I could have sworn I had read the opening theatrical showings were slated for Sept. Now they're saying October. Frrrrr!! And there's apparently only like 14 cities/towns that are showing it. DVD release may be well into 2015 or maybe even 2016...and it's already taken 4 years for Gregg Araki to make something since KABOOM, although I honestly cannot believe it's been 4 years; it's probably been 3, 'cause KABOOM probably took forever to come to video after its first public sighting, wherever that was (Sundance, Cable TV, etc...) and I didn't see it outside of my abode...
He has this annoying habit though of following his masterpieces up with seriously dull movies. He followed up 1997's nowhere with 1999's SPLENDOR and 2004's MYSTERIOUS SKIN with 2007's SMILEY FACE. KABOOM (2010) was kinda somewhere in the middle, so maybe that's good news for those hoping to enjoy WHITE BIRD IN A BLIZZARD (2014). For those who think KABOOM is one of his masterpieces, maybe that's very very bad news, considering all of the possibility that lie in the sheer idea of the film WHITE BIRD IN A BLIZZARD...it's one thing when an idea gets botched by hack screenwriters but you can watch someone else do it better, like an idea that isn't particularly intriguing to begin with, but could have been turned into a mind blowing cinematic masterpiece, but it's not like this is uncharted territory for Araki - and, although I would fail on many levels, even I, a total outsider of the cinematic process, can probably write a fairly compelling and somewhat re-imagined adaptation of Lauren Kasischke's novel. OF course, knowing the basic premise, I could probably just rip off David Lynch like everyone else is doing and make my own "original idea" of it. How can someone be accused of plagiarism simply because the premise is the same as someone else's? I mean, I'd probably have to revise a couple or so details - for example, instead of it being a 17 year old girl, I could have it be a 21 year old guy - just like in LAKE PLACID, instead of it being a ocean dwelling man-eating shark (JAWS), you have a lake dwelling man-eating alligator...I mean, it's not like Gregg Araki doesn't know how to make a good movie. SMILEY FACE was flat out hilarious, although it's very lacking in cohesion and narrative and kindofa waste of time...mainly, I just kinda scratch my head at SPLENDOR, which had some interesting bantor between characters, maybe, I don't really remember it that well...I just remember the plot being so lame and pointless. The two guys that this girl is dating are like total slobs who end up depending on the girl to carry out all the duties of the real world and use the idea that the three of them are in love with each other as an excuse for acting like toddlers/spoiled brats, and she's trying to date someone else behind their backs b/c she doesn't know how to tell them anything b/c they don't listen, maybe I'm mis-remembering that part of it...idk...but the whole thing just struck me as a run-on sentence with nothing to say. I think Araki has gotten better at filmmaking - THE LIVING END and TOTALLY F***ED UP are not exactly exhilarating masterpieces. THE DOOM GENERATION (1995), although very low budget, was his first movie where the whole thing came together as being a cohesive presentation. I still don't see the point of it, I guess it has some interesting insights or something, idk...but regardless, scene 1 and scene 2 and so-on didn't feel so disjointed. THE LIVING END was OK, but, like SPLENDOR, the lack of the characters' reasoning capability just seemed so pathetic... Some guy like to kill people and civilized man runs into him and c.m. doesn't think k.p. man is a good idea to keep around him. But he's sexually attracted to him and sees a thread of logic in his "nothing to lose, let's kill everything" mentality...freakin' annoying. But I guess that just shows where society is at - the moral code that most people have is not ironclad. Of course, when you take God out of the equation, why would it be? I mean, people make mistakes regardless of their religious affiliation, and that's why Jesus came to earth, but from what I can tell, being infected with a terminal illness and having a strong sexual attraction to someone who has no moral code is not a strong enough reason for someone who is a Christian. Yeah, there's tons of people that call themselves Christians and do whatever they want anyway, including murder, but if you read The Holy Bible, understand it and don't weasel your way out of living by it, or simply reject it, then you have all the deterrent you need to say "no" when someone gives you a gun and tells you to shoot someone or says "hey, I'm going to go bash someone's head in, I'll brb". I mean, if you WITNESS a murder, it's common decency to call the police. Yes, the justice system is flawed and highly ineffective, but one good thing that comes out of prisons are indeed prison ministries. People who get into those don't generally remain the same cold-blooded types they were when they entered prison, and when you're in prison, what better things do you have to do with your time? Watch TV?
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