Empire Records

Title: Empire Records

Director: Allan Moyle
Released: 1995
Staring: Anthony LaPagila, Maxwell Caulfield, Debi Mazar, Renee Zellweger, Rory Cochrane, Johnny Whitworth, Robin Tunney, Ethan Embry, Coyote Shivers, Brenden Sexton III, Liv Tyer, James “Kimo” Wills, Ben Bode

Plot: Set over the course of one truly manic day as a group of employees at the independent record store “Empire Records discovers that the store is to be turned into a franchise store called music town, leading the employees to band together to save the store.


Review: As I noted with my previous post, this film is something of a time capsule for those of us who could be classed as being part of the MTV generation, not only in terms of its soundtrack but the whole styling of the film, let alone the fact it is about working in a record shop, something which I doubt holds the same appeal it did back when the film was released, especially with the rise of ITUNES and online music providers having effectively killed of the high street record stores. No doubt had this film been released now it would no doubt have them as Amazon staffers or something, much like how Peter Parker now works as a web designer in Spiderman than as a freelance photographer.

Still to watch this film you would still belive that working in a record store is still the cool career it was back then, with the script by Carol Heikkinen being based on her experiences working at the long since defunct Tower Records, which for the most part helps bring a sense of realism to the script, as anyone who has worked in retail can no doubt attest to, even if she bizarrely opts to not include any problem customers unlike “Clerks” which choose to make them very much a central theme. As a result it would seem have a job at "Empire Records" to be the most fun and laid back job in the world especially when manager Joe (LaPagila) for the most part has a pretty lax attitude towards his staff work attitude, only occasionally coming out of his office to put one of them back in line. The rest of the time the employees generally manage things themselves, even dishing out their own vigilante style justice when it comes to hunt down wannabe shoplifter Warren (Sexton). However despite this they still have formed between them an alternative family unit, despite being wildly different from each other and here it would seem that Joes’ real role in the store comes into play as he acts for the most part like the resident father figure, even more so for some of the group who openly confess to missing parental figures, while there is a real sense that without the store and each other that these assorted misfits would be ultimately lost.

Over the course of the film the group all have their own issues to deal with which generally are the typical teen movie fodder with A.J. (Whitworth) trying to find a way to tell Corey (Tyler) that he loves her, while Corey is on her own quest to loose her virginity to her crush Rex Manning (Caulfield), the fading and pompous pop star who is holding a signing at the store to promote his new album. Elsewhere and on the more extreme end of things is Deb who following her failed suicide attempt has randomly decided to shave her head. However this is not all recycled after school special and “Saved By The Bell” plotlines, as the resident oddball Mark (Embry) keeps the tone light with his sudden desire to form a band called “Marc”, while having the appearance of a kid with hyperactivity on a sugar binge as his generally sunny disposition never seems to waver, even when on the wrong side of a pot brownie trip in which he is rocking out with “GWAR” only to be then fed to their giant worm thing. Equally on hand to provide the comedic quota is beatnik Lucas (Cochrane) whose philosophical ramblings somehow help everyone else in the store to figure out the solutions to their problems, even though frustratingly they could have saved a lot of time finding out the fate of the store if he just came out with it like a normal person.

What is missing from the film though is any real kind of bad guy or even a meaningful threat for while the store might be closing, there is never any real sense of panic between the employee’s, just a lot of muttering of “Damn the man!” whenever the topic music town is brought up, with the store owner Mitchell (Bode) more laughable than threatening. As a result the closest we get to any kind of villain here is the pompous Rex Manning and seemingly styled on Robert Palmer, judging by his music video antics. While his actual villainous side might come more from his unrestrained ego aswell as questionable Salad dressing blowjob suggestion than any kind of act of real evil he still makes for a reasonable problem for the group to band together again, even more so with the distinct lack of any other kind of threat on hand here, while Caulfield has fun playing such a sleazy character

Despite being critically mauled on its original release it still proved to be a launch pad for the careers of many of the cast, as rightfully predicted by some critics. However despite being branded a flop on its original release ithas over the years become a real cult classic and rightfully so as here we have not only a highly likable group of characters despite being wildly varied from each other, but it is actually fun to spend time with them, with the film being shot in such a way it feels that you a part of the group rather than an outsider looking in, with random breaks of the forth wall only furthering this illusion. However since that original release the studio have felt the need to tinker with the original cut and wheel out a new version for the DVD, which gives the film fifteen minutes of originally cut footage, which unlike many previous directors cuts (Aliens, Blade Runner) his additional footage adds nothing to the film and infact only detracts from the film, especially as it results in certain characters being potrayed in a completely different way, with Gina (Zellweger) now seeming a whole lot more slutty than before, making this one of those rare occasions were I would urge you to hunt down the VHS version of the film, to get the original and definitive cut of the film aswell as a great piece of 90’s nostalgia.

