Comments on Moon In The Gutter: Beatrice Monkey at 32

Thanks Michelle, I agree with your thoughts. Asia ...

2007-11-18T09:06:00.000-06:00

Thanks Michelle,
I agree with your thoughts. Asia is incredible.

An extraordinarily beautiful, talented and very co...

2007-11-18T00:53:00.000-06:00

An extraordinarily beautiful, talented and very cool woman! In her 32 years she's already achieved so much that most others haven't in a lifetime.

Thanks Neil, All this love for B Monkey has me wan...

2007-09-22T08:43:00.000-06:00

Thanks Neil,
All this love for B Monkey has me wanting to do a post on it...I need to check how much was cut out but my memory tells me at least thirty minutes...Bloody Miramax!!!

Thanks so much Colin for your great comments. I really appreciate you taking the time to leave such in depth thoughts...Have fun with your Asia weekend...sounds like a great one to me.

Thanks again for all your comments.

Great job Jeremy and happy birthday Asia! I'm look...

2007-09-22T05:56:00.000-06:00

Great job Jeremy and happy birthday Asia! I'm looking forward to getting the new version of The Stendhal Syndrome - I remember being fascinated by the way the film twisted and turned, becoming one type of film and then another which, along with the relatively slow pacing, can frustrate the audience but which felt quite daring. One of the moments I really liked was in the scene where Asia is talking on the telephone in her bedroom and the camera slowly turns onto its side during the conversation. I didn't think the CG was much good, but luckily those moments are very short.

I quite like both of the Demons films - I like the way the films both create and sustaining a claustrophobic atmosphere (that bursts out into the wider world in the end), and create a world where bizarre twists are the icing on the cake - perhaps the best being the sudden appearance of the helicopter at the end of the first film!

I often thought Asia was an adorably cute looking child, which makes which makes thinking about where we leave her minor character in Demons 2 feel more disturbing! I'd agree that the first film is slightly better, but I find both to be wonderfully wacky, illogical and gross guilty pleasures!

I thought La Reine Margot was a wonderful film, and I'm glad it seemed to come along at just the right time for Asia, so that her success even in a minor role was an encouragement after the failure of Trauma (which, like yourself, I also found a little disappointing (although still fascinating!), but more for her father's uncertain direction and strange shifts in tone the film took than for Asia's committed performance)

B Monkey is perhaps one of my favourite of Asia's performances so far. I also feel it might be Rupert Everett's best part and his performance is very good too. The film as a whole is also very good - I like the way the film seems to make rather cliched romance material seem touching again, rather than feeling too sappy!

Land of the Dead as a film has been growing on me. While I didn't feel the film was a disappointment the first time I watched it, it didn't grab me the way Romero's earlier films in the series had. However on watching it again a couple of months ago I started to like the film much more and even feel that the plot is deceptively simplistic and that once we get past that having watched the film once we can just enjoy being in the world the film creates (I'm starting to feel less concerned about plot spoilers when I discuss films I love, although I still try to give a warned, because it seems that the things that make a film so great and constantly rewatchable once we know what is going to happen are not exactly connected to the plot, but in how the film tells its story. A great plot can be messed up by poor storytelling and alternatively a poorly written or thought out film can become a fascinating and wonderful film if it is handled in the right way - for example the Demons films, which aren't exactly what I'd call coherent plotwise but which are fascinating for all their other elements).

I thought Asia gave a good, unselfish performance in Land of the Dead, and I can see this film slowly seeming better and better each time I rewatch it (I still find it strange that my favourite scene of the film, the one where John Leguizamo's character encounters the next door neighbours in Dennis Hopper's privileged apartment, was a scene that was only added for the unrated DVD! That scene is a true Romero classic in the way it masterfully mixes zombies, personal tragedies and its social commentary!)

I haven't seen the Ferrara film at all, but it sounds like one I'm going to have to track down!

