SHOWGIRLS / THE ELEMENT OF CRIME

SHOWGIRLS

Not since The Human Centipede have I felt more ashamed to admit watching something out of morbid curiosity.

BUT, I had a rare bout of insomnia (likely caused by a rich dinner with coffee and dessert after a long week), and nothing is more appropriate to do when wired up at odd hours of the night then watching trashy movies available for free on Comcast OnDemand.

Also, Showgirls is put of AV Club's New Cult Canon, so it has some respects in some circles as a good "bad" film.

I remember when this first came out in 1995, I heard about it's reputation in my early high school years and was a little frightened of how extreme it might be for my wholesome adolescent eyes. Now that I'm more mature and have been exposed to much more sex and violence in pop culture, most of it wasn't too bad, although when it inches into soft-core porn territory I definitely felt defensive about justifying watching it, and subsequently, whether it's one of those cinematic treasures I want to go on record as deliberately watching....

ANYWAY, as far as it's campy cult status, you can hold Elizabeth Berkeley's performance responsible for its possibly unintentional WTF moments. The best part of the movie was waiting through Nomi Malone's blank stares at every situation she faces, and being hilariously surprised at whatever extreme emotional reaction she decides to express. That's the element that gives this film a little extra punch.

But, yes, let's never speak of Showgirls again.

THE ELEMENT OF CRIME 1984

So, I have referenced my movie list shuffle method before. Up popped the Lars Von Trier movie Europa, from 1991. I then found out that Europa was the final film of an informal Europe trilogy that consisted of the famous Danish director's first three feature films. So I decided that if I find a movie that's part of a series, even a seemingly loosely connected one, I'll start at the beginning, despite Lars Von Trier being a notoriously difficult and very artsy director.

The previews on the Criterion DVD for Element of Crime didn't look promising. Maybe I wasn't in the mood for something TOO stylistic this weekend. And for the most part, Element of Crime was very difficult and challenging, with an ending that didn't seem earned to me. But I excuse this film's eccentricities for a few reasons. First of all, it sets up a perspective in the initial scene that explains the murky, unstructured, surreal setting, so if things go off on tangents and elements are unexplained, that's kind of the point. Second, the style is wholly unique... I hope you enjoy the color yellow. Third, the movie is nonetheless anchored in a traditional crime story that you can follow for the most part.

But there are a lot of frustrating things about this movie. I'm glad I can say I watched it, but I have already read a review that said the second film in the Europe trilogy, is pretty unwatchable. I've got to ponder whether it's worth my time.