The X List The National Society of Film

The National Society of Film Critics dares to go where few mainstream critics have gone before-to the heart of what gets the colored lights going, as they say in A Streetcar Named Desire.

Jami Bernard, film critic of the New York Daily News, has been reviewing movies since 1986 and is the author of five books, including Total Exposure, Chick Flicks, and Quentin Tarantino: The Man and His Movies. She is a member of the National Society of Film Critics.

Introduction

xv

The Age of Innocence (1993)

1

(4)

Amy Taubin

Anatomy of Hell (2004)

5

(4)

Stephanie Zacharek

A Nos Amours (1984)

9

(3)

David Edelstein

Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life (1997)

12

(4)

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Baby Doll (1956)

16

(3)

Michael Sragow

Baby Face (1933)

19

(4)

Dave Kehr

Bad Education (2004)

23

(3)

Andy Klein

Baise-Moi (2000)

26

(3)

Gerald Peary

Basic Instinct (1992)

29

(4)

J. Hoberman

Behind the Green Door (1972)

33

(5)

Carrie Rickey

Annabel Chong: Casting the First Pebble

36

(2)

Gerald Peary

Belle De Jour (1967)

38

(3)

Michael Wilmington

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)

41

(4)

Roger Ebert

Black Sunday (1960)

45

(3)

James Verniere

Blue Velvet (1986)

48

(3)

Andy Klein

Body Heat (1981)

51

(3)

Peter Travers

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

54

(3)

Lisa Schwarzbaum

Bye Bye Birdie (1963)

57

(3)

Jami Bernard

Carmen Jones (1954)

60

(4)

Jami Bernard

Contempt (1963)

64

(3)

Desson Thomson

Crash (1996)

67

(3)

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Crimes of Passion (1984)

70

(3)

Peter Travers

Days of Heaven (1978)

73

(3)

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie

Deep Throat (1972)

76

(5)

Emanuel Levy

Don't Look Now (1973)

81

(3)

Sheila Benson

Ecstasy (1933)

84

(4)

Kevin Thomas

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

88

(3)

Rob Nelson

Eyes Without a Face (1959)

91

(5)

Kenneth Turan

Possession: What You Missed

94

(2)

Gerald Peary

The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989)

96

(3)

Jay Carr

Femme Fatale (2002)

99

(5)

Stephanie Zacharek

Why Vertigo?

102

(2)

Amy Taubin

La Femme Nikita (1990)

104

(3)

David Edelstein

Forever Mine (1999)

107

(4)

Charles Taylor

Frankenstein Created Woman (1967)

111

(3)

Chris Fujiwara

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1970)

114

(3)

Desson Thomson

Gilda (1946)

117

(5)

Jami Bernard

Connie Nielsen: Empress Mine

120

(2)

Charles Taylor

Great Expectations (1998)

122

(3)

Stephanie Zacharek

Hercules and Hercules Unchained (1959, 1960)

125

(4)

Armond White

Horror of Dracula (1958)

129

(4)

David Edelstein

In the Cut (2003)

133

(5)

Sheila Benson

The Female Gaze

136

(2)

Carrie Rickey

In the Mood for Love (2000)

138

(3)

Rob Nelson

In the Realm of the Senses (1976)

141

(5)

Peter Brunette

In My Skin: Hack Work

144

(2)

Gerald Peary

Intimacy (2001)

146

(3)

Michael Wilmington

Irma Vep (1996)

149

(4)

Charles Taylor

Irreversible (2002)

153

(3)

David Sterritt

It Happened One Night (1934)

156

(6)

Kevin Thomas

The Eroticism of Words

160

(2)

William Wolf

Kinsey (2004)

162

(4)

William Wolf

Klute (1971)

166

(3)

Desson Thomson

The Last of the Mohicans (1992)

169

(4)

Matt Zoller Seitz

Last Tango in Paris (1972)

173

(5)

Peter Brunette

Last Tango with Grandma

176

(2)

Desson Thomson

Laura (1944)

178

(4)

Emanuel Levy

Laurel Canyon (2002)

182

(3)

Carrie Rickey

The Long, Hot Summer (1958)

185

(4)

James Verniere

The Makioka Sisters (1983)

189

(3)

Peter Rainer

Mccabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)

192

(5)

John Anderson

Swoon, Britannia

195

(2)

Andy Klein

Morocco (1930)

197

(3)

Stephanie Zacharek

Mulholland Drive (2001)

200

(3)

Peter Travers

The Mummy (1932)

203

(6)

Charles Taylor

Habit-Forming

206

(3)

Peter Keough

O Fantasma (2000)

209

(4)

Nathan Lee

Ossessione (1943)

213

(3)

Peter Brunette

Pandora's Box (1929)

216

(3)

Kevin Thomas

Peeping Tom (1960)

219

(3)

Peter Keough

Persona (1966)

222

(4)

Michael Wilmington

Picnic (1955)

226

(4)

Emanuel Levy

Poison Ivy (1992)

230

(5)

Peter Travers

My Own Private Barrymore

233

(2)

Gerald Peary

Rebecca (1940)

235

(4)

Jami Bernard

Secretary (2002)

239

(4)

Jami Bernard

The Servant (1963)

243

(4)

David Ansen

Shampoo (1975)

247

(3)

Stephanie Zacharek

Shanghai Express (1932)

250

(3)

Armond White

The Song of Songs (1933)

253

(3)

Andy Klein

Splendor in the Grass (1961)

256

(4)

Michael Sragow

Talk Dirty to Me (1980)

260

(6)

Charles Taylor

Annette Haven: What's Classy Girl Like You Doing in a Movie Like This?

264

(2)

Charles Taylor

The Tango Lesson (1997)

266

(3)

Stuart Klawans

Tarzan and His Mate (1934)

269

(3)

Charles Taylor

Trouble in Paradise (1932)

272

(3)

Joe Morgenstern

Troy (2004)

275

(3)

Joe Morgenstern

Twentynine Palms (2003)

278

(4)

Ella Taylor

Radley Metzger, Soft-core Auteur

280

(2)

Gerald Peary

The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)

282

(4)

Richard Schickel

Wuthering Heights (1939)

286

(3)

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie

Young Lady Chatterley (1977)

289

(6)

Ty Burr

The Last X-Rated Picture Show

293

(2)

Ty Burr

Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001)

295

(4)

Kenneth Turan

Contributors

299

(10)

Permissions

309

(6)

Index

315

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

FREE SHIPPING

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

The X List The National Society of Film Critics' Guide to the Movies That Turn Us On

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials