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demonic 
"Cinemaniac"
United Kingdom
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 Posted - 01/04/2011 : 16:27:53
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A very warm welcome to the inaugural round of the Four Word Film Review Movie Viewing Club.
From an idea originally suggested on the forum by TitanPa, we plan to choose, view and discuss a new film twice a month - with each new round set to begin on the 1st and the 15th of the month.
Everyone is welcome to contribute if you have seen the film in question, and all the better if you have recently seen or have recently rewatched the film. With films chosen in advance it will allow those interested in contributing to source and view the film in question, either bought, rented or borrowed on DVD; through an online subscription service or simply viewed online.
Each film will be chosen by fwiffers in order of initial interest shown on the discussion thread here. If you want to join us to select a future title simply express interest on the thread linked above!
The current line up is as follows, with more titles to be added as we progress further:
01.04.11 - TitanPa - TEETH (2007)
15.04.11 - GHCool - DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944)
01.05.11 - demonic - THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC (1928)
15.05.11 - Se�n
01.06.11 - benj clews
15.06.11 - bife
01.07.11 - Cheese Ed
15.07.11 - [matt]
01.08.11 - wildheartlivie
15.08.11 - ChocolateLady
01.09.11 - BaftaBabe
15.09.11 - Tori
There's no commitment to watching and commenting on every movie in every round, but all reviews, comments and contributions will be very welcome from all comers. It goes without saying these threads will be a spoiler heavy area, and anyone reading posts before viewing the film in question should be fully aware of this.
Without further ado:
The film under discussion for MVC #1 is "Teeth", a comedy horror written and directed by Mitchell Lichtenstein and starring Jess Weixler, John Hensley and Josh Pais. Let the gnashing of teeth begin. |
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BaftaBaby 
"Always entranced by cinema."
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Posted - 01/04/2011 : 20:34:38
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Well, the first thing I didn't expect were the moments of comedy. The scene in the gynie's office in particular.
There's so much wrong with the film, that it's a pleasure to be able to be positive about something! Oh, yeah, and the camerawork was quite good, too.
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Sean 
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
New Zealand
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Posted - 01/04/2011 : 22:59:34
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Nice to see this under way.  Review coming up sometime in the next couple of days.
Here's the link for Teeth by the way, perhaps a link should always be in the title post?
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Sean
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
New Zealand
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Posted - 03/04/2011 : 03:40:16
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OK, so what is this movie:-
A horror? Not really, it's not exactly scary as you always know what's going to happen and who it's going to happen to.
A slasher? To some extent I guess; there's some squirm-inducing gore but it's not exactly over the top and there's not too much of it.
A comedy? Not that either, it's not funny enough.
So what is it then? A superhero movie! Or a making-of-a-superhero movie, to be precise. It has all the ingredients; a normal person (in this case the star Dawn and the only likeable character in the movie) discovers she isn't normal, she realises this while discovering there are some bad people who need to be punished, and she also works out that she has free reign to punish the bad guys at will without fear of being apprehended (who exactly is going to go hunting for a young woman who deals out justice by biting the cocks of rapists with her... errmmm... vaginal dentition?) 
It feels somewhat B-grade in places although there's nothing B-grade about Jess Weixler's performance; she is everything here, and a presumably deserving winner of a Sundance 'Special Jury Prize'. None of the supporting actors are memorable (apart from perhaps her on-screen brother).
I guess a movie about vaginal dentata had to be made, but the writers knew there was no point trying to scare the crap out of people or gross them out with gore, so they went for the character option; it's all about a young woman finding her place in life - the girl-next-door becomes a wandering crusader with a special weapon for a specific kind of bad guy. She went through the seemingly-natural transition from giving lectures about the value of abstinence and 'promise rings' to viciously chopping off rapists dicks by the end.  Glad someone's doing it.
7/10
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Edited by - Sean on 03/04/2011 03:45:09 |
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thefoxboy
"Four your eyes only."
Eastern Suburbs, Melbourne, Australia
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Posted - 03/04/2011 : 08:08:39
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quote:
Originally posted by Se�n
OK, so what is this movie:-
A horror? Not really, it's not exactly scary as you always know what's going to happen and who it's going to happen to.
A slasher? To some extent I guess; there's some squirm-inducing gore but it's not exactly over the top and there's not too much of it.
A comedy? Not that either, it's not funny enough.
So what is it then? A superhero movie! Or a making-of-a-superhero movie, to be precise. It has all the ingredients; a normal person (in this case the star Dawn and the only likeable character in the movie) discovers she isn't normal, she realises this while discovering there are some bad people who need to be punished, and she also works out that she has free reign to punish the bad guys at will without fear of being apprehended (who exactly is going to go hunting for a young woman who deals out justice by biting the cocks of rapists with her... errmmm... vaginal dentition?)
