oh, really bad
Added 10/1/2009
Anyone who would give this more than three stars either knows the director or is on drugs. This is at least in the top ten worst movies I've ever seen. And I like the director's other movies. But its a little much when he's zooming in on a young boy's butt while he's skateboarding. Its a good movie if you want to look at shirtless little boys. Anyone who grew up skating or into punk rock will find parallels to their own life here, but that doesn't make it a good movie. All of the guys are very dull. The plot is poorly executed. And I guess the movie tries to make some point about class struggle??? Overall, it's just a dumb movie. I doubt this guy's movies make money anymore... so he must be rich or just know people. He is probably the guy who fell down the stairs in the Beverly Hills Mansion (For those who've struggled through actually seeing the film). Don't waste your time.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
Best Larry Clark Movie
Added 9/11/2009
A different slice of Southern California Latino culture. West coast "Kids" but more appealing and sympathetic characters. A bit of the movie "The Swimmer" too.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Can't be a Hater
Added 2/21/2009
So, I don't normally feel compelled to write a review about a movie, but this is hard to get out of my mind.
Wassup Rockers is by Larry Clark. Right off, I guess I expected something a bit different. I liked Kids, but somehow Bully didn't sit right. I really liked Tulsa. It is hard to find still photography that is as honest as that collection. Not even Eugene Richards, with perhaps the exception of Exploding into Life, can match it.
So, without saying too much, a short explication is that this film is about what happens when a group of youngish Latino teens take off an adventure from their South Central neighborhood and go skateboarding in Beverly Hills. The kids have a punk rock identity, but they are not insensitive individuals. They are sad when their friends get hurt, they seem to put each other first quite a bit, and they are able to change.
The other main character is this movie is Beverly Hills. No one can leave them alone, and everyone puts their own interest ahead of the kids. Perhaps the least amount of danger comes from the abusive police officer who wants to arrest them for skating while Mexican (even though they are Salvadoran!). With each new scene, the teens are confronted by a new type of monstrous behavior. They don't have the social skills to understand the battles that they are fighting.
Largely, this is a very thought-provoking film. It takes a long time to get going though, and not because the director is setting things up. The first 30 minutes could easily have been re-edited to maybe 10 minutes. It would have been better.
When the kids return to South Central, I suddenly realized that they were safer there, because at least they could understand the social codes of the place.
There is a great scene where a middle age police officer pulls the kids over in South Central. The officer has to take their car, but he feels bad so he tries to relate to them. "Hey, kids," he says, "do you like the Ramones? I saw them in '87. It was great. Now, get out of the car."
It's a great comment on Gen X. How many ragged Ramones shirts are sitting in closets, endangered by moths, while their owners tool around in sippy-cup laden minivans, listening to NPR and wondering about the stock market?
2 out of 3 people found this helpful.
|
Good idea, bad acting
Added 10/15/2008
I like Larry Clark's idea and the story line, but it was painful to watch these kids "act".
2 out of 3 people found this helpful.
|
Whatever...
Added 5/9/2008
There are exactly two funny reasons to fast forward thru the teen-boy crazed director's latest Wassup Rockers... and both involve the B-movie/cartoon style deaths of a couple of icky-campy-celebs in tacky-bev-hills. Just don't expect much else, certainly none in the area of the "usual". Mr. Clark should put that "artistic" horndog energy towards a 21Cen film that OUT does the original Penthouse-produced Caligula...god knows the news is full of stories about teen wolfpacks wrecking havok & partying non-stop.If anyone could pull in major celebs and mix in "real" porn, he's the guy 4 the job. Terry Richardson could co-direct and Tom Ford could produce...now that would be a HOOT and a sureFIRE hit! We kinda need something back on screen to WAKE everyone up...and make them SMILE!
1 out of 6 people found this helpful.
|
