Reviews

Being a community college teacher, I am not looking forward to confronting the rampant new breed of machismo that Vin Diesel promotes in his new crap-fest "XXX." The porno-title is appropriate given that this movie is masturbatory and similar in dramatic structure to the porno. There is no prevailing logic to the film, and, in fact, most video games have a more comprehensible plot. No surprise--the movie sucks. But, as I watched it at the drive-in last night, I wasn't so bothered by the incoherence--it made me laugh. What I was most bothered by was the thought that this frighteningly mind-numbing piece of celluloid is the pinnacle of popular entertainment at the moment. What frightens me is that people love it. Don't pay for it, people! Don't stand for it! Demand more! Don't throw your money into the incinerator known as Hollywood! Free the dynamic human spirit!

Lotso Milazzo's Comment: Incomprehensible plotline, self-mastabatory special-effects--felt dumber leaving than when I went in. Oppressive stuff, Vin!

Saw this film in a wonderful class on Japanese new wave cinema (thanks, Jyotsna). Along with Imamura's "Ballad of Narayama," some of the finest Japanese work I've seen. This film is brilliant in its portrayal of modern voyeurism and its psychological implications. Beyond that though, it stands out as a film preparing us for things to come in the cinema of the 90's. It took pt Anderson's "magnolia" to finally bring full circle some of the innovative qualities of this truly amazing film. Note the merging of the wonderful score and the main character's consciousness at the end of the film. Shocking, sad, and beautiful.