Film Reviews · Backpex

Title	Overview		Toggle columns Title Overview
Le Grand Amour	Pierre married Florence, the only daughter of a small industrialist. 15 years later, he is the boss, but his middle-class life worries him a lot. When a new young and lovely secretary comes, he starts dreaming.
High Life	It's 1983, and hopeless junkie Dick gets an unwelcome visit from the past - his seriously sleazy former cellmate, Bug, to be precise. Bug requires a crash course in the 80s: different music, different drugs, and machines in walls that dispense money. The latter development gives Dick an idea.
Here Comes the Boom	A high school biology teacher moonlights as a mixed-martial arts fighter in an effort to raise money to save the school's music program.
Un Flic	Commissaire Edouard Coleman is a Paris police chief whose life investigating violent crimes has left him despondent. After beginning an affair with a beautiful but cold woman named Cathy, he befriends her boyfriend, Simon, a local nightclub owner. Unbeknownst to Edouard, however, Simon is also a ruthless bank robber and drug smuggler who is planning one final heist. Edouard is forced to pursue Simon after learning his true identity.
Dolls	Dolls is a film about Japanese doll theater and a human love story illustrated through beautiful imagery. This film is a lot more sensitive than most Kitano films.
In Memorium	A man dying of cancer installs a series of cameras in his home to try to capture a paranormal entity that has been causing issues in the home before he dies.
The Pebble and the Penguin	A bashful bachelor penguin named Hubie, who's partial to a pretty female named Marina. Ancient penguin ritual dictates that males present a pebble to their intended, then mate for life. Hubie finds a spiffy stone, but before he can bestow it on Marina, dastardly rival Drake tosses him into the churning sea, and Hubie gets swept away.
Seattle Superstorm	An object is shot down over Seattle and the debris begins to effect the local weather ultimately threatening the whole world.
The Return of Doctor X	Dr. Francis Flegg , a specialist in blood disease and research, has been assisted in recent months by a mysterious fellow named Marshall Quesne who is extremely pale, with a streak of white hair. Newspaperman Garrett following the disappearance of an actress, whom he claims he saw was dead, turns up alive again, making Garrett look foolish. But he slowly becomes suspicious of Quesne and Flegg.
Monkeyshines, No. 2	Experimental film that follows up on the results of "Monkeyshines, No. 1". Once again, an Edison company worker moves around in front of the motion picture camera.
Stealing Rembrandt	Two bumbling scrap metal thieves - father and son - steal the wrong painting during a museum heist. The painting turns out to be the only original Rembrandt painting in Denmark, and all hell breaks loose. What do you do when you've got Interpol, the Danish police and the entire Danish underworld on your heels? And who was this Rembrandt guy anyway?
B. Monkey	When wistful introvert Alan Furnace meets quick-witted bombshell Beatrice, he has no idea of her secret life as "B. Monkey" -- the top thief-for-hire in London's criminal underworld. Charmed by Furnace's innocent and chivalrous ways, Beatrice resolves to reform. But to cash in on her first chance at real love, she must escape her former partner in crime, the ruthless Paul Neville -- and a dark past that seems to haunt her every step.
Audition	Seven years after the death of his wife, company executive Aoyama is invited to sit in on auditions for an actress. Leafing through the resumés in advance, his eye is caught by Yamazaki Asami, a striking young woman with ballet training.
The Conversation	Surveillance expert Harry Caul (Gene Hackman) is hired by a mysterious client's brusque aide (Harrison Ford) to tail a young couple, Mark (Frederic Forrest) and Ann (Cindy Williams). Tracking the pair through San Francisco's Union Square, Caul and his associate Stan (John Cazale) manage to record a cryptic conversation between them. Tormented by memories of a previous case that ended badly, Caul becomes obsessed with the resulting tape, trying to determine if the couple are in danger.
City of Joy	In this drama, a wealthy American doctor learns some important lessons about life in one of the poorest cities on Earth. Max Lowe (Patrick Swayze) is a Houston surgeon who has grown weary of the bureaucracy of American medicine. When he loses a patient on the operating table, Max impulsively decides to leave America and travel to India in the hope of "finding himself." Not long after he arrives in Calcutta, Max is attacked by a group of thugs and left without money or a passport.

