Club Kid Reviews

21 Grams (2003)

Fantastic

[29 December 2003]

"21 Grams" is one of those films that really gets under the skin and won't let go. The performances are so compelling that it is hard to forget about this film, and the subject matter also has a big factor in this. This is a heavy film, and it deals with a lot of heavy subjects. There are 3 things that make this an unforgettable film. 1) The direction. It's grainy, dirty, and tough. But this all adds to the overall feeling of the film. 2) The performances. Naomi Watts gives one of the best performances by an actress I've ever seen. Here she really allows herself to let go, to strip herself bare and show her raw emotions. I truly felt that what she was going through in the film was something she had experienced. Penn and Del Toro are also great, but again, this film really showcases Watts as being a really talented and convincing actor. 3) The script is amazing. The actors talk like real people talk. There is none of that Hollywood script writing here, there are very little happy moments, just as real life can be.

Overall, see this film. You will leave the theatre in tears, and you won't be able to stop thinking about it for days. 9/10

Spun (2002)

A Masterpiece

[16 July 2003]

I've been waiting to see "Spun" for about a year now and I finally got to see it last night and I was not disappointed at all. Other people's comments on here say that the characters are not developed enough, but this film is not about the characters, it's about drugs. The cast is perfect, direction is amazing, soundtrack is great. Everything about this film was perfect, it really allows the audience into the world of meth addicts and allows the audience to feel what it is like to be on meth. All in all, this is the ultimate drug movie, next to Requiem For A Dream.

*****/out of 5

Crash (1996)

A very interesting film

[16 April 2003]

I must say that I've been interested in seeing "Crash" for many years, but everytime I went to rent a movie, I just didn't get it. Finally, I rented it and I'm still not sure if I liked it or not. "Crash" is interesting in the sense that is quite daring, somewhat shocking and disturbing. I thought the idea was great; people who find car crashes sexually arousing and stimulating. Maybe I missed something, but I never understood WHY these people found it so erotic. Cronenberg is one of the greatest directors around today, and I'm very happy to say he is one of my fellow Canadians. The direction of this film was fantastic, the acting was okay, but again it was the story that drew me in. All in all, a pretty good film. Not great, but not horrible ***/out of 5

Tori Amos Live from NY (1998 Video)

Brilliant

[28 February 2003]

I don't quite know how to put a Tori Amos concert into words. After watching this concert, I didn't think she could get any better, yet she proves us all wrong. She is quite possibly the best live act to ever live and I can say that after being to a concert and being a true fan of hers for years now. This concert just proves my point, here she performs with all her heart, allowing the audience to get inside and feel what she herself is feeling. This concert is very heartbreaking, she plays and sings so well that her audience can understand, with Me& A Gun, Tori allows us inside herself and her experiences and it is truly amazing. No matter how many times I listen to the songs, or watch this concert, I still cry. She is truly a gifted songwriter, singer and performer.

Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994)

Jennifer Jason Leigh is magnificant!

[16 December 2002]

Jennifer Jason Leigh is by far the best actress of our era. She has a great screen presence and always gives everything for her performances. Leigh was born to play the part of Dorothy Parker, she played her to a tee. There were no flaws in her performance at all and the rest of the cast does a great job as well. This film is very sad and depressing but watching Leigh made it a lot easier to watch. Alcohol becomes Parker's best friend and we watch as she becomes addicted to it throughout the entire film. This is a great film, especially the performance by Leigh.

Girl, Interrupted (1999)

An excellent film

[26 November 2002]

"Girl, Interrupted" is one of my all time favourite films. The acting is brilliant, direction great and the story is inspiring. I wanted to write a small review on it now because not many people have commented on the great Brittany Murphy. Yes, Angelina won the Oscar for this film and of course Ryder was great, but the greatest performance was by Murphy. Murphy plays Daisy, a chicken obsessed, laxitive junkie who's father likes her a little bit too much. Murphy brings such great depth and sympathy to her character, making the audience feel her pain. I was disapointed that she wasn't in the film very much because she shined, but the scenes she is in are amazing. Murphy is one actress with great talent that will be around for years and years to come.

Secretary (2002)

Brilliant!

