Movie Review - Lies (Gojitmal) 1999

Movie Review – Lies (Aka Gojitmal) 1999

Lies blur the lines between movie and documentary where there are many things going on in it that is quite subtle and overwhelming at the same time. The film is based on a book by Jang Jung-il who wrote the book “Tell Me A Lie” in 1996 and promptly found himself arrested and put in jail. The book was called pornographic by the South Korean government and all of the copies of the book was seized, and burned! Jang Jung-il was sentenced to 6 months in jail. Despite all of that, the book became popular as the South Korean version of “50 Shades of Grey”. (Maybe a little more like Lolita?)

In 1999, a movie was created based on the book starring Kim Tae Yeon as “Y”, and Lee Sang Hyun as “J”. Y admits while on a train ride to meet J for the first time that she had only talked to J over the phone. She attempted to talk her friend “G” into calling J who had been dating but they had fallen out of touch. Y called him to talk him into calling G and found herself getting turned on by his voice. It wasn’t soon before they were having phone sex together. As soon as time allowed, Y hops a train to visit J to explore things further. Y and J meet, and quickly head straight for the hotel. 

Y and J begin a very sexual relationship starting with J taking Y’s virginity. On every visit J and Y, explore more aspects of sexuality including BDSM. It is clumsy but real. (Depending on the edit you see.) Spanking, canning, flogging all become part of their play. When Y goes home, she shares all of her bruises with G who is fascinated by it all. 

In the edited version, they cut in scenes from the making of the film with the actual film. I believe that it takes away from the documentary feel of the film and muddies the flow reducing the effect that the director was going for. Netflix was originally offering the original version, but it may be unavailable now.

There a couple of scenes in the movie where the subtle political messages may seem like a throw away scene to a foreign audience, but in Korea it was a big deal. Like Japan, S. Korean directors must walk the razor thin line between what is thought of as pornography and what is deemed as ok to see in a movie. With all of that, their work still may be edited depending on the country that it is released in. Many production companies feel pressured to edit material in order to release it in the United States.

Rated: NC-17, and Unrated

In Korean with English subtitles

2 .5 out 5 stars

Pros: Older man / younger woman, real sex, real BDSM, Dom/sub, schoolgirl uniforms

Cons: There are two edits of this film. One showing everything in full realistic detail. The other, removes so much footage that the scenes become cartoony. 

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXCCd4tF_iA

Making some corrections...

He loves the stick.

Teacher and student.

Movie Review - Q aka Desire (2011)

Movie Review – Q aka Desire (2011)

Q is a hard film to wrap your fingers around. Shot on the coast of France, the film focuses on a small group of college age students who spend most of their time getting into mischief and talking about sex. Most of them are unemployed as is many of the people in the town. The main character in the film is a young woman named Cecile. She is quite the tease and often uses her sexuality to work up most of the men that she encounters by pressing their buttons. However, there is no real payoff for them. Each character has some kind of dysfunction that keeps them from completing the act. And, if they move too swiftly, or seem too eager for Cecile, she pushes them away only to return to them another day to start her seduction over again. 

Like Cecile, the film is a bit of a tease. We start the film in a woman’s shower full of naked young women, with a stationary camera focused at about waist high. Several conversations are taking place between the women about sexuality, men, and their desires. We never see their faces, but the conversations are interesting.

Cecile is an emotional manipulator that enjoys toying with men. We are often reminded of this whenever she appears on screen. However, although she enjoys seducing men, most of the time it is just a game for her. We are never really sure what she wants out of it all.

Cecile shares an apartment with several other female classmates who spend time partying and talking about sex. Cecile’s friends also have guy trouble and continuously talk about them although we never learn their names or because Cecile never really interacts with them.

There are two guys that Cecile seems to like. Chance, the roughneck car thief, and Matt the sensitive auto mechanic who is in love with Alice. Cecile tries her best to bed Chance, but he keeps resisting her, while Matt wants her badly, but she won’t give him any. Such is life…

Overall, there is very little character development, no message, or emotional connection for most of the story. All we know is that Cecile instigates many of the things that happen around her, but they may or may not be for the better.

Not Rated. Probably NC-17.

In French with English subtitles

2.5 out 5 stars for sexuality

Pros: Real sex scenes, oral sex, girl/girl sex, older man / younger woman, masturbation, blindfolds. Some of the scenes are quite intense.

Cons: Dysfunctional sex, many of the sex scenes are interrupted. 

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb4nVeUMR3w

The first 10 minutes: http://vimeo.com/60023569

They got tired of their boyfriends.

Cecile and her boyfriend

  

His lucky day...

Movie Review - Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)

Movie Review – Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)

It has been a little while since my last post, but fear not, because I have an interesting movie for you! It is a surreal murder mystery.

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer is one of the most interesting films that I have seen in quite some time. Set in the late 1700s, the story is about Jean-Baptiste Grenouille a young man who seems to never catch a break in life.