It has been such a long time since I last saw Bits and Pieces that I'll have to dig out my video and watch it again. In fact I might try and have an Asia Argento weekend soon, since I've just picked up the DVD of La Reine Margot and The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things. I even have an unwatched DVD of Dario's Phantom of the Opera, which has been in my 'to watch' pile for a couple of years now, mainly because I'm worried about watching it because it sounds very poor (but, hey, I'm a completist so I have to have at least one copy of all of Argento's films, don't I?(!))

I also liked B. Monkey and was unaware, although I...

2007-09-22T00:09:00.000-06:00

I also liked B. Monkey and was unaware, although I'm unsurprised, that it had been re-edited. I'd be quite interested to see the original version as I thought it was a movie that had more potential than it managed to realize.

Thanks Keith, It is so great to hear so much love ...

2007-09-21T09:51:00.000-06:00

Thanks Keith,
It is so great to hear so much love for Asia. Very gald to hear I am not the only one who likes B Monkey as well...tahnks for the comment

Hey Jeremy. This is a fantastic birthday tribute ...

2007-09-21T07:57:00.000-06:00

Hey Jeremy. This is a fantastic birthday tribute to Asia. You did a great job with it. She so richly deserves. I love and adore Asia. She's very beautiful and extremely sex. She's also quite the talent. Even if the films she plays in aren't always that good, Asia still shines in them. I've loved her in everything from Demons 2 to Land of the Dead. I really loved her in B. Monkey. She's an amazing woman who is gifted in so many areas.

Thanks Neil and Aaron, IT is really great to hear ...

2007-09-21T06:49:00.000-06:00

Thanks Neil and Aaron,
IT is really great to hear from some other Asia fans and I love hearing the nice words for her work.
Sounds like the new DVD of Stendahl is going going to be a winner...I can't wait to get my hands on it...thanks again for the comments..

I second the other commentators -- excellent appra...

2007-09-21T00:04:00.000-06:00

I second the other commentators -- excellent appraisal of Ms. Argento's accomplishments thus far!

I was able to procure an advanced edition of the Blue Underground release of THE STENDHAL SYNDROME last month at the Rue Morgue Festival of Fear in Toronto, and I can report that the transfer has thankfully been cleaned up from the original negative, making it a vastly different experience than that ghastly Troma release from a couple of years ago. The extras are as engaging as they are intellectual (the female author of the book on the phenomenon that inspired Argento is interviewed for over twenty minutes).

Also, this has made me want to see THE CHURCH more than ever!

I'm with you, she's totally amazing all around.All...

2007-09-20T21:36:00.000-06:00

I'm with you, she's totally amazing all around.

Allow me to join in the love for both The Church and The Stendahl Syndrome (totally looking forward to the new DVD), which I saw a midnight showing and still think is actually one of Dario's best, hopefully the new DVD, which early word is good on, will help show that to more people.

Thanks Kimberly, I love The Church!!! Isn't it a f...

2007-09-20T18:18:00.000-06:00

Thanks Kimberly,
I love The Church!!! Isn't it a fantastic film. I wish more of her Italian films were available. I have some so so quality copies of many of them and she does some really wonderful work...it irks me that is mostly her post XXX stuff that is commonly available as much of it isn't as strong.
I will be curious to hear your reactions to re-watching Stendahl...you might still dislike it but I'll look forward to your thoughts either way...thanks for the comments

Great birthday tribute to Asia, Jeremy! I really e...

2007-09-20T16:32:00.000-06:00

Great birthday tribute to Asia, Jeremy! I really enjoyed it. The Church is still my favorite Asia film, but I also liked her a lot in Queen Margot and Land of the Dead. There's a bunch of her films that I also still need to see and you've reminded me to make more of an effort to do so. I also want to see The Stendahl Syndrome again since I disliked it the first time I saw it, but I've read a lot of positive stuff about it since then (including your own thoughts) which make me want to revisit it.