squeezebox

Putrid Sex Object is a two minute long underground shock video which has garnered a reputation along the lines of "2 Girls 1 Cup," "Mr Hands" and dozens of other videos which would have remained in obscurity had the secondary phenomenon of YouTube "reaction videos" not become a thing.

A drag queen wanders down a dark hallway and comes to a room where there is a skinned cow head on the floor. She then goes about pleasuring herself with it and covering herself in its blood. The video ends.

It's difficult to say what the motivation was behind the creation of the video. It's the sort of thing one might anonymously post to the fringes of the internet just to catch deep web creepers off guard, or it might be the sort of video that would be projected behind a band in an East Village punk bar. The actor who portrays the "lonely girl" has stated it was just a job and was never meant as anything more than a bizarre short film.

As far as the film itself goes, I'll go out on a limb (head?) here and say for a two minute video it's pretty atmospheric. Beyond the obvious gross-out factor there is a creepy, unnerving feel to the video which has as much to do with the eerie lighting and weird soundtrack as to what is happening on screen.

Basically, while strong stuff, Putrid Sex Object is far from the most stomach-churning shock video I've seen and is also one of the few that I am willing to call a piece of performance art. It's no worse than anything in John Waters's early films. Definitely worth seeking out for those with an interest in underground cinema.

(Note: I have given it a 5 only because a number or star rating is borderline irrelevant to a piece like this)

After the Ball is an entertaining little comedy that takes a few elements of Cinderella and uses them to tell the story of a young fashion designer who manages to get a job at her father's design company, only to be ousted by her stepmother and stepsisters. With the encouragement of her aunt and her actor friend, she disguises herself as a young male designer and manages to get hired back at the company where she battles the evil forces out to get her/him, but with newly found self-confidence.

I was expecting nothing from this movie, but my daughter wanted to watch it and it had a rating higher than one star on Netflix, so I figured why not. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. While it's predictable in the extreme, it's genuinely funny and moves along at a good pace, with a solid screenplay and likable characters. I had never heard of Portia Doubleday before watching this movie, but her performance is terrific. She's funny, sympathetic and simply a pleasure to watch.

Don't expect a profound or earth-shattering experience, but if you are in the mood for some lighthearted fun, you could do much worse than After the Ball.