Be Reel: How Do 'Cruel Intentions' And Its Forerunners Hold Up 20 Years Later?

If you don't know the 1782 French novel “Les Liaisons Dangereuses,” don't feel bad. It's far more likely you know the films it inspired: "Dangerous Liaisons" (1988), "Valmont" (1989) and "Cruel Intentions" (1999). This week on Be Reel, Noah and Chance revisit all three stories of high-court treachery and conquest with the help of film critic Abbey Bender (Village Voice, Time Out New York). The sexual politics are dicey, the costumes grand, and we try our best to figure out what's going on in the cinema of the wealthy and wicked.