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Classic Film Review: Small Town Ecstasy

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Full Title: Small Town Ecstasy
Year: 2002
Director: Jay Blumenfield
Comments: Small Town Ecstasy is a documentary that offers us an up close and personal look at the perils of a modern suburban family: divorce and the resulting custody issues, generation gaps between kids and their parents, oh and a father that attends raves and does ecstasy with his children and other young people. Whattttttttt?! you must be thinking. But, it’s true. This man is cuckoo for E and we watch as it tears him apart from his beloved ones. His son, an experienced drug user, questions why his father is acting the way he is and why he does not feel the need to intefere with the well being of his children (i.e. them experimenting with E and other drugs). Despite what you have just read (and yes it is nauseating and uncomfortably laughable) this man in many ways is a good father and clearly loves his children, but because of his increasing drug use and resulting loss of custody, he sees them less and less. That’s one thing I dig about this doc, the fact that he has redeeming qualities; in most of such videos, the parent steals their little babies’ lemonade money and buys crack with it on their birthday or slaps them senseless in the midst of a vicious meth binge… Here, instead we see a different kind of dysfunctional family. Overall, this is a good doc, highly entertaining and fascinating, but at the same time, I always asked myself, “where is this going?” It didn’t move that much, but it was a nice slice of life, which is exactly what this kind of documentary should do. A spin on the mid-life crisis hoopla! If you want to find out what happens to the man and his family, then see the film, part one can be seen below.

P.S. All seriousness aside for a moment, wouldn’t this premise of your clean cut, forty something, dad suddenly dropping E and attending raves make for one helluva of It’s Always Sunny style sitcom?! It could be called “XTC Dad!” as Glen referred to the leading man. Producers reading, take notice, I think I have something up my sleeves!

Grade: B

Chris

Art, Entertainment, Film, Film Review, Films, humor, pictures, Video, Weather

Classic Film Reviw: Gummo

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Full Title: Gummo
Director: Harmony Korine (first timer)
Year: 1997
Grade: A
Comments: Chilling. Distubring. Haunting. These are some of the words that best describe Korine’s cult masterpiece. In more simple terms, however, FUCKED UP! describes it more accurately. Truly fucked up. Not strange. Not weird. Not bizarre. FUCKED UP. To be blunt, if you were trying to be polite and didn’t want to curse, so instead you replaced it with “screwed up,” I do not think you would be getting the picture across or doing the film justice for that matter. So, why is it so FUCKED UP? now, that I have mentioned it 500 times. Well, Korine does not present us with a story or a plot in any linear or normal sense. But, rather he takes us on a journey to a town “we would never want to call home,” as the tagline states (I may be paraphrasing) through documentary style, vivid, eerie shots of peculiar (to say the least) images and characters living their day to day lives. The characters are residents of a small, tornado struck town in Ohio, and their activities include killing (sometimes beating) cats and selling their remains, burglarizing, wrestling with chairs, amongst other antisocial behavior. And yes, that was not a joke about the chair wrestling! It is humorous in its odd nature, but at its heart, highly disturbng and really sad. These characters are bored and simply have nothing else to do, but wait to die or be the subject matter of a Steve Albini creation. Korine said he wanted to make a completely different kind of film, with shots coming from any (or every) direction and he did just that, so kudos to him. Gummo may not be the kind of movie you sit back and stuff popcorn down your throat and play over and over again for the giggles, but rather a totally unique experience worth at least one voyeursistic endeavour for those that can handle a completely (for the final time!) FUCKED UP film and want to challenge their psyche to something new; it’s nothing like I have ever seen before.

Here’s the trailer-

Fun Fact!: It was this trailer that specifically got me into Madonna’s “Like A Prayer,” as it is the only song by her that I like.

Chris

Art, Entertainment, Film, humor, Music, pictures, Video

A Clockwork Orgasm

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Question: How does music make you feel?

Answer: The music I love makes me feel like Alex in A Clockwork Orange when he has an orgasm from listening to the great Ludwig Van. The music I disdain makes me feel like Alex later in the film when he is conditioned to feel nothing but utter torment when he hears Beethoven’s Ninth, to the point of “doing himself in.” I don’t feel suicidal, but the likes of Jason Mraz with his “I’m Yours” is nothing short of pure torment!

