Recent Related Items:

57 Comments


ZAR says:

> a cautionary tale of exposing kids to sexual
> images too early

What a weird conclusion. Since in the movie it’s only a way to show the audience that Jasira is entering puberty. And what if they’d shown her getting turned on by a football game on TV? Or Baywatch?

ZAR.

Have you seen the film? If not, you’re not in a position to comment on what happens in it. There’s a big difference between Baywatch or a football game and a magazine specifically designed to stimulate sexual arousal.

I mean really… come on now.

Vic

Jim Carey says:

Wow this review could have used an MPAA rating.

Vic says:

It’s a difficult movie to review at a PG level…

Vic

James2 says:

Interesting, in this stupid country (USA), how it can be RIGHT for a girl of (ahem) 13, to be turned on sexually and flaunt an “overdeveloped body,” yet it is “wrong” to be sexually attracted to her. In other words, she get turned on by or with anyone she chooses, and it’s “right,” but as soon as the OTHER person is an adult, it is wrong, but only for the adult.

What a freaking laugh. “She went along” does not imply immediate rape, so the only problem is a contradictory morality shoved down people’s throats by a pseudo-religious majority, that is arguably more perverted than even I am. Read any good headlines lately?

James2 says:

P.S…..– FYI, people at the turn of the 19th-20th century often got MARRIED at fourteen. To say nothing of the fact that most kids in the USA today are sexually active by age 12 or 13. Reality is reality, don’t shoot the messenger.

Patrick says:

Didn’t you already do a review of this awhile ago?

Michael E Piston says:

What made me feel so uncomfortable about the move that I walked out is the way it forced the audience to be voyeurs in what was an extremely explicit scene of pedophila. Viewer beware – if you don’t like child porn, you are not going to like this movie. Oh, quite aside from the fact much of it is ridiculous. A super uptight Arab father is not going to have screaming loud sex with his girlfriend within earshot of his 13 year old daughter. And nobody but a special ed student openly masturbates in class.

@James2

100 years ago at the age of 14 people were a lot more mature than they are now. They grew up working on the family farm, helping families survive and had a lot more responsibilities. They didn’t sit around watching Britney Spears and playing video games and having whatever they wanted handed to them by their parents.

Vic

@Michael E Piston

“if you don’t like child porn, you are not going to like this movie.”

You’re not supposed to LIKE this movie. It’s supposed to make you uncomfortable.

And can you please share with us your background which makes you an authority on “super uptight Arab father(s)” and their sexual habits?

Thanks,

Vic

@Patrick

I updated it because the film has been released in theaters.

Vic

Patrick says:

Ah I see, boy am I out of the loop.

790 says:

This is one film I will never see.

It’s most definitely not for everyone.

Far better than Hounddog, however.

Vic

Gary says:

I havent seen this yet but it certainly sounds better then Hounddog which I first heard about months ago.
Towelhead was reviewed on At the Movies last week.
One of the critics HATED it .
The other one said it admirably tackled a powerful subject and that it was INTENDED to be uncomfortable .

Kurt says:

For a radically different take on the film, check out my review over at Rowthree.com

Everything about Towelhead is laughably over the top. Delicately tackling tough subjects? I think not. Things are so designed to get a reaction that they are over-the-top funny. Kittens being run over, children raped, pregnant ladies falling on their stomach. Yes, I got dirty looks from giggling at what was on screen. No, I’m not an immature twerp, but when cinema is executed so poorly and so clumsily, you’ve got to sneer in its general direction. Caught this at TIFF ‘07 and it was probably the worst film I saw that year.

@Kurt

Apparently the film was very well received at the 2007 Toronto Film Festival – and it made an impact on me.

Considering you gave Iron Man 2 out of 5 stars, The Happening 3/5 (better than Iron Man?!?!?!) called Die Hard 4 “an abomination.” I’d say we have considerably different outlooks on movies. (Personally I would call The Happening an abomination.)

At least we agree on Ghost Rider and The Dark Knight. :-P

Vic

Kurt says:

The Happening is a far (FAR) better film than Ironman. And I’d file Die Hard 4 as guilty pleasure over Abomination (now if you want to talk abomination, let’s talk Les Wiseman’s previous effort, UNDERWORLD).

And yes, I got dirty looks for laughing at some of the more ‘edgy’ parts of Towelhead (then called NOTHING IS PRIVATE) at TIFF ‘07 when it screened in the large Ryerson theatre.