[28 October 2002]

"Secretary" was a movie that I was anticipating for months and months and tonight I finally got the chance to see it. And I was not disapointed at all. This movie is everything; funny, sad, hilarious, emotional, sexy, and goofy. The film stars Maggie Gyllenhaal as Lee, a woman who just got out of an institute for being a self-mutilator. We can see that Lee has many insecurity and self-concious issues right from the beginning. She comes back home and finds that there is a job oppertunity for a secretary and she does everything in her power to get this job. She does and her boss is very strange. To make it shorter, they end up in an S&M relationship.

This film is not explicitly sexual, but rather gives and understanding and sympathy to it's characters. Gyllenhaal is amazing in this role, I would love to see her win some kind of award for her performance. I can't even describe how great she was in this film. James Spader who plays Lee's boss is great as well. I can't say enough great things about this film. All i can say is that everyone should see this film. *****/out of 5

Hell on Heels: The Battle of Mary Kay (2002 TV Movie)

Hysterical!

[18 October 2002]

"Hell on Heels: The Battle Of Mary Kay" is hilarious! I was anticipating this tv movie because I'm a huge fan of Parker Posey and i was truly impressed. Shirly MacLaine plays Mary Kay, the woman behind the makeup company, we first meet her at a convention for all the sellers of her makeup. AT this convention, Mary Kay is basically worshiped, like she is Jesus himself. We then meet Jinger Heath (Parker Posey) who's husband owns another rival makeup company. For him to get more sales, he asks Jinger to come in and help sell his makeup, much like Mary Kay.

The story goes on from there, where the two rivals compete to get a bigger following. The performances are great. MacLaine can never do wrong, and she fits the part of Mary Kay to a tee. Parker Posey plays a bitch brillantly, the two of them together is a match made in Hollywood heaven. All in all, a great film! ***** (out of 5)

The Ring (2002)

Terrifying

[18 October 2002]

"The Ring" is one scary movie. I don't agree with some of the comments on here saying that it wasn't scary at all. Obviously, if you didn't find this movie scary, then you didn't understand it. It is a very complex movie, with many twists and turns in it, hidden signs, and subtle disturbing moments. Naomi Watts is wonderful, after seeing "Mulholland Dr" i couldn't wait to see what she would do next and "The Ring" definitly fulfilled my wait.

All in all, this is a fantastic film, amazing direction, great performances and a very scary plot. *****(out of 5)

The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (2002)

A beautiful coming of age story

[27 September 2002]

"The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys" is definitly a film that everyone must see. It is visually beautiful, emotional, funny and sad. The story is a great coming of age story, where the audience feels so involved that at the end, you don't want to move. The performances are great, Jena Malone espeically and Kieran Culkin. It was great to see Jodie Foster play such an unlikeable bitch but the audience still feels for her character. There is no faults with this film, the story is intersting with some great twists, the direction is amazing and the animated parts add humour and interest.

All in all, this is a great film! *****/out of 5

Bastard Out of Carolina (1996)

Deeply disturbing with highly intense performances.

[3 September 2002]

"Bastard Out of Carolina" is by far the most disturbing film I have ever seen. At the same time, it is one of the finest films to be made in history. Words cannot explain how deeply this film affected me, I couldn't move when the credits rolled up, I could do nothing but think about what I had just seen. The performances here are nothing but astonishing. Jennifer Jason Leigh gives a wonderful, heart-felt performance, and at times you just want to slap her and say "wake up!". The greatest performance in this film though is by Jena Malone. Wow, I've never seen such an intense performance by any actress let alone a child actress.

All in all, a great film. *****/out of 5

Amélie (2001)

Charming!

[10/10 · 18 August 2002]

"Amelie" is a charming, hearwarming film that I could honestly watch every single day for the rest of my life. This film is funny, cute and makes you feel good at the end. This is not your typical dumb love story, it's filled with other plot lines running through the film that all come together at the end of the film. This is one of the best films I have ever seen, I can't say how much I loved it, because I loved it so much! The direction is unreal, with many little quirks and speical affects that make the audience smile and laugh. All in all, the perfect film! *****/out of 5

Eraserhead (1977)

Messed up.... but in a good way.