Here’s a bit of the old ultra violence… viddy well brothers and sisters!

If you haven’t seen the film or read the book you have no idea what the fuck I am saying lol.

Chris

Art, Entertainment, Film, Films, pictures

Question of the Week: Pulp Fiction

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“Pulp Fiction is one of the greatest movies of all time and you know what, I have yet to seen another film top it”- Me

Going with the flow of Glen’s earlier post on Roy Orbison I decided to switch gears with a film. To the above statement, anyone agree, disagree, why? Better films? Thoughts on Tarantino and his style? etc. In my Cultural Studies class today we discussed high and low art/culture and it’s relation to Post-Modernism. In other words, is anything “real” anymore? Are Tarantino’s and others’ works merely unoriginal pieces filled with references, simply a giant reference. What do y’all think?

Chris

Art, Entertainment, Film, pictures, reviews, Uncategorized

Belated Film Review: District 9

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Full Title: District 9
Director: Neill Blomkamp
Year: 2009
Grade: B
Comments: To begin, why am I reviewing this now? Well, originally I planned on seeing this film in theaters, but I was unable to make it. Now, for my Cultural Studies course, we are discussing it and its various themes. Thus, I recently viewed the picture and as always whenever we read, hear, or see a new piece of art (or some piece of work that does not deserve such a flattering label) we review it. Ok, so not being a huge Sci-fi/Action fan, I am biased in my somewhat lack of enthusisasm, considering how much praise this film has received. I liked it very much and thought it was a decent flick with more meaning and substance to it than most films in its genre. Such heady themes as racism, immigration, and xenophobia, etc. are carefully layered in this sea of madness. The film itself is conceptually unique: the first half (the far superior half) resembling a documentary, reality TV show, Office esque set up. The second half, on the other hand, is your blow shit up and fire endless rounds of ammo action movie. The latter makes the film drag on increasingly and totally loses my interest in the story. At the very end, my interest is salvaged for its remaining minutes. I’d say, this piece is solid and worth a watch, but definitely overrated, at least for my taste.

Chris

Art, Entertainment, Film, humor, pictures, reviews

Film Review: Shutter Island

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Matt “Bob Matthews” Ramsden post an image of the film to accompany his review of the novel, so I’ll do the opposite.

Full Title: Shutter Island
Director: Marty Scorcesse
Year: 2010
Grade: A-
Here’s Why:

!SPOILERS AHEAD!

COME TO SHUTTER ISLAND! Where there’s always something exciting to do. You will meet a cast of colorful characters. You may have so much fun, you never leave! You could say, you’ll discover you are not actually who you think you are…. ok scratch that one BOSS. Essentially, Matt’s review, sums up the plot real nice, here’s a link, https://klyam.com/2010/01/10/book-review-shutter-island/. So, Leonardo Dicrapio and Mark Rufalo play the leading detectives and perform the fuck out of ther dramatic roles; it’s too bad this flick was released so damn early in the year, because it is worthy of numerous awards, certainly for acting, with regards to the aforementioned actors as well as Ben Kingsley. Not to say that awards measure the substance of a film or any form of art, they don’t at all. But, credit should be given, where it is due and far too many average flicks receive awards. Enough of that rant for now! SI dishes out more than its share of suspense, action, thrills, shills, and skills in just about every area. As the story unravels, we’re just as quizzical as Leo’s character. And since he’s totally mad, fucked in the head :) as viewers we’re all the more left with a “WTF is going on feeling?” But, we never get lost in the bedlam, a key aspect of Shutter’s success. Since, most of these “everyone’s against me andeverythng I ever knew as true was a lie” brand of films get tangled up in their own webs of conspiracy to the point that not even the filmmakers know what they’re thinking. Our umbilical chords to the story are never severed and thus maitain the suspense and our concern for the characters. In the end, the plot twist is pretty damn sweet, but a bit overrated. It ain’t Bruce Willis is a ghost, Vader’s my daddy, Bates is his mommy material! In fact, I thought the ending woudl come sooner; it drags toward the end, not too much, but enough to note. I haven’t read Dennis Lehane’s novel of which the movie is based and Matt wrote his review of, but I hear this stays true to it. Perhaps. Overall, a highly enjoyable experience at one of my favorite pastimes and definitely a KLYAM Recommendation.

Chris