• Sidney Drew – A Florida Enchantment (1914)

    1911-1920DramaFantasyQueer Cinema(s)Sidney DrewSilentUSA

    Quote:
    Early gender-bending silent comedy culled from the long out of print Origins of Film boxset. A must for anyone interested in gender and sexuality in film.

    Synopsis:
    Lillian Travers, a New York heiress, pops down to Florida to surprise her fiance, Fred Cassadene, the house doctor at a prominent Saint Augustine hotel. The surprise, however, is Lillian’s when she finds Fred in a series of compromising situations with a certain wealthy widow staying there. When she can take no more, Lillian discovers a box forgotten at an old curiosity shop in which lies a hundred year old secret: a vial of four rare and exotic African seeds that promises to transform whoever swallows one from a woman to a man or vice versa.Read More »

  • Amit Dutta – Ka (2019)

    2011-2020Amit DuttaExperimentalIndiaShort Film

    Synopsis
    Suggestions of ancient and modern myths and folklore coalesce in dreams to bring alive a colourful animated world.Read More »

  • Gillo Pontecorvo – Operación Ogro [Spanish version] (1979)

    1971-1980ArthouseGillo PontecorvoPoliticsSpain

    As 1973 winds down, Franco is still governing Spain with an iron hand. Opposition parties are forbidden; labor movements are repressed; and Basque nationalists are mercilessly hunted down. The caudillo [dictator] is aging, though, and the continuity of the régime is in question. One man has the trust of Franco, enough authority and experience to assume the leadership, and an impeccable track record as to dealing with enemies of the State: Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco. For the embattled, clandestine Basque organization ETA, Carrero Blanco must be brought down. Daring plans are made, requiring a meticulous execution…
    — Eduardo Casais, IMDbRead More »

  • Kazuo Ikehiro – Hitori okami AKA Lone Wolf Isazo (1968)

    1961-1970AsianDramaJapanKazuo Ikehiro

    Synopsis:
    Isazo (Ichikawa Raizo), often called ‘The Ripper’, is a living legend in the world of the Yakuza. Known for his swordsmanship and bravery, but also for his polite manners, and a gifted talent in gambling. One late fall, while staying at an inn near Fukushima, Isazo befriends a young boy whose mother turns out to be his old love Yoshino, with whom he was unable to marry due to the class differences between them.Read More »

  • Vicco von Bülow & Renate Westphal-Lorenz – Pappa ante Portas (1991)

    1991-2000ComedyGermanyRenate Westphal-LorenzVicco von Bülow

    What happens if your husband is early retired? That is the master question of Germany’s famous actor, writer and director Vicco von Bülow’s comedy. He understands very well to show the audience the small things of life, that can be funny as well. Although nothing important or extraordinary happens in this movie, it is interesting for every minute. You won’t find simple jokes and gags (like in a Zucker movie) in this film, but you will be fascinated about the subtle sense of humor of Loriot. The only thing to criticise is the very poor quality of scenery and camerawork what seems to be an effect of the low budget of this film. But I would consider “Pappa ante portas” (a German-Latin play on words that means “Daddy in front of the door” and is an allusion to the Latin figure of speech “Hannibal ante portas”) as one of the ten funniest German movies in the history of German comedies.Read More »

  • Patrice Leconte – Confidences trop intimes AKA Intimate Strangers (2004)

    2001-2010DramaFrancePatrice Leconte

    Erotic Suspense After Mistaken Identity

    In Patrice Leconte’s sardonic psychological thriller, ”Intimate Strangers,” Sandrine Bonnaire portrays a Gallic answer to one of Alfred Hitchcock’s sleek blond women of mystery. Imagine the Grace Kelly of ”Rear Window” or the Kim Novak of ”Vertigo” sprawled seductively on an analyst’s couch, smoking cigarettes and confiding her sexual frustration to a repressed, wide-eyed shrink who is obsessed with her.Read More »

  • Tinto Brass – Kick the Cock (2008)

    2001-2010EroticaItalyTinto Brass

    Kick the Cock is an old Dutch saying, meaning Peek in the Kitchen. Maid Angelita is baking a cake for her boss.Read More »

  • Johnnie To & Ka-Fai Wai – Chuen jik sat sau AKA Fulltime Killer (2001)

    2001-2010AsianCrimeHong KongJohnnie ToKa-Fai Wai

    Quote:
    O (Takashi Sorimachi) is the number 1 assassin in all of Asia. Tok (Andy Lau) wants to dethrone him and become the premier hitman in the world. What these two have in common is that they are in love with the same woman, Chin (Kelly Lin). And Chief Inspector Lee (Simon Yam) wants to catch them both. Thrown into a gauntlet of razor blade shoot-outs and a feeding frenzy of warfare, this film is a story about two men of the most excessive lifestyles competing in a world where men die young and the victor not only walks away with the most money, but with the most valuable reputation. Bursting of style and pimp slapped with full on octane entrenched cinema, Johnny To presents his action masterpiece, “Fulltime Killer.”Read More »

  • Mika Kaurismäki – Rosso [+Extra] (1985)

    Drama1981-1990CrimeFinlandMika Kaurismäki

    Plot Synopsis from AllMovie
    This well-paced farce sends up intellectual thrillers as hitman Rosso (the handsomeKari Vaananen, also co-scripter) is assigned the job of eliminating a certain Finnish woman who coincidentally was once his summer love. The reluctant gangster heads north from Sicily and ultimately lands in the remote Finnish countryside looking for his target, Maria (Leena Harjupatana). Rosso and Maria’s brother take off in an old car to find her, and along the way they also manage any number of robberies and quick getaways. Their pursuers are bumped off to the sounds of rousing music and a quote here and there from Dante, who else? While Dante’s comedy was divine, this is good earth-bound fun.Read More »

Back to top button