Homicide: The Heart Of Saturday Night (1996) ***

Directed by Whit Stillman.

Bobby Sox (1996) ***

Une Fille de la campagne (1996) ***

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Beauty's Punishment (1996) ***

Kabaret Olgi Lipinskiej: Postmoderna i pokropek (1996) ***

Piosenki:

"Post-moderna" **

"Malkontent" ("I po balu") **

"Cyniczna uczta etnografow TZG" *

"Mialo byc inaczej" **

"Gdzie slusznosc" ("Ku pokrzepieniu serc") **

"L'Amour malade" *

"Na naszej parafii" **

"Nie wystarczy" **

X-Files: Home (1996) ***

X-Files: Musings Of A Cigarette-Smoking Man (1996) ****

Homicide: Prison Riot (1996) ***

Kabaret Olgi Lipinskiej: Zmiana na lepsze (1996) ***

Piosenki:

"Koligacje" **

"Wiosna" ("Ryba brzana kielbik") *** 

"Nie ubrana" **

"Piaskownica" ("Skumbrie w tomacie") ** 

"Tele mele ideolo" **

"Za stolem" **

"Ach bum cyk cyk" *

Primal Fear (1996) **

Edward Norton gives an excellent, Oscar-nominated performance as a young man accused of savagely murdering an archbishop.

One Fine Day (1996) **

Charming little romantic comedy starring Michelle Pfeiffer and George Clooney. Dialogues are weak, but the cast is very strong.

Niki de Saint-Phalle (1996) **

Portrait of an amazing artist.

Mother Night (1996) **

An American spy pretends to be a Nazi sympatizer. Or is that the other way around ?

Mother (1996) **

Debbie Reynolds is surprisingly sexy and sympathetic playing Albert Brooks' mother.

Kansas City (1996) **

Superb jazz music greatly enchances this otherwise cliched Robert Altman's film about a kidnapping in Kansas City during mid-term elections in 1934.

The English Patient (1996) *

Overlong (and wildly overrated) film about love and war.

Across The Sea Of Time (1996) **

An IMAX 3-D film about the history of New York City. A visually marvelous film.

Abusers: A Film About Incest (1996) **

Testimonies of real-life pedophiles, who had intimate sexual relations with their daughters. Unusual documentary film, very shocking.

Dragonheart (1996) **

A valiant knight (Dennis Quaid) forms an alliance with a brave dragon (voiced by Sean Connery) to defeat an evil king (David Thewlis). It's an uneven film. The dragon is fantastic and there are some amusing situations, but the story leaves much to be desired.

The Craft (1996) **

Four high-school girls learn about witchcraft and get even with their mean schoolmates.

Courage Under Fire (1996) **

A film about honor, duty and courage.

The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) **

There is an intriguing premise (inspired by Luc Besson's "Nikita"), but action scenes are unremarkable. Boring villains.

Lone Star (1996) **

Sheriff of a small Texas border town investigates a murder that occured almost forty years earlier.

Limited Edition (1996) **

An extremely clever little film about forgery and revenge.

Jingle All The Way (1996) **

Arnold Schwarzenegger is looking for an elusive Turbo Man in this amusing, fast-paced film about Christmas, toy merchandizing and hero worshipping.

Jerry Maguire (1996) **

A sport agent (Tom Cruise) is fired from his job and falls in love with his secretary (Renee Zellweger).

I'M Not Rappaport (1996) **

Herb Gardner's ode to an old Communist (Walter Matthau), still faithful to the cause, still causing trouble, still fighting against oppression. A wry comedy set in the Central Park.

Ghosts Of Mississippi (1996) **

Yet another film about a white lawyer bravely fighting against racism. But since it's based on a true story, it's arguably less objectionable than, say, "A Time To Kill". James Woods gives an excellent performance as a racist murderer finally convicted after more than three decades.

Get On The Bus (1996) **

Didactic, often unnecessarily melodramatic film about a group of black men travelling by bus from Los Angeles to Washington for the Million Men March in 1995. Director Spike Lee's approach lacks subtlety - too much is spelled out, rather than being suggested or implied.

Manny and Lo (1996) **

Funny film about two young girls who kidnap an older woman. One of Scarlett Johansson's first films.

Looking For Richard (1996) **

Half an adaptation of Shakespeare's "Richard III", half a documentary about Al Pacino adapting that play. Self-reflexive, but not as good as Richard Loncraine's 1995 version.

The Young Poisoner's Handbook (1996) **

An intelligent young man tries to poison people around him.

