The Brown Bunny

[Finn]

A fresh symbol on rotten tomatoes with the critics so far...

[MacGuffin]

Gallo Withdraws Magazine Article After Cover Fight

Vincent Gallo has been accused of pulling a three-page essay he penned for a publication at the last minute - due to the magazine's refusal to place a self- portrait on the cover. The Village Voice's editor-in-chief Don Furst refused to run the actor's full-page photo self-portrait on the front page - which led to Gallo's withdrawal of his written editorial. Voice publicity director Jessica Bellucci tells gossip site Pagesix.Com, "We all thought it was a terrific piece, and we're sorry we're not running it. When he got wind that we wanted to use another image for the cover, he got all bent out of shape and pulled the whole thing." Gallo fumes the "egocentric and out-of-control" Furst sabotaged the project. He says, "I don't regret writing the essay or taking the pictures. But for the Voice to call a gossip column and cry victim is outrageous. They owe me a long apology and flowers. The Voice f***** me, plain and simple."

[MacGuffin]

Los Angeles Times review:

'The Brown Bunny'
Vincent Gallo's new film was preceded by criticism -- and indeed the road trip runs on fumes. By Carina Chocano

At this late stage, it's impossible to separate Vincent Gallo's second film, "The Brown Bunny," from the snits, scandals and flights of weirdness it's engendered since last year, when a rough cut shown at Cannes prompted Roger Ebert to pronounce it the festival's worst. This is good news for the makers and distributors of "The Brown Bunny," which is not a movie that wants to be judged solely on its merits qua movie.

If "The Brown Bunny" were a painting, it would be a blue rhombus hanging on a wall at the Pompidou Center. Gallo's notoriety and Whack-a-Mole fits of pique give it context and dimension. Whether he intended for "The Brown Bunny" to be viewed as part of a much larger conceptual piece all along (He repeatedly claims not to be an artist, by which we can only assume that he doesn't want us thinking about his intentions at all), the tears, the apologies, the hex on Ebert's bowels and the Sunset Strip billboard that followed featuring Gallo and co-star Chloë Sevigny in flagrante fellatio have all but ensured that it will.
 
How much you enjoy the experience will depend on your take on Gallo. If you think he's a brilliant, satirical cut-up, then "The Brown Bunny" is an elaborate and successful art prank. If you think he's a pretentious, self-obsessed, tedious weirdo, then "The Brown Bunny" will back you up 100%. What I can say unequivocally is that if "The Brown Bunny" had been directed by an unknown first-time director, you and I wouldn't be here right now. (But we are, and if the point had been to draw attention to this fact, then it would have been nicely put.)

Gallo plays a Grand Prix motorcycle racer named Bud Clay who is haunted by his past. I know this because it's right there in the production notes. Upon finishing a race in New Hampshire (actually, "finishing" is a strong word. He drives the motorcycle around the track for at least 10 minutes), Bud loads his bike into his van, stops at a gas station, fills his tank, tries to persuade a snaggletoothed gas station attendant named Violet to come with him and heads west.

Along the way, he visits the house in which his ex-girlfriend Daisy (Sevigny) grew up. Daisy's parents are still there, and they're still taking care of their daughter's pet bunny. Bud, however, doesn't ring any bells, even though he grew up right next door. That's because Daisy's parents are about 85 years old and don't appear to be in full possession of their faculties. We've hitherto seen Daisy only in brief, silent flashbacks — but she doesn't look a day over 25. If some sort of in vitro miracle took place here, it's never explained, neither is the astounding longevity of the bunny, though we do learn later that the average lifespan of his species is cruelly brief.

But what's math in the face of pain?

Gallo, who wrote and directed, features himself in every scene of the film; snuffling into his sleeve, driving sadly and failing to connect with the various bits of human flotsam he encounters on the road. At a rest stop, Bud meets Lilly (Cheryl Tiegs), a woman whose wardrobe says "I date truckers" but whose eyes say something even sadder. In Reno, he picks up a hooker named Rose. (She's wearing a name necklace, as was Violet. In fact, every woman Bud meets wears an identifying accessory, like a beloved pet.)

It's not much to look at (I had a pen in my hand, and it was all I could do not to update my to-do list), but "The Brown Bunny" has a certain lingering quality; maybe it's the feeling of repetition, or the hypnotic powers of the open road. Gallo served as his own one-man crew, and the thought of him spending days on end alone in his car with a rolling camera, plunged like a doughnut in scalding black despair, is fun to imagine, in a bleak, existentialist way.

