Seen the trailer for The Joaquin Phoenix Masturbation Project yet? The whole thing looks like an unappealing put-on, but I’m nevertheless fascinated in the same way I always am by high-flying vanity projects. Sure, any run-of-the-mill Hollywood type can make a radically self-indulgent work (Battlefield Earth, Swept Away), but it takes a special kind of narcissist to pull off something so unapologetically me-me-me-centered. I can think of only one other picture in this vein, what is also perhaps the greatest cinematic vanity project ever.

Asia Argento’s Scarlet Diva tells the semi-autobiographical story of an actress drugging and fucking her way across Europe. Shot entirely on digital video, its formal sloppiness is matched only by the frenzied lunacy of its storyline. This is a bona fide cri de coeur from a first-time filmmaker, naïve, strident, and (unintentionally) hilarious. I recommend it highly.