My Movie Year: The 90's

As part of YAM Magazine’s first “Time Machine Blogathon” which this time takes us back to the 90’s. So what better excuse to look at my favourite movies of the decade, if only to help highlight some of the great and frequently overlooked films which came out during this era, which would also see with 1999one of the most exciting years of film making in years, as I looked at previously.

1990

Essential Film: La Femme Nikita

Luc Besson’s  tale of teenage junkie Nikita (Anne Parillaud) who after killing a cop during a bungled pharmacy robbery, finds herself convicted of murder and sentenced to a life in prison, only to soon find herself recruited by a shadowy government agent known as the Centre to be trained as an assassin under the watchful eye of her handler Bob (Tcheky Karyo). 

Besson here brings to what would be the usual action / adventure yarn with fist fights and explosions and instead gives us something quite special as while there is certainly an element of action here, what he also gives us is an actual insight into the psychology of this character as she is slowly broken down and rebuilt into the perfect assassin by the Company, with scenes of her being taught to apply lipstick by Amande (Jeanne Moreau) being just as gripping as any of the action scenes which include a pulse pounding restaurant escape.

Although it was remade for an American audience as “Assassin” with Bridget Fonda, this is the definitive version

Further Viewing: King of New York, Darkman

1991

Essential Film: Delicatessen

 

One of the first films by the highly original French directing duo of Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet this surreal Post-apocalyptic black comedy about the residents of an apartment block, owned by the butcher Clapet (Jean-Caude Dreyfus) above whose shop the residents live and who has taken to killing the handymen he employs to keep the residents supplied in meat, which is bad news really for Ex clown Louison (Dominique Pinon) who has just been employed as the new handyman, unaware of what happened to his predecessors.

A strange film to say the least, but not so out there that it leaves the audience wondering what the hell is going on, as it constantly maintains a playful tone as it switches between genres, to give the sort of original film that only Caro and Jeunet are capable of doing, as this is once again very much in their fairytales for grown ups style.

Further Viewing: Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, Rikki-Oh: The Story of Ricky

1992

Essential Film: Hard Boiled

One of if not the best of John Woo’s movies and if you ever needed an example of why he is seen as the king of action movies, this would be a great start, as we are barely minutes into the film before he throws us head first into the first of the films many jaw dropping action sequences, as Insp Tequila (Chow Yun-Fat) unleashes his own dual pistol welding brand of justice.

Featuring a cast of Hong Kong greats which includes Tony Leung and Anthony Wong, John Woo here sets a benchmark for Heroic Gunplay movies, while featuring a hospital shootout, which clocks in at over thirty minutes without reputation. This is one infectious mix of gunplay, explosions and jazz!

Further Viewing: Braindead, Man Bites Dog, Porco Rosso

1993

Essential Film: Cronos

The debut film by Guillermo del Toro, here sees him reworking the vampire mythos, with this tale of an mechanical scarab-shaped device which grants the wearer the gift of eternal life aswell as a thirst for blood. This in many ways marking the start of things to come, while establishing del Toro as a the visionary director he is recognised as today, while for one reason of another this film has outside of genre fans been left largely unseen.

Here he shows a clear love for the genre, while as with the films which followed it also showed that he was not afriad to break the rules and breathe new life into a much over worked horror sub-genre with this truly unique film which is as visually stunning as it as it times horrifying.

Further Viewing: Army of Darkness, Falling Down, Iron Monkey, Ninja Scroll, True Romance

1994

Essential Film: The Crow

It would be a sad case of history repeating itself that Brandon Lee’s breakout film would sadly be his last, as he died during filming and much like his father Bruce Lee, who also never got to enjoy the success of his own breakout film “Enter The Dragon”. The first of two films to be directed by Alex Proyas on this list, with this certainly the better known of the two no doubt thanks to the cult following it has built up since it’s release, aswell as the controversy of Lee’s death during the last eight days of filming.