Still, I’ve yet to have someone convince me that this is subtle, relevant or even a well made film. Obvious Sam Mendes could take Alan Ball’s writing and give it a bit of artistry, ditto on the directors for hire at HBO and Six Feet Under, and I’ve heard also with True Blood. Towelhead is the work of someone who seriously doesn’t have a clue how to direct a film. How does one get crappy performances from Toni Colette, Aaron Eckhart and Maria Bello? Those are some of the best actors working today. I’ll hand it to Peter Macdissi who comes out the least scathed in the acting department, and the lead actress, Summer Bishil is merely a prop in the film, not even a performance.

Kurt says:

I should clarify that Ironman is simply lazy-wish-fulfillment at its worst. Why put Iraq in if you aren’t going to do anything with it. Why use the “Spiderman” formula in structuring the story, why have him fight a bigger version of himself and have Jeff Bridges go ahh “Mwa Mwa Mwa, I’m a GROWLING SUPERVILLIAN!” after being simply a money-managing suit up till that point?

The only thing going for it is Robert Downey Jr. who is actually wasted in the role, as he has done that shtick 100x in other films (watch: Two Girls and a Guy, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Natural Born Killers or even Zodiac).

The Happening at least has some truly crazy moments. Sure it’s not a ‘well made’ film in the normal sense of the word, but it is such off the wall crazy stuff (Camera-Phone Gore! Crazy lady in a house! The Hot-dog speech! Oooh, evil Wind!) and super-great whiny-performances from Mark Wahlberg & Zooey Deschanel that it becomes one of those great bad movies. There is far more entertainment value for the $$ in The Happening than in Ironman.

Kurt says:

dang typos, should read “all” in stead of “ahh” and should read 100x BETTER instead of just 100x.

@Kurt

I take it you’ve never been a reader/fan of the Iron Man comic?

Regarding Iron Man and Iraq (actually, I believe it was Afghanistan)… That is the character’s origin story: Injured by his own weapon in a war zone, captured by the opposing force and forced to build a weapon. Except in the original version it was Vietnam. In the comics it just served as the origin and he didn’t go back there either.

And actually the Middle East WAS the focal point in the film, as he returned there to destroy Stark weapons and it was made clear that his self-described mission would be to go back and destroy any others.

Bridges wanted the suit so that he could sell it to the military – so, more money for the company.

As far as RDJ, he really captured the Tony Stark character from the comics very well.

In regards to The Happening, where youuse the word “crazy” I would substitute “idiotic” or flat out “retarded.”

The Happening sucked, sucked, sucked.

:-)

Vic

Kurt says:

I’m not talking plot mechanics, I’m talking that the film seems to want to be ‘relevant’ by that Black-Hawk Down type opening sequence, and it wants to play things ‘real’. Yet thematically, it doesn’t really want to touch a subject like IRAQ, it is too busy with it’s fetishization of techno-toys and mildly endearing misogyny of its lead. But if you want to talk plot, why the silly-stupidity of building the Iron suit with just two guys in the desert cave and bomb parts, even by super-hero films that is stretching suspension of disbelief.

I didn’t find Ironman lacking in production values or technical wizardry (in fact I loved the CAD-inspired credit sequence at the end), I just found the plotting, ideas and overall execution of the story to be as lazy as possible (outside the RDJ performance, which isn’t breaking new ground, but is still good). Thus the whole thing is Bland. Bland. Bland. perhaps the biggest crime in cinema is for something to be painfully mediocre.

The Happening on the other hand is anything but boring. You are drawn along from scene to scene just to see what crazy M. Night is going to do next. Mark Wahlberg’s performance in the film is summing up his ’star persona’ to a T, in the same way that Punchdrunk Love played with the archetype of Adam Sandler. the crazy ‘outrun the wind’ stuff, you just simply do not know what is going to happen next. Does this equal great or groundbreaking? Not particularly, it is idiotic for the most part, but damn, it’s an entertaining ride as summer blockbuster types go, as they usually tend to be pretty paint-by-numbers. Which of course Ironman is as paint by numbers as they come. The biggest crime in my book.

Kurt says:

Ooops, Afghanistan, definitely my mistake. And I’m not judging Ironman based on its faithfulness to the comic. Rather a silly thing to do, as the comic already exists. I want to see things adapt as it changes mediums, otherwise you get Harry Potter. I’ll take Lord of the Rings (I tend to like Peter Jacksons willingness to change the details but capture the spirit of the book), but his is a whole ‘nother blockbuster debate.

