Self-hating Asian Wayne Hentai, writing on Asian Juicebox.com, hipped me to the fact that the 1976 socio-erotic thriller In the Realm of the Senses has been released in a Criterion edition.
In the Realm of the Senses did for kitchen utensils what Last Tango in Paris did for butter, and Hentai describes the movie as “the first movie I was exposed to that made me aware of films that … didn’t shy away from sex or use it a gimmick.”
Despite its Cremaster-inducing ending (censored in Japan), the Criterion release gave me an opportunity for hope and renewal.
Like you, I was saddened to learn this weekend of Bea Arthur’s death. Sadder, in fact, because someone on the web already beat me to the headline “And Then There Wasn’t Maude.”
But to my knowledge no one has yet laid claim to the title of my culto-erotic documentary on Ramtha’s School of Enlightenment, “In the Yelm of the Senses.” So I thank Ramtha for that (and for not having my dick cut off).
Previously on Porn Valley Observed: Asian Fever 36; Japanese porn awards honor Kirara Asuka, prayer; Today in Bitches – now they’re pissed off and Japanese
See also: In the Realm of the Senses Given Criterion Treatment
Look what you’ve done, Gram. Now some pretentious Valley porn director with an overinflated sense of his own abilities will be announcing his “reimagining” shortly — Oh, wait! Nevermind …
Someone references Cremaster on a porn blog, whutwhut?
Maybe I should check out In the Realm. If it’s on Criterion, it has to be good (If they use this as a tagline, they have to pay me).