Unhook The Stars (1996) **

Nice film about a widow (Gena Rowlands), her two grown-up children and her friends.

2 Days In The Valley (1996) **

A clear rip-off of "Pulp Fiction". Similar violence, similar plot twists, similar sense of humor. All it's lacking is a talented director.

Twelfth Night (1996) **

An adaptation of one of Shakespeare's most popular comedies.

Twister (1996) **

Young scientists are chasing tornados in Oklahoma.

The Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996) **

Michael Lehmann's most conventional film. It's a romantic comedy about two friends, one smart, but plain, the other gorgeous and dumb Janeane Garofalo and Uma Thurman) who fall in love with the same man. Garofalo gives a great performance, but it's absurd to consider her as a plain girl (she's as gorgeous as Thurman).

Trees Lounge (1996) **

Steve Buscemi stars in and directs this bittersweet comedy about a sympathetic looser.

Tin Cup (1996) **

Kevin Costner, Rene Russo and golf.

Swingers (1996) **

A film about bachelors in L.A. looking for women.

Swann (1996) **

A very good film about poetry and truth.

Star Trek: First Contact (1996) **

The first "Star Trek" feature without the original cast. The magic is gone.

The Spitfire Grill (1996) **

Until the last half an hour, it's a deeply moving, beautiful film about a young girl trying to find her place in the world. Unfortunately, an overly dramatic ending betrays the spirit of the film.

Sleepers (1996) **

"The Boys Of St Vincent On Mean Streets". Sexually abused in a reform school, four friends plot revenge.

Rowing Through (1996) **

Aspiring to be another "Personal Best", the film combines sports with sex. A sado-masochistic angle is mentioned, but never followed through. In any case, rowing is hardly a cinematic sport. Still, the film is far better than it has any right to be. Quite watchable.

Ransom (1996) **

Mel Gibson plays a millionaire whose son is kidnapped, but who refuses to pay the ransom. Instead, he puts a bounty on the kidnappers' heads. Suspenseful thriller, severly undermined by many plot inconsistencies. Why, for example - SPOILER ALERT - Gibson's son doesn't recognize the kidnapper's voice during the rescue, but does recognize it a few days later at the penthouse ?

Beautiful Girls (1996) **

Natalie Portman steals the movie with her touching portrayal of a precocious 13-year old girl who flirts with 29-year old Timothy Hutton. This charming little film also features Rosie O'Donnell, Michael Rapaport, Mira Sorvino, Lauren Holly, Martha Plimpton and Uma Thurman.

At Sundance (1996) **

A series of interviews with filmmakers at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Tom DiCillo's broadsides against Quentin Tarantino are among the highlights.

Caught (1996) *

Virtually a remake of "The Postman Always Rings Twice" with a large dose of "Oedipus Rex" thrown in for good measure.

Buckminster Fuller: Thinking Out Loud (1996) *

Documentary about the inventor of the geodesic dome.

The Evening Star (1996) *

A pointless sequel to "Terms Of Endearment" (1983). Miranda Richardson steals the movie from Shirley MacLaine.

Michael (1996) *

John Travolta plays an angel.

Space Jam (1996) **

Disappointing film starring Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny.

The Funeral (1996) *

Gangster film about three brothers (Christopher Walken, Chris Penn and Vincent Gallo).

The First Wives Club (1996) *

Three scorned women (Bette Midler, Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn) get even with their ex-husbands. This film manages to be both pro-feminist and misogynist at the same time.

Extreme Measures (1996) *

Routine thriller about a medical conspiracy.

Daylight (1996) *

Pirotechnically impressive, but otherwise extremely mediocre film with Sylvester Stallone rescuing people from a collapsed Holland Tunnel under the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey.

Centerfold (1996) *

Directed by Kelly Cauthen. With Gabriella Hall and Cheryl Bartel. Young women agree to pose nude for men's magazines in order to further their acting careers. Soft-core film with a well developped...script.

The Cable Guy (1996) *

Boring, unpleasant and badly made film starring Jim Carrey as a crazy cable guy who stalks Matthew Broderick.

The Boys Club (1996) *

Three young boys meet a mysterious fugitive (Chris Penn).

The Bloody Child (1996) *

Experimental film about a US Marine killing his wife. Horribly boring, very pretentious and completely pointless.

Basquiat (1996) *

Film about the famous painter.

Screwed (1996) *

Documentary film about Al Goldstein, publisher of a porno mag and host of a raunchy TV show.

