Spring Breakers

Reviews from the Dark Side presents
Spring Breakers
Released 3/22/13, now in theaters

Child/teen stars Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, and Ashley Benson try to shed their good girl images in the new thriller, Spring Breakers.  Directed by Harmony Korine, the film also stars Rachel Korine (the director's wife), James Franco, and Gucci Mane.

Brit (Benson), Faith (Gomez), Candy (Hudgens), and Cotty (Korine) are college students who have been friends since childhood.  To escape the doldrums of college life, they decide to go on Spring Break in Florida.  The only problem is they don't have enough money between the four of them for  the trip.  Unknown to Faith, Brit and Candy don face stockings and rob a local restaurant while Cotty drives the getaway car.  Although taken aback by her friends' actions, Faith joins them on the trip to Florida with the stolen money. 

Reaching their destination, the friends blend seamlessly into the wild partying local scene until they are arrested one night when a drug party is busted.  Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you look at it) for the girls, two partyers busted with them are members of the local rapper's/gangster's crew.  Alien (Franco) takes pity and posts bail for the girls.  He proceeds to take them on a journey through his seedy world and involves them in his feud with area drug kingpin, Big Arch (Mane).  As the four friends find themselves through the events of Spring Break, the question becomes who will leave this wild life behind and who will revel in its debauchery?  And will any of them survive the experience?

When I saw the trailers for Spring Breakers, I thought it might be a trippy thriller.  Well, the trippy part applies.  Mostly, however, Spring Breakers is an allegory of girls behaving badly.  Sometimes very badly.  And the audience learns much about these young women.  One is really a good person at heart.  One is a fake wild child.  By that I mean, it's not all fun and games for her when things get real.  Two are outright sociopaths.  This all could have been fascinating if only the material weren't presented in such an annoying manner.  I know the way the movie was shot with frequent flashbacks to wild partying was supposed to be symbolic of these girls lives spinning out of control, but it was infuriating to watch at times.  The film also had the maddening habit of repeating dialog.  You missed a line?  Don't worry.  It'll be repeated at least five more times before the movie meanders on.  What was supposed to be artsy (at least I guess that's what Korine was going for) just turned into a mess.  Actually, I shouldn't be surprised.  Korine was also responsible for another movie depicting out of control teenagers called "Kids" which was widely acclaimed but did nothing for me. 

If Gomez, Hudgens, and Benson were attempting to change their images, mission accomplished.  Although given the path Gomez's character ultimately takes, she has a chance of getting work from Disney again (*snicker*).  And I'm not quite sure how to take James Franco here.  He definitely comes across as a lowlife scumbag thug.  But it's also quite comical watching him try to be "gangsta."  Hillbilly hardcore is more accurate if you ask me.  And I usually don't comment on someone's appearance, but on a completely unrelated note, Gucci Mane has to be one of the most aesthetically unpleasing looking men I've seen in long time (Jay-Z, you have competition buddy). 

There's one other thing that bothered me a little.  Now, I watch plenty of movies and TV.  I read comic books.  I enjoy professional wrestling.  I am well versed on suspension of disbelief.  But am I expected to believe two bikini clad college students (don't ask why they are in bikinis to do this) armed with two automatic machine guns are going to take out a compound full of gangster thugs who know they are coming?  Just asking.

For those who care, there are a multitude of images of topless, partying college girls, alcohol and drug use, and plenty of gratuitous cheesecake shots of the four leading actresses.

I had high hopes for Spring Breakers.  It is a kind of surreal experience that you want to like for its artful approach to what could have been a banal subject.  However, the ball is fumbled by a script that seems to just spin its wheels for 90 minutes.  This is a movie that is better seen on late night cable as opposed to a movie complex.


The Dark Lord of the Sith says:

**1/2 stars

Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee. Buy this on DVD when released!
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.

Stoker

Reviews from the Dark Side presents
Stoker
Released 3/1/13, now in theaters

Park Chan-wook of Oldboy fame makes his English language film debut with the thriller, Stoker.  The script was written by Wentworth Miller (any Prison Break fans?) and stars Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman, Matthew Goode, and Dermot Mulroney.  Before I begin, I would like to inform horror fans now who know nothing about the film that Stoker is not about Dracula or vampires period...are you still here?  Let's begin!

India Stoker (Wasikowska) is a reclusive teenager whose only friend is her father, Richard (Mulroney).  When a mysterious car accident claims his life, she is left alone in her family's vast estate with her emotionally unstable mother, Evelyn (Kidman), who makes token efforts to reach her introverted daughter, but can never reach her.

 Both of their lives are upended when they meet Richard's brother, Charlie, at the funeral, an uncle India didn't know existed.   Uncle Charlie seems perfect in every way.  He's smart, charming, and resourceful.  And Evelyn is infatuated with him, a fact that doesn't sit well with India.  She goes on a mission to learn her uncle's secrets and learns some disturbing facts along the way.  When India is attacked by a classmate one night, she is rescued by her uncle in disturbingly brutal manner.  However, instead of being horrified by the act, she is now strangely drawn to her mystery relative.  More disturbingly, witnessing this act may have awakened something in the emotionally awkward teen that his scarier than anyone could have imagined.

When I think about how to describe Stoker, several words come to mind.  Words like strange, disturbing, mysterious, weird...well, you get the point.  The Stoker family could use a lot of time on a psychiatrist's couch.  That is if they aren't cooling it in a prison cell.  It's a darkly Gothic and beautiful film that leaves you with the feeling of dread at times. That said, the plot does meander a little bit as India struggles through what can only be described as a miserable life (albeit self-inflicted) after her father dies.  If you can survive the first 35-40 minutes or so, you will begin to be rewarded as the little action that does happen is often fast and blinding. 

The standout performer in Stoker is easily Mia Wasikowska as the lonely, introverted India.  She has a dark, almost soulless demeanor as she makes her way through the film.  It's a perfect marriage to the dark spirit and themes of Stoker.  Her performance would elicit some empathy if some of her actions weren't so disturbing. 

Stoker may elicit some comparisons to Hitchcock's mind-bending thrillers with its twists and turns. It is not a horror movie in the truest sense, but it can make you a little uneasy at times.  It is a film worth your time if you are a fan of the genre.

The Dark Lord of the Sith says:

***1/2 stars

Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee. Buy this on DVD when released!
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.