A linear road movie in which silence and vastness and motion are meant to represent alienation and captivity, "The Brown Bunny" is part of a well-established tradition. It owes a debt — I'd say at least 50 bucks — to Monte Hellman's "Two-Lane Blacktop," plus 10 more or so to "Easy Rider." Although Gallo insists in ornery interview after ornery interview that he is not influenced by other films, the influence of certain contemplative European directors of the 1960s is apparent. Very little happens, but what does is felt deeply. He barely spares us the mundane details of road-tripping, but he consistently forgets to squeegee his windshield. His world is viewed through a grisly bug holocaust.

As for the scene featured in the billboard: Well, it's not exactly sextacular. (Although, to be fair, it beats watching Bud fill his tank.) In the production notes, the scene is described as "one of the frankest portrayals of male sexuality ever seen in American cinema," and I believe it. It frankly points out that even sex can be kind of boring sometimes. On the other hand, the sheer in-your-face weirdness of watching two well-known actors engage in real as opposed to pretend sex is something, though. Especially since to watch the things actors do to each other in standard studio potboilers is to be reminded of the things Julia Child used to do to chickens.

I hope I'm not giving too much away by revealing that "The Brown Bunny" concludes with an M. Night Shyamalan-type twist, only about $60 million cheaper. I love a surprise ending as much as the next person, but I tend to find them less satisfying after 92 minutes of mute despair. I never expected "The Brown Bunny" to close with a big finish, let alone two, and days later I still can't decide if I feel grateful or cheated.

Anyway, you can't blame Gallo for trying, no matter how clumsy the pass, to entice viewers to come along for the ride with a little something extra. Bud made nothing but clumsy passes from New Hampshire to California, and the man got results. Then again, those flower-ladies were easy. All it took to get young Violet in the van was a tremulous, high-pitched, "Please? Please come with me? Please?" Most of us require a little more convincing.


MPAA rating: Unrated. No one under 18 admitted.

Times guidelines: Unsuitable for most attention spans. Explicit (and we mean explicit) sex.

Vincent Gallo... Bud Clay
Chloë Sevigny... Daisy
Cheryl Tiegs... Lilly
Elizabeth Blake...Rose
Anna Vareschi...Violet
Mary Morasky...Mrs. Lemon

A Wellspring Release. Written, directed, edited and Produced by Vincent Gallo. Director of photography Vincent Gallo. Running time is 92 minutes. In limited release.

[lamas]

summary of Gallo interview on Howard Stern taken from www.marksfriggin.com

Director/Actor Vincent Gallo Comes In. 08/26/04. 7:25am
After the commercials Howard had the edited version of the Tom Brokaw news report where they fixed the bukakke reference. They had his report with the corrected city name of Buchalki in there. Howard replayed the original live version as well to compare the two.
Howard got a letter from someone who told him that his name is on some kind of prayer calendar. He is the focus of tens of thousands of people who pray for him every day. They were asking Howard to appear at this event where they would pray for him in person. Howard read through the letter and said that they gave him a number to call if he wanted to find out more. Howard said they may just have to make that call later on.

Howard said this guy Vincent Gallo once prayed for someone to get cancer and it worked. There were some other things that he quickly mentioned before Vincent came in and cursed on the air. Howard told him he can't use that word on the air and warned him about certain other words as well. Howard and Vincent went on to talk about an interview that Vincent did one time with the NY Times. They were supposed to let him see the final product and use a picture they supplied. The woman, that Vincent called a witch, made some changes so he ended up wishing cancer on her. Howard said that actually worked when he wished cancer on Roger Ebert and he ended up getting cancer. Gallo said that Ebert is a nice guy and it's nice to see him on a better diet now. Vincent called Ebert a fat pig after he got a bad review on a movie and then wished cancer upon him. On the Ebert and Roeper show they bashed this movie of his ''The Brown Bunny'' and really bashed it. Even Vincent said some stuff about the movie not being all that good. Vincent said he actually talked about how he made the movie for himself and it was kind of self indulgent.

Vincent Gallo got so upset with Roger Ebert about the things he said that he wished cancer upon him. Vincent said that many things that he has wished for, both good and bad, have actually come through. Vincent also went off on this guy up in Buffalo who calls himself Sandy Beach who has given him bad reviews.

Roger Ebert was on the phone to talk to Vincent about this whole cancer thing. Ebert said that he heard that Vincent has bad aim because he was trying to give him colon cancer but missed and gave him prostate cancer instead. Vincent and Roger have made up since the whole cancer thing but Vincent still dislikes the review he got from Roeper. It was a line about the movie being like a steaming pile of excrement is what got to him. Ebert said that he did see ''The Brown Bunny'' in 2003 and it was the worst film he'd seen at the time. Vincent has edited it since then and cut out 26 minutes of the movie. Ebert said he didn't miss one minute of it.

