Reviews
I Am a Ghost (2012)
A strange and beautiful film
Full disclosure: I'm not a huge fan of the horror genre, I'm more a fan of David Lynch and that style of weirdness. So if you're looking for a regular horror film, you will not find that here. It's more unsettling on a deep level, and sets up a suspense that keeps you engaged if you're the sort of film-goer that likes to think about what they're watching.
It does definitely have some scare-moments, but most of the film is a slow burn. In many ways more of a mystery than a horror. But what makes me love this film is how different it is from anything else I've ever seen. Highly original to the point of being experimental, but in a way you're not expecting. Anna Ishida's performance is mesmerizing.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)
Unbelievably Amazing and Completely Kick-Ass.
The press kit touts this film as a "Post-punk neo-glam rock odyssey," based on the hit off-broadway show that ran in New York from 1998-2000. Some people have compared it to the Rocky Horror Picture Show, but that's only because it's the only other Glam Rock musical ever made into a movie.
The premise alone should make you want to see it: A rock-and-roll drag queen tells her bizarre life story, starting as a boy in East Berlin, falling in love with an American GI, and going for a sex-change operation, waking up to find nothing but a "one-inch mound of flesh" where her organ should be. The story takes more twists and turns after that, and I don't want to spoil anything.
The story is told mostly through the songs, which are perfect rock and roll gems, on par with the songs from Tommy. After only seeing it once, I walked away singing the words "Six inches forward and five inches back...I've got an angry inch!" over and over for days.
For a directorial debut with no big-name movie stars, the acting is right on the mark. These are theater people, after all, and there's none of the cringeworthy bad acting you see in a lot of independent films. John Cameron Mitchell gives the character Hedwig so much emotional depth, you forget that the premise is so silly.
The costumes are amazing, as you would expect from a movie with a drag queen as the main character. Hedwig wears no less than 41 outfits, one of which is a dress made entirely of hair.
I came away from this movie totally inspired. It positively electrified me with an energy I rarely feel from movies anymore. And I don't even like musicals!
Breakfast of Champions (1999)
F**k the critics.
Because I read so many bad reviews of this movie, I decided to pass on the theatrical release. After Gus Van Sant butchered Tom Robbins' Even Cowgirls Get The Blues, I swore I would never see a movie just because the book was brilliant and it has a promising director and cast.
With that said, I wish I had seen Breakfast of Champions in the theater. I can see why a lot of people would hate this movie, and if you look at the imdb votes, you can see that half the people who voted gave it a 1, which accounts for its low overall score. But a lot of people also gave it a 10, so it's one of those love-it-or-hate-it movies.
Yeah, it's weird. If you don't like weird movies, don't see it. But if you do, and especially if you like Kurt Vonnegut, you will be pleased. There are lots of inside jokes for people who have read the book (the familiar asterisk on Dwayne Hoover's billboard ad, for instance). And though I personally would have cast Crispin Glover as Kilgore Trout (with lots of aging makeup, of course) Albert Finney does fine. Bruce Willis is his best since Moonlighting, and Nick Nolte is great as well. If you take psychoactive chemicals, this is a good movie to take them for.
PF