Spun (Unrated Version)
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Movie Reviews of Spun (Unrated Version)
Movie Review: "I'm just killing what I can't take care of."
Summary: 5 Stars
'Spun' follows the lives of several methamphetamine addicts through their wasted, roller coaster days, but this is not your ordinary 'drug' film. The ambience and atmosphere is so in-tuned with this degenerated culture that you can smell the illegal drugs cooking. Giving the plot away would be moot, since it is a portrayal of everyday life for people of this particular scene.
So, what separates 'Spun' from the rest of the drug flicks? Gritty realism, hilariously bizarre scenes, atmosphere, some great acting, and a complete lack of fear on the part of the creator and the director to dive into the nastiest of behaviors and expose them as pathetic and comical.
The sets are what you will see in real life meth houses. The dress and behavior of the characters is very realistic. My only real problem with the movie is that some of the jerk/flash camera work gets a little annoying, but still serves its purpose of bringing the "tweak" to the screen.
Interspersed in the film are some ridiculous cartoon scenes that are a riot, and two cops that parody TV shows like "Cops" and "Bounty Hunters", along with flash stills and hilarious action music. I am going to be haunted forever by the Spider Mike (John Leguizamo) scene where he is jumping up and down on the bed with a sock on his unit while abusing himself. You'll see what I mean, Leguizamo is brilliant in his role.
Mickey Rourke has proven himself to be quite an actor, a chameleon who can adapt to any role. In 'Spun', he plays The Cook, a nasty loosing white trash cowboy type who cooks the dope for the gang. Watch for Ross's (Jason Schwartzman) hallucination of The Cook's all-American speech in the video store. "Ask not what the kitty can do for you (substitute the 'P' word for kitty), but what you can do for the kitty."
Look for a surprising performance from Brittany Murphy (Just Married, Sin City) as Nikki. The more I see of Brittany's work, the more I like her as an actress. Eric Roberts (playing The Man) may have had one bad role after another, but his part in 'Spun' is perfect for him and very well done. The Man, with his earring and his muscle boys and his overdone lisp was too funny to watch. Roberts worked with Rourke in 'The Pope Of Greenwich Village' back in the early 80's, and its plain that they still mesh as actors.
Watch for Debra Harry (80's group Blondie) as Ross's nosy neighbor, and Ron Jeremy, the king of p*rn, as the bartender in the strip club. All in all, 'Spun' is a movie with a serious twist that will leave you laughing in the wake of the character's bizarre activities. This is one of the best drug/bad behavior movies I have watched, right up there with 'Requiem For A Dream' and 'Kids'. Truly, a must-see movie. Enjoy!
Movie Review: Wehomebrew
Summary: 5 Stars
First off, I can't stress how good this movie is. Stop reading this and click on the 'Purchase ASAP' button. This is a masterpiece of the Drug Cinema and 'Masterpiece' is what it should be called. Every day you hear about meth lab's exploding, or how meth literally destroy's a persons life. Watch this movie and you will get the full effect of what 'Meth' can do to a person. With an all-star cast also : Jason Schwartzman (Ross), John Leguizamo (Spider Mike), Mena Suvari (Cookie), Patrick Fugit (Frisbee), Peter Stormare (Mullet Cop), Brittany Murphy (Nikki), Mickey Rourke (The Cook), Deborah Harry (The Lesbian Landlord), Eric Roberts (The Connection Man), Chloe Hunter (April Love), Elisa Bocanegra (Giggles), Julia Mendoza (LaSad Girl), China Chow (Stripper), Billy Corigan (The Doctor), Nicholas Gonzalez (Angel), Josh Peck (The Fat Boy) and Ron Jeremy (The Bartender). The soundtrack is provided by none other than Billy Corigan from The Smashing Pumpkins (Great Job Billy, Awesome soundtrack). Three days of epic drug binging become a meth-induced odyssey for college drop out Ross when he becomes the local crystal meth cook's personal driver in exchange for free drugs. Bouncing from one bizarre situation to another, Ross slowly slips deeper and deeper into the crazy anonymous world of speed freaks in which there exists no boundaries or morality. Oh yeah, I forgot to add a green dog to the list of people above. Get ready to see the city through eyes that can't sleep. Their all Spun folks! You owe it to yourself to get the 'Uncensored Director's Cut'. This is a Tour de Force of grunge atmosphere... A swaggering journey into Hell that conveys a chortling amusement. With a hip gallows humor. Jonas Akerlund did an Amazing job with this movie.
It also has these special features :
* Director and Writer Commentary
* Producer and Writer's Commentary
* Widescreen Presentation
* Audio English 5.1 (Dolby Digital), 2-Channel (Dolby Digital), French 5.1 (Dolby Digital)
* Scene Selections
* Interactive Menus
* Music Video
* Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
* Deleted Scenes
* Theatrical Trailer
* TV Spot
* Last, but not least is the super funny 'SPUN' Cook trailer (That will make you laugh for sure).
Now that all of that is said, go down to your local porn shop and you might see The Cook dressed up in his USA costume. Enjoy this folks, it doesn't get much better than this one. I watched it again, right after I watched it the first time (It's that good, I'm sorry Great, I mean freaking AMAZING)! Stop reading this and buy this ASAP. If you love movies that are out there, this one is for you! You can Thank me later, or just give me a helpful vote! Enjoy it!
Movie Review: Very entertaining, one of my absolute favourites...
