I just saw Nowhere, the only Gregg Araki film I've seen. As the credits rolled all I could think of was 'If someone is willing to finance this film, I must be able to convince someone to finance mine." It was a tremendous boost to my confidence.
I don't know anything about him, but he must have some serious connections in order to get the actors and money for this film. Does anyone know how he managed to pull it off?
I'm trying really hard not to say what I think of Nowhere, the title says it all.
He was a Sundance kid, from the same school as Tarantino. Nowhere was his fourth film, so he'd established some clout by that point. But I'm probably shouldn't say anything else about him until I've actually SEEN one of his movies (I've seen parts of The Doom Generation, but that's it).
"no me gusta. :yabbse-thumbdown: "
i love nowhere. and seem to be the only one here. doom was okay, it had its moments.
araki had allready garnered critical acclaim with "the living end" and "totally fucked up." even "doom generation" got a cult rep.
he has a new film in the works. might be good, might suck. but im looking forward to it. only thing known about it is the title "mysterious skin" maybe its based on this book http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060926864/102-6223765-1951318?vi=glance
I really don't like Araki, but if anyone wants to revive the Queer Cinema item by moving this discussion there, that would be swell. Just a suggestion.
araki is worth nothing.
boo!
Quote from: GhostboyHe was a Sundance kid, from the same school as Tarantino. Nowhere was his fourth film, so he'd established some clout by that point. But I'm probably shouldn't say anything else about him until I've actually SEEN one of his movies (I've seen parts of The Doom Generation, but that's it).
Christ, he did The Doom Generation....*clasps his hands over his mouth as he stifles a dry heave.....*
Quote from: Cecil B. Dementedhe has a new film in the works. might be good, might suck. but im looking forward to it. only thing known about it is the title "mysterious skin" maybe its based on this book http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060926864/102-6223765-1951318?vi=glance
You are correct, Cecil:
Gordon-Levitt & Corbet Creep Into Mysterious SkinSource: The Hollywood Reporter
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (3rd Rock from the Sun) and teen newcomer Brady Corbet will star in the lead roles in Gregg Araki's indie drama "Mysterious Skin."
The project, which is shooting in Los Angeles, also stars Elisabeth Shue, Michelle Trachtenberg, Bill Sage, Jeff Licon and Chris Mulkey.
Based on the novel by Scott Heim, the project is the story of two boys who meet when they are 18 and discover a common past that has shaped both of them in different ways. The story takes place in New York City and Kansas.
Shue plays the mother of Gordon-Levitt's character, Trachtenberg portrays his best friend, Sage stars as a baseball coach, Licon plays a friend of both boys at different times, and Mulkey portrays the father of Corbet's character.
The Doom Generation was the movie for me that said "Hey, you can do anything you want and someone will like it." I like TDG, and NoWhere. Splendor I hated. Maybe I like a couple of his films b/c it was an early exposure to the world of indie filmmaking, but I like them all the same. Heavily stylized and filled with cheesy imagery, perhaps it's a gimmick but I have copies of both those movies. i think it's just a love-it or hate-it thing. But damm Parker Posey was funny in TDG!
I've only seen Nowhere. it was one of those movies that I liked. But always watched bits and parts of it at different times. I have a couple of his flicks in my netflix queqe I think.
Nowhere seems to be a continuation of the themes established in The Doom Generation. I think this is why only these two Araki films appeal to me. The Living End, and Totally F**ked UP don't appeal to me at all. as for Splendor, it seems kind of a glossier Araki movie. perhaps an attempt to cross over out of obscurity, like Kevin Smith's Chasing Amy. At any rate it didn't work for me.
i hate hate hate hate hate gregg araki!!!!
he's over rated (the director) but i do think an oscar should have gone to the guy who played logan on baywatch for his role in Nowhere. that was a ballsy move on his part! just think of it, he played himself in the film... then raped a girl mid way through the story. career suicide for sure, but i'll give him cred none the less. i just didn't see it coming. he was counter to what anyone would expect from an actor playing him/herself in cinema. usually actors are to cautious to endanger their image and it seems he took a huge leap with this role. any thoughts?
being a film student, i always wanted to write a script in which famous actors play themselves and do really horrible things. it would have a paramount subversive effect on the audience. that would put an original spin on the subjectivity of reality within cinema. Charlie kaufman would do a good job with it because it's the next leap from the "Being John Malkovich" and "Adaptation" shtick. for example, just imagine all the cameos in robert altman's "the player" painted horrible pictures of themselves. i'd fucking love it! that's what i'm waiting to see in a film!
