This is a wonderful look of the horrors of the early 80s when the disco clubs were being closed down and everyone was getting herpes and gonorrhea. The lead girl from Kids ends up with the STDs again, while Mackensie Astin shows us he hasn't aged as gracefully as his dad, Jon (Gomez Addams and Harry's father on Night Court). Overall, you hate the people, but you love the story, it's quite enjoyable and a MUST SEE for everyone sick of "retro nostalgia". It does NOT flatter the 80s in any way, it can remind many of us how bad things actually were.

If you haven't seen this film yet, then you're in the company of billions of people in the world who are missing one of the best movies of the year. It's not about Spain or prisoners, but a complicated story of lies, deceit, corporations, and government. In a similar respect to the Usual Suspects, if you blink, you may have missed something vitally important. Don't miss this one. - 

Bonny and Clyde or maybe Love and a .45 brought to US viewers with an Australian twist. The film tells the story of two Australian 20-somethings who involve themselves in a world of crime by enticing with sex, drugging, and then robbing, married businessmen who run into trouble when one of their victims dies and all that is left is a videotape of an Australian football star having sex with adolescent boys. The film is done in a somewhat cut-up style with many different camera angles and cuts of the same scene and is definitely not done with mainstream audiences in mind. If you ever are wandering through Blockbuster without a clue on what to get, pick this up. -

This is stupid funny, you'll be laughing throughout the entire thing, but the downfall of most Ben Stiller films is the ever-present corporate sponsors popping up in refrigerators and counter-tops, MTV, and the fact that this is a pure fairy tale. People don't exist like this in real life.

A warm, heart-touching comedy starring the ever cute, yet breastfully developing Christina Ricci as a ho, Lisa Kudrow as an old teacher who ain't getting any, and Lyle Lovett as a freak. It's quite enjoyable, actually and you do develop a mild fondness for all the sick characters. -

(Pi) is a schizophrenic romp through mathematics. Filmed in Black and White, it comes off like an episode of the X-Files by the director of Tetsuo: The Iron Man. A Mathematics genius comes close to unravelling the secrets of the Koran when trying to prove a formula for the way the stock market works. High-strung espionage government cover-ups, Jewish fanatical motor-mouths, ants, sexy neighbors and lots of wires stand in the way of the truth. -

Not a bad movie. I usually like period pieces if for nothing more than the costumes. What puts this movie miles ahead of the competition is NAKED HELENA BONHAM-CARTER. I kept rewinding the same 4-second scene over and over (my girlfriend had to finally relieve me of the remote). I'd give this movie a 3 rating out of 4 points. But as a naked Helen Bonhom-Carter movies go, this one gets an unprecedented 5 stars. 

This is the next film in a long line of movies based in the '70s that show the bleak and sick realities in a lighter atmosphere. The main character, Vivian, a teenager faced with breasts, bigger than anyone her own age, and the object of fixation by many men around her. The family leads a nomadic existence, dependent on the fortune of others to survive. The whole adventure is charming, touching, with a breast theme - enjoyable scenes include vibrators, sticky situations, and the drugged out cousin, played by Marisa Tomei. Bonus points if you can recognize the main character from her role on Pee-Wee's playhouse, or the rich widow from that Three's Company spinoff, "Three's a Crowd".

Remember Gamera? This giant Japanese turtle who breathes fire and flies around and is a friend to children everywhere? It was fun, but lord knows it wasn't very good. Bad special effects, lame story lines and tons of stock footage made these films bad enough, but when good ol' Sandy Frank released them in America, he actually made them worse (A grown woman doing the voices for 11 year girls is what pushed me over the edge.) Well, in the 90's, Kaiju (Giant-Monster) films have gotten a lot better! No where near the effects of Tri-Stars release of Godzilla this year (tho much better stories), but more realistic monster suits updated for the 90's and tons of CGI's effects for flame-breath and the such have made the Japanese Godzilla movies something else to watch.

The Gamera franchise has been resurrected in the 90's (Gamera III is being made now) with a vengeance! The effects in Gamera II are better then most Hollywood movies. An alien insect colony is invading Earth (or Japan specifically) and building nests in Japanese cities(due to the high content of glass in the cities, which the aliens eat). When their nest is complete, it sends energy into space that threatens to destroy the entire city. Guarding the nest are thousands of man-sized insect-like aliens. Gamera shows up to save the day and destroys the nest, but then a second nest is built in another city. Gamera is delayed in saving this city by a Kaiju sized alien (named Legion by the scientists) and the entire city is blown up (and this isn't even the best effect in the movie, unlike, say Independence Day). Now anther nest is being built in Tokyo. Can Gamera defeat Legion and save Tokyo? The special effects make all versions of Legion very believable, the science explanations about Legion are very believable.

The only problem I have with this movie is no matter how good it is, Gamera is still a fire-breathing giant turtle. Otherwise, there is no camp in this movie. It's worth seeking out in subtitled form. The first Gamera (the newest version) is available on video now, but I believe it's dubbed, which I avoid like the plague when it comes to Kaiju films (Video DaiKaiju offers all the Gamera and Godzilla movies on video and most letterboxed by mail-order. If you're fortunate enough to live in Boston, Tokyo Kid carries many Kaiju films.)

I can't say much about Bob Flanagan that already hasn't been said. He was a smart, funny, masochist who battled it out with CF and survived 20 years longer than most people stricken with the disease. The film document left behind has it's sick moments (Bob nails his penis to a piece of wood was disturbing, but I found more disturbing the times when his coughing had him bent over in pain), but it's also very touching. As much a love story between Bob and Sherre Rose as it is about Bob's art and work and disease.

This weekend at the Brattle Theater in Cambridge, they were showing the two French surrealist films by the same people, Delicatessen and City of Lost Children. Delicatessen, while I've seen it before, was definately something different to see on the large screen. A dark, bleak and surreal view of a French urban wasteland, Delicatessen is one of those stories where the distinction between good and evil is a grey area. Cannibalism, an underground society, a circus performer, mischievous kids, the butcher, the mailman and many others make this an enjoyable spectacle. City of Lost Children, also by Caro & Jeunet, also takes place in a surreal, dark and bleak world. This one, however is more of a fantasy adventure and takes our main characters through the dark underground worlds of criminals and evil scientists (who kidnap children to steal their dreams) to rescue their orphan friends. Quite a wonderful film with a fairy-tale theme. Highly recommendable on a larger screen, however.