American Psycho

"It's just as well a woman directed American Psycho. She's transformed a novel about blood lust into a movie about men's vanity." – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Materialism, narcissism, classism, and misogyny are at the forefront of this homicidal satire that stars Christian Bale in his breakthrough role as Patrick Bateman. Directed by Mary Harron from a script she co-wrote with Guinevere Turner, American Psycho’s biting critique of the male psyche in turn-of-the-millennium America couldn’t be more poignant at this point in time. Bateman’s daily facial product routine combined with the fetishizing of each executive’s business card is a study in male vanity in its purest form. Bale’s performance is almost absurd but perfectly portrays the effortless leap into despicability that Bateman thrives in. This is a man who, as Roger Ebert says, kills “with the thoroughness of a hobbyist.” The decadence, violence, and outright hostility exhibited by Bateman is often the same that the Wall Street types it satirizes exudes. Turner herself thinks it’s a feminist film: “It’s a satire about how men compete with each other and how in this hyper-real universe we created, women are even less important than your tan or your suit or where you summer and to me, even though the women are all sort of tragic and killed, it’s about how men perceive them and treat them.”

After Hours is the best films you never saw on the big screen (or maybe you did) from late-night cult classics to foreign favorites and even summer blockbusters on weekends. Please note that unclaimed pre-ordered tickets will be sold to the rush line 30 mins after showtime.

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