Films like Spanking the Monkey.

Spanking the Monkey (1994) reads as Sombre, steady, measured drama / comedy, inventive in texture. Nihilistic, intimate, cold. Every film below is ranked by distance across the same twelve hand-scored axes — with what it keeps, and where it walks away. Not a genre dump.

Happiness(1998)1998
1. Happiness1998

Keeps the patient, unhurried pace and the heightened unreality; trades toward a cold, bleak undertow.

Storytelling (2001) (2001) poster
2. Storytelling2001

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the heightened unreality — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995) (1995) poster
3. Welcome to the Dollhouse1995

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the patient, unhurried pace — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

The Ruination of Men (2000) poster
4. The Ruination of Men2000

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the patient, unhurried pace — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

I Shot Andy Warhol (1996) poster
5. I Shot Andy Warhol1996

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the patient, unhurried pace; trades toward a bone-dry seriousness.

The Family Friend (2006) poster
6. The Family Friend2006

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the heightened unreality — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Hamlet Goes Business (1987) poster
7. Hamlet Goes Business1987

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the unmistakable directorial hand; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

Crumb (1994) (1994) poster
8. Crumb1994

Keeps the patient, unhurried pace and the heightened unreality; trades toward a strange, dreamlike logic.

Meeting People Is Easy (1998) (1998) poster
9. Meeting People Is Easy1998

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the heightened unreality; trades toward a bone-dry seriousness.

The Day a Pig Fell into the Well (1996) poster
10. The Day a Pig Fell into the Well1996

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the heightened unreality; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

The Filth and the Fury (2000) (2000) poster
11. The Filth and the Fury2000

Keeps the heightened unreality and the unmistakable directorial hand; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

Death for Five Voices (1995) poster
12. Death for Five Voices1995

Keeps the heightened unreality and the unmistakable directorial hand — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

These are Spanking the Monkey’s neighbours — where are yours?

Rate five posters and the same twelve axes read you — then tonight’s pick comes from your own centre of taste.

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