This classic tale of revenge  based on the graphic novel by James O’Barr, about rock musician Eric Draven (Lee) rising from the grave to avenge his own murder aswell as that of his fiancée via the mystical powers of the crow, which now makes him immune from physical harm. The film is drenched in gothic styling while also containing many nods in its style to both “Blade Runner” and Tim Burtons “Batman”. Needless to say this film looks stunning and would make for a design test run for the lesser seen “Dark City. Lee meanwhile embodies the character of Draven, while equally showing himself to be just as capable as both a dramatic actor as he is as an actor star, while this film just leaves us to wonder what could have been,

Further Viewing: Fist of Legend, Hoop Dreams, The Hudsucker Proxy, Wing Chun

1995

Essential Film: Empire Records

Back when this film was released it considered to be pretty cool job to work in a record shop, though I’m not sure that this still stands with nearly every record store having long since closed down and kids today more keen to work for I dunno Amazon or something, but still this film still has a lot of charm, especially for those of us who belonged to the MTV generation, which essentially this film is the embodiment of.

Following the employees of a Empire Records over the course of one truly exceptional day, when one of the employees Lucas (Rory Cochrane) discovers that the store is to be turned into a franchise store called music town, leading the employees to band together to save the store.
Staring many future stars including Renee Zellweger, Liv Tyler and Anthony LaPaglia as the long suffering store owner and father figure Joe, this coming of age comedy never seems to get the attention it really deserves, especially when it combines teenage angst with shameless AC/DC worship and even a pot brownie trip which sees Mark (Ethan Embry) rocking out with GWAR before being eaten by their giant worm thing, which honestly for that one scene alone makes it a must see.

Also Noteworthy: The Basketball Diaries, The City of Lost Children, The DoomGeneration , La Haine, Ghost In The Shell, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, Living In Oblivion. Mortal Kombat, Welcome To The Dollhouse

1996

Essential Film: Joe’s Apartment

When picking this year’s selection, I went back and forth so much between this one and “From Dusk Till Dawn”, both of which could be considered essential, but eventually it would be this film which won out on the grounds of “Dusk Till Dawn” already being pretty well known and secondly because this is a film about a man who lives with talking cockroaches and who wouldn’t want to see that movie?

An expansion on the original 1992 short film, while also inspired by “Twilight of the Cockroaches” and the 1987 short “Those Damn Roaches” this tale of penniless Joe (Jerry O’Connell), who having moved to New York soon finds himself sharing his apartment with around 20 to 30 thousand roommates, in the form of a bunch of all singing and dancing cockroaches, who having recognised Joe as being one of their own, soon set out to lend him a helping hand.

Using a mixture of stop motion animation and the slightly cheaper effect of just making parts of the apartment rattle, this is a random film to say the least and while it might not work in places, when the roaches are in screen, it usually guarantees fun times, with the standout moment being their attempts to help Joe on a date, which unsurprisingly ends in chaos. A strange curiosity from the MTV generation and a reminder of the kind of projects that MTV used to be involved with before they changed their focus to the likes of “The Hills” and “Jersey Shore”.

Further Viewing: From Dusk Till Dawn, Trees Lounge, Swingers

1997

Essential Film: Princess Mononoke

One of my all time favourite Studio Ghibli movies, this epic tale of industry versus nature as Ashitaka finds himself caught in the battle lines drawn by Lady Eboshi of Iron Town, who is destroying the forest merely for her people's own good and the guardians of the forest.

Visually stunning with highly intelligent scripting, this is another perfect example of the genius of Hayao Miyazaki, while also being commisioned by Disney who clearly did not know what they were getting with this film, which not only has burst of violence, bloodshed and gore but also is far from thier usual fluffy plotting and styling, as Miyazaki combines fantasy and mythology in his gripping and fast paced tale.

