Misogyny as Arachnophobia

The opening sequence's gold-and-onyx lighting and oblique angles afford a maybe-great filmmaker's sense of immanence to the containment of male ambivalence toward female Difference in underground spectacle, but then the rest of Denis Villeneuve's well-acted, well-shot Toronto-set ENEMY fails to make the leap from misogyny to empathy represented by Kafka, Lynch, Araki, Bertolucci, Rudolph.

American Liebestod

Raymond De Felitta's ROB THE MOB and its stars Michael Pitt and Nina Arianda make the most delirious liebestod since Alex Cox's SID AND NANCY; love story and cultural critique spin along an axis of Oedipal trauma (crime instead of punk is the American difference).

Pillar of Fire

Journey to the West
Tweet-sized Review by John Demetry

Stephen Chow applies the visionary ecumenical Buddhism from his Shaolin Soccer, Kung Fu Hustle, and CJ7 to the new JOURNEY TO THE WEST: extending his reach from the classic Chinese tale of the Monkey King to contemporary global pop lore (Spielberg's Jaws and E.T.); example: the darnedest image of covenential love since the pillar of fire.

"I believe in America"

A Whole Lott More
Tweet-sized Review by John Demetry

"I believe in America": so opens Victor Buhler's A WHOLE LOTT MORE, answering THE GODFATHER's despair over capitalism and power with uncanny human interaction and empathic revelation--Buhler's documentary gift: Kevin's brother's loving caress, Kevin's tour of an art gallery (the Italian Renaissance and the surrealists seen afresh), Wanda's hilariously recognizable then universally moving visit to her parents' grave, and TJ's essential dream ("I want to be a father"); each of them engender--then demonstrate--the imaginative identification required to realize new social-economic possibilities. It's the best documentary since ... Buhler's RIKER'S HIGH.

Operatic Cinema

Prediction: There won't be a better American movie this year than Noam Murro/Zack Snyder's visionary operaticism in 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE--the sword-thrust of politics powered by muscle forged in tragedy. It's the most delirious and intense sequel narrative since INFERNAL AFFAIRS III and the deepest sequel enrichment since THE GODFATHER PART II and III.

One of my many choice lines: "You fight harder than you fuck." If you value your manhood, you won't miss 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE. Its densely layered narrative--identifying the prime motivations of its epic characters--gives intensity to operatically rendered political-military maneuvers. It's a great amazing astounding staggering film.

You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet

R.I.P. Alain Resnais
by John Demetry

With his last three movies released in the US, Alain Resnais continued to push himself and the medium forward--achieving this era's peak cinematographic visions with d.p. Eric Gautier: the Joycean AIDS-era lament of PRIVATE FEARS IN PUBLIC PLACES; the cinemascope surrealism--where desires meet--of WILD GRASS; the emotional extravaganza of YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHIN' YET. Apparently there's more to come. RIP Alain Resnais. One of the last masters.