Cruel Intentions (1999)

Cruel Intentions is the kind of film that starts out with promise, it had a nice dynamic between characters(even if the acting is so good) an openness about sexuality and a general charm about it but quickly falls down into a rusty bucket of tired romantic cliche's that lead to a rather baffling and disappointing end.
The film is actually based off the 'Les Liaisons dangereuses'(Dangerous Liasons) a french novel written in 1782, but sets it among wealthy teenagers in modern New York. The attempt to put it in such a setting is rather intriguing it's just a shame it executed in the wrong kind of way, I feel like a more farcical unrestrained approach might have worked better and like I said the first half seemed to take things in the right kind of direction, but then in just turns into something more bland and sappy and loses it's potential to be something quite good. Shame really.**

The World Of Kanako (2014) Review

Been wanting to see this since it first came out but patiently waited for the long delayed UK DVD release. So it finally came out over here and I really liked it, it's dark, harsh and pretty darn superb. It's directed by Tetsuya Nakashima whose most known for the films 'Memories of Matsuko' and 'Confessions'. He's a director who I'm very fond of and always really enjoy and this film is no different. It features a disjointed editing style that Nakashima has used in his previous films with lots of cutting between past and present events and a use of montage with a rather stylish flair.
Its definitely the bleakest film Nakashima has done, one that is unrelenting and has very little hope or positivity which is sure to put alot of people off, so its not an easy watch by any means. It is a very intriguing film though one that takes quite a few twists and turns and is full of solid acting from a great cast of actors including some that have been in Nakashima's previous films including leading man Koji Yakusho, Miki Nakatani and Ai Hashimoto.
Overall I really liked this and think it's another great addition to Nakashima's consistently awesome filmography. ****