-sl-
just remember if anyone rips me off, you read it here first.
Quote from: socketlevelfor example, just imagine all the cameos in robert altman's "the player" painted horrible pictures of themselves.
In a way, isn't that pretty much what did happen with a number of those cameos...? Or did I misinterpret?
Gregg Araki's films are cheap cinematic hucksterism; I find that they're roundly awful, very slick and glib and pointless, even on a purely aesthetic level (the only level you could begin to even think about tolerating them on, since the acting, writing, etc are abysmal). He's like a one-joke drunk guy at a party who also happens to be a grad student and therefore believes everything he says is of the utmost significance. Ugh.
He should pay
me to watch his movies!
i like your analogy gordardian, it's true his films get very tired. they are good for grade nine stoners who think it expands their minds. weird for the sake of being weird never works and is quite pretensious.
in regard to the "the player" maybe i wasn't clear. my intentions with such famous characters i proposed would act to subversify the audience's interpretations of all "famous" individuals. the audience isn't surprised by the behavior of the characters in "the player" because they already expect most "stars" to be assholes. it was good that altman exposed this quality in certain actors, but it is however a common belief. i'm interested in situations much like the character in "Nowhere," in which the audience has a certain threshold of what to expect when an actor plays themself on screen and then destroying that belief system. this is done by making the characters do horrible acts, not just simple degrading acts.
this technique could also be inverted, in which the actor who is generally considered an asshole, or has some other well known problem (ie. collin farrell's drug addiction or charlie sheen's sexual expliots) and make them a redemable character. this would change people's belief systems (both ways) and enable them to realize and open their minds to a different reality of hollywood then is normally depicted. it's funny because we normally get a picture of what hollywood is like based upon the fabrication of hollywood itself. it's just a big smoke screen of the most immature people in the world. why should we care so much? i think "Nowhere" helps defunct such meathods of creating "Idols." and so does "the Player," but a futher unearthing of such truths could be realized.
it's interesting how the root of your name is godard, godardian. i'm assuming that you are a huge fan of his work and if so you would have one of the best understandings of what i'm getting at. we can look to his film "Contempt" and see that he too likes to play with reality (of course this isn't the only film that he explored such issues). Fritz Lang plays himself to show the savior of cinema in this film and the audience pays special importance to him because of this. he is playing himself. i find this notion very interesting and effective. tell me what you think.
-sl-
ps. i'm sorry for my shitty spelling
I understand what you're saying now... you mean an actor playing themselves, but playing against type (whether type be fact or fiction- playing with the public perception?). I like that idea, too. Even though Tom Cruise wasn't playing himself in Magnolia, I loved that he was willing to play someone so flawed and really unlikeable the majority of the time- the one the audience would recoil from first, even if he's not the ultimate "bad guy."
very true, cruise's character is like that, but his story is about redemption and forgiving his father. his character is interesting because he ends up becoming what his father used to be, the very thing he loathed. the cycle is complete and his character might be able to break the cycle in his life after the credits role.
while i do give cruise credit for his portrayal of frank t. j. makee, there is one major difference between his character and the character in "Nowhere." Frank is a horrible person at the beginning of the film but seems to have redemable characteristics at the end. In "Nowhere" Jaason Simmons' character is portrayed in a positive light, then is later exposed for who he truly is. part of what aids this character's initial judgement in the audience is the fact that he's playing himself. we, the audience, automatically think he's a good guy because we could never imagine him doing such a horrible act. so well into the plot we are blown out of our fucking seats by his predatory behavior, that's amazing! and very effective storytelling.
adaptation touched on this with susan orlean's character, because we know she's a real person, we would never expect her to be capable of murder at the end of the film. the only thing is it would have really blown me off my fucking seat if susan orlean had played herself in that role. too bad she's not an actor.
