Tag Archives: Paul Verhoeven

Elle + The Piano Teacher

Posted on February 16, 2021 by Alice Thirteen
Elle + The Piano Teacher

Psychosexual arthouse films are not for everyone. Actually, it could be argued that they’re not for anyone. This is not the most important conversation in cinema – it’s what people who see too many weird movies discuss in the safety of arthouses. However, after nearly a year of arthouses being closed around the country (and everyone having seen too many weird movies at home), the arthouse is very much missed. This episode examines two films of Isabelle Huppert, giving space to these very provocative conversations spurned by the films of directors Paul Verhoeven and Michael Haneke. Is it for everyone? No. Is it for anyone? That remains to be seen. Are there merit to these films? Absolutely. Double Feature gives fair warning, then breaks down Elle and The Piano Teacher. Continue reading →

The Handmaiden + Basic Instinct

Posted on May 18, 2017 by Alice Thirteen
The Handmaiden + Basic Instinct

Vaginal thrillers! The erotic thriller. Twice the smut, twice the class. Well, maybe. Park Chan-wook’s master film “The Handmaiden.” Handmaidens before The Handmaid’s Tale was cinematic cool. Things you could not possibly believe are portrayed tactfully. Basic Instinct, the prototypical 90s erotic thriller. Flesh seduces, passion kills! A-list actors used to get naked and that was great. Sharon Stone’s lady parts. Paul Verhoeven’s infamous leg cross. Incoherent sex stabs. Twenty years ago, when rape was totally cool. #JadeGate Continue reading →

Showgirls + Meet the Feebles

Posted on May 15, 2014 by Alice Thirteen
Showgirls + Meet the Feebles

Double Feature’s big announcement unveiled – an all new Kickstarter featuring a narrative Double Feature mini-series! An examination of show business through broken lenses. The success of Showgirls. Funneling the audience through embarrassment. NC17’s impact on marketability. The amazing things about Showgirls lost to time. How an audience boils a movie down to a single idea as years pass. A totally different perspective – why other audiences defend Showgirls today. Peter Jackson’s love of filth. Why Meet the Feebles should exist. The artistic role of an extreme. Making sacrifices to live at the end of a specturm. Continue reading →

RoboCop + Bicentennial Man

Posted on June 27, 2013 by Alice Thirteen
RoboCop + Bicentennial Man

Pauly’s Robot memorial show. Double Feature does whatever it wants. A rare look into Double Feature final episode runners up. Half man, half machine, all RoboCob. I’ll buy that for a dollar! Twitter. The life and times of the 1980s. Matt black police cars. The world of RoboCop. Far Cry Blood Dragon! How to Destroy Angels. Dystopia. Cars on Fire! The strengths and weaknesses of stop motion bot. ED-209. Robots replacing cops. Boardroom accessories. Murphy’s gore. A valuable lesson from RoboCop. The three directives. The three laws. Bicentennial Man. EL-P’s Stepfather Factory: Building Tomorrow’s Fathers Today. Everything Isaac Asimov. The fictional inventions of Isaac Asimov. Biochemical fiction. Why Robin Williams? The impact drill. Assigning a robot to make art. The ambition of Bicentennial Man. Why the machines should replace us. Continue reading →

Starship Troopers + Small Soldiers

Posted on June 10, 2010 by Alice Thirteen
Starship Troopers + Small Soldiers

War films, Double Feature style. Paul Verhoeven. A Flying Tom Tom? Animating the bugs. The look and feel of Starship Troopers. War movie cliches. Characters and politics. Maintaining a light feel in a time of war. Censorship. Starship Troopers’ commentary on military recruitment. Wait, what strategy? Various jobs. Class warfare. Privacy. Joe Dante and the tiny. More info than you ever really needed about Eerie, Indiana. Small Soldiers, big voices. Wow, that sentence was lame. Casting. BEAR OR NO BEAR! Artificial Intelligence is apparently not a big deal. Why Small Soldiers is actually darker than Starship Troopers. Science vs one-liners. Continue reading →

A Scanner Darkly + Total Recall

Posted on September 24, 2009 by Alice Thirteen
A Scanner Darkly + Total Recall

Philip K. Dick and false reality. Don’t actually watch these films back to back. Drug culture, crazy people, and character studies. Coping mechanisms. Maintaining control. Individual motivation. An explanation of the scene where Connie turns into Donna. Breaking down the end of A Scanner Darkly. The police state. The work of Paul Verhoever. Based on We Can Remember It for You Wholesale. Total Recall’s vision of the future. Cars and weaponry. The connections between Total Recall and Scanners. Examining cult status. Revenge of the sand beetle. Shortest time to WTF. Patching the plot holes. The various twists and eventual ending. Next Time: Music Box Massacre! Continue reading →