the film (whose production started in 1968) was taken away from director Richard Williams, re-edited by Fred Calvert and released by Miramax in August 1995 as "Arabian Knight". It was a monumental flop, due to a wrongheaded marketing campaign which advertised it as a Disney-like fairy tale musical for children (similar to "Aladdin"), while in fact it's a sophisticated, avant-garde cult movie for adults. The re-editing seriously weakens the plotline, but Richard William's magnificent animation and background art remain intact. Songs:

"She Is More" **
"Am I Feeling Love" *
"Bom Bom Bom Beem Bom" **
"It's So Amazing" *

Sense And Sensibility (1995) ****

A superlative adaptation of Jane Austen's first novel. Witty, moving and very well made.

Fallen Angels (1995) ****

This is the most gorgeous looking of all Wong Kar-Wai's films - and that's saying something. It's a veritable orgy of wide-angle photography and manic montage. It features an assortement of colorful characters, including a wandering hitman (Leon Lai), a mute ex-con (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and a bevy of bad-hair-day damsels in distress in sexy oufits.

Clueless (1995) ****

Superb film starring Alicia Silverstone as the most popular student in a Beverly Hills high school. She's gorgeous, blonde, fashion-conscious and always ready to help a friend in need. Loosely adapted from Jane Austen's novel "Emma", this movie is like a delicious candy slowly melting in one's mouth.

The Blade (1995) ****

This violent and gory swordpic about revenge is one of Tsui Hark's best films. Relentlessly kinetic, the film rejects standard heroic formulas in favour of existential despair and nihilism. Made as a response to Wong Kar-Wai's "Ashes Of Time", it's a orgy of hysterical camera movement, vivid homoeroticism and bloody mayhem. The artiest gorefest or the goriest artflick, your pick.

Babe (1995) ****

Wonderful film about a little pig.

Forgotten Silver (1995) ****

A mock documentary about that forgotten pioneer of cinema, Colin McKenzie. Colin Who ? Hilarious from start to finish. An extraordinarly imaginative film. 52'

Rumble In The Bronx (1995) ****

Terrific stunts in this entertaining Jackie Chan's actioner. It's supposedly set in Bronx, but there are some magnificent mountain scenery in the background.

Casino (1995) ****

La Fille seule (1995) ****