-sl-
So I watched Splendor tonight. I didn't really dig it. I liked Nowhere but havent seen it since I was 13 years old. Splendor bugged me because it mixed drama with comedy in the wrong kind of way, oh well. I liked nowhere so I will watch Arakis other stuff.
The horrible Araki is going to be doing a film of a pretty bad book, Scott Heim's Mysterious Skin. I can wait.
Araki promotes 'Skin'
Directly across the street from the DGA's headquarters on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, filmmaker Gregg Araki is sitting at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, discussing his latest film, "Mysterious Skin." Araki is not a member of the DGA; but, he notes, someday he might join.
Working outside of the mainstream for much of his career, Araki has eight edgy, independently made films to his credit. In such movies as "The Doom Generation," "Nowhere," "The Living End" and "Splendor," he has explored characters living on the edge in story lines that have sometimes been odd and often intense, quite frequently sparking their share of controversy.
Araki's "Mysterious Skin" is very much in that tradition, though it also marks a departure for the auteur. For one thing, it is the first time he hasn't worked on his own original material, instead choosing to adapt the critically acclaimed novel by Scott Hein. It tells the often unsettling, emotionally charged coming-of-age tale of two boys whose lives steer in opposite directions following one summer when, as 8-year-olds, they were molested by a baseball coach.
The film, which is courting distributors, will be unveiled at the Venice International Film Festival in Italy and the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival.
The filmmaker acknowledges that the material as well as some of the scenes in "Skin" might be considered provocative and risky by some, but that isn't what excited him about the project.
"When I read 'Mysterious Skin' years ago, it made me cry," Araki says of the book, which he brings to life onscreen with the assistance of potentially career-boosting performances by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Brady Corbet. "I understand that some of the film can be uncomfortable or hard to watch, but the reason I had to do the movie is because of the journey these two characters go through.."
The film follows Neil (Gordon-Levitt) down a road of drinking, drugs and prostitution, while Brian (Corbet) blocks out memories by developing a whole alien-abduction fantasy -- hard-core Araki fans will know that it's not the first time aliens have figured into one of the director's movies.
Casting "Skin" -- which also features Elisabeth Shue, Michelle Trachtenberg and Bill Sage as Coach -- convinced Araki that its subject, though often unspoken, is not uncommon in society. "What happens in the movie is so much more common than anyone can imagine," he says. "It sheds a light on something that should at least be talked about, but it doesn't offer any solutions -- there aren't any solutions. But for me, the story in the film is brave and confronts something that people would rather not talk about."
Perhaps that's why he says he's more proud of "Skin" as a finished film than any of his other work, citing its "raw and authentic" feel. "People have always tried to accuse me of trying to be shocking for shocking's sake, but the shocking elements in, say, 'Doom Generation' came from a really sincere place," he says. "Same with this movie. It has elements that are unsettling, but the material transcends those darker elements. There is nothing gratuitous; it's all in the service of the story. And though I'm not afraid of controversy, I don't go actively to seek it out."
Tartan, TLA Get Under Araki's 'Skin'
"Mysterious Skin," the new film from Gregg Araki ("The Doom Generation"), will be arriving in U.S. theaters in May.
Tartan Films USA and TLA Releasing have partnered to jointly acquire North American rights to the feature, which stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt , Brady Corbet, Elisabeth Shue and Michelle Trachtenberg. The film had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival and its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Based on the novel by Scott Heim, "Mysterious Skin" explores the hearts and minds of two very different boys who turn out not to be as different as they appear.
Tartan and TLA will release the film theatrically in May and on DVD in fall 2005. Under the companies' exclusive agreement, TLA distributes all DVD and video product from Tartan Video.
I watched The Doom Generation this morning, and thought it was decent - it was pretty funny, and had a retro 90s feel that made me like it more than I might have had I seen it when it first came out. I think the thing that I liked the most about it was how he labeled it so overtly as a 'A Heterosexual Movie By Gregg Araki' in the opening credits. Having not seen his two previous films, I wonder if that's not a response to them - as well as a joke in and of itself, since the movie has so many blatantly overt homosexual tones.
