sethfan

If you're a fan of the original Godzilla this is a must see! If you're not, buy a large tub of popcorn and extra large soda and go see what is already the best movie of the summer! It's an old fashioned monster movie in the truest sense. There's no story, the dialogue is shallow and only meant to push the plot along, and the acting borders on the melodramatic. But the real genius is how it has the feel of Godzilla from the 50's, achieved in part by the 3D effects that help simulate the backdrop special effects of yesteryear. Even the music is reminiscent of the over-the-top scores from the 50's. (Maybe Alexandre Desplat, the busiest composer in Hollywood, will finally win an Oscar.) It uses modern technology to give the feel of an old black and white summer popcorn flick. Brilliant! Younger and unsavvy movie goers probably won't get it, but it seems perfectly clear to me what they're doing here. This doesn't mean the special effects don't look good; quite the contrary. The monster and destruction scenes are edge of your seat thrilling! A movie like this would never be nominated for best picture, but in a certain way it probably should be for its achievement in throwback film making using modern sensibilities. Genius!

I can appreciate why some people don't like this movie. However I would venture a guess that these same reviewers have not seen actual footage of the Club Kids or interviews with Michael Alig or James St. James. If you think that Macaulay Culkin and/or Seth Green are acting badly, they're not…that's really how Michael and James are, their speech and mannerisms! Watching the 1998 documentary of the same name should do the trick. I was, more than ever, impressed with Seth Green whose St. James is uncanny. Green's performance is marked by enthusiasm, tongue-in-cheek humor, and a certain charisma that makes him own every scene he is in – in only a way that Seth Green can do. If this film could get more exposure, and with some campaigning, I truly believe he is deserving of a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at next year's Oscars.

As far as the filming goes…it is low budget to be sure and does it look like it? You betcha! But I like the pseudo-documentary feel it creates, like there's someone there with an 8mm camera filming as these people's lives go down the toilet. And let's face it, this movie is not always accurate to the facts (as many have pointed out), but why should it?? I mean, Michael Alig's life has no meaning to me of and in itself; clearly there is something more going on here other than your basic point-A-to-point-B bio-pic. Rather what the filmmakers have done is presented a movie about a lethal combination of apathy and excess and the inevitable implosion that results in everyone's lives. This is evident from the very beginning where the main characters display an unhealthy self-awareness of themselves as characters in the movie we are watching: "This is MY movie," each of them say. Their competitiveness and self-indulgence evolve into a particular inhumanness that, at best, is self-destructive. Outwardly these characters are pathetic, yet misunderstood. They search for individualism in a conformist and capitalistic society. Now, did the film makers do all of this intentionally? I haven't a clue…all I know is that it works.

Ok folks, it's not the greatest movie ever made, but it is worth checking out…if only for the fine performances by Culkin and especially by Seth Green.