Stealing Beauty (1996) *

A Euro-trash bore. Bertolucci's worst film.

A Time To Kill (1996) *

Vigilante justice is condoned in this rather irresponsible (though well directed) film.

A Very Brady Sequel (1996) *

A very bad sequel.

Walking And Talking (1996) *

Anne Heche and Catherine Keener stars in this slow-moving slice-of-life drama about friendship and love.

The Whole Wide World (1996) *

Renee Zellweger stars as a girlfriend of a comic book author from Texas.

The Portrait Of A Lady (1996) *

An adaptation of Henry James' novel about a rich American woman (Nicole Kidman) who marries an evil European man (John Malkovich).

101 Dalmatians (1996) *

A pointless live-action remake of the 1961 Disney animated classic, directed by Stephen Herek. The story is virtually identical - Cruella DeVil wants a fur coat so badly, she kidnaps a bunch of adorable dalmatian puppies from Anita and Roger. The only interesting aspect is a changed nature of the relationship between Anita and Cruella. As wrote Anthony Lake in "New Yorker", "the new film promotes Cruella from Anita's school friend to her employer: DeVil is now a fashion house, and for a while, as Close smirked at Richardson, crooned admiration for her sketches, and urged her never to forsake the thrills of a career for the sake of a mere man, I caught a definite aroma of sexual power play. Richardson's lowered eyelashes are so redolent of the demure, pre-paranoid Princess of Wales, Close's lipstick is of such an alarming and predatory scarlet, and Roger is so indisputably a wimp that Herek might as well have ditched the whole mutt motif and concentrated on Cruella's master plan to lure Anita into a fur-lined boudoir and put her on a tight leash. Sadly, it was not to be; from here on, sex never raises its muzzle ...". Too bad, lesbian sadomasochistic hanky-panky would have greatly enliven the proceedings.

The Nutty Professor (1996) *

Eddie Murphy just isn't funny anymore.

No Sex Last Night (1996) *

Experimental film about an American man and a French woman who travel across America and get married in Las Vegas.

Mars Attacks ! (1996) *

This film is so incredibly bad, it makes "Independence Day" look like a great masterpiece. It even makes "Plan 9 From Outer Space" look like a classic comedy by comparaison. A terrible waste of great talent, both in front and behind the camera. Boring, stupid and totally forgettable.

Last Summer In The Hamptons (1996) *

An annual reunion of a family of actors.

Kingpin (1996) *

A comedy about bowling. Often gross, but even more often boring.

Journey Into Life (1996) *

Three Holocaust survivors talk about their lives.

Girl 6 (1996) *

Spike Lee is capable of the best ("Do The Right Thing", "Jungle Fever") and the worst ("School Daze", "Clockers"), but "Girl 6" is actually worst than the worst.

The Ghost And The Darkness (1996) *

Two ferocious lions are hunted by two Great White Hunters (Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer).

Marvin's Room (1996) *

Family drama about love, sacrifice and egoism.

Girls Town (1996) *

Friendships among teenage girls.

Bulletproof (1996) *

Action flick about friendship and betrayal.

Big Night (1996) *

After a celebration of the French cuisine in Denmark (1987's "Babette's Feast"), Japanese noodle soups (1988's "Tampopo"), Mexican love potions (1992's "Like Water For Chocolate") and Chinese banquets in Taiwan (1994's "Eat Drink Man Woman"), here we have an Italian feast in United States. But unlike its brilliant predecessors, this film is not very appetizing.

Bad Moon (1996) *

Bad movie about a werewolf.

Top 10 Films of 1995

1. "Get Shorty" (Barry Sonnenfeld, USA)

2. ''Underground'' (Emir Kusturica, Yugoslavia)

3. "The Usual Suspects" (Bryan Singer, USA)

4. "Seven" (David Fincher, USA)

5. ''Braveheart'' (Mel Gibson, USA)

6. ''Antonia's Line'' (Marleen Gorris, Holland)

7. "The White Balloon" (Jafar Panahi, Iran)

8. "The Thief And The Cobbler" (Richard Williams, USA)

9. "12 Monkeys" (Terry Gilliam, USA)

10. "To Die For" (Gus Van Sant, USA)

Other great films:

All Things Fair (Sweden)

Amateur

Angela
The American President
Apollo 13

L'Appat (France)
Assassins
Babe (Australia)
Batman Forever
Before Sunrise
The Blade (Hong Kong)
The Brothers McMullen

Cinema de lagrimas (Brazil)

