Weekend Review: Movie Log Day 4

Its been a great weekend with a little snow and some time with my friends. But there isn't a day that goes by that I am not reviewing entries for the acid house. These next two movies on Wikipedia's list were both very good but I am not sure they belong in this very specific sub-genre. First up is Almost Famous...

ACID HOUSE PROFILE






MOVIE: Almost Famous
DIRECTOR: Cameron Crowe
YEAR: 2000
DRUGS INVOLVED: Tranquilizers, Acid, Cannabis

At the turn of the millennium we were given a glimpse into a turbulent time in the world of rock and roll. After the 60's rock explosion and the lift of the censorship that hit rock early on it started the process of being commercialized. "Almost Famous" takes a look at this period and does a damn fine job of it if I do say so myself. Headlined by some great guys like Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Billy Crudup, and even an excellent cameo by Jimmy Fallon also with some beautiful ladies like Kate Hudson, Zooey Deshnel, and once again Anna Paquin. The story is about a young aspiring journalist, William Miller (Patrick Fugit), who also happens to have a long standing love affair with rock and roll. After meeting a writer for Cream Magazine (Hoffman) William is catapulted into writing an article about a band he is a fan of named Stillwater and against the wishes of his very conservative mother (Frances McDormand) goes on tour with the band. Battling against a band that thinks he is the enemy, a bunch of groupies that are distracting them, and the bands constant in-fighting William has to struggle to get his article written in time.
This movie is an excellent period piece very accurately showing the struggle of what many bands were going through at the time and the tenuous relationship that those bands had with the media outlets that covered their success and failure. The acting is all top notch especially the very aloof lead guitar player of Stillwater played by Billy Crudup. This is largely a comedy movie with a dramatic main plot-line driving the way, so if you like rock and roll especially the rock of this period you have to see this movie. When talking about this movie as a member of the acid house I have to say that I don't think it truly belongs even though the "golden god" scene almost had me. This movie is much more of a period piece then it is a drug film but I still love it.

SUMMARY:
ACID HOUSE APPROVED: Negative
WHY WAS APPROVAL DENIED: More of a period piece
FAVORITE SCENE: "golden god" nuff said
ACID SCORE: A definite 8 hits out of 10


ACID HOUSE PROFILE






MOVIE: American Beauty
DIRECTOR: Sam Mendes
YEAR: 1999
DRUG INVOLVED: Cannabis

A few academy awards went to this look at modern family life, and by modern i mean dysfunctional. Our story takes us to a typical town and a typical family with the disaffected Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) having problems with his marriage, his job, and the relationship with his daughter. His uptight wife is sleeping with another man, his daughter thinks he is a pervert when he starts showing interest in her friend, and he is on the brink of getting fired until he meets his new next door neighbor voyeur Ricky Fitts (Wes Bently) and starts to take back his life.
This movie is a fine piece of cinema with a great performance from Kevin Spacey, a gay Scott Backula, and Mena Suvari's tits. With that kind of a combination who the hell needs a plot-line but this movie is rife with rich characterization and a modern, relevant and intriguing story. The Oscars that were given to American Beauty were all well deserved but the drug use in this, only comes in the form of Ricky not only being interested in video taping Jane (Lester's daughter) but also being a pot dealer. In this film the drugs are used more as a plot vehicle (or a catalyst since the turning point for Lester comes after he smokes pot with Ricky for the first time) and not as the basis for the actual movie. You wont find better visuals, characters, or story in too many other movies but this is just not cut out for the acid house.

SUMMARY:
ACID HOUSE APPROVED: No
WHY WAS APPROVAL DENIED: Not exactly a drug film
FAVORITE SCENE: Covering Mena Suvari in roses half naked... can't get much better then that
ACID SCORE: A very high 9 hits out of 10

Movie Log: Day 3

Now continuing through the letter "A" we find a good movie and a really awful one. In addition to watching some great drug movies I also have been enjoying Mass Effect 2, that game kicks ass.

ACID HOUSE PROFILE






MOVIE: Across The Universe
DIRECTOR: Julie Taymore
YEAR: 2007
DRUGS INVOLVED: Acid, Cannabis

What is more Acid House then the Beatles, especially the Sgt. Pepper album. Our story takes us into the life of a liverpool dockworker named Jude who is on the eve of heading to the states to find his father. Along the way Jude meets up with Max and his sister Lucy along with Prudence, Sadie, Jimmy Hendrix, and Doctor Robert as we take a walk through the 60's, the Vietnam War, and two star crossed lovers. The story is really secondary to the backdrop that is The Beatles soundtrack.
First and foremost the music is AWESOME!! Lots of original re-imaginations of the Beatles music with a very talented group of voices that cover the range of the Beatles from "I've Just Seen a Face" to "Helter Skelter". Match all that up with some insane visuals (some of which pictured above) were amazing too. With all of that who really needs a plot but there is one, a rather loose one, but there is a beginning and an end for sure. I only have a few gripes with the film just in that I would have cut a few of the songs and some of the unnecessary character stuff other then that this movie was tops for me. Now as to if it should be in the Acid House or not I say if this one doesn't belong then this list is null and void... Its true, all you need is love!!

