Beast-5

I actually paid to see this movie. Fortunately, it was at a two-dollar theater. I had heard the stories of the alleged problems in the making of this thing, and after suffering through this misbegotten trash, I believe them all. The original STEPFORD WIVES is a classic horror film. The remake wants to be a satiric comedy, but it's not funny at all. There is nothing funny whatsoever in this project. It was genuinely embarrassing to watch; I hated the main characters, particularly Matthew Broderick, who was spectacularly miscast. I have seen some of the worst movies ever made, but this one deserves a special place in the annals of filmdom, as it is a complete failure in every way.

SONGS FROM THE SECOND FLOOR is honestly one of the best films I have seen so far in my years of cinematic appreciation. Alice, below, nailed it in her analysis, and there's little I can add that would be useful. I also agree with the critics who compared it to what would happen if Monty Python set their sights on Bergman. The film is both a character study and a meditation on humanity, filled with transcendent moments of beauty that left me completely stunned. It is also a biting satire of corporate greed and its effects on society, and the search for hope in a dying, empty world filled with people who've basically given up. SONGS is a great film that everybody should see.

Frank Henenlotter's BASKET CASE is a grimy, dirty movie, and that's part of its appeal. On a shoestring budget, we are shown the dark side of the city, which in many ways was its most beautiful, with its movie theatres showing kung fu flicks and crazy denizens-New York as it really was. His work makes me think of Vittorio De Sica and Jorg Buttgereit, two other filmmakers who were not afraid to expose decayed terrain. I also like the fact that Henenlotter did not take an easy route; Duana and Belial are sympathetic characters, not monsters at all. The people who surround them are regular people instead of the usual beautiful people of today's Hollywood horror machine. BASKET CASE is a great, suspenseful horror film that happens to be bloody and violent, like the best operas. I wasn't thrilled with the ending, especially since there are two very good sequels, but that's not a major complaint.