Reviews

Although perhaps not widely considered as one of Wadja's better films, it would be superb if it were the work of a lesser director. Aside from being interesting and unique look into the world behind the camera, this film is so much more. The personal nature of the film shines through and one cannot help but respect the thoughtful way in which Wadja created this homage to Zbigniew Cybulski. There are so many wonderful nuances in this film that it is difficult to relate or even absorb them all. One of the most prominent themes in the film that stood out was the blending of reality and fiction. Wadja seems to develop this theme throughout the film in relation to developing the characters and the reality in which they live. However, that's just my opinion and it's quite possible that I am grossly misinterpreting that aspect of the film. But that said, it's an amazing film and if you like Wadja's other work, it's a very slim possibility that you will not like this one. Unfortunately it's difficult to get a hold of, but if you have the opportunity to get it, I would recommend (for whatever that's worth) that you not pass it up.

Although this film has its moments (they are few and far between), overall it does not succeed as a full length outing. The twenty minute short that it started out as was tight, intriguing and left the viewer interested the whole time. In this elongated version though, it seems as though Red Braddock was not quite sure what to work in to expand the film. It turns out to be a watered down, meandering script and a rare good performance by William Baldwin and the serviceable Angela Jones are somewhat left adrift. It's just my personal opinion, but Quentin Tarantino should have listened to Red Braddock when he was hesitant about expanding it into a feature. I must admit though that it was interesting to see the "blue blood" killer developed a little more (however minute that expansion onto the original character was). To bring this to a point, despite its shortcomings, it's worth seeing in all its black comedy quirkiness just once...but don't make a special trip to rent it.

The Doom Generation is quite possibly the worst film I have ever seen. I personally am at a loss as to why Gregg Araki receives the critical praise that he does. But, I concede that I am perhaps looking at it from a narrow point of view. I've only seen The Doom Generation and Nowhere so I don't have too much background in terms of Araki's body of work. Never the less, it seems to me that The Doom Generation is simply a pointless tail of three young adults carrying out acts of violence that have no real point. The acting is deplorable, the dialogue is trite, and the "symbolism" is about as subtle as being poked with a white hot cattle prod. I have heard people attempt to justify this film with comments such as "...the purposely bad dialogue is excellent..." and "it wonderfully depicts the decline of American youth..." but I don't buy it. But hey, quoth Dennis Miller, "That's just my opinion, I could be wrong." Films such as A Clockwork Orange and Kids deal with vaguely similar subjects matters but are far superior to The Doom Generation. Stay as far away from this as you can...unless you're in the mood to see one of the worst films out there.