Le Grand Amour

Pierre married Florence, the only daughter of a small industrialist. 15 years later, he is the boss, but his middle-class life worries him a lot. When a new young and lovely secretary comes, he starts dreaming.

High Life

It's 1983, and hopeless junkie Dick gets an unwelcome visit from the past - his seriously sleazy former cellmate, Bug, to be precise. Bug requires a crash course in the 80s: different music, different drugs, and machines in walls that dispense money. The latter development gives Dick an idea.

Here Comes the Boom

A high school biology teacher moonlights as a mixed-martial arts fighter in an effort to raise money to save the school's music program.

Un Flic

Commissaire Edouard Coleman is a Paris police chief whose life investigating violent crimes has left him despondent. After beginning an affair with a beautiful but cold woman named Cathy, he befriends her boyfriend, Simon, a local nightclub owner. Unbeknownst to Edouard, however, Simon is also a ruthless bank robber and drug smuggler who is planning one final heist. Edouard is forced to pursue Simon after learning his true identity.

Dolls

Dolls is a film about Japanese doll theater and a human love story illustrated through beautiful imagery. This film is a lot more sensitive than most Kitano films.

In Memorium

A man dying of cancer installs a series of cameras in his home to try to capture a paranormal entity that has been causing issues in the home before he dies.

The Pebble and the Penguin

A bashful bachelor penguin named Hubie, who's partial to a pretty female named Marina. Ancient penguin ritual dictates that males present a pebble to their intended, then mate for life. Hubie finds a spiffy stone, but before he can bestow it on Marina, dastardly rival Drake tosses him into the churning sea, and Hubie gets swept away.

Seattle Superstorm

An object is shot down over Seattle and the debris begins to effect the local weather ultimately threatening the whole world.

The Return of Doctor X

Dr. Francis Flegg , a specialist in blood disease and research, has been assisted in recent months by a mysterious fellow named Marshall Quesne who is extremely pale, with a streak of white hair. Newspaperman Garrett following the disappearance of an actress, whom he claims he saw was dead, turns up alive again, making Garrett look foolish. But he slowly becomes suspicious of Quesne and Flegg.

Monkeyshines, No. 2

Experimental film that follows up on the results of "Monkeyshines, No. 1". Once again, an Edison company worker moves around in front of the motion picture camera.

Stealing Rembrandt

Two bumbling scrap metal thieves - father and son - steal the wrong painting during a museum heist. The painting turns out to be the only original Rembrandt painting in Denmark, and all hell breaks loose. What do you do when you've got Interpol, the Danish police and the entire Danish underworld on your heels? And who was this Rembrandt guy anyway?

B. Monkey

When wistful introvert Alan Furnace meets quick-witted bombshell Beatrice, he has no idea of her secret life as "B. Monkey" -- the top thief-for-hire in London's criminal underworld. Charmed by Furnace's innocent and chivalrous ways, Beatrice resolves to reform. But to cash in on her first chance at real love, she must escape her former partner in crime, the ruthless Paul Neville -- and a dark past that seems to haunt her every step.

Audition

Seven years after the death of his wife, company executive Aoyama is invited to sit in on auditions for an actress. Leafing through the resumés in advance, his eye is caught by Yamazaki Asami, a striking young woman with ballet training.

The Conversation

Surveillance expert Harry Caul (Gene Hackman) is hired by a mysterious client's brusque aide (Harrison Ford) to tail a young couple, Mark (Frederic Forrest) and Ann (Cindy Williams). Tracking the pair through San Francisco's Union Square, Caul and his associate Stan (John Cazale) manage to record a cryptic conversation between them. Tormented by memories of a previous case that ended badly, Caul becomes obsessed with the resulting tape, trying to determine if the couple are in danger.

City of Joy

In this drama, a wealthy American doctor learns some important lessons about life in one of the poorest cities on Earth. Max Lowe (Patrick Swayze) is a Houston surgeon who has grown weary of the bureaucracy of American medicine. When he loses a patient on the operating table, Max impulsively decides to leave America and travel to India in the hope of "finding himself." Not long after he arrives in Calcutta, Max is attacked by a group of thugs and left without money or a passport.