I don’t see how Afganistan was the FOCUS of the IRONMAN movie, rather convenient short-hand to get all narcissistic on Stark and his company rather than use the Superhero stuff as a comment of our times. Lazy and Facile.

almanza says:

This definitely interested me in watching Towelhead, I love a movie with such a strong subject matter. films like these are what makes you develop a taste for film, imo, not just Hollywood movies (which can be cool and fun). But it’s important, at least for me, to have a range of tastes found in films, which unnerve you, make you think, and change your perception. So overall I’ll look forward to this, and will recommend it to my friends and peers, who I believe can handle the gray that is real world.

@Michael E Piston
“if you don’t like child porn, you are not going to like this movie.”
Wow this is such a messed up comment. I detest the thought of hurting a child the way pedophiles do. But that comment feels the same as someone telling me, if you don’t believe what our president believes you’re un-American. It’s so broad and just seems to be said to put something down without true merit.

Wow, Kurt, you really just hated on Iron Man for, I think, the wrong reasons. The villain thing, yeah that was explained and you could see it coming the whole time. Why Iraq? Because Vietnam would have made the movie dated, and Stark too old for Downey Jr. to play the role. I haven’t seen The Happening, so I won’t go into that, I might like it who knows.

I haven’t seen the movie so I’m not trying to praise it, but it looks good and has my interest, I just hate to see someone put something down for the wrong reasons.

@Kurt

We’ll have to agree to disagree on Iron Man. I think we judge movies differently. I review movies less on the technical artistic aspects and more on whether they accomplish their goal (entertaining, horrifying, though-provoking) within the context of their genre.

Just curious, what did you think of the first Spider-Man movie?

Vic

Kurt says:

Vic: No that is exactly my point, I’m not criticizing it on the technical aspects, but whether Ironman accomplishes its goal – it is flat, not though provoking and rather a bland middle-ground for its genre.

On Spiderman, well, the first 1/2 of the movie is populist colourful moviemaking at its best. It’s witty, sharp and a heckuvalot of fun. As soon as everyone dons their costumes on a permanent basis (particularly Willem DaFoe) things don’t work for me. They fixed a lot of the latter half of Spiderman in the second film which plays better all around. Never got around to watching the third one, I skipped nearly all the ‘threequels’ last year due to franchise-fatigue.

INK says:

Kurt –

Your link takes me to nothing. (Which I found rather funny.)

The Happening, IMO, was one of the worst movies (by far) I have ever seen. The best thing (and only decent) part of that movie was the old lady. M. Knight should have made the movie about her.

Kurt says:

OK, trying again: http://www.rowthree.com/2008/05/05/r3-review-iron-man/

Also (to stay on topic with this thread), my Towelhead review: http://www.rowthree.com/2008/09/17/review-towelhead/

Now, Vic, I ask you what you thought about THE MIST, where I think THE HAPPENING is a bit of a kissing cousin. They are both goofy-serious B-films with style and craziness to burn. I’d take this over mediocre bland, even lazy filmmaking like Ironman. We differ on this, methinks.

@Kurt

Didn’t see The Mist. Thing is, neither of those were marketed as “goofy-serious B-films” and that’s the last thing one would expect from the uber-serious Shyamalan.

I think he fell back on that as an explanation after it bombed.

Vic

Kurt says:

Funny that a number of us read THE HAPPENING as that before Shyamalan had to ‘tell us’. It’s right up there on screen!

I’d argue that ‘what a film is’ is completely different from what its marketing (often) tries to convey. Sure, marketing a film wrong can lead to some false expectations (which in turn lead to disappointment), but if you look at what is up there on screen, and divorce it from pre-conceived notions, that is probably a better way of tackling movies. (I’m never going to claim that I’m perfect at this, but it is an ideal to strive for at times)

Take for instance “SAVE THE GREEN PLANET” it was marketed as a rom-com which it most definitely is not, which may explain why the film bombed in S. Korea, but it is a bloody fabulous film for what it is (a mad-cap genre fusion).

INK says:

B-Movie films don’t cost $60+ million to make.

John "Kahless" Taylor says:

My goodness; what is the rating for Towelhead? NC-17? I hated American Beauty, so I’m going to have to give this one a pass.

@Kurt

Man, did you choose the wrong site. I think you’re probably the 2nd person on here who said Ironman wasn’t good. I saw it twice and loved it both times. There are some people who put it over The Dark Knight. You seem to be an intelligent man and I respect your opinion, but I have to agree with Vic on IM and The Happening (which I, unfortunately, saw).

