CALIGULA: THE ULTIMATE CUT

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"Caligula: The Ultimate Cut" is an apt title for this cinematic abomination. If you have already seen "Caligula" then you are well aware of just how twisted and exciting that film is for its sheer audacity.

"43 years after the 1980 release of historical epic CALIGULA, producer and reconstructionist Thomas Negovan has realized the creators' original vision."

What a load of bullshit.

Thomas Negovan has effectively drained all of the lifeblood from the Tinto Brass-directed film that Bob Guccione was clever enough to spice up with outrageous sex scenes. What remains is barely even watchable.

The outre sex spectacles of the original film are the very thing that make this 1979 movie the masterpiece that it is.

Thomas Neogovan makes a punk move by attempting to usurp the original version for his own stupid ego. Foolio.

Here is sexploitation in reverse. It's 22 minutes longer than the original, and boy does it feel like it.

Don't waste your time on this wrongheaded exercise in entropy.

Not Rated. 178 mins.

ZERO STARS

WILD AT HEART — CANNES 1990

Welcome!

Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does.

Punk heart still beating.

This ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.

Get cool rewards when you click on the button to pledge your support through Patreon.

Thanks a lot acorns!

Your kind generosity keeps the reviews coming!

Cheers!

 

DAVID LYNCH: NEO-GOTHIC SLEEPWALKER

 

 David Lynch lets the Nicolas Cage tiger loose in this sexy, hot, and seriously effed up Neo-Gothic romantic crime thriller.

"This whole world is wild at heart and weird on top."

Laura Dern's Lula tells her worldview as if it were a theme line written in stone.

Romantic fire burns hot between Nicolas Cage's Sailor and Lula as they run from and toward people who want Sailor dead.

Lula's mother, Marietta Fortune (Diane Ladd), is a real piece of work.

Harry Dean Stanton, Isabella Rossellini, Willem Dafoe, Crispin Glover, and Jack Nance all give inspired performances in an ensemble piece like none other.

Rock 'n' Roll baby.

Pure surges of cinematic energy pours through "Wild At Heart," just as the title promises. Bad omens.

"Wild At Heart" is a remarkable film by any standard. What fun.

It won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1990. Cheers!

Rated R. 125 mins.

IN PRAISE OF LOVE — CANNES 2001

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Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does. This ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel. Punk heart still beating.

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French New Wave Cinema standard bearer Jean-Luc Godard's 2001 study in inventive filmic expression carries significant weight.

Godard refracts historic, personal, and editorial messaging through pure cinematic poetry.

The narrative involves a filmmaker navigating his current documentary navigating his current project while recovering emotionally after the break-up of a 10-year relationship.

A shift from black-and-white to color has a profound effect on the audience.

Godard's kaleidoscopic approach to storytelling is refreshing for his willingness to to make political statements big and small.

Jean-Luc Godard takes a steely knife to Stephen Spielberg, who he detests with an obvious fury.

Love isn't all that Godard is praising.

Hollywood and Americans represent people who refuse to ever become adults.

"In Praise of Love" could easily serve as a permanent installment at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

I screened this beautiful film in its truly amazing 4K restoration, kicking off the L’Alliance New York's Version restaurée series, held at the lovely Florence Gould Theater in Midtown Manhattan.

Check it out.

The every-Tuesday night series runs Tuesday, September 10, 2024 - Tuesday, December 17, 2024.

Rated PG. 97 mins.