parker941 Reviews

Preaching to the Perverted (1997)

Will keep you thinking long after you've watched it

[9/10 · 13 June 2013]

Urban's ability to structure objective perspectives around emotionally and socially sensitive contexts takes us to the S&M club scene of London. Cleverly using black humour to disguise the join between the perspective and the context, it takes the completion of the movie to realise that the only view its interwoven statements have left us with is to question our own need to have an opinion. The verbal scaffolding doesn't allow us to avoid the process as it sympathetically leads us into a world of fantasy to affirm how it mirrors the social dynamics of hum drum reality - but with a lot more honesty and safety controls. Tanya is strong. Gosh, with so many people depending on her, it's enough to force a girl to dominate. Her alluring detachment is the only way to keep the world ticking for everybody who needs to be told what to do. The staid enable the illicit; and how will people feel good about themselves without being able to judge others? Well, it's a lonely job but somebody's got to do it – although you have to wonder who's controlling who (soundfamiliar?). And what do you do when the fantasy becomes the reality?

The stylish, dated cinematography really suits the necessary pace of this cult movie, but a remake could be extremely interesting. Jo Parker

May I Kill U? (2012)

May I Kill U? is an exceptionally clever movie

[9/10 · 4 July 2012]

I really enjoyed the preview of "May I Kill U?", written and directed by Stuart Urban. A highly original, modern, and very funny, black comedy; it had a packed-out theatre at the NFT laughing guiltily throughout. No pretentious or linear storyline here: it's a complex plot, delivered in sequential layers and exquisitely packaged in a most satisfying way. "May I Kill U?" has clearly been written and directed to entertain and has fun with some classic lines used to sophisticated effect. The character portrayals, enhanced by the use of careful understatement, are both hard to anticipate and deeply thought-provoking. And I loved, loved but I mean really loved the ending.