[18 August 2002]

"Eraserhead" is by far the most f@#$ed up movie I have ever seen. Being a huge fan of Mr. Lynch, I had always heard that this was his stangest film and it definitly was. The plot is hard to follow because there are so many other weird things happening at the same time. The characters in this film are so bizzarre, and the things that they do are hard to understand just like the rest of this film. Don't get me wrong, I thought this movie was one of the best films to be made in history, it's dark, confusing, funny, scary and messed up, all the things a good films needs. So, rent this movie if you can find it, it's worth it. *****/out of 5

Crazy/Beautiful (2001)

a great film!

[26 July 2002]

Crazy/Beautiful is a great film with even greater performances. I did not find a single thing in this film that I did not like. Kirsten Dunst gives a really memorable performace as a rich girl with a true wild side. Hernandz gives a good performace too as the Latino boy Dunst's character falls in love with. What I really loved about this film, was the direction. It wasn't your typical point and shoot, the director shot this movie in a very unique way and allowed his actors to shine. A truly great film! *****/out of 5

Storytelling (2001)

AMAZING!

[13 July 2002]

Todd Solondz has done it again! "Storytelling" is great, funny, sad, dramatic, hilarious! everything you could ever want in a film, "Storytelling" has it! Solondz is the best director around today. "Storytelling" is just as perfect as his other great films,"Welcome to the Dollhouse" and "Happiness". Wonderful performace by Selma Blair in the first part "Fiction". She portrayed the character to her full ability and did a fantasitc job!

All in all, I give "Storytelling", *****/out of 5 PERFECT!

New Best Friend (2002)

A Decent film

[13 July 2002]

"New Best Friend" is a pretty decent film. I would have to disagree with the other comments on this about it. I really enjoyed watching this film. I will admit that I rented it because of the gils in the film, mainly Mia Kirshner and Dominique Swain. But I was surprised when I found that the movie was not bad at all. The film stars Kirshner, Swain, Rachel True and Meredith Monroe. Kirshner playes the "outcast" at their college, and the other three girls are the pretty, popular and party girls. When Monroe and Kirshner's characters are partnered up together to work on a project, Monrose's character gets more than she thought she would. The three "pretty" girls take Kirshner's character under their wings and give her a make-over both physically and mentally. But when Kirshner's character is more than she seems, the other girls get a whole different girl. The storyline to this film is pretty basic, ugly girl turns pretty, then turns out evil. But the film direction is great and there are some pretty good twists and turns to the plot line. Great performances by Kirshner (as usual), Swain and True. I wasn't expecting Monroe to give a good performance and I was right. She can't really portray the character well, and her's was the only bad performance in this film. All in all, a pretty good film. ****/out of 5 p.s. there is a GREAT sex scene between Swain and Kirshner that will get any guy excited and if you like girl on girl, rent this movie! you won't be disapointed by that part.

Zig Zag (2002)

A very touching story

[8 July 2002]

"ZigZag" is a very touching, beautiful story that is covered with heartache, fear and abuse. ZigZag is the main character in this film, he is a young autistic boy with an abusive, junkie father. ZigZag finds peace and a father figure in John Liguzamo's character who is his big brother. The realtionship between the two is a match made in heaven. Singer's shows ZigZag that life isn't all made up of fear, disapointment and abuse. He show's him the bright side of life. The film is very well done with strong performances by everyone in the film. I was very happy with Natasha Lyonne's performance as a prostitute with a soft heart. All in all, a great touching movie! ****/out of 5

Teenage Caveman (2002 TV Movie)

Why, Mr. Clark, why????!

[29 June 2002]

The first thing I have to say about this movie is that it is AWFUL! I'm a huge fan of Larry Clark and when I saw the cover of this movie I knew it would be terrible. Larry Clark has made three masterpieces, Kids, Another Day in Paradise and Bully, but this is just terrible. After the first 30 minutes of this movie I thought, ok this could be decent, boy was I wrong. The acting in this movie is horrible, minus Tara Subkoff who is the only normal person in this movie. The next half of the movie is basically just soft core porn with very graphic group sex that is just gross instead of artistic. Then it moves into the whole "monster" part of the film and it just ends up pathetic.

So, the question is, Why Mr. Clark, why?!

