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May 24, 2002
CQ
(out of four)
Roman Coppola, whose father fathered The Godfather, chose for his directing debut a movie about the movies. But instead of serving up some pretentious exercise about the making of a classic, he uses the disastrous production of a campy work of "eros-fiction" as our entry into the world behind the cameras.
The year is 1969, and an arrogant French filmmaker (Gerard Depardieu) has lost his focus. He's in love with his star (Angela Lindvall) and incapable of finishing his film. Set in 2001, the sexy space odyssey stars a Barbarella-like secret agent, codename "Dragonfly," whose mission seems to be making sexual liberation an intergalactic priority. Naturally, she spends most of her time on-screen cavorting naked in her shag-carpeted spaceship. Which is fine, of course, if only there were an ending.
Posted by Peter Debruge at 09:09 AM | Comments (0)
May 10, 2002
The Salton Sea
(out of four)
How far would you go to avenge your wife's brutal murder? Anyone can take Memento's lead and tattoo your memories of her all over your body, but would you dare take it one step further? Could you embrace her killers' lifestyle in order to bring them to justice?
In The Salton Sea, Danny Parker (Val Kilmer) plunges himself into the tweaker subculture that destroyed his life. But his plan involves more than just another undercover stunt, and the stakes are higher. For it to work, Parker must let go of his former self and accept addiction. He has to in order to get close to the volatile crew of crystal-meth users who hold the key to his revenge, but also as a way of cleansing his own demons.
Continue reading "The Salton Sea"
Posted by Peter Debruge at 09:15 AM | Comments (0)