It feels somewhat B-grade in places although there's nothing B-grade about Jess Weixler's performance; she is everything here, and a presumably deserving winner of a Sundance 'Special Jury Prize'. None of the supporting actors are memorable (apart from perhaps her on-screen brother).
I guess a movie about vaginal dentata had to be made, but the writers knew there was no point trying to scare the crap out of people or gross them out with gore, so they went for the character option; it's all about a young woman finding her place in life - the girl-next-door becomes a wandering crusader with a special weapon for a specific kind of bad guy. She went through the seemingly-natural transition from giving lectures about the value of abstinence and 'promise rings' to viciously chopping off rapists dicks by the end. Glad someone's doing it.
7/10
Her acting when she was introduced to the main boyfriend was C grade, unless it was suppose to be corny.
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BaftaBaby
"Always entranced by cinema."
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Posted - 03/04/2011 : 10:52:20
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quote:
Originally posted by thefoxboy
quote:
Originally posted by Se�n
OK, so what is this movie:-
A horror? Not really, it's not exactly scary as you always know what's going to happen and who it's going to happen to.
A slasher? To some extent I guess; there's some squirm-inducing gore but it's not exactly over the top and there's not too much of it.
A comedy? Not that either, it's not funny enough.
So what is it then? A superhero movie! Or a making-of-a-superhero movie, to be precise. It has all the ingredients; a normal person (in this case the star Dawn and the only likeable character in the movie) discovers she isn't normal, she realises this while discovering there are some bad people who need to be punished, and she also works out that she has free reign to punish the bad guys at will without fear of being apprehended (who exactly is going to go hunting for a young woman who deals out justice by biting the cocks of rapists with her... errmmm... vaginal dentition?)
It feels somewhat B-grade in places although there's nothing B-grade about Jess Weixler's performance; she is everything here, and a presumably deserving winner of a Sundance 'Special Jury Prize'. None of the supporting actors are memorable (apart from perhaps her on-screen brother).
I guess a movie about vaginal dentata had to be made, but the writers knew there was no point trying to scare the crap out of people or gross them out with gore, so they went for the character option; it's all about a young woman finding her place in life - the girl-next-door becomes a wandering crusader with a special weapon for a specific kind of bad guy. She went through the seemingly-natural transition from giving lectures about the value of abstinence and 'promise rings' to viciously chopping off rapists dicks by the end. Glad someone's doing it.
7/10
Her acting when she was introduced to the main boyfriend was C grade, unless it was suppose to be corny.
I agree -- she's adequate>to>fine in moments, such as when she decides exactly what to do to the final old lech --- and turns her winning smile on him, with a telegraphed acknowledment to us. But I'm guessing that's a directorial note.
Another is that gynie scene where they're both screaming. She's fine in that.
But where a more experienced actress might have brought some depth to her major moment of doubt when she's speaking to the robotic Promise kids and runs off stage, well, sorry, but she just can't handle that kind of nuance.
All the performances, possibly with the exception of the brother, are at acting class level. And I can just hear any good acting teacher interrupting the scene with "I don't believe you."
But, y'know, somehow I don't think acting is what this film is all about. 
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Sean
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
New Zealand
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Posted - 03/04/2011 : 12:49:36
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quote:
Originally posted by BaftaBabe
But where a more experienced actress might have brought some depth to her major moment of doubt when she's speaking to the robotic Promise kids and runs off stage, well, sorry, but she just can't handle that kind of nuance.
True, except that the scripting in that scene was garbage. I.e., they wanted to get from A to B but didn't know how. That scene made me cringe.  |
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BaftaBaby
"Always entranced by cinema."
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Posted - 03/04/2011 : 14:33:30
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quote:
Originally posted by Se�n
quote:
Originally posted by BaftaBabe
But where a more experienced actress might have brought some depth to her major moment of doubt when she's speaking to the robotic Promise kids and runs off stage, well, sorry, but she just can't handle that kind of nuance.
True, except that the scripting in that scene was garbage. I.e., they wanted to get from A to B but didn't know how. That scene made me cringe.
Ah,yes, the magic mystery of the script. So glad you brought that up! Not being tooooooo sarcastic when I say I've seen more character development, dialogue, and all around literary dynamic on the back of a cereal box. If these good folk attended any kind of writing class, I think they should ask for their money back 
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Sean
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
New Zealand
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Posted - 03/04/2011 : 23:15:16
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quote:
Originally posted by BaftaBabe
quote:
Originally posted by Se�n
quote:
Originally posted by BaftaBabe
But where a more experienced actress might have brought some depth to her major moment of doubt when she's speaking to the robotic Promise kids and runs off stage, well, sorry, but she just can't handle that kind of nuance.
True, except that the scripting in that scene was garbage. I.e., they wanted to get from A to B but didn't know how. That scene made me cringe.
