Tag Archive
Shank
Opening with a coke-filled clandestine Internet hook-up in the woods, quickly followed up with a painful headbutt, Simon Pearce’s Shank successfully treads the line between sweet romance, gay soft-core porn, gang violence, and aimless exploitation. The combination of all of these elements is the only way the movie is unique; otherwise, it’s just a coming-out […]
An interview with Lynn Shelton, the director of Humpday
Lynn Shelton, the director of Humpday (review and podcast here), was supporting her movie and I got a chance to pester her in person. Humpday is about two friends from college, now older. Ben (played by one of the credited pioneers of the Mumblecore movement, writer/director of The Puffy Chair and Baghead, Mark Duplass), is […]
Public Enemies
It’s quite the bold move to deliberately make your movie an eyesore. This is especially true when you’re someone like Michael Mann (Heat, Manhunter, Collateral), who is known specifically for his unique visuals. His new film, Public Enemies, is shot on video, and not in the same way that a lot of new movies are […]
Outrage
Kirby Dick’s last film, This Film is Not Yet Rated, had a wonderful premise, exposing the hypocrisy and discrimination of the MPAA, the movie ratings board, by comparing sex scenes that were deemed acceptable for a mass audience, white and straight, vs. very similar content with black and/or gay couples, which were not. Using a […]
Otto; or Up With Dead People
Sometimes a movie has absolutely no conceivable audience, and you feel like applauding it just for its existence, regardless of quality. Bruce LaBruce’s Otto; or Up With Dead People is a cheap mess, mixing his penchant for camp and gay porn, with zombies and avant-garde film references, not to mention film-within-a-film nonsense. Otto is clumsy […]
Kakuto
Opening with a short animated sequence (done in the style of Waking Life) which suggests that we are beginning at the end, as several people are up to something mischievous and running away from some horrible crime, Kakuto cheats the viewer by pretending, at any moment that the real story will begin. The voiceover during […]