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Multiple Maniacs 1970
It's been a few years since I first saw Multiple Maniacs, and it still mostly holds up. It's always entertaining when Waters holds up silly acts of transgression ("queers kissing each other like lovers on the lips!") next to serial homicide. He was clearly still figuring out how to arrange a scene here though.
Let's talk about the lobster scene though. I love the lobster scene. I loved Róisín Murphy's lobster scene. And I feel the need to write about…
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Closet Monster 2015
Stephen Dunn manages to navigate the space between Heartbeats, Green Porno, and Tetsuo: The Iron Man. How he fit them on the same map is beyond me.
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Tickled 2016
Tickled is quick to unsettle, offering a shady conspiracy and the awkwardness of watching someone else's kink. It really can't go wrong whenever it doesn't veer too far from the rabbit hole. What got me were the moments when people broke through the tension by acknowledging the sheer absurdity of it all, so I offer these as my review:
"Oh god."
"Fuck no."
"Well of course it's weird."
"Fucking hell." -
The Bitter Stems 1956
The Bitter Stems opens with our protagonist recounting the events that brought him to a murder he's preparing to commit. Stop me if you've heard this one before.
During its first act, the film alternates between flashbacks and the homicidal wheels in motion. It transitions so smoothly that it feels as if the whole film were in Alfredo's own mind. In particular, there are two wonderful sequences that set up the plot. The first is a dream shedding light on…