The Hunter (2011)

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Auto Focus (2002)

At a glance:

Memorable improvised biopic about sex addict TV actor Bob Crane, star of the American 60s hit comedy series Hogan's Heroes. Movie starts off cheerfully enough with Bob (played by Greg Kinnear) leadin a healthy, successful life then he met and made friends with a video technician (Willem Dafoe) who would form a sexploitative relationship with him as they became obsessed with filmin themselves boinkin women and keepin records of their conquests.

Bad news on the doorstep:

Some will say it's offbeat, uninspirin and trivial. It can be rather depressin due to the gloomy texture of the film in the last act or so and I wouldn't recommend it to viewers lookin for a feel-good film. This is a film about a man who destroyed himself and did not have the chance for redemption.

Perennial wonderment:

Why has Greg Kinnear never gone to the next level of Hollywood stardom? I've always felt that Greg Kinnear is an under-rated actor who really deserves more roles in Hollywood A-List movies. He has an amazin intensity to him which permeates and ebbs well with the flow of this film. His portrayal of Bob Crane here is impressive and there are many scenes where the bleakness of his life just spoke through his eyes, behind those 70s tinted glasses.

No white shirt ever looked better on a woman
since Alex Menesis in Auto Focus (2012).

Watch out for:

Willem Defoe playin Crane's sex-crazed sidekick. He's always done well with twisted, destructive characters, hasn't he? However I must confess that the only reason why I first bought this film was to catch a glimpse of the adorably dirty Maria Bello (Coyote Ugly fame) as Crane's on-set lover and later wife.
I can't remember if I cried:
As this is not a thriller by any account I will tell you that Bob Crane met an unexpected end at the hands of a an unknown murderer in his room as he was sleepin and this remains one of Hollywood's most perseverin unsolved homicides. Did some readin and it appears that the events that are shown on the film are mostly improvisational and that Crane's second family had dismissed it altogether. In any case, Paul Schraeder (writer of Taxi Driver and director of Affliction and Raging Bull) has made a very interestin account on his life here.

Most memorable line:

A day without sex is a day wasted.

Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?

Great that it wasn't overdone. Love the bits of video entertainment history. Useful sleaze. ★★★1/2
Trailer for the curious:

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.