SUMMARY:

ACID HOUSE APPROVED: Yes
MOMENT WHEN APPROVAL WAS CONFIRMED: The Doctor Robert sequence without a doubt
FAVORITE SCENE: The rooftop concert at the end was a nice homage
ACID SCORE: 9 hits out of 10


ACID HOUSE PROFILE






MOVIE: Alice
DIRECTOR: Jan Svankmajer
YEAR: 1988
DRUG INVOLVED: Acid

Alice in Wonderland is the first book about both pedophilia and nasty acid trips so I figured this Swedish art film interpretation of the story would be a good addition to the acid house... WRONG!!! The plotline naturally we all know, little girl and a rabbit and a key and a cat blah blah blah. When you are watching an alice movie you are supposed to suspect the unexpected but the sock puppet like creatures that are employed in this version are not only poorly done but also terrifying. This is more of a bad acid trip then a good one. The non existent dialogue, the creepy little girl that the camera man is constantly trying to get up-skirt shots of, and as I mentioned before the crazy puppet creatures make this thing nearly unwatchable... I need the 2 hours of my life back that this unholy piece of cinema took away from me.

SUMMARY:

ACID HOUSE APPROVED: No way
WHY WAS APPROVAL DENIED: Because this film was a little too ahead of its time
FAVORITE SCENE: None that I can think of
ACID SCORE: Just 1 hit out of 10

Tomorrow two more films vie for Acid House contention, stay tuned sports fans.

Movie Log: Day 2

A great day of movie watching today including a surprising first entry from the letter "A". Snow this morning that hardly lasted at all and since I dont like snow that is definitely a good thing. Tonight I am picking up my aunt and uncle from California but first I thought I would take a look at our next two applicants. Up first "51st State"


ACID HOUSE PROFILE






MOVIE: 51st State (Formula 51)
DIRECTOR: Ronny Yu
YEAR: 2001
DRUG INVOLVED: Formula 51 (fictional drug)

This bizarre drug deal flick had all the makings of a good Acid House flick when I first vetted it. Its about drugs, check, has Samuel L. Jackson in a kilt, check, and more pills on screen then a pfizer factory, check. While it did have the makings of a good Acid House flick and indeed a good movie in general, I am not so sure about this one. The concept was what drew me in immediately: Chemist Elmo McElroy played with the incredible range that is Samuel L. Jackson has manufactured the perfect drug, 51 times more potent then Heroin, Cocaine, Acid, and Meth all put together and in order to get top dollar for his product he screws over his partner and goes to Liverpool. After getting to Liverpool however he finds unloading his product much harder when he has an assassins rifle at his back.
This is a Sam Jackson movie so it goes without saying that most of the acting in this is pure shite. However as I said I liked the concept so I was in on it but what I found isn't exactly what I suspected. The storyline was rather aloof and lots of the characters just got lost in a jumble. The cinematography is not much to write home about and other then a few cool explosions and gun fights I was largely disappointed with this film. Some sunny spots were Robert Carlyle who is in quite a few Acid House Movies if memory serves who plays the snarky soccer loving liverpudlian aid to Jackson's character and Meat Loaf playing the partner Jackson screwed over. All in all the film was halfway decent but also halfway sucked and I do not believe it belongs in the Acid House.

SUMMARY:
ACID HOUSE APPROVED: No
WHY WAS APPROVAL DENIED: Just was not a strong enough movie
FAVORITE SCENE: Robert Carlyle sets off a road flare in the pub of another soccer team
ACID SCORE: Only 5 hits hout of 10


ACID HOUSE PROFILE

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MOVIE: The Acid House
DIRECTOR: Paul McGuigan
YEAR: 1998
DRUG INVOLVED: LSD

One would think that a movie after the namesake of this blog would easily be a shoe in for admittance. Well if you were a betting man you would be dead wrong. This Scottish flick came about in the late 90's making it one of the earlier of the family but it is definitely lacking. The movie has 3 built in alternating storyline each with their own subtitle: The first is the story of Boab who is having a very bad day and ends up getting laid off from work, dumped by his girl, and his parents even throw him out of the house. In the second Kevin McKidd is a husband desperate to get his love life back in shape, and finally the story of an acid trip and a bolt of lightning and what they have to do with seeing God.
Now don't get me wrong, this flick had its moments (the ones I could understand) but ultimately fell short of its title for me. First of all you have to realize that the brogues we are dealing with are so think that the language hardly sounds English at all. I understand there is a subtitled version out there and I would wholly agree to placing subtitles with the text in this film. And while trying to include classic storytelling elements from pieces like Kafka's "Metamorphosis" its so aloof that its too aloof to be an acid house film. I think if they stuck to one storyline cleaned up the dialogue a bit and reworked some acting stuff you might have a good film on your hands but in the long run it was lots of promise and no delivery.

SUMMARY
ACID HOUSE APPROVED: No
WHY IS APPROVAL DENIED: plot-line is far too aloof and heavy accents make it hard to understand
FAVORITE MOMENT: Realizing that thick brogues make scot's sound like their drunk without being drunk.
ACID SCORE: This one hardly gets you high at all, a lowly 3 hits out of 10

Until tomorrow Acid House fans where I will be looking at some Beatles music and and a 80's art film about alice in wonderland.

