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Reviews
Heung Gong kei on: Keung gaan (1993)
Formulaic and dull Hong Kong flick
"Raped by an Angel", also known as "Naked Killer 2" is a formulaic Hong Kong sex-and-violence movie. It is not as good as many others. The acting is wooden, the violence muted and unrealistic, the consensual sex scenes dull and devoid of even the slightest hint of passion, and you can almost see the actors yawning during the rape scenes. This is supposed to be a sex-violence-revenge thriller, but the plot is thin and devoid of suspense. The only interesting part was a courtroom scene in which the rapist is one of the lawyers. The movie has a category III rating (equivalent to our NC17) but is pretty tame by Cat-III standards. The several rape scenes dubbed "explicit" and "prolonged" in some other reviews are neither. They consist mostly of seeing the naked backside of the rapist standing up (briefly), seeing him leer as he unwraps a condom, and then seeing what is supposed to be a look of pain on a closeup of the woman's face, but actually looks more like indigestion. The rapes themselves are implicit, and hidden by potted plants, furniture, and blankets. The English subtitles are below average even for a Hong Kong quickie, and provide most of the comic relief.
Kinsey (2004)
Stunning performance by Liam Neeson
Saw the premier of the movie here in Bloomington, Indiana, home of the Kinsey Institute. The movie is a bit melodramatic at times, and fails to make maximum, use of the wonderful cast of secondary characters (Tim Curry, etc), but is a powerful comment on this country's coming of age in the 1950s. Liam Neeson's performance is an Oscar-level tour de force that captures the difficult personality of Kinsey without either sentimentality or condemnation. Paul Gebhart, Kinsey's long-time associate and successor, was in the audience at the premier and said that Neeson and director Bob Condlon had captured Kinsey perfectly. The movie is not for the prudish -- it is open, frank, clinical and nonjudgmental about sex as Kinsey's books were. Don't miss it.
Travolti da un insolito destino nell'azzurro mare d'agosto (1974)
Stunning allegory of class struggle and sexual politics.
One of the greatest movies ever made. Lina Wertmuller's masterpiece about the twists and turns of a relationship between castaways from different social classes stranded on an island. Giancarlo Giannini turns in a tour-de-force performance. Rent this at once if you haven't seen it.