Has anyone seen myserious skin yet? I've heard the book wasn't very good but this film has caught my interest. There seems to be an onslaught of direct to video fare with tag lines of "Can a regular gay guy find love in the big city?" and then a picture of a man forefront pondering something and behind him on each side a firefighter bronzed out and a waiter holding snails on a server carrier. I don't think any of them are good and maybe it's a trend that has always been there but I never noticed. I think Araki really strives to make movies for all people but gets caught up in trying to create interesting homosexual characters but ultimately fails. I think mysterious skin may be different though, the book is intriguing to say the least. Sounds kind of like Bad Education in a way.
It has its own thread.
oh well.
'Smiley' girl: Faris high on Araki comedy
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Anna Faris is starring in "Smiley Face," a stoner comedy being directed by Gregg Araki. The film, which begins production this week, is being produced by First Look Studios' Henry Winterstern and Kevin Turen along with Anonymous Content's Steve Golin and Alix Madigan.
The story, penned by first-timer Dylan Haggerty, centers on a young actress and hopeless slacker (Faris) who, after she inadvertently ingests her roommate's pot-laced brownies, attempts to manage her day as it goes awry through a series of misadventures.
Also cast in the film are John Krasinski ("The Office"), John Cho ("Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle") and Jane Lynch ("The 40-Year-Old Virgin").
International presales for "Smiley Face" are being handled through First Look International.
First Look is looking at the film as a way to diversify its slate, which this year includes the Nick Cave-penned "The Proposition," starring Guy Pearce, Danny Huston and Ray Winstone; Larry Clark's "Wassup Rockers"; and the Wes Craven-produced horror movie "The Breed."
'Smiley Face' Turns Into A Frown: Anna Faris Comedy Going Straight To DVD
Flick will only make one theatrical appearance, despite strong Sundance reception.
Source: MTV
CULVER CITY, California — Eight months ago, Anna Faris' newest film played to standing-room-only crowds at the Sundance Film Festival, prompting the star of the high-grossing "Scary Movies" series to admit she'd never heard so much laughter during a viewing of one of her flicks.
Over the summer, under-the-influence R-rated films like "Superbad" and "Knocked Up" ruled the box office, seemingly setting the stage for the next great stoner comedy. But now, those looking forward to "Smiley Face" should brace themselves for news that will leave them with a frown: What could potentially be the next great cult comedy is getting dumped onto DVD.
"It might get a small release," the actress revealed when we caught up with her recently, barely holding out hope. "For sure, it will be out on DVD in a few months."
At the risk of breaking the news not only to fans of R-rated comedies, but also to Faris herself, the studio holding the rights to "Smiley" has confirmed that it plans to quietly show the film in one Los Angeles theater, and then release it straight to DVD in January.
Perhaps you're wondering why the MTV Movies team would waste its energy writing about the sort of DVD burial that happens in Hollywood every day, and you're right to do so. The answer is a simple one: "Smiley Face" remains one of the funniest films we've seen in 2007, and it deserves better.
"I just love playing characters," Faris said of her taking on the role of Jane, the first notable female cinematic stoner to follow in the proud tradition of Cheech, Chong, Rory Cochrane in "Dazed and Confused," Brad Pitt in "True Romance," Harold, Kumar and the "Half-Baked" gang. "I got to wear pajamas every day, which was awesome."
The flick co-stars such fan favorites as John Krasinski, Adam Brody, Danny Masterson and Danny Trejo, and is the first straight-out comedy directed by indie darling Gregg Araki. Its irreverent plot kicks off when the clueless Jane accidentally eats an entire plate of pot cupcakes in the morning, only to realize that she still needs to complete such simple tasks as paying her bills, going to the dentist's office and backing her car out of its parking space.
In January, "Smiley Face" seemed like a sure bet to break out Faris, who portrays Jane with an eye-opening mix of physical humor and utter lack of vanity (she spends much of the movie crawling around on bathroom floors, scarfing down munchies and wearing baggy outfits that make Krasinski's crush on her all the more hilarious). Much like "Harold & Kumar," "Dazed" or "Dude, Where's My Car?," instantly quotable catchphrases assail the viewer in rapid succession, as do offbeat scenes that are rewarded with repeat viewings.
