Dutch bad boy Paul Verhoeven could get away with subversive films about power, capitalism and technology in violent action movies like Robocop and Total Recall. But when he turned his attention to sex — first with Basic Instinct and then Showgirls (1995) — he had a rougher ride.
Basic Instinct (1992) was a commercial hit, the apogee of the erotic thriller cycle which started with Fatal Attraction in the 80s. But critics were growing skeptical of million dollar screenwriter Joe Eszterhas (who wrote both films) and the queer community protested the film’s politically incorrect portrait of a bisexual psychopath. (Eszterhas actually apologized.) Nevertheless, the film had persuasive champions, including academic Camille Paglia, who heralded a transgressive feminist text and extolled the way Sharon Stone’s murder suspect Catherine Trammell controlled a roomful of cops by uncrossing her legs. Verhoeven cited Hitchcock’s Vertigo as his inspiration though Dario Argento might be nearest the mark. You be the judge.
Content Considerations: Sexual violence
Sharon Stone’s ice-cold temptress proved that not only were lesbians smarter than straight men, they could drive faster and fuck harder. For some reason, gay rights groups thought this was homophobic, and protested the film’s release. Curious.
Gay Times (2011)
If ever there was a Hollywood film that celebrated a genuine spirit of not giving a fuck what people think, this is it.
Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Senses of Cinema
Media Partner
Paul Verhoeven
Sharon Stone, Michael Douglas
USA
1992
English
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
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Credits
Producer
Alan Marshal
Screenwriter
Joe Eszterhas
Cinematography
Jan de Bont
Editor
Frank J. Urioste
Original Music
Jerry Goldsmith
Production Design
Terence Marsh
90s, Baby!
Ten years. 11 weeks. 90 films from the 1990s. This summer, 90’s Baby! takes a deep dive into a defining decade of cinema.
Lessons of Darkness
Werner Herzog's unforgettable documentary reveals the unfolding disaster of the Kuwaitian oil fields in flames in 1991 as a sweeping inferno of mesmerizing power.
Beau Travail
Inspired by Herman Melville's Billy Budd, Claire Denis' transfixing Beau Travail is set in East Africa. Sgt Galoup (Denis Lavant) reflects on his time in the French Foreign Legion, and the impact of the handsome Sentain (Gregoire Colin).
Three Kings
George Clooney headlines David O Russell's bold, brazen attempt to get to grips with the immediate aftermath of Operation Desert Storm, as 4 US soldiers try to liberate a missing shipment of gold amidst the chaos and carnage.
But I'm a Cheerleader
Megan (Natasha Lyonne) is the perfect All-American Girl, or so she thinks. That is until she’s shipped off to conversion therapy. This pitch black comedy is wrapped in a saccharine bow, featuring the icon herself, RuPaul, as a conversion counsellor.
Magnolia
This deeply personal 1999 California opus is ripe for rediscovery. Mapping the emotional traumas of half-a-dozen major characters as they crisscross the San Fernando Valley in search of either recognition or reconciliation, it's PTA's riskiest gamble.
Election
Tracy Flick (Reece Witherspoon) is running for Student President, but Mr. McAllister (Matthew Broderick) has other ideas... This remarkably sour millennial comedy from Alexander Payne (The Holdovers; Sideways; The Descendents) hits twice as hard today.
Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai
Ghost Dog (Forest Whitaker) is an assassin, but he's also an existential loner who adheres to his personal code. Despite the thriller trappings, this is really a lampoon of that genre, and a melancholy reverie for the cultural melting pot we call home.
The Straight Story
David Lynch goes a different direction in this linear Midwestern about a septuagenarian (Richard Farnsworth) who drives nearly 400km on a lawnmower to visit his ailing brother (Harry Dean Stanton).
90s Surprise Film
The 90s movie we have all been missing... Join us for a celebratory wake for this year's 90s, Baby series! What you will be seeing is top secret (no, not Top Secret!, that was 1984) but it will be at least 26 years old and it will be new to this series.
The Wind Will Carry Us
Kiarostami's dry comic masterpiece follows a Tehrani film team's thwarted attempts to document a traditional Kurdish funeral... Trouble being, there's no one to bury, and, worse, virtually no cell service...
Fight Club
1999 was a very good year for movies, but nothing captured millennial angst quite so vividly as David Fincher's bruising black comedy about what it means to be a man today. This modern classic does everything short of rattling your seat to get a reaction.