An avid student of the depiction of youth in movies, I’ve taken to calling the twenties, as we live them nowadays, the benties, after the British word “bent,” for messed up. And, while I realize not everyone will have found this decade of late adolescence / imposed maturity as disconcerting as all that, I know …
White Bird in a Blizzard Written & Directed by Gregg Araki USA, 2014 Just in case the title wasn’t enough of a hint, White Bird in a Blizzard provides enough ponderous dialogue and artsy flourishes to reveal itself as the pretentious mess that it is. Unsure whether it’s an indie mind-screw or a conventional …
To commemorate that yesterday, May 17th, was the International Day Against Homophobia, here’s a spotlight on some influential films in queer cinema (within the last decade or so and in no particular order) that gave way to more visibility and awareness within media and popular culture . Brokeback Mountain (2005) Who could forget the incredible …
Doom Generation Directed by Gregg Araki Written by Gregg Araki 1995, USA Gregg Araki’s highly stylized, vibrant dark comedy/road trip is still in many ways the very best of his “Teen Apocalypse Trilogy.” It’s often compared to Natural Born Killers, but unlike NBK, Doom carries with it a sense of humour, and its protagonists …
Kaboom Directed by Gregg Araki Written by Gregg Araki 2010, USA, France Kaboom should be worse than it is. Much worse. 18-year-old Smith (an adequately engaging Thomas Dekker) is a film major who might be “a three or a four [out of six]” on the Kinsey scale as theorised by London (Juno Temple), a blonde …
One of the angriest, most unconventional, and relentlessly intriguing voices in independent cinema, filmmaker Gregg Araki has begun filming on his latest project, a small indie film centered on teenage sexual awakening, gay or otherwise. Joining the cast as the group of college students is Thomas Dekker (The Sarah Connor Chronicles), Kelly Lynch (Drugstore Cowboy), …