Art School Confidential
MC
I found it entirely watchable and enjopyable if a bit flabby in the
second act, but...
SPOILER
Is it just me or did it go completely off the rails in the final reel or
two?
--
Drama is life with the dull bits cut out.
-- Alfred Hitchcock
Alan Brooks
> Anyone else see this? I'm curious to know what you thought.
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> I found it entirely watchable and enjopyable if a bit flabby in the
> second act, but...
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> SPOILER
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> Is it just me or did it go completely off the rails in the final reel or
> two?
I really enjoyed it. Skewering of all the art school cliches was spot-on,
from the teacher who's been doing the exact same art for 25 years to the
ones who spend all their time hitting on students, to the way classroom
critiques become personal ambushes... Brilliant. Lots of great set pieces.
Malkovich is brilliant as always. Acting superior to the students but still
living with his Mom at 50. Telling Jerome to "expand" and "experiment",
then putting him down in class for "trying to speak using someone else's
voice".
The fawning students keep commenting how Jonah (the undercover cop) paints
"like he's never seen a painting before", which is meant as a sort of artsy
compliment directed at his fresh and unspoiled eye. But, in fact, the guy
really has never seen a painting before. His art isn't naif, it's naïve.
Very clever. It's a comment on how far a fake can get in a world that
despises its own teaching.
The ending... I dunno. I was a little disappointed when it turned surreal,
but I certainly didn't want it to flatten out and have the hero triumph over
the villain (the cop?) in some boring, conventional way. In the end, given
the fakey brand of art world success -- the whole gimmicky branding thing
they establish -- what better way for Jerome to establish his bona fides
than with a little jail time? That part of the ending I thought worked
really well.
Trivia: I'm betting that "Bob's", the artsy hang-out was actually based on
BOB's (Bitables on Broadway) which was an artsy hangout on Broadway in
Greenwich Village in the 80s.
Alan Brooks
---------------------------
A Schmuck with an Underwood
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Brian Christgau
news:f05950$7rf$1...@reader2.panix.com...
> Anyone else see this? I'm curious to know what you thought.
>
> I found it entirely watchable and enjopyable if a bit flabby in the
> second act, but...
>
> SPOILER
>
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> Is it just me or did it go completely off the rails in the final reel or
> two?
Oh hell yeah. I've pretty much loved everything from Terry Zwigoff and
Daniel Clowes and thought that "Ghost World" (an adaptation of the latter's
comic book of the same name) was the best American film of its year. Sadly,
this one just wasn't up to snuff. It's not awful, mind you, but as you said
it just completely loses steam in the third act.
Cheers,
B
Jacques E. Bouchard
news:f05pmd$439$1...@reader2.panix.com:
> Oh hell yeah. I've pretty much loved everything from Terry Zwigoff
> and
> Daniel Clowes and thought that "Ghost World" (an adaptation of the
> latter's comic book of the same name) was the best American film of
> its year. Sadly, this one just wasn't up to snuff. It's not awful,
> mind you, but as you said it just completely loses steam in the third
> act.
Yes, I also agree. Although I had to do a 180 when watching the movie
because it was not at all what it was marketed as being.
And "Ghostworld" was great.
jaybee
Alan Brooks
Really? I thought it matched up with the trailer pretty well. Some humor,
a lot of weirdness. A bunch of little set pieces highlighting how art
schools are collecting points for all of high school's odd-balls. My kind
of flick.
> And "Ghostworld" was great.
Sur 'nuff.
Alan Brooks
---------------------------
A Schmuck with an Underwood
-- You gotta take the good
with the good
Jacques E. Bouchard
news:f06f22$21r$1...@reader2.panix.com:
> Really? I thought it matched up with the trailer pretty
> well. Some humor, a lot of weirdness. A bunch of little
> set pieces highlighting how art schools are collecting
> points for all of high school's odd-balls. My kind of
> flick.
The trailers I saw sort of marketed it as an art school
"Animal House". But maybe that's just my perception.
jaybee