Howard asked Vincent what he thinks is the worst movie ever made. He heard that Vincent has even bad mouthed Robert De Niro. Vincent told Howard that he has inspired many bad actors and that's what he has said. He said Ed Norton is one of those clones. They were all over the place talking about other actors like Leonardo DiCaprio who Vincent once called the best looking chick around.

Roger told Howard that Vincent's comments about him really didn't bother him all that much. He knows that there are other actors out there who feel that way. Sean Penn once wrote him a letter defending one of his performances and he appreciated getting the letter from him because he was letting him know how he felt without just calling him names. Roger said you can see their review of Vincent's new movie on Ebert and Roeper this weekend. Howard let him go after that and got back to Vincent.

Howard talked to Vincent about how he likes feeling alone and won't get married. Howard believes that he doesn't really like women all that much although he does get laid a lot. There's a lot of controversy about his new movie because he has Chloe Sevigny giving him real oral in a sex scene. Howard just wanted to know if it was good oral. There were a few delay hits during this discussion so we missed out on some of it. Vincent did say that they did more than one take for the sex scene though.

Howard read through some of the notes he had about Vincent about how he screwed up his back so bad that he has trouble sleeping and has screwed up some relationships with some friends of his. He is friends with Johnny Ramone and kind of screwed up his relationship with him. Johnny is sick now and Vincent feels bad about that but he just didn't have enough time to spend with the guy.

Howard brought up some other names like Christina Ricci. Vincent has said some stuff about her being drunk on the set and how much better she was when she wasn't drunk. Vincent also said she was like a puppet and she did what he said when he made the movie ''Buffalo 66'' with her. He even called her the C-word. Vincent said she had a miserable publicist who wanted her to promote another film at the time instead of his movie. Vincent called James Cameron a pig at some point but even Vincent didn't remember doing that. He once called Quentin Tarantino an asshole. He motioned with his fingers that Tarantino smokes weed and said he does it all day and night.

Howard read that Vincent once made out with Darryl Hannah. Vincent said that was about all they did. He thinks she's really pretty but a little too tall for him. He also dated Paris Hilton. He said that she's the greatest and she's very sexual. He made a movie with her about 5 years ago and she looked great at the time. He said that she's the sweetest girl of all time in his opinion. Howard wondered why he didn't stay with her. Vincent said he just wasn't in love with her.

Howard asked Vincent about where he lives because he read that he refuses to leave the 300 square foot apartment he lives in now. Vincent said he owns about $7 million worth of real estate and lives in this 300 square foot apartment because he's been there so long. Howard wanted to get political with Vincent. He asked him about George W and why he's backing his administration. Vincent said there are some bright people in his administration but Howard couldn't believe that he was saying that.

Howard gave Vincent a plug for his movie ''The Brown Bunny'' that opens this weekend. Vincent told people to vote for Bush this November but Howard said that he wants people to vote for Kerry. The two of them differ on that stuff. Howard only spent a few seconds on that and then took some phone calls. A woman from Buffalo called in and got Vincent so pissed at her that he wouldn't stop with the S-word. Howard and Artie had to yell at him to stop. The delay was hit a couple of times during that. Howard asked Vincent about living up in Buffalo and about his parents who live up there.

Gary came in and told Howard that Vincent was a chronic masturbator when he was younger. Vincent said that he was actually arrested for that at one time when he was caught outside beating off. He tried to explain to Howard about what he did back then but the delay hits were coming left and right so we didn't hear much of this conversation. Vincent told the story about how he was caught by the cops beating off and how his father beat him for 9 days after that. He was told that he ruined the family so he was no longer allowed to be happy. After all of that Vincent never whacked off to any women out in public again. He said his mother never looked at him the same way again after that though.

Mariann from Brooklyn called in and said she doesn't know much about Vincent but she does kind of like him after reading about him. She was wondering what was up with him picking Cheryl Tiegs for his movie. He said making out with her was one of the highlights of his life. The guys also talked about Angelica Houston and how horrible she was.

Howard let a few more callers through. A couple of people had some nice things to say about Vincent. There were also a couple of people who don't like the guy and let him know. One guy told Howard to ask Vincent about Christina Ricci peeing on the set of the movie. Vincent said it wasn't on the set, it was at a restaurant in the middle of the floor. Vincent said that he heard from the crew members and the restaurant owner that she had done that but he didn't see it first hand.