Further Viewing: Breakdown, Boogie Nights, Cube, Chasing Amy, Funny Games, The Game, Junk Mail, Life Is Beautiful, Mimic, Nowhere, Orgazmo, Rainy Dog, Starship Troopers

1998

Essential Film: Dark City

The second Alex Proyas on this list and sadly the most overlooked, as this Kafka esq tale opens with John (Refus Sewell) waking up naked in a hotel bathtub, his memories erased and a mutilated prostitute on the bed. Soon John finds himself framed for a string of brutal and bizarre murders and on the run from not only the police, but also the strange trench coat clad men known only as “The Strangers” as he tries to piece together his missing memories.

Sharing the same gothic styling as his previous film "The Crow" this film only built upon those designs as here Proyas gives us a city of perminant midnight,with definite shades of Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil” and Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis”while skillfully combining elements of sci-fi and noir to create a potent mix, while drip feeding the audience infomation as to the truth about Dark City.

Further Viewing: American History X, BASEketball, The Big Lebowski, Ringu, Run Lola Run, Rushmore

1999

Essential Film: Cruel Intentions

An MTV style reworking of the classic novel “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, which has over the years has been adapted no less than thirteen times, with certainly the most well known being the 1988 version released as “Dangerous Liaisons” while this version would be by far the most original as the story is relocated to modern day New York, as step siblings Kathryn (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Sebastian (Ryan Phillippe) play games of seduction, with their latest target being the virginal Annette (Reese Witherspoon) with the challenge being set by Kathryn that Sebastian cannot bed her before the start of the school year, while Kathryn sets about also corrupting the naïve Cecile (Selma Blair) as part of a plan of revenge against her ex boyfriend who left her for Cecile.

While it may have been released in the same year as “American Pie” this film proved to be a much smarter drama and with a sharper sense of humour, but none the less sex crazed which came as something of a surprise to Geller’s fans who were more used to her playing Buffy on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” so for her to be reeling off such lines as “In English? I'll fuck your brains out” all of course greeted with whoops of joy from most of the male audience, much like the much talked about experimental kissing scene between Geller and Blair, all from a film bizarrely marketed in some places as a chick flick, when it contains plenty to appeal to most audiences.

The cast at the time were largely B-list or unknowns, yet all embody their various characters, while for some the film marking a rare high point in their careers, still even years after it’s initial shocking dialogue has since been beaten in terms of filth, it still remains a solid drama and a nice twist on a classic novel.

Further Viewing: eXistenz, Dogma

The God of Cookery

Title: The God of Cookery

Director: Stephen Chow

Released: 1996

Staring: Stephen Chow, Karen Mok, Vincent Kok, Ng Man-tat, Stephen Au, Nancy Sit, Lam Suet, Tats Lau, Law Kar-ying, Vincent Kuk

Plot: Stephen Chow (Chow) is the current reigning “God of Cookery” however when he is double crossed by his former staff and rival chef Bull Tong (kuk) and publically humiliated, he finds himself stripped of his title and stripped of his title. Now he must team up with two rival street chef’s Sister Turkey (Mok) and Goosehead (Siu-Kei) to battle his way back to the top and reclaim his title.

Review: Despite bursting into the public conscious with the double header of “Shoalin Soccer” and “Kung Fu Hustle”, Stephen Chow would seem to have drifted back under the radar of most movie goers, so considering that the amazing “Yam Magazine” are holding their YamYum Food Blogathon at the moment, what better time to look at one of his more obscure movies, it’s current status as one of his lesser known films, only makes it more of a shame that this film never received the same distribution that his previously mentioned films did.

Baring all of his usual comical trademarks, “The God of Cookery” is surreal to say the least with Chow combining slapstick, irrelevant musical numbers and his over-the-top “Silly Talk” style of comedy to tell the tale of competitive cookery, which would put even Iron Chef to shame, as ingredients are thrown and prepared in the air, while also boasting a dish called “Pissing Pork Balls” which I’m still not sure is the real name for this dish or just a questionable translation.

Opening with Chow as the reigning God of Cookery, he is shown as a pompous and egotistic, as he reigns down scorn on the dishes belonging to chefs who’d dare to oppose him, while using his title to charge overblown prices for simple street dishes so it’s of little surprise when he gets stripped off his title and is forced to start from scratch as he battles to regain his title, with Chow once more showing his love of ensemble comedy, as he brings together yet another group of misfits to aid him in his battle, including the two rival street vendors Sister Turkey and Goosehead, who agree to put their differences aside in order to help Chow develop his new dish, while equally processing their own random cooking techniques. The idea of the big shot who falls from grace and eventually achieves redemption has frequently been a key theme within Chow’s films and here it used more effectively than ever and while realism is nothing but an afterthought the tone is kept with Chows usual upbeat sense of fun that you won’t care will also no doubt excepting some of the more outlandish moments that appear throughout.