La Cité des enfants perdus (France)
Clueless
Cold Comfort Farm (UK)

A Comedia de Deus (Portugal)

Le Confessionnal (Canada)

Cool Devices (Japan)

Crimson Tide
Crumb
Denise Calls Up

Desperado

The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill (UK)

Entre Marx y una mujer desnuda (Ecuador)

Fallen Angels (Hong Kong)

La Fille seule (France)

Forgotten Silver (New Zealand)

Four Rooms

Fresh Acconci

Ghost In The Shell (Japan)

GoldenEye
Good Men Good Women (Taiwan)
A Goofy Movie
Grajacy z talerza (Poland)
La Haine (France)

Le Hussard sur le toit (France)

Judge Dredd

Kids

Lady Into Lassie (Russia)

Land And Freedom (UK)
Latcho Drom (France)

Latex

Leaving Las Vegas

A Little Princess

Living In Oblivion

Margaret's Museum (Canada)

Metal Skin (Australia)

A Midwinter's Tale (UK)
Mighty Aphrodite
Les Misérables du XX siècle (France)
Muthu (India)
Nine Months
Nixon

Palookaville

Peace Hotel (Hong Kong)

El Perquè de tot plegat (Spain)
Persuasion (UK)
Pocahontas

Il Postino (Italy)
Priest (UK)
Les Rendez-vous de Paris (France)
Rhythm Thief

Roula (Germany)

Rude (Canada)

Rumble In The Bronx (Hong Kong)
Salaam Cinema (Iran)
Sense And Sensibility

Shanghai Triad (China)

The Sixty Million Dollar Man (Hong Kong)
Smoke
Something To Talk About

Swimming With Sharks

Toy Story
Troublesome Creek: A Midwestern

Twist (Hong Kong)
Under The Domim Tree (Israel)

When Night Is Falling (Canada)

Wild Side

Wrony (Poland)

Top 10 Guilty Pleasures of 1995:

1. "Casino" (Martin Scorsese, Universal)

2. "Waterworld" (Kevin Reynolds, Universal)

3. "Showgirls" (Paul Verhoeven, MGM)

4. "Shallow Grave" (Danny Boyle, UK)

5. "The Doom Generation" (Gregg Araki, USA)

6. "Tales From The Crypt: Demon Knight" (Ernest Dickerson, Universal)

7. "Elisa" (Jean Becker, France)

8. "The Star Maker" (Giuseppe Tornatore, Italy)

9. "El Elefante y la bicicleta" (Juan Carlos Tabío, Cuba)

10. "Zero Woman" (Daisuke Gotô, Japan)

Short Top 3:

1. "El Secdleto de la Tlompeta" (Javier Fesser, Spain)

2. "The Spy Who Caught A Cold" (Philippa Lowthorpe, UK)

3. "Le Bus" (Jean-Luc Gaget, France)

Other great shorts:

Avondale Dogs (New Zealand)

Diabelska edukacja (Poland)

The Elegant Spanking
La Fenetre ouverte (France)
Les Fleurs magiques (Canada)
Luc et Marie (France)
Pleasure Film (Canada)

Sweeties (Italy)

Two Nudes Bathing
Why I'll Never Trust You (Canada)

Top 3 Music Videos:

1. "Army Of Me" (Michel Gondry, Bjork)

2. "Scream" (Mark Romanek, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson)

3. "It's Oh So Quiet" (Spike Jonze, Bjork)

Top Commercial:

"The Frogs" (Gore Verbinski, Budweiser)

TV Top 3:

1. "ER: Motherhood" (Quentin Tarantino, NBC)

2. "X-Files: Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" (David Nutter, Fox)

3. "ER: Love's Labor Lost" (Mimi Leder, NBC)

Other great TV shows:

Kabaret Olgi Lipinskiej: Do siego po kres (Poland)

Kabaret Olgi Lipinskiej: Kulig w strusich jajach (Poland)

Kabaret Olgi Lipinskiej: New age Niu Ejdz (Poland)

Kabaret Olgi Lipinskiej: Stare numery (Poland)

Cartoon Top 3:

1. "A Close Shave" (Nick Park, Aardman, UK)

2. "The End" (Chris Landreth, Canada)

3. "Runaway Brain" (Chris Bailey, Disney)

Other great cartoons:

The End Of The World In Four Seasons (Canada)
Gagarin (Russia)
How Dinosaurs Learned To Fly (Canada)
Kebabaluba (Turkey)
O (India)

Repeat (Czech Republic)
Scheherazade (France)
Stand By Me
Taa Tam (Canada)

