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
(IMAGES NOT AVAILABLE)
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.
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