While this film could have just been played out with Chow loosing his title and battling his way to the top and that would have no doubt been more than enough. Still seemingly not content with playing things too straight, Chow instead takes a diversion into Shaolin territory as he trains or more precisely constantly gets beaten up by the Eighteen Brass Monks, as they remake him into a true deity of delectable dishes, while also giving way to a truly insane showdown between Chow and Bull Tong, which not only see’s outlandish cooking movies, but one character being turned into a Dog, ancient gods descending from the heavens and even a little kung fu (or should that be cook fu) thrown in to flavour.

While it might be perhaps a little too full on insane for some tastes, those already established with Chows unique style of humour will no doubt eagerly lap this up, while for newcomers it might just seem all abit too random, especially when it comes to the second half of the film which basically see’s any logic being tossed out of the film completely, but were Chow succeeds is in making it so that the audience never feels the need to question even the most outlandish of moments. True some things might be lost in translation, but here he hits a lot more than he misses and compared to some of the dreck being churned out by the Hollywood studio system, this film is a refreshing and highly original change of pace, while only further reinforcing my love for Hong Kong cinema.

The Doom Generation

This is part of the LBGT Blogathon hosted by YAM Magazine, while also a prelude to next week's Queer Film Blogathon hosted by Garbo Laughs.

Title: The Doom Generation

Director: Gregg Araki

Released: 1995

Staring: James Duval, Rose McGowan, Johnathon Schaech, Dustin Nguyen, Margaret Cho, Perry Farrell, Parker Posey, Christopher Knight, Lauren Tewes

Plot: Jordan White (Duval) and Amy Blue (McGowan) find themselves on a road trip of sex and violence after a chance meeting with fellow outsider Xavier Red.

Review: A classic example of Director Gregg Araki’s more infamous style of filming, while also the second film in his “Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy”, a trilogy created from the use of reoccurring themes and ideas rather than characters and plot lines. This film was also the first of Araki’s films I ever saw, when I caught a late night showing back when I was still an angry youth starting college, were its punk rock sensibilities appealed strongly, much less the fact it was filled with gratuitous sex, which was still quite a rarity for films back in the late 90’s rather than our current over sexed decade, were full frontal nudity and sex has nowhere near the surprise factor it had back then. With this in mind I was eager to see if it still if the film still had the same appeal now that it did back then, coming back to it with an older view point and perhaps less angry standpoint.

Opening at an underground metal club were the words “Welcome To Hell” are written in fiery silhouette pretty much highlight the current state of society, for if the third film of this trilogy “Nowhere” was the end of days, this film is certainly the lead up to the pending apocalypse as society is quickly descending into a lawless cesspit of depravity and commercialisation, with the youth seemingly have long since become despondent and jaded about the world around them. It’s a view point which Amy essentially embodies as she scowls her way through this misadventure, colorfully cursing anyone who’d stand up to her, while seemingly only caring about her boyfriend Jordan. Jordan on the other hand is almost like the polar opposite to Amy and making him an even more surprising boyfriend choice, especially with his permanent positive outlook which seemingly steams from his naivety to the world around him. Jordan’s naivety and general worldly outlook especially comes into question when the couple rescue Xavier from a gang of punk goon (played by the band Skinny Puppy) a charismatic drifter who tends to invoke spontaneous act of violence whenever he is in any area for too long.

Violence of course being is one of the key themes of this film alongside cultural symbolism and relentless eroticism, with the violence in particular here being especially memorable let alone the trigger point of the trio’s misadventure stemming from the accidental killing of a quick stop clerk. Still it is a subject with Araki chooses to shoot in a variety of different ways throughout the film from humorous (a bar patron accidentally receiving a samurai sword to the crotch) to gratuitously graphic as seen by the death of the clerk who not only has his head blasted clean off, but then follows up by having said head continuing to incoherently burble away.