I give this film */out of 5

Happy Campers (2001)

Hilarious!

[18 June 2002]

"Happy Campers" is by far the best teen movie i have ever seen! It's nothing like the typical, American Pie, it has it's own genre of great camp movies! This movie isn't supposed to be some Oscar contender, it's campy, funny and dirty! The film takes place at a summer camp and follows the lives of the camp councellors during one summer. Sex is all they can think about, and the movie ends up with everyone getting laid! This movie has everything you could want in a movie, humour, drugs, sex and bad language! and James King is naked in it! all in all, rent it if you can, it will be worth it!

Donnie Darko (2001)

Brillant!

[24 May 2002]

"Donnie Darko" is one of the best movies I've ever seen, period! It's perfectly messed up, dramatic, funny at times, sad at times and scary at times. The direction is great, the performances are wonderful, and the story is unreal. I really recommend this movie to anyone who likes really screwed, messed up movies that actually have a plot! *****/out of 5

Tart (2001)

Pretty Good

[8/10 · 20 April 2002]

"Tart" is a pretty good movie with decent performances in it. I always find it a shame that Bijou Phillips is not used more in movies and she was pretty much the best thing about this movie. But she's not in it enough to keep you interested. While Dominique Swain gives a good performance, it's Bijou's character that adds more excitement to this film. I had been waiting almost a year and a half to see this film and it kind of disapointed me... i thought there would be more drugs and sex, such as the tagline makes the audience think. Brad Renfro gives his usual performance, which isn't a bad one either, i guess the part that got me the most was that Bijou was not in it enough! rent this movie if you get the chance but don't have really high expectations like i did, or you will be let down.

The Hole (2001)

Disturbing, in a good way

[15 April 2002]

"The Hole" is a disturbing, dark and great film. The premise is simple, 4 teenagers wanting to get out of a school trip, go into this hole and stay there for the weekend. Think it sounds dumb? Think again, the film takes the audience on many different twists and turns, with a fairly surprising ending. The film plays on the characters weaknesses and fears, making it quite disturbing at times. Thora Birch was great in this film, when i first heard it was a british film, i didn't think she could pull it off, but she did and gave a great performance! The rest of the cast did a great job too, making this film so dark and scary. A great film, worth getting if you can find it! *****/5

The Anniversary Party (2001)

Great performances!

[4 April 2002]

"The Anniversary Party" is a great film with wonderful performances! This film was shot completely on digital video by Leigh and Cumming, who also star in the film. The plot line is fairly simple, Leigh and Cumming play a couple that have been seperated then get back together and have an anniversary party. The guest list includes a great cast of actors. I did not find one flaw in any of the performances. The film is also about the whole film industry, Leigh plays an actress that was once famous when she was younger. Cumming plays an author set to direct his film debut. The cast includes the amazing Parker Posey, Jane Adams, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin Klein just to mention a few. The party takes a swing when Paltrow's character brings ecestasy as a present for everyone. Everyone get's high and acts like teenagers but in a very good way. All in all, an excellent film! ****/out of 5

Happiness (1998)

Brilliant!

[25 March 2002]

I just saw this movie for the first time a couple of weeks ago and i couldn't believe it! This film is so darlky funny, and i could not stop laughing! Not only is it funny, but this film also deals with very serious issues such as a perverted father. I loved the scenes in this film when the father and his son are having their "talks" about sex while there is happy, nice music in the background! it was hilarious! great performances in this film, especially Lara Flynn Boyle, i was pleasantly surprised by her performance! and of course, Phillip Seymor Hoffman, a wonderful character actor, was amazing in this film. this film isn't for everyone. it is very graphic and gross at some points but it makes it all the better! all in all, don't miss out on this film! *****/5

Fast Sofa (2001)

ok

[23 March 2002]

I rented this movie with high expectations. i was disapointed... It's not that it is a terrible movie, it just wasn't what i was expecting. I love the actors in this film, Natasha Lyonne, and Bijou Phillips but they weren't in the film enough to save it. The main character in this film is a loser, with a girlfriend that loves him, played by Lyonne. She's awesome in this film, the scenes that she's actually in. and of course Bijou is amazing. Not a great film but at times entertaining.