Movie Reviews for Hardcore Collection

Hardcore Collection

	List Price: ~~$19.53~~ Our Price: $19.49 You Save: $10.42 (35%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $16.99 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases

Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

Movie Reviews of Hardcore Collection

Movie Review: pretty good
Summary: 4 Stars

Came on time and was good. Only thing is that the case was beat up a little in the mail but besides that good.

Movie Review: Depraved
Summary: 3 Stars

Remember the scenes in movies like "Less Than Zero" when the characters go to one of those avant-garde bars where all the "cool" people hang out, bars where they always have those severely warped art films playing on giant television screens? I'm willing to bet those films came from the mind of someone like Richard Kern, if not Richard Kern himself. "Hardcore" is a collection of Kern atrocities packaged together for discerning viewers who care not a whit for such banalities as plot, acting, pacing, or editing. When I came across this DVD on yet another one of my infamous rental excursions, I figured I would give it a shot. Oops. While a few of the "films" on the disc inspire some interest, most of the material included in this collection went way over my head. Maybe it's because I don't live in New York City, usually can't stomach obscure, offensive art house cinema (I do love obscure, offensive cinema however--just not art house), and generally appreciate it when the director at least acknowledges the centrality of plot, acting, and pacing. Since many of the films on the disc clock in at just a few minutes, including a couple of music videos, I'm going to try something different with this review. I'm going to reproduce the notes I took when I watched the disc; I wish I could do so word for word but I can't because of the subject matter. Here goes:

Death Valley 69: gory Sonic Youth music video with murdered family and cruise missile imagery. The first of many pieces featuring Lydia Lunch.

The Right Side of My Brain: Love/hate relationship with pornographic sex and atonal sound effects. Female lead engages in internal monologue (nihilistic, of course). Again, with Lydia Lunch and also starring Henry Rollins.

You Killed Me First: Typical story of anarchist kid (Elizabeth) rebelling against family's consumerist and religious values. Ends when the disturbed kid guns her family down.

The B******: I'm censoring this one. Too far over the top to explain what it is. I'm not even going to risk spelling out the title!

The Sewing Circle: Again, I can't say what happens, but this is one intense piece. Nauseating, but interesting if you can stand body mutilation. The girl on the sewing end of the circle is wearing a "Young Republicans" T-shirt, too! They all flash identification at the end of the film, probably in an effort to head off an obscenity prosecution.

X is Y: People playing with firearms with telephone sound effects in the background. Music by Cop Shoot Cop.

Fingered: Lydia Lunch mans the phones in this obscene, profanity-laced ode to murder and misogyny.

Horoscope: Woman dreams of dancing with men after reading horoscope and watching "Studs."

Submit to Me Now: Oddballs dancing, leering at camera--lots of nonsense--guy shaving a nontraditional part of his body (!) and man ripping his own throat out, woman stabbing herself to death.

My Nightmare: Decidedly unsavory dream sequence.

The Manhattan Love Suicides: First film, Stray Dogs, about artist and persistent fan. Second film, Woman at the Wheel, about woman fighting with men in order to drive her own car (An aside here: I liked this film more than any other in the collection. It is actually quite amusing!) Third film, Thrust in Me, about necrophilia, suicide, and bathtubs. Fourth film, I Hate You Now, about deformed guy and his girlfriend.

Submit to Me: Rehash of Submit to Me Now.

The Evil Cameraman: Another misogynistic piece involving women of all races caught up in rather violent situations. The members of NOW would have a collective heart attack watching this stuff.

Get the idea? That's the best I can do considering the limitations of a public forum. All of these films together run for nearly three hours. Several of them are quite short, at four or five minutes, but The Manhattan Love Suicides consists of four films that run for nearly an hour. Kern's music videos, I must say, aren't that bad. He's obviously not directing videos for Yanni or Kenny G, though. Kern shot most of the films in black and white, probably because of the lower cost of the film stock. The stuff he did in color only serves to bring home in a more forceful way the abject depravity of the subject matter. "Hardcore" is definitely not for the kiddies. In fact, if you pop this one in the DVD player when the youngsters are in the room, you might hear social services knocking at your door.

It's difficult to imagine these films have a loyal following. I could see film students studying them since learning how to shoot in any cinematic format is a definite plus when gaining knowledge about the ins and outs of the profession, but just watching this to watch it? Get outta here. Only art house snobs would consider watching "Hardcore" a second time, probably in order to identify some deep philosophical meaning that makes them feel superior to the mindless, television watching rabble. I'll buy the notion that much of Kern's work is experimental in nature, and as such does have a certain daring in some of the pieces, but to call it high art is an insult to high art.

Movie Review: Decent Enought.....I Guess
Summary: 3 Stars

I learned about Richard Kern through the back cover of Sonic Youth's EVOL album in which a scene from Submit To Me with Lung Leg was placed. I soon fell in love with Kern's photography and jumped at the offer to buy the DVD collection when it came out. I got it, watched it (sometimes barely) and decided I'd rather stick to the photographs. Don't get me wrong, it's still cool, but maybe not my shtick. Manhattan Love Suicides was probably my favorite although a few others were decent too. If you're a diehard fan...get it. If you're not sure...make sure before you buy. If you've only heard of him...go with the photography first.

Movie Review: Overrated
Summary: 3 Stars

Some of the negative reviews of this DVD have stated that the porn and sleaze outweighs the other experimental and artistic value of the clips. This seems to be true; most of the films seem like punk trash porn with not enough substance. However, there are about 3-5 shorts including the Death Valley '69 and You Killed Me First that are actually somewhat good. For the rest it was just a headache to sit through. I was also expecting something more from Lydia Lunch, rather than playing the cliché punk rock slut over and over again.