Yet, despite recent theatrical releases for DOA duds including "Captivity," "I Know Who Killed Me" and "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters" — released on 800 screens by First Look Studios, the same company that owns "Smiley" — no one is willing to take a chance on a breezily original flick that makes you laugh hard.
"You've gotta come with me," Anna Faris shrugged, referring to the one-theater release. "You've gotta help me pack the theater."
With a gutsier studio behind the film, and a half-decent publicity campaign promoting a major release, Faris probably wouldn't need our help.
It totally deserves to go straight to DVD... what a horrible piece of crap this movie was. So incredibly unfunny... all the humor is built around bad played-out stoner jokes.
hahaha, hedwig, i can't believe you were looking forward to this.
fool!
I guess I was the only one who really liked 'Smiley face'....sigh...but I really like characters who are aggressively stupid
'Kaboom' adds four to cast
Thomas Dekker, Kelly Lynch join Gregg Araki indie pic
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Gregg Araki is detonating his next picture.
The writer-director ("The Doom Generation") has cast Roxane Mesquida, Thomas Dekker, Kelly Lynch and Rooney Mara in "Kaboom," which follows the sexual awakening of a group of college students. Araki is shooting the indie feature now.
Araki, repped by Untitled Entertainment, is the director of "Smiley Face," "Mysterious Skin" and "The Living End."
Repped by APA and Untitled, Mesquida has appeared in "The Last Mistress" and "Fat Girl." This will be the French actress' American feature debut.
Dekker, repped by ICM and the Schiff Co., starred in "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" and recently appeared in the feature "My Sister's Keeper." He next appears in the remake of "A Nightmare on Elm Street," releasing in April.
Lynch, repped by Talent Works and Crestview Entertainment, appeared on Showtime's "The L Word" and in the features "Charlie's Angels" and "Road House."
Mara, repped by Gersh and Sanders & Armstrong Management, next stars in "Youth in Revolt," hitting theaters in January, and "Nightmare on Elm Street."
yikes sorry, couldn't find the Mysterious Skin thread so I had to coat tail on the Gregg Araki thread
who says Mysterious Skin is a bad book? whoever says this movie or book was bad was never raped or molested as a child
this movie was necessary in showing the perspective of a young child in such a situation and how they are emotionally stilted for life, in one way or another, afterward
Since I don't know any of you personally I can let you in on the following.
my girlfriend was raped as a 3 year old and we watched that movie together and I've never cried more for anyone this has happened to nor has she ever seen a movie that depicts such terrible things so accurately.
Filmmakers and artists need to take more risks like this one to tell it like it is
Quote from: AntiDumbFrogQuestion on October 10, 2009, 11:35:03 PM
yikes sorry, couldn't find the Mysterious Skin thread so I had to coat tail on the Gregg Araki thread
It's fine. But in case you want to read other members' comments:
http://xixax.com/index.php?topic=7519.0
I think I'll always have a soft spot for Araki because his movies were some of the first independent films I ever saw. I can see now how terrible most of them are, but I'll watch anything he does out of the personal nostalgic factor.
Mysterious Skin is pretty damn good, though.
I've only seen Mysterious Skin and The Doom Generation and I liked both. I'm kinda curious to see the movies that you're saying are terrible.
Nowhere is pretty bad. That was probably the first independent film I ever saw.
Smiley Face is awesome fun: Anna Farris' best comic timing/faces, stoner plot with Marxist undertones - what's not to like?
Quote from: MacGuffin on October 10, 2009, 11:49:43 PM
Quote from: AntiDumbFrogQuestion on October 10, 2009, 11:35:03 PM
yikes sorry, couldn't find the Mysterious Skin thread so I had to coat tail on the Gregg Araki thread
It's fine. But in case you want to read other members' comments:
http://xixax.com/index.php?topic=7519.0
Thank you, MacGuffin!
Quote from: children with angels on October 13, 2009, 04:07:27 AM
Smiley Face is awesome fun: Anna Farris' best comic timing/faces, stoner plot with Marxist undertones - what's not to like?
The fact that it's not even kind of funny is what's not to like. I couldn't stand how forced the humor is and how un-real the stoner characters are. I walked out during the screening.