Movie Log: Day 1

Well day 1 didn't go particularly well, for my dad at least. Poor guy got rear-ended on the way home from work, this translated into me picking him up. However I always have time for movies, Today I watched the first 2 entries into the "Acid House": The first being "The 25th Hour" and the other being "Fifty Pills".

ACID HOUSE PROFILE






MOVIE: 25th Hour
DIRECTOR: Spike Lee
YEAR: 2002
DRUGS IN QUESTION: Heroine, Ecstasy

This is a spike Lee joint which makes it a quick candidate and while not a total Acid House movie I will definitely allow it to be the first entry in our list. A pretty strong group of actors (Ed Norton, Phillip Seymor Hoffman, Barry Pepper, Rosario Dawson, and Anna Paquin) came together with a great set of dialogue and storytelling in this fine piece. Your basic plot rundown goes something like this: Monty (Ed Norton) was a high roller in New York City selling Heroin, that is until the DEA busts him for it. As we go back and forth from the past and present we find out that Monty is going to jail for about 8 years and must say his goodbyes to his friends. His first top is to his old high school to meet his friend that now teaches there (Hoffman), and his best friend who works at a stock broker firm (Pepper) as they gear up for one last night of freedom.
The internal struggle that monty goes through mulling over his decisions of what to do next mixed with the non-linear storytelling, a surprise guest star in former NFL player Tony Siragusa, and that Spike Lee magic make this a very well done film. This movie is plenty quotable and memorable and leaves a strong final message. The cinematography was pretty damn good in this, and the movie has a very definite flow from beginning to end. I would easily say that this is one of Spike Lee's finest.

SUMMARY:
ACID HOUSE APPROVED: Yes.
WHAT MOMENT WAS APPROVAL CONFIRMED: When Anna Paquin admits to having taken Ecstasy to her teacher played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman.
FAVORITE SCENE: The very Spike Lee esque monologue that Norton does in the bathroom that was reminiscent of "Do the Right Thing".
ACID SCORE: I give it 8 hits out of 10

ACID HOUSE PROFILE






MOVIE: Fifty Pills
DIRECTOR: Theo Avgerinos
YEAR: 2006
DRUG IN QUESTION: Ecstasy

For what must have been a very low budget the director and crew did quite a bit I believe. This little indie from director Theo Avgerinos takes a look at Darren, the average college guy who has a little problem. Only 2 days after starting school both he and his roomate are looking at academic suspension after throwing a raging party. All is well after that until Darren goes home for Thanksgiving break and Coleman throws another party where he gets caught with alcohol. Even though Darren isn't there he still has to pay the price and is having his scholarship money taken away. In one day Darren has to raise roughly 8 thousand dollars, but Coleman feeling bad about what he did presents Darren with an oppertunity: sell the 50 Ecstasy pills he has and get the money to the office in time. The cast is a very obscure one although I recognized Lou Taylor Pucci who plays Darren as one of the supporting cast from "The Informers". The one recognizable face was Kristen Bell (TV's "Heroes", "Gossip Girl") who plays Darrens love interest on campus.
I would say this movie is quick and quirky in all the right places and puts a bit of a light hearted spin on the world of drug sales. I also like how a much used plot device (average joe placed in an extreme, sometime life threatening situation) was applied to drug sales like it was here. It also helped that I sympathized with Darren's character a little since I had a less then pleasant roommate my first year of college. All in all I would say this passes the qualification of not only being a decent popcorn flick but also being a member of the Acid House.

SUMMARY:
ACID HOUSE APPROVED: Yes.
WHAT MOMENT WAS APPROVAL CONFIRMED: As Coleman is explaining to his depressed roomate how he can pay for next semester.
FAVORITE SCENE: Darren goes home and his parents end up believing he is gay.
ACID SCORE: I give it 7 hits out of 10

So thats all for today sports fans. Tommorw I finish up the numbers and begin work on the first letter of the alphabet in the hopes of discovering more entries to the Acid House. Stay tuned till then.

The Acid House

The “grindhouse” is a family of films created in the 1970’s that were exceedingly bloody and violent with usually little plot line behind them. While this family has its own large following I would like to recognize another house of films that has come into its own lately, the “acid” house. In order to get into this house your film has to be about drugs or drug culture, it can be fictional or non-fictional, historical or pure fantasy. The genra type in this family is usually very artistic, pushing the limits of visual storytelling, camera and lighting work, even utilizing animated sequences. Some people will find these movies hard to understand and may be called “art” films but they are all a guilty pleasure of the avid film watcher. Every day I will be going through a list of films about drugs and commenting on the way that movies allow some of us a cross cultural view into the world beyond our own imagination.

I will be starting out with film titles that have numbers in them and then taking it alphabetically from A to Z. Each film will be analyzed and scored to see if it truly belongs in this new developing sub-genre. At then end we will have a definitive list of cult classics, films that stretch the limit of what a film can and can not contain.