1990s

  • Cindy Sherman – Office Killer (1997)

    1991-2000Cindy ShermanComedyCrimeUSA

    Synopsis
    When Dorine Douglas’ job as proofreader for Constant Consumer magazine is turned into an at-home position during a downsizing, she doesn’t know how to cope. But after accidentally killing one of her co-workers, she discovers that murder can quench the loneliness of her home life, as a macabre office place forms in her basement, populated by dead co-workers.Read More »

  • Deborah Stratman – The BLVD (1999)

    Deborah Stratman1991-2000DocumentaryExperimentalUSA

    Synopsis: An experimental documentary about the street drag racing scene on Chicago’s near West Side.

    This is a rambling, textured film about obsession. It is about the mythos of speed for its own sake, and it is about waiting. While waiting, The BLVD exposes community, inner-city landscapes and nomadic experiences of place. The film treats storytelling as a living medium for determining history. And it commands respect for those who transform cars, or anything else, through passion.Read More »

  • Ping He – Pao Da Shuang Deng AKA Red Firecracker, Green Firecracker (1994)

    1991-2000ArthouseChinaDramaPing He

    A woman inherits her father’s fireworks factory, as he had no son. The business does well and everything works in an orderly fashion until one day, an itinerant painter is hired to decorate the doors and vases at the factory. The woman, forbidden to marry and thereby involve outsiders in the factory ownership, finds herself drawn to the headstrong painter. When they fall in love, the situation throws her entire life into disarray.Read More »

  • Tonia Marketaki – Krystallines nyhtes AKA Crystal nights (1992)

    Tonia Marketaki1991-2000DramaGreece

    Plot:
    Athens, 1936. A German woman named Isavella, who is married to a Greek officer in the close circle around Dictator Metaxas and who is a member of a group of mysticists, falls in love with Alvertos. The latter is a blond Jewish adolescent who delivers ice. Their relationship is iheady, but it stumbles on problems of race, class and age. After their union, Alvertos disappears, and Isabella tries to bring him back with magic. She manages to succeed, but Alvertos is now a soulless person who no longer satisfies her. Overwhelmed by her passion for love, Isabella takes her own life and is reborn into a situation which brings her close to her beloved once again.Read More »

  • Bill Bennett – Kiss or Kill (1997)

    1991-2000AustraliaBill BennettFilm NoirThriller

    Quote:
    Set amidst the eerie desolation of the Australian outback, Kiss or Kill is a superior reworking of vintage film noir materials from the veteran director Bill Bennett. Its lovers-on-the-run story focuses on Nicole (Frances O’Connor) and Al (Matt Day), a pair of petty thieves running a scam targeting married businessmen; when one of their victims accidentally dies, they flee his hotel room, absconding with his briefcase. The case contains a videotape of Zipper Doyle (Barry Langrishe), a national soccer hero, molesting a young boy; Nicole and Al soon take off for Perth, intending to blackmail Doyle — never suspecting that he, as well as the police, are already in hot pursuit. As the two make their way across the country, they leave a trail of dead bodies in their wake; both Nicole and Al begin to suspect that the other is a murderer, and as their journey continues, their paranoia only grows. A similar feeling of mistrust and dread informs virtually every interpersonal relationship in the film, effectively gnawing at our own perceptions and expectations; a stylistically aggressive picture, brimming with jump cuts and inventive camera work, its distinctive take on the noir tradition is fresh and exciting.Read More »

  • Cheng-sheng Lin – Fang lang AKA Sweet Degeneration (1997)

    Cheng-sheng Lin1991-2000ArthouseDramaTaiwan

    Quote:
    Chuen-Sheng is a young man fresh out of military service with dreams of making it as a musician. His sister Ah Fen, unhappily married, nurses a secret incestuous passion for him. While Chuen-Sheng steals money from his father and squanders it on roach-infested hotel rooms and cheap hookers, Ah Fen decides she can’t face her life any more and runs away.Read More »

  • Nan Goldin & Edmund Coulthard – I’ll Be Your Mirror (1996)

    Nan Goldin1991-2000DocumentaryEdmund CoulthardUSAVideo Art

    A seminal documentary on the life and work of one of the most influential photographers of the last thirty years. An honest dig on her and her friends marginal way of life, especially in the 80’s, marked by the drugs, violence, sex, and AIDS.
    With the participation of David Armstrong, Greer Lankton and Cookie Mueller, among others.Read More »

  • Banmei Takahashi – Ai no shinsekai AKA New Love in Tokyo (1994)

    Banmei Takahashi1991-2000DramaJapanRomance

    Synopsis
    A look a the lives of two sex workers in Tokyo: Rei, who works as an S&M dominatrix, and Ayumi, in the more straightforward profession of call girl. In addition to their working life, the film also looks at their private lives. Rei is acting in an amateur theatre company (along with the receptionist from Ayumi’s escort service), while Ayumi is living with her student-boyfriend as he struggles to finally get accepted to college.Read More »

  • Robert Altman – Vincent & Theo (1990)

    Robert Altman1981-1990ArthouseDramaUSA

    Synopsis:
    During his lifetime, Vincent Van Gogh (Tim Roth) has no greater champion of his work than his devoted brother, Theo (Paul Rhys). As an art gallery owner, Theo pushes for the recognition that Van Gogh’s masterpieces deserve, only to meet with abject failure. While Van Gogh struggles with obscurity and mental illness, Theo faces serious financial difficulties due to poor sales. Eventually, both the Van Gogh brothers begin falling apart over the reality of their unrealized dreams.Read More »

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