Anatomy (2000) @ Anatomie

"Hi, stud. Do you know the strongest muscle in a woman's body?"

At a glance:

Anatomical obscenity, anyone? Stefan Ruzowitzky German slasher was apparently big bucks back home and did well enough to get an English-dubbed release Stateside. It's a decent premise at first really. A promisin medical student gets the chance of a lifetime to attend the prestigious Heidelberg Institute for physicians and surgeons. She befriends a fellow student and a terminally-ill drifter on the train on the way there and they get accustomed to life on campus. Horror of horrors, the two girls are shocked to find the drifter on the dissectin table in one lecture. As events unfold, we are shown the possibility that there might be a sinister conspiracy goin on in the institute.
Bad news on the doorstep:
Suspenseful but not the kind of terror that lasts years after you've seen the film. The story disintegrates into a shock-value number in the last act as we are shown some rather unimpressive twists, included no doubt to convince us that this isn't another thoughtless run-of-the-mill gore fest. I knew about this film only because of Franka Potente, the lead actress from Run Lola Run (1998).

Perennial wonderment:
Don't we all love traditional FX instead of CG crap? The special effects here are pretty good. You can read on IMDb that the models of preserved human bodies are so well-done it has been offered up for real life medical teachin.

"I knew it. I should've just studied Accounting."

Reminds me of:

I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997).

Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?

Less blood than Saw (2004), more story than Scream (1996) and just about the same durability as The Skeleton Key (2005) or The Descent (2005). Two and a half stars. The DVD release I got is loaded with extras - deleted scenes, interviews, featurettes, storyboards, filmographies and even a very sexy Anna Loos music video of the track My Truth. Come to think of it, the soundtrack is quite alright and was released as an album, I found out. If you like it, you can consider movin on to its sequel - Anatomie 2 (2003.

Trailer for the curious:

Bonus material:

Japanese poster for Anatomie (2000). Neat, no?

Cheeky (2000) @ Trasgredire

"I'm just like you!"

At a glance:

Yuliya Mayarchuk obliges.

One of the relatively more recent erotic comedies from softporn supremo Tinto Brass. In Cheeky (the Italian title card cleverly highlightin the tradire (to cheat) part in trasgredire (to transgress), we get a blonde with The Perfect Backside™ who leaves her boyfriend behind in Venice while she goes whorin herself all over London. By this, I mean she's a girl who has absolutely no demonstrable restraint towards every form of sexual contact. Worse, she also seems to suffer from an acute case of allergy towards textile. Ahhh... Tinto Brass. Truly he's a feminist because in all his films, female infidelity isn't only healthy but actually serves to strengthen the primary relationship! No wonder his films are important. Anti-misogyny in porno. What an idea. In this movie, the girl gets her boyfriend (Jarno Berardi) all jealous but he ends up bein turned on by it. They both love each other madly no matter who or how many they fuck. That's just great, guys.
Bad news on the doorstep:
Movies about free love (even dirty movies) are easy to watch but difficult to internalise. I mean, do you want your mum and dad to share such promiscuous notions?
Reminds me of:
Paprika - the first Tinto Brass movie I ever watched.
Watch out for:
Ukrainian beauty Yuliya Mayarchuk, now based in Italy. Deadringer for Julia Stiles, only shapelier. Here's her website, you pervos.
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
Three stars.

What a joy.

American Psycho (2000)

Patrick Bateman.
Single-handedly decimating prostitute populations
since the turn of the millenium.

At a glance:
Never read the '91 book from which it's adapted but this sure makes some compellin viewin. On the surface, a story about a sick fuck narcissistic investment banker named Patrick Bateman who kills people, for example, a colleague with a better business card than his because it has a watermark. Historically, it has gone down as an important psychological thriller that attracts academic interest due to its surrealist presentation of white collar rat race socio-dynamics. Long monologues on fine food and beauty products by lead actor Christian Bale (pic) expound a complex story with plenty of rewards, cerebral as much as visual.
Perennial wonderment:
Batman or Bateman, this Christian Bale couldda easily played Heath Ledger's Joker in The Dark Knight (2008) with equal aplomb, if you examine the emotional breakdown in the telephone scenes.
Reminds me of:
Myself, of course. You're a fucking ugly bitch. I want to stab you to death, and then play around with your blood. I want you to clean your vagina. I like to dissect girls. Did you know I'm utterly insane?
Watch out for:
All the pop culture commentary by Bateman are actually great reviews on the subject. You just find it hard to capture it all because he's sayin it while he's choppin some guy or whore up. With an axe. Shiny one, even.
Most memorable line:
"Don't just stare at it. Eat it."
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?

Cara Seymour & Krista Sutton in a butt-eatin competion

Pin this one down at four full stars for intellectual entertainment that lives on today due to its unusual delivery. Check out this excerpt I got for you from a Universal Studios site - The characters are captive to 1987 fashion, which costume designer Isis Mussenden describes as "much bigger than now - shoulders with lots of pads, big glasses, big earrings and necklaces, and clothes that used large quantities of fabric. It's a general rule of thumb that when times are affluent, the clothing becomes voluminous." Mussenden's challenge was threefold. "As a costume designer, my first job is to interpret the script and build characters off the clothes," she says. "Clothing not only conveys character and mood visually, it also tells the story. When Bateman is feeling powerful, he wears a red tie, a shirt with bold stripes. But in weaker moments he appears in a lighter suit and a less flattering yellow tie.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

At a glance:
One of my favourite movies of all time - a swashbucklin, rollickin old-timey Southern adventure starrin George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson. Never tire of watchin this one, must be the Coens' best. Clooney's greasy motormouth character Everett busts out of prison with two quirky inmates and together they set off on a mission that can best be described as musically whacked. Family-friendly fun for everyone.
Perennial wonderment:
How they never made a follow-up to this - but the bangin soundtrack (which is commonly said to be a hell lot more successful than the movie ever was) got a sequel. Not surprisingly, the soundtrack is also one of my favourite albums of all time.
Reminds me of:
My departed brother, who recommended this movie to me. He's probably at the big rock candy mountain now, paddlin around a lake of whiskey and stew, God bless him.
Watch out for:
The best track from the movie, Man Of Constant Sorrow. Comes on twice. All the other songs are excellent but this one is catchiest.
Most memorable line:
There are plenty but I particularly like Everett's rant about women to Delmar and also another retort containin the phrase unconstant succubus. Known too many in my time.
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?Five stars, what else. Movies like this one don't come by too often.

Bedazzzled (2000)

At a glance:

Elizabeth Hurley: Classical English beauty.

Fun adventure involvin one of Brendan Fraser's most endurin dweeb reincarnations, Elliot Richards, who sells his soul to the devil (necessarily played by the English hotness that is Liz Hurley) to get the girl of his dreams. Stupid and funny, without bein embarrassin. Makes me wanna try and find the 1967 original with Dudley Moore to see if he was any more pathetic than Fraser in this. I'm sure it can't be.
Watch out for:
The alleged 19 different 'devil' outfits that Hurley wears in the movie. Also reported is a scene where she apparently shows too much, while about to sit down at her desk. Don't remember it though.
Most memorable line:
Fraser as the overly-sensitive guy: "Mayo-nayo-naise. Swimmin by the sandy shore, dancing up among the waves, dolphin, dolphin I adore everything you are. You're so much more than a fish to me, my playful friend beneath the sea. (making dolphin noise) ee, ee, ee, ee, ee, ee, ee, ee, ee, ee." Pathetic.
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
Three and a half. Who doesn't like a bit of silly fun every now and then?