'Cut'

A director who makes a film that loudly complains about the sad state of current cinema is setting himself up as a critics' punching bag ("You, sir, are part of the problem ..."). Also, if he inserts his list of 100 all-time best films into his climax he is asking for some impolite comments about his taste.

And if, to top it all off, he sets his cinematic screed in a culture with which he is barely familiar, he is all but doomed, is he not?

Veteran Iranian director Amir Naderi accordingly took some critical hits when his film "Cut," which is all of the above and more, premiered at this year's Venice film festival: "Pretentious" got big play in the reviews, as did "unbearable."