One of my absolute BIGGEST pet peeves in the movie industry is when they mis-market (or purposely mislead people via commercials/trailers) a movie.

A perception of what the film will be about sometimes colors my opinion of said film.

Sure, a movie can overcome that, but for the most part movies don’t, and the subterfuge is because the movie in fact sucks but they’re trying to put butts in seats on opening weekend before word gets out.

There’s a way to market a B-movie – you make the commercials/trailers seem at least a bit funny/goofy or over the top. But with this film it was obviously supposed to be another “serious” sci-fi/horror film in the tradition of M. Night’s previous work.

And as INK stated: B-movies don’t cost $60MM. I don’t believe for a second the studio set out for this to be a B-movie. They just ended up with an idiotic stinker and employed spin-control IMHO.

Vic

790 says:

@John “Kahless” Taylor,,, you didn’t like American Beauty ? Hmm.
I didn’t see it in theatres but I thought it was brillant on dvd, with the exception of the underage sex stuff. ;-)

Hey John, and everyone reading this, do yourself a BIG favor and rent “This Film is Not Yet (R)ated”… (2006)

Its an independant IFC film, availible on dvd… (Mature Audiences only).
Everyone on Screen Rant needs to see this amazing insightfull film/documentary. :-)

Kurt says:

@Ink – “B-Movie films don’t cost $60+ million to make.”

That is the funniest thing I’ve read all year! Isn’t the entire block-buster world just B-films with mega-Budgets? You can’t seriously tell me that A Sound of Thunder, or every entry in the mummy franchise is not a B-film with loads of money? Now, certainly with Ang Lee’s THE HULK and Chris Nolan’s Batman films are aiming to take the superhero film out of B_film land, but seriously dude. B-Films are what fill the multiplex, they just happen to all cost over $60M.

There is no flippin way anyone watching the Dailies for THE HAPPENING and looking at Mark Wahlberg’s performance thought the film was anything but. Hell, Signs is one of the great B-films of all times and it made serious $$$’s. Nope, I’m sure Wahlberg and Deshanel were let in on the concept early on.

I’d say that I’d rather have a film trailer intrigue me than ‘tell me everything’ about the film. I’d rather be mis-marketed than over-sold.

@Kurt

Oh come on… now you’re getting ridiculous. By it’s very definition a B-movie is relatively inexpensive and/or schlocky:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-movie

Your definition of B-movie is outside the range of what most people would consider one.

And speaking of dailies, I don’t buy that for a second. How many utterly crappy movies have made it to the big screen where the dailies MUST have been screaming “THIS MOVIE SUCKS” yet everyone involved was seemingly oblivious to that fact.

Vic

Kurt says:

Quite the contrary, isn’t Raider of the Lost Ark simple those B-Serials with A-level talent and budget, and isn’t a darn good chunk of blockbusters emulating Raiders?

Isn’t Jaws simply a good old fashioned Monster movie populated with good actors and a talented filmmaker? B-level stuff with A-level pretentions. Ditto on Starwars. Aren’t Jaws/SW/Raiders given credit for the massive shift in 70’s era mainstream-art films like Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter, The Conversation and Chinatown towards the blockbuster mentality?

How am I off base here?

also you should read your own wikipedia link:

This passage is directly copied from that: “By 1990, the cost of the average U.S. film had passed $25 million.[101] Of the nine films released that year to gross more than $100 million at the U.S. box office, two would have been strictly B movie material before the late 1970s: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Dick Tracy. Three more—the science-fiction thriller Total Recall, the action-filled detective thriller Die Hard 2, and the year’s biggest hit, the slapstick kiddie comedy Home Alone—were also far closer to the traditional arena of the Bs than to classic A-list subject matter”

@Kurt

Ah, now we’re getting down to our different point of views. I don’t consider Raiders, Jaws, or Star Wars B-movies. (Well, I suppose the first Star Wars strays pretty close to the line).

When I think of B-movies, I think primarily of the classic examples of movies from the 1950s that were really shlocky and cheesy – movies where they had monsters that were obviously guys in rubber suits and that sort of thing. Movies that are unintentionally silly, not necessarily movies that set out to be silly.

To my mind, modern B-movie are films like Grindhouse (intentional, yes), the recent Death Race movie (although I haven’t seen it) and pretty much any horror/sci-fi direct-to-DVD movie that you’ll find on the shelves of your local blockbuster.