Ah,yes, the magic mystery of the script. So glad you brought that up! Not being tooooooo sarcastic when I say I've seen more character development, dialogue, and all around literary dynamic on the back of a cereal box. If these good folk attended any kind of writing class, I think they should ask for their money back
Well yeah, but the supporting actors were little more than cannon fodder for the budding superhero. I.e, shallow nobodies with tendencies to be abusive/disrespectful towards women (the sociopathic brother was an exception). We're not supposed to like or hate them; only to know enough about them to know that they've got what they deserved. They're there for the same reason as extras in a Dirty Harry flick; to be shot by Harry.
The only 'character' in Teeth was the superhero (Dawn). |
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Tori
"I don't get it...."
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Posted - 05/04/2011 : 05:26:34
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Sorry, I couldn't get anywhere with this movie; I'll have to catch the next one.
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MguyX
"X marks the spot"
United States
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Posted - 05/04/2011 : 05:46:51
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| I thought this film was a meandering mess. In its own way, it reminded me of Russ Myers's "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls." It seemed to start out smoothly, but then it just went half-assedly into camp, while still trying to appear like a legitimate horror film. And why can't she control her own teeth? It just didn't make much sense, and I think the idea was a lot smaller than the filmmakers thought it was. |
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MisterBadIdea 
"PLZ GET MILK, KTHXBYE"
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Posted - 07/04/2011 : 04:24:40
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| Philosophically, it's just a very cheap movie. I really don't like how pretty much every man in the movie tries to rape her, but more importantly, if she's a superhero, as suggested above, she's a very, very passive one -- she has to have someone rape her before she can attack. I saw a review that suggested that if she started biting off penii just because she enjoyed it, that'd make for a much better and more interesting movie. (That review also pointed out that the movie was written and directed by a gay man, and that considering that this movie revolves around heterosexual sex, he may have been the wrong person to try and make this movie.) |
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TitanPa 
"Here four more"
United States
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Posted - 09/04/2011 : 05:49:56
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Sorry....The doctor cleared me for a desk job and I am working hours I normally dont work. I will try to watch this soon. Im glad We are giving the go ahead! cant wait to choose the movie on my next go around.
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demonic
"Cinemaniac"
United Kingdom
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Posted - 11/04/2011 : 04:32:45
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This isn't the first example about vagina dentata I've seen on film - it's not an entirely uncommon concept in assorted Manga films - the Japanese do love their sexual extremes, especially if it's animated. In essence that stopped this film from being as interesting and as surprising for me as I think they hoped it would be, but it never lost my attention and although I found it frequently clumsy it was better than the average low-budget teen horror that gets churned out
year in year out. In fact to the target audience of promiscuous teenagers it probably had a bigger impact... more bite, you might say.
I agree with MisterBadIdea that it's a mis-step and disappointing that the first "attack" has to come from a rather sudden and pointless rape scenario - Dawn could just have easily just been scared in her inexperience and guilt and unintentionally bitten the guy's cock off. It would have been more shocking, and probably more horrific. I suppose that Lichtenstein was worried that the audience would lose sympathy for Dawn if she maimed and murdered someone she was in love with up until that point so early in the film.
I don't think he needed to worry about that though, for whatever other faults this movie has, one of them isn't the likeability of Jess Weixler who I thought did an excellent job throughout. She managed to hold the film, basically by being largely believable and an attractive lead presence. It's a shame that her career hasn't taken off yet as she could very likely turn her hand to most of the parts being hoovered up by much duller Hollywood youngsters. She appears to be doing a fair amount, so it's probably only a matter of time before she appears in something decent. Every other role was underwritten to the level of pointlessness, but again that didn't bother me so much as I interested enough in what Dawn was experiencing. The revenge on the dirty half-brother seemed a redundant story strand to me, but unfortunately took centre stage, and a head-slappingly obvious conclusion to the film from far too early on.
Some of the things that I enjoyed which raised it out of the usual level of poor film-making for this genre; it was very well shot. I liked the often witty and (sometimes) subtle references throughout to genitalia in the settings - assorted phalluses and holes recurred quite frequently. I was also thinking like Sean that it had failed as a horror and it had failed as a comedy, until the very well timed piece of comedy where the dog ate the brother's penis. That did make me laugh out loud.
For a film debut - no classic, but not as bad as I'd feared it might be. I'll be scoring it a 3/6 (6 out of 10) on here. |
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Sean
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
New Zealand
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Posted - 11/04/2011 : 10:16:49
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Yay, someone else thinks what I think about this movie!
In a nutshell, Jess was everything; she transcended the script and supporting-actor deficiencies, grabbed the screen from start to finish rendering the movie watchable, and hopefully has a good acting future lined up. |
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MVC #1 - Teeth
