A trio of mini-reviews from Jack Draper, writer of The Boston Hassle's "Diractors" series

"friends of high femme spent the last couple of weeks brainstorming and sharing their favorite art of the past year."

"Gorris [sledgehammers] our expectations in order to show us not just how the world is, but exactly what (or who) is making it that way."

"Slutever’s sexual value system (hedonistic composure, autonomy, and acceptance of some social risk) has been a sacred reminder for me."

"With their return, Boyle and Garland make the most out of the larger canvas the years away gave them to work with."

"I do not think that taking a sexually submissive photo leads to one experiencing spiritual decline."

"Everyone knows each other, knows the culture, knows the wardrobe (sexy leather and latex), and I’m here like a hayseed in my stupid-ass light wash jeans."

Near the completion of filming The Crow, the star was killed in a shooting accident on set. Mughal argues against the criticism that the tragedy overshadows the quality of the film and shows readers t...

"Disembodied, the girl in the mirror is no kind of girl at all, but a projection of a girl."

"Disembodied, the girl in the mirror is no kind of girl at all, but a projection of a girl."

"When she first appears in The Grandmaster, Gong Er arrives like a queen."

"Dianne’s on a road trip in reverse. She knows where the road ends, a marriage that failed, and she rejects it."

A conversation with Carlee Gomes

"In Magic Mike XXL, we are offered a glimpse of utopia."

"For [Alex] to succeed in attaining Dan means systems like marriage, big houses, and the presumed “natural” progression in the narrative we have been offered over and over of a “proper” life, all beco...

"Indecent Proposal is clearly not a movie about sex work. If anything, it’s a movie about how we are all able to be bought."

This film isn't sexy like sex as much as it is sexy like an airbrushed magazine centerfold.

"Helen of Troy might’ve had a face that launched a thousand ships, but Jane [Birkin] had a face that inspired the most expensive and sought-after designer handbag in the world."

"It’s rare for any teen paranormal romance to let its freak flag fly quite like this one does."

"But I’m a Cheerleader came to me in all its sugar-sweet, pastel-coated glory at exactly the moment I needed it."

This film isn't sexy like sex as much as it is sexy like an airbrushed magazine centerfold.

"Chasing Chasing Amy is most moving when it's about making sense of the stories that allowed us to make sense of ourselves."

"Would you rather conform to a societal/cultural norm, or would you rather the true pleasure that comes with freedom?"

"While Walter’s actions are a nonconsensual perverting of Erika’s daydreamy perversion, The Piano Teacher creates, in a sense, the “purest hit” of Erika’s fantasy."

"Lake Mungo makes tangible one of the most isolating and harrowing discoveries of adulthood: you cannot be fully understood as you by anyone."

"Lake Mungo makes tangible one of the most isolating and harrowing discoveries of adulthood: you cannot be fully understood as you by anyone."

"This idea of a stretch is a sexy, squirmy breadcrumb that can be followed spiritually throughout the rest of Love Lies Bleeding."

"At moments, Sweetheart Deal allows us into such deeply vulnerable moments that I fear an almost exploitative flavor. Is this, though, my own bias?"

Kravitz is too jaded to commit to conventional moral outrage but too defensive of her own position to create anything genuinely subversive

Kravitz is too jaded to commit to conventional moral outrage but too defensive of her own position to create anything genuinely subversive

Ani is hustling until she’s suddenly seemingly swept up by Vanya in all earnestness, with little signal as to why or how.

high femme. not necessarily high brow. excess, culture, drama, filth

Bird is a reminder that to daydream out in the fields isn’t frivolous.