I initially planned to write an Antichrist-inspired list of most misogynistic movies ever made. But after some minor research, I decided that as a man, even one who has studied feminist film theory, I’m not the best judge of what titles to choose. Besides, I figure there are already enough places on the web where we can debate whether or not Neil LaBute and Lars von Trier are misogynistic filmmakers or if they are in fact the opposite.
I could have instead attempted a list of movies that are misandric, but I don’t think hatred towards men is equally as off-putting to male viewers as misogyny is to women. So, here’s something slightly similar, also inspired by Antichrist (particularly a disturbing genital-mutilation scene in the film), because there’s certainly nothing more difficult for men to watch than scenes in which male sex organs are harmed.
Of course, cinema has been hurting guys’ balls for laughs throughout the existence of motion pictures. And plenty of action and horror flicks depict castration by shotgun, knife, van door and other means on a regular basis. Therefore, I’ve gone specifically with these six sex scenes, since they add to the pain by first teasing pleasure. But no, masochistic delight is nowhere to be found in any of these hard-to-watch movie moments.
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What’s funnier, cancer or rape? That’s a trick question; neither is funny. And in the past 24 hours I’ve seen concerns for two Seth Rogen movies because of how they involve these unfunny subjects. Of course, I doubt the cancer comedy Funny People will turn as many people off as much as the date rape joke in Observe and Report.
If you’ve seen the red-band trailer for Observe and Report, you’ve seen the gist of the joke, which has Rogen pause mid-intercourse because he thinks Anna Faris’ character is unconscious. She’s apparently not, though, and scolds the guy for stopping. Yes, it’s black comedy, and yes, it makes sense as a joke in theory. But neither Faris’ seemingly conscious outburst nor the audiences’ laughter make it okay, according to some people who will not be going to see the movie this weekend or ever.
Few blogs are writing about the date rape issue surrounding the movie, but those that are have received a few interesting comments, all of which make me wonder if Observe and Report’s box office could be even slightly hurt by the joke. Certainly there have been successful films featuring total scumbag protagonists (Gran Torino is one example, though its character’s racism isn’t necessarily played for laughs), but does this one really appear to be saying that the scumbaggery is forgiveable in certain situations? After reading Faris’ thoughts, watching Rogen’s apologism and reading the comments below, let us if you’ll also be avoiding the movie as a result of its misogynous humor.
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In its depiction of mid-80s Eastern European Communist social hell, Cargo 200 makes 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days look like Sesame Street. There are plenty of films that use real history as the jumping off point for genre fantasy, but Aleksei Balabanov’s brutal, fetid vision of personal sadism and political policy intermingled is the only work of serious, modern social criticism in recent memory that actually made me want to puke. This is a compliment of the highest order.
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In its depiction of mid-80s Eastern European Communist social hell, Cargo 200 makes 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days look like Sesame Street. There are plenty of films that use real history as the jumping off point for genre fantasy (and even a couple of others at this festival), but Aleksei Balabanov’s brutal, fetid vision of personal sadism and political policy intermingled is the only work of serious, modern social criticism in recent memory that actually made me want to puke. This is a compliment of the highest order.
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I have no idea what to do with Josh Fox’s Memorial Day, a sporadically engaging––but far too simple-minded to be as troubling as it wants to be––hypothetical slice-of-life which exists to explain away Abu Ghraib via spring break. It seems to be consensus that this is, at the very least, the ballsiest film at this festival, although it certainly has fewer defenders than detractors. I found it to be alternately mesmerizing, infuriating, boring and eye-rollingly facile. I think it fails as a narrative film, even as it occasionally stuns as a work of pure cinema. And yet, I don’t think it’s dismissable outright.
Executive produced by Michael Stipe, Memorial is the brainchild of a New York theater rabblerouser named Josh Fox, and is loosely based on his “traveling, site-specific theatre event” Death of Nations 1: The Comfort and Safety Of Your Own Home. Dressed in all in black with standard-issue hipster-lectual glasses, Fox rocked a frustrating evasiveness at the Q & A following the film’s CineVegas premiere; when asked to unpack his intentions, Fox responded, “I don’t really do that.” He did admit to being a tourist to the world his film depicts. “I’m from New York,” the first-time filmmaker said more than once, ultimately invoking an old Spaulding Gray line about living “off the coast of America.”
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The Trials of Darryl Hunt is on the short list for the Best Documentary Oscar. It’s far more than a courtroom drama, it’s the real story of an amazing man and the community around him refusing to play the roles society placed on them: Criminal, rapist, murderer. The accounts of Darryl Hunt’s various trials over twenty years are jaw dropping.
Starz Denver Film Festival, spout.com podcast
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