So you didn't get to the Communist Manifesto being strewn across the beach like so much waste paper and being picked up by underpaid refuse workers?! It's seriously beautiful!
No - fair enough: I can see that it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea. I think you probably have to find Faris inherently somewhat hilarious (as I do) to be quite so charmed by her absurd interpretation of a stoner here... Also, it's the total unreality and lack of logic in the narrative that makes it so wonderful: the lack of plot drive conveys both crippling mundanity and surreal flights of fancy in a totally deadpan way - it's just one thing, then something else, then this odd encounter here, then a socialist revolutionary speech there, but all done through this character with this fucking goofy smile and this nonsensical interpretation of events, being played by the best comic actress of our time, who ultimately sees things as equal, and probably fine, when all's said and done... Because she's stoned, and thus isn't seeing life as a narrative that could possibly make coherent sense.
And her dialogue is so simultaneously matter-of-fact commonsensical and out-of-this-world stupid:
"When I'm get home I'm gonna frame pictures of a bunch of stuff I love. Like lasagna. I love lasagna. It's SO good... And cheesy. You know who else loves lasagna? Garfield. Man... that cat really loves lasagna. Maybe I should put a picture of Garfield in a frame. You know, as a kind of shorthand way of saying 'I love lasagna.' That would be so fucking inside... Or how about a photo of President Garfield? Oh shit...! That would be totally META!! People would be all like: 'Jane, why do you have a photo of President Garfield on your mantle?' And I'd be like: Because I like lasagna of course...!!!"
It's stupid at the same time as it's clever, and dumb at the same time as it's smart. It really is one of the weirdest films I've ever seen, and I can completely understand why most people would hate it, but for me it totally clicked - and, just to clarify, no: I am not a total stoner.
Anna Faris is the bomb. She's pretty much the best thing about all the awful movies she does.
So have you not seen Smiley Face? It's her Raging Bull! (Though I haven't seen House Bunny...)
Gross. I don't wanna watch anything where she packs on the pounds.
Gregg Araki And Steven Soderbergh Team Up For Starz Series 'Now Apocalypse'
via The Playlist
Starz just announced a new series, and judging by the talent involved, the show is shaping up to be unlike anything else on TV.
Executive produced by Steven Soderbergh, who had previously worked with Starz on "The Girlfriend Experience," "Now Apocalypse" was just given a 10-episode straight-to-series order from the network. Filmmaker Gregg Araki, best known for films "Kaboom" and "Mysterious Skin," is also on board the series, where he will co-write and direct every episode.
"Now Apocalypse" follows Ulysses and his friends Carly, Ford, and Severine, as they venture on various questions pursuing love, sex, and fame. As Ulysses deals with sexual and romantic dating app experiences, he begins having foreboding premonitory dreams that the reality around him. According to Starz, the series "explores identity, sexuality, and artistry, while navigating the strange and oftentimes bewildering city of Los Angeles."
"If this isn't the craziest thing I've ever read, it's tied for first," said Soderbergh. "We will not be responsible for people's heads splitting in half when they see it."
"Gregg brings an incredibly unique and adventurous story to the Starz brand and we cannot wait for the world to meet the bold, sexy and fun characters of 'Now Apocalypse'," said Carmi Zlotnik, President of Programming for Starz. "It's exciting to bring diverse and compelling storytelling to the screen as part of Starz's ongoing programming strategy to provide premium content to reach underserved audiences."
As mentioned above, Araki is co-writing the series and is joined by writer Karley Sciortino, the author/columnist who created and hosts the series "Slutever" on Viceland.
Araki hasn't directed a feature film since 2014's "White Bird in a Blizzard," but has been scratching his TV itch on a variety of series, including "American Crime," "Red Oaks," and "13 Reasons Why." Exec producer Soderbergh is no stranger to TV, either. While he has worked with Starz previously, as we mentioned, he's also responsible for "The Knick," Netflix's "Godless," and HBO's "Mosaic."
"Now Apocalypse" doesn't have a release date, but will soon join the aforementioned "The Girlfriend Experience," "American Gods," "Ash vs. Evil Dead," "Sweetbitter," and other series on the premium network.