Film
Showgirls
Saturday, Dec 20, 2008
3 p.m.
Additional Info
Paul Verhoeven, 1995, 131 min.
Showgirls (still), 1995; photo courtesy of Photofest NYC
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“Before I get into all the sex stuff, I should tell you right off the bat: This is a really bad movie. No, I mean really bad.” (The Spectator)
Back in 1995, lots of reviews began that way. A sometime candidate for not only the worst Vegas film but the worst film of all time, Showgirls is a masterpiece from controversial double-act director Paul Verhoeven and writer Joe Eszterhas. It stars Elizabeth Berkley, in a career-threatening role, as showgirl Nomi Malone making her way around the dark side of Vegas by playing the power game. It’s a film about cynicism and nudity. Yet it has since become a bona fide camp classic, a film that takes trash cinema to new levels of intensity. It’s something special.