Abandoned by his mother, and placed into a state ran orphanage, Jean-Baptiste develops an acute sense of smell.  While other kids were out playing or doing chores, Jean-Baptiste would spend all of his free time inspecting and smelling the world around him from rocks to frogs to trees in bloom.

Many years later, while making a delivery in Paris, his senses are reawakened to many new aromas. Soon his sense of smell takes him to the window of a perfume shop where he is washed in the beauty of smells.

While in the ecstasy of aroma, he sees a beautiful young woman walking toward him holding a basket of persimmons. She captures his full attention and he steps in front of her not saying a word. The young woman offers him some fruit, but instead of taking the fruit, he takes her hand and presses it against his face licking it while deeply inhaling her essence. The young woman quickly pulls away and walks down the street.

A few hours later, Jean-Baptiste locates her scent and spots her sitting at a table in a small courtyard. While she is cutting fruit, he slowly creeps up behind her quietly sniffing her body, dress, and hair. It does not take long before she spins around shocked at him being there. Just then, a couple comes down the stairs kissing each other good night. Jean-Baptiste grabs the young woman forcefully putting his hand over her mouth while the couple kisses. When they are gone, he looks down at the young woman to discover that she had died while he was holding her! Surprised, he places her on the ground and just as he was about to walk away, he decides to take advantage of the situation and performs necro-olfactophillia (smelling a dead person? I am coining this term here.) .Jean-Baptiste strips the young woman naked and begins to smell every part of her body from head to toe. Before he could do more, he is captured by his master and beaten. This is only the beginning of Jean-Baptitse’s tale. There is much much more to see.

This movie was based on a very popular book written in 1985 called Das Parfume by Patrick Suskind. For over 20 years, the book was fought over by multiple production companies and directors for the rights to the story. Not because of the money, but because the author did not believe that the directors could portray the story the way he wanted it to be told. Although it is interesting, I am not sure that they were able to pack in enough of Jean-Baptitse’s back-story to fill in his character.  

Trivia: There are many cameos in this film by very famous actors including Dustin Hoffman, Alan Rickman and others. It is also rumored that this was the most expensive film ever made in Europe at 50 million Euros. (About $64.7 million US) You can see it in the set design, and the costumes. All of them are incredibly realistic looking. 

Rated R for nudity and subject matter

3 out of 5 stars

Pros: Nudity, orgy scene, info about perfume making, surreal

Cons: Psycho killer

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaIEBMzMNjw

Dustin Hoffman as Guiseppe Baldini

Jean-Baptitse mixing his first perfume.

A sexy victim.

Movie Review - Lialeh

 

Movie Review – Lialeh (1973)

February marks Black History month in the United States, so I would not be a good citizen if I do not post a review of a classic film starring African Americans. 

The movie Lialeh happens to be the first full XXX rated film starring mostly an African American cast. The soundtrack was created by Bernard “Pretty” Purdie who is well known for his R&B and jazz work with artists like James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Hall and Oates, B.B. King, Steele Dan and others. His music is used throughout the film giving it a mellow 1970s Jazzy/R&B vibe. (See link below) 

Made in 1973, the film stars a woman by the name of Jennifer Leigh who after performing in this film, disappeared into obscurity. It is possible that she may have changed her stage name or quit the business all together because there is no record of her work after this film. One trait about Leigh is she is deceptive in her performance. In some scenes she comes off as camera shy and in others she is a confident performer.

Leigh stars as Lialeh who is a young woman looking for work in the big apple. Arlo is a club owner who has been trying to find an act for his sexy variety show. Fortunately for him, Lialeh comes in for an audition. Arlo is a sharp business owner, but he is having problems with funding his new showcase. Frustrated, he sends off everyone, but Lialeh sticks around begging him for an audition. Lialeh sings and dances for him. She is a little stiff in the beginning, but Arlo kisses her and tells her to “sing with that lovely black throat.” Lialeh quickly warms up and seduces Arlo with her sexy dancing. She puts a lethal finishing move on him by giving him a bj on the stage while the piano player watches.  

Lialeh spends the rest of the film involved with Arlo and other characters. Meanwhile, Arlo has been trying to talk his landlord into becoming a partner with him for his show.  There is not much more plot left to discuss beyond this point unfortunately. The film features a variety of different sex acts including a girl/girl scene. 

One of the cool things about this film was it was independently made and many of the people that worked on it went on to do good things in their careers. The bad thing is that the film is kind of hard to find, however you can find it on XXX websites occasionally. The soundtrack was recently re-issued on CD.

Rated X – Yes, this is a full X rated film with real sex in it.

3 out 5 stars

Pros: Real sex, food sex, phone sex, pubic hair (remember that?), foreign objects, church sex, girl/girl scene, rape scenes, interracial group sex scene, and a mostly African American cast

Cons: Camera angles, plot. This movie has been out of print for about 10 years, so it is hard to locate it. There are more holes in the plot than a stack of Swiss cheese.