Meanwhile his other main obsession sex is shown in an unsurprisingly graphic style and literately to the point were nearly every other scene seems to involve Amy having sex with either Jordan or Xavier or both, as the film climaxes (in more way than one) with a spontaneous threesome. This development with the group dynamic never really sat right with me and even now still doesn’t exactly make anymore sense, especially when Amy is shown openly hating Xavier only to suddenly feel an uncontrollable urge to sleep with him, as soon as the first chance appears. Equally frustrating is Jordan’s reaction to this situation which he just happily accepts as if it’s a perfectly normal situation, rather than raising any kind of complaint!?! What is most surprising here though is Araki’s fascination with making a film that features purely heterosexual sex, something he seems especially proud off seeing how he opens with the title card “A Hetrosexual Movie By Gregg Araki”, while his other films had often approached the subject of sex with an open mind to showing all persuasions on equal terms, making the point of highlighting such a point only further confusing.

With Araki so focused on his cramming in as much sex and violence as possible, it is unsurprising that the plot is as paper thin as it is, with the sketchily drawn trio travelling down a seemingly endless series of desert roads in a continuing cycle of sex and violence, with the only real plot point outside of this being the reoccurring cases of mistaken identity which Amy causes with various oddball characters claiming that she is their ex partner and often providing the trigger point for further spontaneous violence, while making comparisons to Oliver Stone’s “Natural Born Killers” almost inevitable and while he might describe it as a black comedy or as some DVD covers proclaim “A Road Murder Sex Comedy” it’s far from the most humorous of films, with the humour content being strongly dependent on how funny you find the acid tongued put downs by Amy, especially when her vocabulary is interesting to say the least.

Shot with an almost intentional focus on making the film look as trashy as possible; Araki has seemingly created a teen movie which intentionally sets out to rebel against the cookie cutter teen movies of the Hollywood mainstream, as counters the virginal teens of those movies with his despondent trio here, who are more than happy to blitz their way through life in a haze of pot and sex, with the art direction containing an excessive yet controlled quality to it, while even the more normal sets still containing subtle surreal elements such as the quick stop sign which proclaims “Shoplifters Will be Executed” or the record store thought bubbles.

One of the more shallow Araki movies, it’s punk esq style of storytelling and film making will no doubt still ring true with some, but I can’t say that it is still a film which I look upon with the same awe that I did back when I first saw it, even though it is still a bizarrely fascinating movie for all of its flaws.

Nowhere

This is part of the LBGT Blogathon hosted by YAM Magazine, while also a prelude to next week's Queer Film Blogathon hosted by Garbo Laughs.

Title: Nowhere

Director: Gregg Araki

Released: 1997

Staring: James Duval, Rachel True, Chiara Mastroianni, Debi Mazar, Kathleen Robertson, Christina Applegate, Nathan Bexton, Guillermo Díaz, Jeremy Jordan, Sarah Lassez, Jason Simmons, Ryan Phillippe, Heather Graham, Jordan Ladd, Thyme Lewis, Joshua Gibran Mayweather, Mena Suvari, Scott Cann, John Ritter, Gibby Haynes

Plot: Following a group of LA teens over the course of 24 hours. A day made up of a volatile cocktail of sex, drugs, suicide, bizarre deaths and alien abduction.

Review: There are certain films which throw down a gauntlet to its audience from their opening scenes, with prime examples of this being the fire extinguisher bludgeoning in “Irreversible” or Pumpkin and Honey Bunny in “Pulp Fiction” which almost seem challenge the audience to watch past this point, while often giving them a good idea of what is in store should they choose to stick around. “Nowhere” is another of these films as we open to Dark (Duval) jacking off in the shower to fantasies of his bisexual, polyamorous girlfriend Mel (True) aswell as his shy classmate Montgomery (Bexton)….ladies and gentlemen welcome once more to the world of Gregg Araki!

The final film in his “Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy” which started with the colorfully named “Totally Fucked Up” and followed by “The Doom Generation” now ends with this film which seemingly sets out to top everything which came before it. While it has frequently being described as “Beverly Hills 90210 On Acid”  for myself it feels closer to Bret Easton Ellis’s “Less Than Zero” given a David Lynch twist, a book whose own film version seemed almost like a different book altogether and minus any of the frequently nightmarish imagery that Ellis’s debut novel so proudly contained. Needless to say Araki has truly captured that anarchic spirit here to create an alternative vision of LA, were teens care for little outside of the pursuit of casual sex and drug taking and were the sole focus is seemingly on making to Jujyfruit’s (Haynes) party.

