Varied Celluloid

Phantom of the Opera, The

Posted by Josh Samford On October - 5 - 2012ADD COMMENTS

	The Phantom of the Opera (1998)

Director:	Dario Argento
Writers:	Giorgina Caspari
Starring:	Asia Argento, Julian Sands, and Andrea Di Stefano

The Plot: When a baby in a basket is rescued by rats who live under an opera house within Paris, he is raised as a violent but quiet man. He (Julian Sands) becomes our “Phantom of the Opera,” and he strikes against those who threaten his way of life by entering the secret underground canals that lie beneath the opera. We are soon introduced to Christine Daaé (Asia Argento), who is a young girl trying to break into Opera. Christine and the Phantom are soon wrapped up in a very strange relationship that revolves around sexual desires and the bizarre telepathic link that they have. Although Christine seems to love The Phantom, there is also the Baron, Raoul De Chagny (Andrea Di Stefano), who is currently making plays for Christine’s attention. As this love triangle ties together, it seems that a tragedy may be waiting around the corner.

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Brother of Darkness

Posted by Josh Samford On October - 4 - 2012ADD COMMENTS

	Brother of Darkness (1994)

Director:	Billy Tang
Writers:	Kong Heung Sang
Starring:	Hugo Ng, Lily Chung, William Ho, Money Lo, and Anthony Wong

The Plot: Our film begins with Wong Kuen To (Hugo Ng), a mild mannered young man who enjoys a little recreational Taekwondo, being arrested for the apparent killing of his own brother. We then watch as this young man goes to court for the homicide, and then the court proceedings give us the real story of what happened to this man and what would cause him to do this horrible thing. As it turns out, Wong Kuen To was actually an adopted child. After their first born boy turned out to be such a tremendous burden, Wong Kuen To’s parents decided to try again in their elderly years. Unfortunately, the eldest son never learned to leave the nest. During the few moments where he is not in some segment of the correctional system, this older brother beats, harasses, robs, and denigrates both his parents as well as Wong Kuen To. As Kuen To tries to deal with the sexual abnormality that his older brother has left him with with (he has a condition called hypgonadism, developed after a concentrated knee to his testicles as a young boy), he must also learn how to make a relationship work with his beautiful girlfriend Jenny. However, this older brother from hell will hardly sit back and allow anyone in his family to have any sort of peace.

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General Education

Posted by Josh Samford On October - 4 - 2012ADD COMMENTS

	General Education (2012)

Director:	Tom Morris
Writers:	Elliot Feld, Jaz Kalkat, and Tom Morris
Starring:	Chris Sheffield, Maiara Walsh, Janeane Garofalo, and Larry Miller

The Plot: Levi (Chris Sheffield) is a tennis playing young man at Hill High, but he’s having a bit of trouble at school. Like many young men comedies of this sort, he nearly has an answer for every question… except when it comes to school. He has actually been given a Tennis Scholarship, but there is one roadblock standing in his way: he’s about to fail one of his classes. So, instead of telling his parents the truth, Levi intends to hide this from his parents and take summer school before moving on to college in the Fall. His college situation isn’t all that sunny either, because Levi wants to do things his own way, but his father is adamant about Levi enrolling in his own alma mater. So, Levi has only a few short months to pass his final class and figure out what he is going to do. Along the way he spends time with his 13 year old sidekick Charles, is challenged in a tennis tournament, and falls in love with a beautiful girl at school.

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Exhibitionists, The

Posted by Josh Samford On October - 4 - 2012ADD COMMENTS

	The Exhibitionists (2012)

Director:	Michael Melamedoff
Writers:	Michael Edison Hayden
Starring:	Richard Short, Pepper Binkley, and Ella Rae Peck

The Plot: The Exhibitionists tells the story of one very decadent New Year’s Eve party. Hosted by Walter Todd (played by Richard Short), a filmmaker with a penchant for bizarre sexual obsessions, his party attracts a small crew, mostly artists, who range in popularity and intentions. As the night progresses, it seems that Walter intends to create a film focusing on his party guests. This group is made up of individuals who all hide their deepest desires from the world, and Walter intends to explore these taboos. His “cast” is an eclectic group, and as their mental stability is threatened, their secrets are very likely to be revealed to the world. Some within the group are more guarded than others, and as Walter presses them, the night will bring a very certain amount of danger.

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Possession

Posted by Josh Samford On October - 3 - 2012ADD COMMENTS

	Possession (1981)

Director:	Andrzej Zulawski
Writers:	Andrzej Zulawski and Frederic Tuten
Starring:	Isabelle Adjani, Sam Neill, and Margit Carstensen.

The Plot: Mark (Sam Neil) is a loving husband and father who is recently returning from his work abroad. Apparently, though it isn’t full explained, Mark is an agent of some sort and regularly goes on espionage missions. When he returns home, his wife Anna (Isabelle Adjani) demands a divorce. She won’t explain to him why she is seeking this divorce, but Mark suspects that perhaps she has found another man. Mark turns over both his apartment as well as custody of their young son, Bob, over to Anna, and he begins to let his failed relationship control his life. When he decides to visit the apartment on a spur-of-the-moment whim, Mark finds Bob living by himself in a very disheveled manner. As Mark investigates, he discovers that Anna does indeed have another man. A man named Heinrich (Heinz Bennent). With this bit of information, Mark becomes less and less grounded in reality. As he obsesses over his wife, he comes to find out that she has numerous other secrets hidden. Dark secrets.

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