Weak films of 1995:

301-302 (South Korea)
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls
Adultère, mode d'emploi (France)
American Daughter (Russia)
L'Amour conjugal (France)
An Awfully Big Adventure (UK)
Bad Boys
Belle al Bar (Italy)
Blush (China)
Le Bonheur est dans le pré (France)
Boys On The Side
The Brady Bunch Movie
The Bridges Of The Madison County
Brother Of Sleep (Germany)
Buried In Light
Canadian Bacon
Carrington (UK)
Casper
La Ceremonie (France)
A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora's Box (Hong Kong)
Circle Of Friends (Ireland)
Clockers
Colpo di luna (Italy)
Confidences à un inconnu
Congo
Copycat
Coute que coute (France)
The Crossing Guard
Cudowne miejsce (Poland)
Cutthroat Island
Cyclo (Vietnam)
Dangerous Minds
Day Of The Beast (Spain)
Daze Raper (Hong Kong)
Dead Man Walking
Deep River (Japan)
Deux fois cinquante ans de cinema francais (France)
Devil In A Blue Dress
Die Hard With A Vengeance
Don Juan DeMarco
Don't Die Without Telling Me Where You're Going (Argentina)
Eclipse (Canada)
Eldorado (Canada)
En avoir (ou pas) (France)
L'Enfant d'eau (Canada)
Ernesto "Che" Guevara - Le Journal de Bolivie
Un Eroe Borghese (Italy)
Feast Of July (UK)
The Flower Of My Secret (Spain)
Frank And Ollie
Gazon maudit (France)
The Glass Shield
Gonin (Japan)
Heat
Higher Learning
High Risk (Hong Kong)
How To Make An American Quilt
Un Indien dans la ville (France)
Jade
Johnny Mnemonic
Jumanji
A Kid In King Arthur's Court
Kiss Of Death
The Last Connection
Love And Hate: European Stories
Lover Of The Last Empress (Hong Kong)
Maborosi (Japan)
Madame Butterfly
Mad Love
Magic In The Water

Malicious
Manneken Pis (Belgium)
Maybe...Maybe Not (Germany)
The Michelle Apartments
Midaq Alley (Mexico)
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie
A Mongolian Tale (China)
A Month By The Lake (UK)
Mr Holland's Opus
Musulmanin (Russia)
Nadja
Nelly et M.Arnaud (France)
The Net
New Jersey Drive
N'oublie pas que tu vas mourir (France)
Now And Then
Outbreak
Over My Dead Body (Germany)
Pasolini An Italian Crime (Italy)
Passover Fever (Israel)
Patron (Argentina)
Pensionat Oskar (Sweden)
Picture Bride
The Play For The Passenger (Russia)
The Postman (China)
Poussieres de vie
Powder
Prowokator (Poland)
Reina y Rey (Cuba)
Restoration
Richard III (UK)
The Ride (Czech Republic)
Rob Roy
Le Rocher d'Acapulco (France)
Sabrina
Safe
The Secret Of Roan Inish (Ireland)
Soul Survivor (Canada)
Species
Strange Days
Suite 16
Tak Tak (Poland)
Talk Of The Town (Germany)
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation
Things To Do In Denver When You Are Dead
Tokyo Fist (Japan)
Tom And Huck
To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar
Tragedie Burlesque (Yugoslavia)
Les Trois frères (France)
Two On A Couch (Denmark)
Ulrike Marie Meinhof (Germany)
Ulysses' Gaze (Greece)
The Underneath
Under Siege 2: Dark Territory
Under The Lizards
La Vie en fleurs
A Walk In The Clouds
Warrior Lanling (China)
Weather Woman (Japan)
While You Were Sleeping

Weak shorts:

35 Aside (Ireland)
The Art Of Conversation (Canada)
BBQ (Canada)
The Beat Manifesto (Australia)
Code Blue (Australia)
Deus ex-machina (Brazil)
Exercises exponentiels sur l'amour eternel (Canada)
Faux (Canada)
The Feeler (Canada)
Flos campi (Canada)
Fridge (UK)
Guarisove Los Olvidados (Argentina)
He Shoots He Scores (Ireland)
La Huitième nuit (France)
Kissed By A Penguin (Canada)
Last Chance Kabaret (Canada)
The Living Sea
Maidenhead (Australia)
Morbido (Canada)
Musac (Canada)
Nachtbus (Austria)
Omelette à la flamande (Belgium)
Parking
La Partie (France)
Le Petit bal (France)
La Petite mort
Quelqu'un (France)
La Revanche de M. Seguin (France)
Ripple (France)
La Roumanie ma mère et moi (Canada)
Secrets (Canada)
The Stop (Canada)
Trouble
Two Little Girls And A War (Iceland)
Une Visite (France)
Wszystko moze sie przytrafic (Poland)
Xicu El Topero (Spain)

