October 10, 2000

Baise-moi (2000) ****

This French film, directed by Virginie Despentes and Coralie Trinh Thi (for sex scenes), can be seen, depending on one's point of view, either as the best porno movies ever made or as the most sexually explicit action movie ever made. Either way, it's stunning. "Baise-moi" is as violent as "Natural Born Killers", way more daring and exciting than "Thelma And Louise" and far more explicit than "Irreversible", "Romance" and other recent French sex films. An early scene, a gang rape, sets the tone for the rest of the movie. While the scene is explicit, the truly disturbing moment comes afterwards, when one of the victims explains to another that having half a dozen guys ripping off her panties and fucking her wasn't such a big deal for her. She didn't mind being gang raped because there was nothing precious inside her cunt. After that opening scene, the film becomes progressively more violent, while the sex scenes, ironically, become more consensual.

Faithless (2000) ****

Freeze Me (2000) ****

The Emperor’s New Groove (2000) ****

Directed by by Mark Dindal. With the voices of David Spade, John Goodman, Eartha Kitt. Easily the lightest and hippest Disney animated comedy since Aladdin. Fresh, taut and consistently delightful, it’s a masterpiece of cartoony nonsense, moving at outrageous speed, devoid of any sentimentality and packing a wallop of crazy entertainment. The plot concerns a selfish Inca Emperor who’s turned into a llama, but that’s just gravy. What counts here are the gags: verbal, visual, surrealistic, self-reflexive, clever and most importantly, screamingly funny.

A Time For Drunken Horses (2000) ****

Excellent, very humanistic Iranian film about smugglers.

Yi Yi (2000) ****

Tuvalu (2000) ****

Songs From The Second Floor (2000) ****

27 Missing Kisses (2000) ****

The plot of this unique comedy revolves around the romantic adventures of Sybilla, who falls in love with a middle-aged man, while being pursued by his son. Sybilla is a bit of a tomboy, but her raw, uninhibited sexuality literally burns the screen. This is a poetic film, with dream-like images of Sybilla sneaking out the window at night, pressured by her sexual urges into trying to seduce the man of her dreams. This is one of the most intensely erotic films of recent years, expertly directed by Georgian filmmaker Nana Djordjadze (best known for her previous, Oscar-nominated film, "A Chef in Love").

Traffic (2000) ****

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000) ****

Excellent kung fu movie from Taiwan.

The Circle (2000) ****

Daring Iranian film about the persecution of women.

Blackboards (2000) ****

Excellent Iranian film about smugglers in a remote mountain border area.

The Isle (2000) ****