Gummo.
05-11-01, 02:52 PM
#2
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Its a good guerrilla, improv, loose, narrative skewering film. Its definitely for art house and simple surreal tastes. Not knowing what kind of films you like, its rather hard to recommend. If you like arty fare, Werner Herzog, non-conventional storytelling, and so forth, I suggest trying it out.
05-11-01, 03:07 PM
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05-11-01, 10:35 PM
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Originally posted by Hendrik
http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?id=1744
(and that's a nice review of this 'film'...)
. . .
http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?id=1744
(and that's a nice review of this 'film'...)
. . .
05-12-01, 10:23 AM
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I enjoyed its shock value. Some scenes were engagingly surrealistic and others were just shocking. Either way I enjoyed watching it, sometimes in disbelief. One or two things were over-the-top for me and in really bad taste. If you enjoy your buttons being pushed, then I recommend at least a rental. I just bought it sight unseen because finding the dvd to rent seemed like it would be difficult. Julien Donkey-Boy I enjoyed less, but had a few great moments. Kids which Harmony Korine only wrote, really pissed me off, or disturbed me (I am not sure which)...but I saw it when it first came out, was younger then, and will probably rewatch it someday in light of seeing these two films.
05-13-01, 01:01 PM
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I always feel a little apprehensive when a review begins, “I hate this film maker. I dislike every movie he/she has done, but here is my review of their latest work.” Also, Gil Jawetz’s review seems to have a serious amount of judgment based on Korine’s sensationalistic comments, which should never come into play. In his interviews he merely mimics the outrageousness of his 60’s and 70’s art house directors that inspired him. Kind of like how Coppola said that Apocalypse Now was not a film, it was war itself, the penultimate artistic representation of war. It’s just going overboard and getting attention.
In defense of Korine’s “exploitative” aspects, I think its, more of somewhat of a case of peoples own prejudice coming into play. For instance, the handicapped girl, who shaves her eyebrows in the film, is a girl that Korine knows and he merely filmed her doing what she naturally does. Therefore, it’s really no more different than Diane Arbus following around the handicapped and photographing of their daily lives, parties, and so forth. Yes, it is strange because they are different, and abnormal, but I don’t think it is in bad taste when you present them how Korine does. The staged scene with the retarded girl as a prostitute is also fine, certainly its fairer to use an actual retarded girl in the innocent scene rather than have some actress falsely playing a simpleton.
Yes, its not for everyone, (you can even say its barely for anyone at all) but I think there are rewards to found in a film that blends raw documentary-ish footage with surreal scenes in order to make a hodgepodge of the decrepit South and maladjusted kids living in it.
In defense of Korine’s “exploitative” aspects, I think its, more of somewhat of a case of peoples own prejudice coming into play. For instance, the handicapped girl, who shaves her eyebrows in the film, is a girl that Korine knows and he merely filmed her doing what she naturally does. Therefore, it’s really no more different than Diane Arbus following around the handicapped and photographing of their daily lives, parties, and so forth. Yes, it is strange because they are different, and abnormal, but I don’t think it is in bad taste when you present them how Korine does. The staged scene with the retarded girl as a prostitute is also fine, certainly its fairer to use an actual retarded girl in the innocent scene rather than have some actress falsely playing a simpleton.
Yes, its not for everyone, (you can even say its barely for anyone at all) but I think there are rewards to found in a film that blends raw documentary-ish footage with surreal scenes in order to make a hodgepodge of the decrepit South and maladjusted kids living in it.
05-14-01, 12:06 AM
#8
I really didn't like this movie
This is basically a movie for Harmony Korine to exploit freaky people. It seems that instead of tell a good story, he would rather just throw out weird people and have them do weird things. Not as bad as Julien Donkey Boy which was also a big excuse to exploit freaky people. Waste of time.
BTW, I liked Kids, just not this crap
This is basically a movie for Harmony Korine to exploit freaky people. It seems that instead of tell a good story, he would rather just throw out weird people and have them do weird things. Not as bad as Julien Donkey Boy which was also a big excuse to exploit freaky people. Waste of time.
BTW, I liked Kids, just not this crap
05-14-01, 10:57 AM
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I wrote the review mentioned above and, while I admit that it is very opinionated (of course), I don't think that my stating my dislike for Korine made the review less valid. If anything, I explained why I dislike him and his films and pointed out that, having seen all of his released work, I am in a position to express a somewhat informed opinion. Also, with a filmmaker of this type the public persona is important for two reasons:
1) There is virtually no content within the film itself and the attitude and presentation of the filmmaker is integral to the viewing of the film.
2) Korine draws all that attention to himself for a reason. If he only wanted us to watch the film then he would dissappear or hide himself away. Instead he is constantly grabbing he spotlight, making himself the main attraction, and personalizing everything.
Also I'd like to point out that I did ultimately recommend that open minded viewers rent the film since they would need to form their own opinions.
1) There is virtually no content within the film itself and the attitude and presentation of the filmmaker is integral to the viewing of the film.
2) Korine draws all that attention to himself for a reason. If he only wanted us to watch the film then he would dissappear or hide himself away. Instead he is constantly grabbing he spotlight, making himself the main attraction, and personalizing everything.
Also I'd like to point out that I did ultimately recommend that open minded viewers rent the film since they would need to form their own opinions.