Summary: 5 Stars
Okay, first off, please do not listen to all the pretentious reviewers who turn their nose up at "Spun", constantly repeating "Requiem for a Dream" in a pathetic, unoriginal mantra. This movie is highly imaginative, enthralling, and kept my interest the entire time. A friend of mine had it on video and said I should see it, so I had no expectations...and I was surprised to find it one of the most enjoyable movies I've ever seen.Again, regardless of what other negative reviewers have said, there is a plot line to the movie - watching the actions and events surrounding a group of speed freaks on a meth binge. It isn't pretty, it isn't insightful, and that's the point of the movie itself.
Though the running theme is a bit dark and depressing (but alas presented a very humorous light), the characters are beautifully pathetic. Everyone was fabulous - Mickey Rourke, Brittany Murphy, Jason Schwartzman, everyone! My personal favourite was Patrick Fugit's portrayal of the loser Frisbee and his spastic tendancies (someone I haven't seen mentioned enough!). And, yet again, in contradiction to other reviewers, there is some character development; we discover the reason why our main characters are what they are, and in full honesty, there isn't much else to the character to know. All they have are their roots and their craving for another hit. The point of the movie was to show the disillusionment that lead to their lifestyle, the disillusionment they had concerning their drug habit...as Jason Schwartman says near the end, "..and the greatest thing about it is, I'm not hooked!"
Not only is the story well done, but the stylistic elements were superb. The quick actions, the animations thrown in at just the right moments, even the lighting in every scene was perfect! The director uses a variety of techniques to add humor and a bit of insight into what the characters are experiencing. Everytime I've seen this film, at the end I feel a bit dizzy and overwhelmed - it effects you that heavily.
I'm not one to go off and buy DVDs all the time. I only buy them if I know it's a movie I want to watch over and over again. "Spun" has joined that category of rarities that I enjoy watching constantly. As others have mentioned, it's not for the light at heart, or those looking for a serious look at drug addiction. It's not out to show the deep loving side of methheads, but the mindless lives they end up leading because of their out of control habits. Great story, awesome characters, not to mention a perfect soundtrack...what else is there to say?
Movie Review: The world of meth addicts is highly intoxitcating.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a film that centers around 5 meth addicts. Ross(Jason Shwartzman), Nikki(Brittny Murphy), Cookie(Mena Suvari), Spider Mike(John Legizimo), and Frisbee(Patrick Fugit). It centers mainly around Ross and Nikki and The Cook(Mikey Rouke) in which The Cook has Ross do jobs for him and he drives him around town in exchange for Meth. Ross has been up on Meth for days and days. Then, all somehow everybody's whole lives go spinning down the drain, as one by one of them have some key event that signals the beginning of the end for them.
This film wears its influences on its sleeves. I was noticing hints of Lost Highway(The long road with only headlights to light it up), The animation sequences from Natural Born Killers, and the downfall of all the characters lives and the ending from Requiem For A Dream. Some people have written reviews saying that this movie is a Requiem For A Dream rip-off. When in retrospect, that is only part of the plot. The film has a highly original way of telling the story, and Jonas Åkerlund provides his music video experience, which sucessfully gels with the pace, tone, and feel of the movie. The movie was fast paced, head-spinning, weird, quirky, and random. The cast was maginificant, Jason Schwartzman was great as Ross, he really got the part down, and did a solid performance. Brittany Murphy as Nikki was solid, too. Although, I don't like some of the movies that she was in. She really took this part and made it shine. John Lezigumo's performance was outstanding in the short amount of time that he had on screen. Same thing goes to Mena Suvari. Patrick Fugit was disapponting, mainly because nothing really big happend to his character towards the end. Mickey Rourke as The Cook was brillant, because The Cook was cool, and Mickey Rourke is cool.
This film was a great one. It is a masterpiece of the drug cinema, and can solidly put itself among some of the best movies.
I liked it and had a great plesure watching this enjoyable film.
Movie Review: A Wakeup Call
Summary: 5 Stars
A wide-awakeup call, in fact. About five days worth. That's the amount of 24 hour cycles, Ross, the central character spins through in this relentless movie. Yes, this film is derivative. Shades of Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers (the animation sequences, especially), David Lynch's Lost Highway (a repeated shot of the dark, empty highway ahead, illuminated only by the car's headlights), D.J. Caruso's The Salton Sea (also about tweakers, with Mickey Rourke here substituting for Vincent D'Onofrio as Mr. Space Cowboy, menace 2 society, honkeytonk hairtrigger), and Darren Aranofsky's cutting-edge, Requiem for a Dream (similar downward spiralling of characters and not too dissimilar an ending). So why the five stars, you ask? Because this film, while borrowing heavily from its sources, is still entirely original and innovative. Swedish born director, Jonas Akerlund has taken his music video sensibility and "tweaked" it to an extreme, combining visual and aural sensations in entirely novel ways. The camera work must be seen to be believed. Reviewers who denigrate the script are missing the point. This movie is about the camera. This is not herky-jerky, cinema verite, hand held camera work we're talking about here. This is carefully story-boarded, minutely crafted creativity at play. There are shots that could only have occured to a director who is either as crazy as his characters are (or as drug addled) or to someone possessing something along the lines of cinematic genius. Maybe it's a combination of all these. As this is Akerlund's first foray into feature films, I guess we'll just have to wait for his next movie (Lords of Dogtown, in pre-production) to decide. Don't worry yourselves about from whom, or from what, Akerlund is borrowing. Real artists worth their salt openly acknowledge that they're only building on the works of those who have come before them. I have a sneaking suspicion that Akerlund might be an artist to reckon with in the future.
BEK