uk.youtube.com/watch
When i was in my mid teens...somehow i found Gregg Araki. I was insanely obsessed over his film... as well as Ingmar Bergman .(don't ask me HOW a black kid from the suburbs adopted such infatuations)
Araki was premium filmic joy. I basically used The living End to come out to my first fag hag....and the Doom Generation was my manifesto in high school. Over time I got so jaded i became a soft jello bubble...and I can't fully connect with the Gregg Araki obsessed me. But i know he was there and i did some crazy ass shit at 19 and 20 because of his early films.
I lost touch with Gregg after Mysterious Skin (beautiful!) and two days ago i found out he directed a stoner comedy with Ana Farris! That one note actress bitch! come the fuck on. Travesty.
Lets remember Gregg for who he was and mid twenties indie fags unite. We all remember parker posey saying....
uk.youtube.com/watch
...And Nowhere was
uk.youtube.com/watch
When i was in my mid teens...somehow i found Gregg Araki. I was insanely obsessed over his film... as well as Ingmar Bergman .(don't ask me HOW a black kid from the suburbs adopted such infatuations)
Araki was premium filmic joy. I basically used The living End to come out to my first fag hag....and the Doom Generation was my manifesto in high school. Over time I got so jaded i became a soft jello bubble...and I can't fully connect with the Gregg Araki obsessed me. But i know he was there and i did some crazy ass shit at 19 and 20 because of his early films.
I lost touch with Gregg after Mysterious Skin (beautiful!) and two days ago i found out he directed a stoner comedy with Ana Farris! That one note actress bitch! come the fuck on. Travesty.
Lets remember Gregg for who he was and mid twenties indie fags unite. We all remember parker posey saying....
uk.youtube.com/watch
...And Nowhere was
uk.youtube.com/watch
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SF Bay Area
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Re: Gregg Araki Nostalgia
Thu, April 10, 2008 - 9:59 PMAND James Duvall was the SHIT back in my day. -
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Re: Gregg Araki Nostalgia
Mon, April 14, 2008 - 4:56 PMAnd the soundtrack's were fucking CRUCIAL to my young, developing and now delinquent mind. I was too young to know that Nine Inch Nails bootlegs existed at that age and just found the idea so romantic... the bootleg and the cheating.
Yes, "Smiley Face" is fucking awful. It's so poorly constructed and boring that it has an effect on you much like pot - you forget why the hell yr watching it in the first place!
Btw, hi! It's been a while. Why, I don't know. Maybe it was the indie record store thing where I had all the dissection of music I needed before going out into a world that had no idea what I was talking about most of the time. -
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Re: Gregg Araki Nostalgia
Tue, April 15, 2008 - 5:01 PM>>>>>>I lost touch with Gregg after Mysterious Skin<<<<<<
Awesome film (movie). I just saw it a couple of weeks ago. Must to rent it again.
Terry -
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Re: Gregg Araki Nostalgia
Tue, April 15, 2008 - 7:15 PMagreed. it's by far one of my favorite films of the last few years. i just finished the author's (Scott Heim) new novel the other day. "We Disappear". it was ok but unfortunately doesn't compare to "Mysterious Skin".
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Re: Gregg Araki Nostalgia
Sat, May 3, 2008 - 6:57 PMI don't know how many times I masturbated to James Duvall while watching "Totally Fucked Up".
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Re: Gregg Araki Nostalgia
Sat, April 19, 2008 - 10:44 AMJack!! No way!! Dude, SMILEY FACE is fuckin hilarious. Ana Faris is GENIUS in this movie. Have you seen it? Aha!....I'll place a bet that you haven't...silly boy. It's one of the funniest, most re-watchable movies I own, Araki or no Araki - and yes, I proudly bought the damn thing cuz its just so easy to put on (and the boys love it!...laughing with a cute date, what's better?)
And, damn I know you all think I just love to disagree, but Smiley Face is the ONLY Gregg Araki film I would ever display on my shelf. Mysterious Skin is a good film, and a serious one - clearly his best - but sorry, just too icky to watch more than once, no matter how much I appreciate that he grew up. Yup, I'm sensitive.
Bottom line: Araki films pre-"Mysterious Skin" are the film equivalent of Fruity Pebbles. Colorful and delicious in a kidlike, chemical flavoring kind of way, but ultimately junk food that makes your poo turn green. Some of the dialogue is snappy, I can't help but think he watched "Heathers" too many times and wanted to one-up the screenwriter with a zany, uber-hip take on adolescent nihilism. Sum up Gregg Araki scripts in one word? Immature. Its no suprise that of his two watchable films, one was based on a book ("Mysterious Skin") and the other was written by someone else ("Smiley Face").
The best thing about Gregg Araki has always been his taste in music - referencing Cocteau Twins song titles ("Pearly Dewdrops Drops" in Doom Generation), closing that film with Slowdive's best song "Blue Skied An Clear," ...Seefeel's "Air Eyes" playing during the kick the can/ecstasy sequence in Nowhere... Including My Bloody Valentine's remix of Lush's "Sweetness & Light" on the Splendour soundtrack... The Chemical Brothers' amazing "Star Guitar" during the opening credits of "Smiley Face"...Araki certainly can make an amazing mix tape for a total shoegaze fag like myself.
Now for some full disclosure: in 8th grade I decorated my binder with photos from Doom Generation. That was the same year I saved up my allowance for like two months to buy the Cocteau Twins box set.... hehehehe
"Um, like, can't we just be in love and stuff?" -
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Re: Gregg Araki Nostalgia
Sat, April 19, 2008 - 12:20 PMHave to completely agree with Benji. I always thought of Araki as 'for the kids', but I loved Smiley Face enough to buy it. Anna Faris is already kind of a beloved indie-darling when not cashing her Scary Movie paychecks. (She was so great as the dyke in Lucky McKee's May, and she was the only good thing about Lost In Translation.)
SF definitely seems to be a love-or-hate kind of thing though. People either seem to compare her to Buster Keaton or claim it's the worst thing they ever saw. I thought it was no more or less realistic or plot-filled than any other pot movie, but it starred a chick instead of making her the mommy/sex-object for a bunch of snickering man-boys, had no fag jokes, and had a bit of style...which actually makes it incredibly unique in that genre.
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