MOVIES OF THE MONTH, DECEMBER 2006

Pumpkinhead
Lance Henriksen is scary but sympathetic as a grieving father who summons a revenge demon which causes all kind of trouble.

Baby Face
Red Headed Woman
From 1934 to 1951 or so, the Production Code ruled over movies with an iron fist. Movies were constructed so that people who didn't want to know that sex existed could remain ignorant. Most of the "Golden Age of Hollywood Movies" we see on TV were made then, so you might think your grandparents were some kind of foolish naifs who didn't know married people slept in the same bed. Fortunately, racy, pre-Code movies of the early 30's are starting to re-appear. In these two, Barbara Stanwyck and Jean Harlow use their sex appeal to survive in a dog-eat-dog world. Look for the scene where Stanwyck chews out her Dad for pimping her out at 15.

Gunslinger Girl, vol. 3

Curse of the Golden Flower
Gong Li is diva-licious as the Empress, commanding the screen like Betty Davis in the height of Tang Dynasty fashion. More of a court-intrigue film with kung fu than a martial-arts film, kind of like The Little Foxes with kicking and slave girls.

Shopgirl
It has its moments, but it doesn't quite work. There's a nice, melancholy, New Yorker-short-story-feeling to it, but it doesn't quite make the move from page to screen. There should be no more narration in films other than documentaries, ever. The idea of the old "budding female artist gets her heart broken by an older man" story being told from the point of view of the man is interesting, but we don't learn any more about why the guy is a jerk. Still, Claire Danes is amazing, and at least she has a reason to be bummed out other than the fact that she got a free trip to Tokyo.

Basilisk, vol. 3