Weak cartoons:

1995-1995 (Holland)
Achilles (UK)
Air Fright (Austria)
Alice (France)
Another Froggy Evening
Arkelope (Canada)
Between Red And Blue (Canada)
Bonjour (Switzerland)
Card Trick
The Chicken From Outer Space
Clocks (Germany)
Crucy-fiction (Belgium)
Eastern Promise (UK)
Epaves (Canada)
Fado Lusitano (Portugal)
Fluffy
Gogs-Ogof (UK)
Madame O'Hara (Belgium)
Mons The Cat (Norway)
Mouseology (Canada)
Noces de lait (Belgium)
Sandburg's Arithmetic (Canada)
The Shark's Fin
Small Treasures (Australia)
Soleil brulée (Belgium)
Vivace (Canada)
Why? (Canada)
A Worm Called Jacques (Germany)

Top Musical of 1995

"Muthu" (K.S. Ravikumar, India)

Underground (1995) *****

At the 1995 Cannes Film Festival, the unbearably pretentious Greek filmmaker Theo Angelopulos made quite an ass of himself when he angrily condemned the jury's decision to award the top fest prize, la Palme d'Or, to Emir Kusturica's ''Underground'', rather than to his own boring, self-important and excruciatingly formalistic piece of cinematic crap, ''Ulysses's Gaze'' (which still undeservedly won the second prize at the fest). Later, ''Underground'' was savagely attacked by influential French intellectuals like Alain Finkielkraut. The attacks were often personal in nature because Emir Kusturica was a Bosnian Muslim who publicly embraced the Serbian side in the ethnic conflict that was then tearing the former Yugoslavia apart (Kusturica later renounced his Muslim roots, and was baptized as an Orthodox Christian). However, the film itself is far less pro-Serb and far more anti-Communist. Kusturica's masterpiece is not only a flamboyant black comedy and a powerful allegory about the tragic history of Yugoslavia, but also a savage indictment of the Communist paranoia, lies, manipulations and dark secrets. The story is simple: during World War II, two Serbian gangsters and arms dealers (Marko and Blacky) join the Communist party and hide from the Gestapo in a huge underground cellar. When the war ends, Marko leaves the cellar and becomes a prominent Communist leader under Tito, while Blacky and his comrades remain underground, still convinced that the war has never ended. Marko continues to lie to them for the next 20 years, keeping them in total ignorance of reality. While Marko is a loyal Communist, Blacky could better be described as a Serbian nationalist. They are only united in their hatred of the Germans. But when Blacky finally emerges from the cellar, he becomes a Milosevic-like war criminal, ethnically cleansing his country of all non-Serbs. The bloody history of Yugoslavia is brilliantly presented in the film in an allegorical, but crystal-clear way. The Communists were gangsters. They managed to suppress their true, fascist nature for a while (keeping it in an underground cellar, so to speak), but it eventually emerged from below and engulfed Yugoslavia in an orgy of ethnic cleansing and genocide. The unjust denunciation of the film as pro-Serb was based solely on its historically accurate depiction (via historical footage) of Croats in Zagreb and Slovenes in Maribor welcoming German troops as liberators. The rest of the film mostly deals with Serb Communists manipulating Serb nationalists, lying to them and exploiting them. It is clear that Kusturica has some sympathy for a Serb nationalist like Blacky (while he has none for a Serb Communist like Marko), but he never denies that Serb nationalists committed horrible atrocities and ethnic cleansing. He just properly assigns the blame for those atrocities. And he correctly blames Communism. Stylistically, Kusturica's film is a flamboyant orgy of dancing, singing, slapstick humour, savage satire and constant celebration. Gypsy music dominates the film, providing an almost drunken sense of jubilation at odds with the devastating events of the film. It's a surrealistic tour de force, at once insightful, frenetic, erotic, farcical and delirious.

The Usual Suspects (1995) *****

Intricately plotted gangster film about a mysterious crime lord named Keyser Soze.

Seven (1995) *****

Horrifying film about a serial killer. Stylishly directed by David Fincher. Aka "Se7en".

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" ***