THE SKIN I LIVE IN (2011) movie review

Skin I Live in, The (2011) (1st viewing) d. Almodovar, Pedro

Stylistic and visually dynamic dark fantasy about an eminent plastic surgeon (Antonio Banderas, in fine form) who loses his wife in a car crash, shortly after which his emotionally precarious daughter is sexually assaulted at a party. These two tragic events spark the remainder of the eye-popping narrative, which deserves to unfold organically without any further extrapolation on my part. However, I will say that one should probably check one’s logic circuits at the door, because several plot machinations don’t hold up well to close scrutiny, as dramatically delicious as they might be. The extraordinarily fetching Elena Anaya (Room in Rome), when not sporting her birthday suit, spends a welcome amount of time in a skintight body stocking – a seemingly exploitative move that achieves deeper resonance with repeat viewings.

Fool's Views (6/4 – 6/17)

Hey troops,

Saddled as we were here at the Doc’s office with getting a certain show (Inherit the Wind) up on its feet these past couple weeks, there wasn’t much time for viddying (in fact, half of the flicks below were screened via laptop during the hefty hour-plus commute traveling to and from rehearsals). However, in addition to catching up on some recent fare – a mixed bag indeed – we also revisited two underviewed (some might say justifiably so) drive-in horror efforts as well as taking in another virgin viewing from the great Akira Kurosawa, who might end up becoming my director project for the year. Lots of his stuff I still need to see and even more I need to revisit.

As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.

Enjoy!