Opening scene starring Bernard Purdie and band: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdc0L8B0bC0

Full Movie! (Catch it here while you can!): http://xhamster.com/movies/1013590/lialeh_1974_the_first_black_xxx_film_ever_made.html

Arlo on the prowl.

I think he calls this the swan position.

Box cover

 

Movie Review - Obscene: A Portrait of Barney Rosset and Grove Press

 

Movie Review – Obscene: A Portrait of Barney Rosset and Grove Press

Obscene is a documentary about Barney Rosset, owner and publisher of Grove Press, Evergreen Review, and Evergreen books the controversial book publisher in the 1950s - 1970s.  Without Grove Press, there could not be the social revolution that took place in the 1960s and the Sexual Revolution that took place in the 1970s.

Books like Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer, William S. Burroughs’ Naked Lunch, The Story of O, works of Allen Ginsberg, The Autobiography of Malcolm X were important to broadening the narrow thinking of the United States at the time.  Grove Press was responsible for the actual lawsuits that tested the true meaning of freedom of press in this country. Many of these books would be considered tame nowadays.  It is truly amazing that so many books, films, and works of poetry were thought of being a “danger” to the social safety of the United States. 

Without Grove Press many of the erotic novels printed over the years such as The Story of O, A Man and a Maid, and many more would have not have been published.  Grove Press’ “Black Cat” section was a clearinghouse for many works of erotica that could not be published without being thought of as purely smut.  This opened the door for most of the erotic works that we see readily today such as E.L. James’ wildly popular “50 Shades of Grey” and the works of Anne Rice.  (Without whom we would not have such a wildly popular vampire fan base.)

In the 1970s, Senator Gerald Ford attacked Evergreen Review for containing nude pictures in their magazine.  While battling Senator Ford, the Grove Press offices were taken over by the Women’s Liberation movement for the films that were distributed by them, then later bombed by an anti-Fidel Castro group for Grove Press’ publishing of a book by Che’ Havre. 

Soon after the bombing, Barney Rosset quit the publishing business and was nearly forgotten by history. After many successes and failures in the publishing business he passed away nearly penniless. Without Barney Rosset’s contribution to literature, and film the world would be a much more repressed and a darker place. 

If you have never heard of Barney Rosset or Grove Press this is an excellent 90 minutes of your time. If we do not learn from our past we will be doomed to repeat it.

Barney Rosset passed away in February 2012.

Rated R for brief nudity

4 stars out of  5

Pros: Informative and historically interesting.

Cons: No one to fill his shoes.

Trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsBB0Fxdjn0

More Info about Grove Press: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grove_Press

 

Movie Review - Womb

Movie Review – Womb

Science fiction movies that fall into this category are very rare, especially when the movie has a famous sci-fi actor like Matt Smith as the main character.  If you are unfamiliar with the name, congratulations you are not a geek.  Matt Smith is the BBC star of the hit show “Dr. Who” that has running on BBC (PBS, and BBC America) for the last 60 years. Dr.Who is a time traveling alien who is the unofficial guardian of Earth. 

In the movie Womb, Matt Smith plays Thomas and Eva Green as Rebecca.  The two main characters live on a large desolate beach on the coast of England.  As a child, Thomas is an intelligent, eccentric, precocious boy who while on the beach one day runs into a girl about the same age named Rebecca.  Rebecca is his polar opposite.  She is quiet and rarely talks, choosing to communicate non-verbally most of the time.  The two of them become good friends and soon they are spending all of their time together.  It is not long before the two of them are beginning to toy with love.  Unfortunately, Rebecca’s mother calls from Japan and she must leave her beloved Thomas.  Thomas promises to see her off on her trip but never shows. 

Twelve years have passed and Rebecca is a young woman.  She returns to the part of the beach where Thomas lives and visits his parent’s house.  Although twelve years has past, it does not take them long to get reacquainted.  Rebecca moves in with Thomas and they spend all of their time together. Unfortunately, something bad happens leaving Rebecca alone.

Here is where it turns sci-fi.  Rebecca desperately misses Thomas.  So, Rebecca cooks up a plan to clone her beloved Thomas and raise his clone as her son.  There is one problem.  Sexual tension.  Sexual tension seems to pop up in unusual situations when the two of them are close together. 

This movie is not a sexy film.  It is slow in some places and the passing of time can throw you off if you are not watching carefully.  One thing that it does do is broach the topic of cloning and incest.  If a woman carries to term the clone baby of her dead lover and raises it then they have sex is that incest?  (Technically she is a surrogate.) Is it an immoral thing to raise a clone lover?  We may have to ask these questions in the next 20 years.  Maybe.

Rated R

2.5 out of 5 stars

Pros: Matt Smith, brief nudity, mother/son incest

Cons: Slow moving, sometimes confusing, little sex.

Movie Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Sdqcmqfhciw

Eva Green

Say what??

She has a slightly creepy look about her in this pic doesn't she?