Happy Halloween everyone! I know I don't really have that much time to
review movies during the school year, but I try and make an effort to
watch at least a Halloween movie for this time of year. I'm a bit late
this time, but horror movies can be enjoyed any time of the year, am I
right? And today I bring you one that I had heard of before but
completely forgot about it. It is Brian Yuzna's Society.
Bill Whitney (Billy Warlock) should feel like he has it all - born into a rich and loving family, a wonderful girlfriend, living a high class life - but instead he feels like he doesn't quite belong. His parents don't treat him exactly as his sister, his friend keeps warning him against his family, and he has weird... visions. Is Bill just crazy, or is there a disturbing truth about this... society?
The film apparently has special effects done by a well-known man going
by the name of "Screaming Mad George". I don't follow horror movies all that
much, so I had never heard the name before, but it might mean
something to someone out there. For those who know nothing about him
and want to know what I thought of the gore, well, it was... creative.
This is maybe spoiling a little bit, so be warned. You only really get
it at the end, and I found it pretty minimal. I mean, what's there is
good, though it wasn't as bloody as it was gooey, and even the goo
wasn't as exaggerated as I would have liked. What was there was
creative, I'll give it that - there's one cover for the film that demonstrates this - but to say it
was a film for the gore and special effects, no.
What you'll check this movie out for (maybe) is the plot. Society is
like Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, except with no finesse and
beautiful camera shots. It goes right out and tells you about an upper
class preying on the middle/lower class and claiming they have every
right to. And it adds it in a horror movie style. Also, the acting and
characters in Society are flat as hell - the main guy is just too
typically eighties-sitcom protagonist. And the ending was lame.
Overall, Society has a proper message to deliver, but it fails to do
it well with characters tripping and falling on their faces, gore
that's interesting but lacking, and a vibe way too eighties for my
liking. It's an interesting watch, but only check it out for a little
introduction to Eyes Wide Shut. And to see a face where an ass should
be.
I'm angry and ready to rant, so I decided to watch a film I knew I could complain about. Time for another Harmony Korine movie - this time his latest shit, Spring Breakers, starring James Franco, Selena Gomez, and honestly, a bunch of other names I don't care for.
Honestly, you only need to know one thing about this film, and it straight up says it in the title: spring break. There. That's my plot summary.
Guys, when I reviewed Kids, I pretty much said this film was about drug culture in youth, something I know little about, and I concluded the film was okay. If I said otherwise, sorry, I can't recall. Now, what is this film about? Drug culture in youth. Okay, okay, there is a bit more to it. There's also the party culture, and it focuses more on women (yay, great) than Kids. But basically, Harmony Korine hasn't changed what his films are about. I mean, look, Harmony Korine is not a well-liked director, or so I've seen. Anyone who likes him has not yet been introduced to real pretentious films because his "deep" films are not deep - they're superficial and just garbage. Taking random guys off the street to act in your films doesn't mean they'll be good - it means they'll suck. But I'm just telling you what you already know. Kids wasn't the worst from what I remember, but let me tell you, I'm gonna rip a new one for Spring Breakers. And there is mostly one reason for it: the reviewers.
I debated watching this film. I knew what it was about because this film captures the garbage shit high school/college kids follow now. Dances consist of grinding, meeting with friends means drinking to no end. It's everything I hate about my generation, so I was really on the fence. I was curious, but I wanted to know if the film actually had a message, maybe one of Kids where the cycle of debauchery will continue forever. Plus it had James Franco - I mean, I don't like the guy, but it was still a big name. The only name I recognise from other Harmony Korine films is Chloë Sevigny. Everyone else is some rejected kid. So this film looked higher budget, had bigger names - maybe things had changed? Still, I decided to check out some reviews. Here's what I got:
1. Deep
2. Meaningful
3. The best Harmony Korine film
4. Not good, but got better over time
5. Boring, but worth it
Well, shit, that seems pretty convincing, right? Apart from 3, which could still mean the film was shit, Spring Breakers at least had potential, am I right? I should have remembered the golden rule of reviewers: they don't watch good films, and their top tens include some crappy Marvel film like Guardians of the Galaxy. Of course I'm generalising, but seriously, Spring Breakers was breaking my back and mind... Yeah, that didn't work. It was bad. I was angry. The film was party, party, party for the first half, and then it went to violence I didn't even care about. What is it trying to tell me, that our youth has crazy parties and they are messed up? What I'm getting out of it is that having spring break and going nuts is okay, as long as you let it go. Spoilers: do we support Selena Gomez (called Faith because this film is made for nimwits who did everything spelled out to them) when she leaves? Is it okay that she got drunk and made out with some guys/girls because she didn't rob the chicken place and because she's a practicing Christian? The film points to yes. We sympathise with Faith. I didn't. She's an idiot for following these girls as soon as she finds out they rob a place to go on spring break. Not to mention the guy she follows at her church seems like the shittiest trucker shit I've ever seen. He's not a priest - he's a joke. I feel like Harmony Korine picked him up off the street and told him to pretend to be a priest. The film basically mocks Faith, and while we, the audience, are supposed to sympathise with her, I didn't. She's an idiot. I'm glad she left when the going got tough, but this idea that a "one-time" partier is okay is wrong. It isn't right, it will never be right... Argh. Anyway, the rest of the movie. Was it deep? No. There was only one reviewer who got it right - you can't have your cake and eat it too. The film is trying to tell me that this party culture is bad and will lead to serious consequences, but then it exploits tits like no tomorrow. This is what brought people in - young girls in bikinis and possible nudity. It delivered, and not in a negative way. You could make it evident it happened without showing, but don't worry, Harmony Korine made sure to exploit those breasts and lean, young girls. This is deep? This is a message being delivered? Again, I just... how can a film lecture me about moral standings when it itself is not holding a moral ground on the very subject matter it's lecturing me on? So no. This film is not deep, it's shit.
Meaningful? Same response as the deep idea.
The best Harmony Korine film? It's a step-up because it has a bigger budget, but it's still boring, it's still shit. It's still Harmony Korine.
Not good, but got better over time? Do I look like this film is going to stay with me? Again, I could see some kids going like, "Wow, man. That film was so Harmony Korine. He's so deep, the message is so deep." Please, go watch The Seventh Seal and tell me which one is better. Please, let our generation have an appreciation for good films, not bad ones...
Finally, boring, but worth it. No. Russian films can be long, they can be boring, but that's their cinema. It's how it works. I skipped about after the one hour mark because it was tedious and kept going on and on about how I'm a gangsta and I'm a bad girl and blah blah blah. If a film is boring, don't defend it. It's boring, that's it. It's garbage, it's garbage. That's it! Guys, no.
There's also another point, something about James Franco. Honestly, his character was annoying. I'm glad he was able to piss me off the moment he talked - good job, James Franco (sarcasm)! Don't watch it for him because you'll likely blow your brains out how James Franco's character's brains SHOULD HAVE EXPLODED. Who keeps GUNS FULLY-LOADED AROUND. This guy is the biggest idiot I've ever seen. Eff him. And eff the stupid girls too. You see these girls acting like men, drinking like crazy and having sex like mad? I love it. Thanks, feminism. Thanks.
Spring Breakers should be ignored and never considered. Never watch it. Don't support it. The only reason I didn't waste my time with this piece of shit is because I did an assignment at the same time. Freakin' damn...
P.S. Did you watch the film and are now feeling filthy? Here, some Gregorian chants. You're welcome.