Split into eight interweaving stories, the film constantly switches between plotlines with the main of these plots revolving around Dark, a film student who constantly films everything happening around him and living under the belief that the world could end at any moment. Meanwhile his only other concern seems to be with getting laid, be it with his latest crush the shy and retiring Montgomery or his supposed girlfriend seems more concerned with sleeping with anything that moves, in particular Lucifer (Robertson) whose acid tongue is the cause of much anguish for Dark. The other plots meanwhile vary in their integral nature to the plot from the naïve Egg (Lassez) and her inadvertent meeting with “The Teen Idol” (Simmons) and Cowboy’s (Díaz) relationship issues with his drug addicted boyfriend Bart (Jordan). Meanwhile other plotlines such Nihilistic couple Shad (Phillippe) and Lilith (Graham) or Mel’s younger brother Zero (Mayweather) and his girlfriend Zoe’s (Suvari) attempts to find the secret location of Jujyfruit’s party are less integral and serve more as a distraction mainly from Dark and his various issues.

Once more Araki refrains from portraying these storylines in any form of normality, as he randomly switches between the plots seemingly on a whim, while inserting surreal offshoots like the random alien abductions and Bart’s twisted S&M session to ensure that the viewer is kept in a states of almost permanent confusion as to what they are watching and leading me for many years after my first viewing of this film, to describe it as a film which makes a lot more sense when your drunk! This art house style of filming is also carried over into the art direction with nearly every frame of this film appears to have been shot with the maximum amount of artistic freedom with sets often appearing like art installations as especially seen in the bedrooms of Bart and Egg, while saving the blow out for Jujyfruit’s party which in places almost seems like a tribute to Michael Alig’s “Club Kids”. Having seen the course of Araki’s career following this film, in many ways this film now feels like a last hurrah for his surreal roots before he moved onto more mainstream projects, before returning to this style of film making with “Kaboom”. Still the downside of this vision is that while it might look very pretty on the surface, it does seem ultimately hollow beneath especially when it can at times seem like a constant stream of casual sex and drug taking. Still with this film he has created a vision of LA seemingly on the brink of its final days as frenzied televangelists (Ritter) urge the masses to repent their sins, while random graffiti screams out slogans like “God Help Me” and "Repent Now" as these teens live only for the most primal pleasures, with consequences of their actions rarely being given more than a passing though.

While the drugs and sex might seem like all the film has to offer, like a softer version of Larry Clarke’s “Kids”, Araki has also brought a vein of pitch black humour to the film with moments such as Dingbat (Applegate), Egg and Alyssa (Ladd) binging on cake before discussing their purging habits with unsurprisingly drugs once again being the solution to all of life’s problems. At the same time there are moments which truly catch the viewer off guard such as shocking rape of one character, another is bludgeoned to death with a soup can, while the ending itself is almost like a bizarre tribute to Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis”. Needless to say while not every idea in the film works, Araki still throws enough at the screen to balance out the misfires with some truly memorable and frequently stunning imagery.

The soundtrack like the majority of the film is a relic of the decade it was released, with the likes of Suede, Hole and Elastica all appearing on the soundtrack, while we also get the old school Marilyn Manson track “Kiddie Grinder” making a welcome appearance, to what is a surprisingly rocky soundtrack, especially for a Araki who usually leans towards more Shoegaze, which still makes an appearance but as more of a background presence outside of the title sequence.

While perhaps a little too arty and irrelevant for some, especially when the plot and the characters, like the title suggests go “Nowhere” but at the same time it is bold and fascinating film making and the sort of film, that most Mumblecore films seems to be trying to imitate, if in perhaps a slightly less explicit style while this film remains a testament to the underrated era of film making originality which was the 90’s.

Kaboom

Posted as part of the LBGT Blogathon hosted by YAM Magazine, while also a prelude to next week's Queer Film Blogathon hosted by Garbo Laughs.

