TO KICK OFF 7-DAY SERIES "SO SEXY IT HURTS: EROTIC THRILLS FROM '80s & '90s HOLLYWOOD"
Thanks to Hugh for letting us know about this seven-day film series that kicks off with Brian De Palma's Body Double, featuring five showtimes ("Showtime!" says Sam Bouchard) this Friday at Quad Cinema in New York City. The series, which is called "So Sexy It Hurts: Erotic Thrills from ’80s and ’90s Hollywood," continues the next day, Saturday, with Adrian Lyne's Flashdance, a film that De Palma came so close to directing, he even added a bit of a parody in the music video he directed for Frankie Goes To Hollywood's "Relax." The other films in the series: Ken Russell's Crimes Of Passion, Paul Verhoeven's Basic Instinct, John McNaughton's Wild Things, Paul Schrader's American Gigolo, and Verhoeven's Showgirls, which concludes the series on Thursday, July 14th.
From the Quad Cinema series description:
The Quad invites you, as the temperature rises, to get out of the frying pan and into the fire — with our crackling series of films that are too darn hot and were too sexy for their times. Some fanned the flames of controversy, while others kindled zeitgeist interest; all generated notoriety through the ‘80s and ‘90s that kept them VHS and cable-TV staples. We are pleased to bring them back onto the big screen from whence they came and where they belong, including a brand-new 2K DCP of the now-rarely seen Crimes of Passion. From welders who scorch to “Ver-sayss”-coveting showgirls to implements being wielded in ways most definitely not manufacturer-recommended, these movies elicit both aroused and “ouch!” reactions — sometimes, perhaps, simultaneously. So, this July settle in and prepare to shift around in your seat…
And specifically about Body Double:
Determined to poke the bear that was the MPAA Ratings Board, De Palma orchestrated a return to his preferred playground of Hitchcockian homages with voyeuristic flesh and blood aplenty. Melanie Griffith’s sassy and sensual performance, as a porn star entangled with struggling actor and apparent-slaying witness Craig Wasson, catapulted her career into a thrilling second act. The aptly lurid cinematography is by Stephen Burum; other core De Palma collaborators on hand include composer Pino Donaggio and actor Dennis Franz — as a horror-movie director.