Howard had Vincent go off on a few people that he hates. He had a whole list of about 10 people that he hates. He went off on all of these reporters and some other people calling them names. Vincent was also talking about a reporter from Page Six who he may just curse with cancer. He said it feels great to get that stuff out there and he would love to have a radio show where he could do that every day. Howard has wished cancer upon people in the past and has gotten into trouble with that. Most recently he wished cancer upon Lowry Mays and it seems to be working. Howard told Vincent that he can call in anytime he wants to wish cancer upon someone. He then started to wrap up the segment and gave Vincent a plug for his movie ''The Brown Bunny'' again. The movie opens this weekend and you get to see Vincent getting oral from Chloe Sevigny. Howard went to break after that.

[Finn]

Roger Ebert just gave The Brown Bunny a thumbs up on Ebert & Roeper

Who'd a thunk it...

[Raikus]

"Bizzaro, I love you. Bizzaro."

[MacGuffin]

Roger Ebert just gave The Brown Bunny a thumbs up on Ebert & Roeper

Who'd a thunk it...

He gave the re-edited version a thumbs up.

[MacGuffin]

Gallo Upset Over Poster Controversy

Movie star Vincent Gallo is upset his controversial poster for new movie The Brown Bunny has been stripped down from its Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, billboard - because he thought it was "beautiful." The huge promotional poster, which depicted a scene near the end of the picture in which Gallo's character has oral sex performed on him by Chloe Sevigny's character, was deemed offensive by many complaining motorists. Gallo, who also directed the controversial film, says, "I'm extremely disappointed. I just wanted to make what I thought would be the most beautiful billboard in the world. I used very extreme, bold composition and font and imagery because I felt that it related to the aesthetic sensibility of the film. Unfortunately, the billboard was reduced to something that it really wasn't."

[matt35mm]

http://www.suntimes.com/output/eb-feature/sho-sunday-gallo29.html

This (Roger Ebert's interview with Gallo) is the only thing that's actually made me want to see the movie.  Gallo comes off as a nice guy for once, and intelligently explains why Cannes happened, and why we should bother to see this one.

God knows why it took THIS long for this information to come out (the specifics of Cannes and what he cut from that version).  I still think it was wrong to advertise the movie using quotes that were garnered from the Cannes version ("No one in America will ever see a frame of this movie."  "The most controversial American movie of the year.") to build hype for this cut of the film, because this cut isn't controversial and this movie WILL be seen by Americans (it's still true that we won't see the Cannes cut).  But the controversy is pretty much gone because critics are now generally in favor of the movie and the BJ isn't as controversial as it is simply noteworthy.  I haven't really heard anyone say a word against that scene...

Anyway, good interview, and I'd give this a rental now after reading that.

[Jeremy Blackman]

Gallo comes off as a nice guy for once, and intelligently explains why Cannes happened, and why we should bother to see this one.

Intelligent except for this:

"Film has a purpose. It's not art. Real art is an esoteric thing done by somebody without purpose in mind. I've done that in my life and I'm not doing that making movies. I'm an entertainer. I love all movies. I don't divide them up into art films, indie films."[/list:u]

[cron]

Unless , of course, you disagree with the idea that Film is an Art.

[Sleuth]

You have to understand that by saying "Real art is an esoteric thing done by somebody without purpose in mind," he's really just advertising his own music.

[samsong]

Best film of the year so far for me.  I'll write more later, but for now I'll just say that The Brown Bunny completely blew me away.

[Ghostboy]

Intelligent except for this:

"Film has a purpose. It's not art. Real art is an esoteric thing done by somebody without purpose in mind. I've done that in my life and I'm not doing that making movies. I'm an entertainer. I love all movies. I don't divide them up into art films, indie films."[/list:u]

In a way, that reminds me of that PTA quote about how when he was writing PDL, all he thought about was whether audiences would like it.

Anyway, I saw The Brown Bunny this morning and it's really great. Not the best film of the year for me, for a reason that I won't divulge until others have seen it. Suffice to say, Gallo shows things at the end I wish he hadn't (and I'm not talking about the sex scene, which has such a slow and intimate buildup that by the time it happens it feels pretty natural, although no less depressing), but I think it's something pretty special. I'm looking forward to seeing it again.

It's not boring at all -- it felt a lot shorter than 90 minutes. But this is coming from someone who was thrilled by Gerry, so take that as you will. If you're like Matt35mm and are predisposed against the film, you probably won't like it. If you don't like Gallo from what you already know about him, you definitely won't like it.

Full review forthcoming.

[Redlum]

So glad that you two have liked it. That beautiful trailer completely hooked me and still leaves me desperately wanting to take the journey. I'm pessimistically awaiting the UK release date. As far as I can tell it hasn't even been submitted to the BBFC yet, which is a shame because I bet they'd be pretty easy-going with it.