 

Title: Kaboom

Director: Gregg Araki

Released: 2010

Staring:  Thomas Dekker, Haley Bennett, Juno Temple, Kelly Lynch, James Duval, Chris Zylka, Brennan Mejia, Roxane Mesquida, Nicole LaLiberte

Plot: Smith (Dekker) is a laid back film student, whose day to day life of hanging out with his permanently sarcastic best friend Stella (Bennett), hooking up with the free spirited London (Temple) and lusting after his surfer roommate Thor (Zylka). However his world is thrown into chaos following a chance encounter a red haired girl (LaLiberte) he’d previously dream about.

Review: With YAM Magazine’s 2012 LGBT Blogathon now upon us what better time could there be to revisit the work of “New Queer Cinema” pioneer Greg Araki, whose work I’ve long been a fan of since stumbling upon a late night TV showing of “The Doom Generation”, which introduced me to his frequently twisted and surreal world view. Needless to say little has changed as he now arrives with his tenth film, which would also earn Araki the first ever “Queer Palm” at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, for its contribution to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues.

Opening with the first of numerous dream sequences we see throughout, it is unsurprisingly that comparisons between this film and “Donnie Darko” have been drawn, even though the dreams seen here are much more straightforward and lacking any of the symbolism that “Donnie Darko” so memorably played around with. Still while Smith might like Donnie be a dreamer, his dreams are much obscure in their relevance, especially with their focus often on random strangers than providing any kind of path or direction. However despite receiving these dreams Smith rarely seems to be affected by them, as he happily continues his day to day life of college lectures and casual sex, while pushing his own theories of sexuality by identifying himself as “undeclared”.

In many ways this film could be seen as the spiritual follow up to “Nowhere” the last film in Araki’s “Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy” especially as Smith and his friends seem almost like unused characters from that film. At the same time the film seems like an attempt by Araki to get back to his surreal roots, especially after his previous three films “Splendor”, “Mysterious Skin” and stoner comedy “Smiley Face” being more decidedly mainstream than the films which came before it. So while it might seem on the surface like an oversexed teen drama, it is all essentially part of the illusion that Araki weaves here, as the slightly odd and surreal moments such as Smiths’ dreams to Stella possessive witch girlfriend Lorelei (Mesquida).

Shot like a Bret Easton Ellis novel as seen through the lens of David Lynch, this gradual shift in reality is really the key strength of this film, for while his other films have generally thrown the audience head first into his surreal worlds and leaving them to figure out the ins and outs of that particular world, while he continues to tweak what is really happening and what is pure fantasy, a line frequently blurred by the characters frequent drug use. “Kaboom” to this extent is a real change in pace for while the characters might be hedonistic, with their main pleasures lying mainly in casual sex and hence giving us a rare sober world view for his characters. This however doesn’t stop Araki from tweaking this perceived idea of the film being based in reality, as things only continue to get weirder as he manages to take the film from a College drama about students looking for gratification through wild partying and casual sex to a film featuring doomsday cults, animal mask wearing strangers and a witch who really doesn’t take rejection well! All ideas that the established fanbase will no doubt lap up, while no doubt blowing the minds of the uninitiated as they try to make sense of exactly what they are watching.

It’s this style of storytelling though which draws the most negative criticism for the shift to it’s surreal finale, feels less of a smooth progression than his earlier films and could almost be seen as Araki no knowing were to take his established plot line of lust driven students and the thriller plot points and instead chooses to just thrown as much random plot ideas as he can at the screen with often only the characters sudden acceptance of their existence being their only grounding for existing within the film, while at the same time the random plot ideas are not so much tied up, but bundled together and thrown into the finale. At the same time though the film almost appears to be self aware of its frequent absurdity and even seems to make a joke of it with these final moments which had me questioning whether Araki ever really had an ending in mind or if this whole film was just an experiment in style?

The soundtrack is once again heavy with shoegaze and hip electro, making Placebo's "The Bitter End" being given a suprisingly prominent showcase the finale an interesting change of pace. Though like the cast it feels drenched in hip style, as Araki once again sets out to define his own brand of cool rather than just using flavor of the week bands for the soundtrack, which contains enough interesting noises and sounds to soundtrack scenes, but never to the point were it is being used to define what the audience should be feeling at any given moment.

Weird, strange yet still bizarrely enjoyable like the best of Araki’s films and its fun to see him playing around with his enfant terrible style which made him so memorable to begin with, so perhaps it is best to not question what you’re watching and just enjoy the ride.