Vic

Kurt says:

Fair enough. Call it a definitional hazard. It’s been a pleasure mulling things over. We obviously are coming from quite different ways of looking at the movies, particular on Towelhead (and curiously Ironman & The Happening)

It has been a pleasure turning things over in this regard.

Cheers dude.

Back at ‘cha, Kurt. :-)

Vic

Ken J says:

James2, sorry, but everything you just said simply makes you sound like someone who is mad because you’re an adult and you can’t do anything dirty with young girls but you want to…

Anyway the difference between a minor wanting something and an adult wanting something is that they are going under the assumption that minors are compulsive and unable to make rational decisions with consequences in mind, while adults are assumed to have the ability to make rational and less compulsive decisions. To state it simply, adults should “know better.”

And this is not just some wild and crazy theory or some “religious” thing. This is actually proven science. Studies have proven that as you age, your brain either produces more of a chemical that inhibits compulsive behavior, or less of a chemical that causes compulsive behavior. I forgot which, I do believe it is the first, more of a inhibiting chemical.

And from my personal experiences, I KNOW that younger people often act much quicker without thinking, doing things to simply satisfy a short term craving, while older people tend to be more capable of controlling these urges if they realize there are negative consequences down the road.

So that’s why if you, as an adult, do something sexual with a minor, you are the only one to get in trouble. Because the minor doesn’t know what he or she’s doing, while you do, so you’re the one that’s taking advantage of someone who is vulnerable. Even if they think they are giving consent, they are not qualified (as minors) to make such a decision. Just like I’m sure every child on the block wants to give their consent to be able to drive cars. Should we let them? I’m sure 100% of them will say they are “SURE” they “know” how to drive cars because they’ve seen it done by their parents or on tv. I know when I was younger I thought I would know how to do everything if only the adults would let me. Now that I’m older, I realized how DEAD I would be if those age restrictions were not in place…

INK says:

Want to see the definition of a B-movie?

Check out Sci-Fi channel on saturday nights at 9:00. Violá!

Kurt says:

funny that a B-Film is defined so malleable. You guys define it in terms of execution (low budget, shoddy craftsmanship, poor outcome).

I define it in terms of basic content (monster movies, creature features, jungle adventures, space operas) – regardless of craft. There are a lot of truly great B-films, from Raiders of the Lost Ark, to Big Trouble in Little China to Hard Target. Some of these more expensive than others.

Still, I find it difficult to believe that you guys could not label THE MUMMY franchise, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen or Stealth as anything other than B-Schlock, all of which had big budgets.

“funny that a B-Film is defined so malleable.”

Indeed. Although I disagree with your idea that genre automatically defines a movie as a “B.”

You’re making me think too hard about a topic I consider inconsequential. :-P

Vic

INK says:

How I define a B-Movie:

A movie that is made without A-list actors/actresses on an extremely tight (low) budget and does not have a wide-spread theatrical release. It is campy without meaning to be and the acting is sub-par at best.

When I think of B-movies I tend to think of horror and sci-fi movies from the 70’s and 80’s such as “Kingdom of the SPiders”, “Sleepaway Camp”, “Silent Night, Deadly Night”, etc. However, just because I categorize a movie as a B-movie doesn’t mean I do not like it. All the ones I mentioned are some of my favorites from that time. I guess I see it being solely based on one’s personal way of thinking about movies.

John "Kahless" Taylor says:

@790
There were some parts I laughed at but overall I was appauled at the adult fantasizing about the teen cheerleader and the only normal people in the neighborhood was a homosexual couple. I laughed pretty loud at the dinner and drive-in scenes.

I’ll have to put that movie on my Netflix list. Sounds like a comedy; I need a good comedy these days.

790 says:

Good points John,,,
Funny how bizzare films like American Beauty win Best Picture,,,

790 says:

Shatners the B-Movie king !!!!

Ken J says:

Actually 790, Lou Diamond Phillips is the B-movie king… Ron Pearlman is #2, Shatner is a far 3rd…

Page 1 of 212»
What's your opinion? Leave a Reply!
GravatarWant to change your avatar?
Go to Gravatar.com and upload your own (we'll wait)!

 Name (*required)

 Email Address (*private)

 Website (optional)

 Rules: No profanity or personal attacks.
 Use a valid email address or risk being banned from commenting.


If your comment doesn't show up immediately, it may have been flagged for moderation. Please try refreshing the page first, then drop us a note and we'll retrieve it.