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Beer for My Horses Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Paranoid Park
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MPAA RATING: R for some disturbing images, language and sexual content
Starring Gabe Nevins, Daniel Liu, Taylor Momsen, Jake Miller, and Lauren McKinney
An unsolved murder at Portland's infamous Paranoid Park brings detectives to a local high school, propelling a young skater into a moral odyssey in which he must not only deal with the pain and disconnect of adolescence but also the consequences of his own actions. As director of "My Own Private Idaho", "Good Will Hunting", "To Die For", and "Elephant", Gus Van Sant has created some of the most memorable works about youth ever committed to film. At the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, he was awarded the 60th Anniversary Prize for Paranoid Park, which is largely considered one of his finest films. (IFC First Take)
| GENRE(S): | Drama |
| WRITTEN BY: |
Blake Nelson (novel)
Gus Van Sant |
| DIRECTED BY: | Gus Van Sant |
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: October 7, 2008 Theatrical: March 7, 2008 |
| RUNNING TIME: | 90 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: | France / USA |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The average user rating for this movie is 6.4 (out of 10) based on 35 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Ken H. gave it an8:
Deserves the praise it received. Though it takes the more patient viewer to enjoy what is essentially a mood-film. If you are the kind of movie-watcher that wants the plot and theme spelled out for you, this movie was not made for you. There is one poor performance by a teenage girl; otherwise the performances are fine. Easily one of the more memorable films of last year.
David B. gave it a1:
I watched this film after it received such a great score and I thought I would be in for a treat. I was wrong. Not only was this movie dreadfully boring but it actually pushed me further away from liking independent films. The cinematography was cheesy at best. Yes, I understand that they're going for a more "realistic" approach to the treatment of the dialogue and characters but, like others have said, the majority of this film is filler material. The music felt as if it was just tossed in because it "sounded right" instead of actually being carefully selected. From the start of the film, I felt as if it could only get better and don't get me wrong, the initial scenes where the story unfolds are pretty decent, the film just goes downhill because of the fact that every scene afterwards reveals so little about the story. Gabe Nevin's performance is the only noteworthy part of this film, which is why I gave it a 1.
Sean Q gave it a4:
I didn't feel like I had gained anything in watching this movie. There was no 'fresh' perspective for me, no insight, no humour, no lesson. Yep, life has a way of going really bad really fast sometimes and we live with the consequences of our actions for the rest of our lives. And teenagers are all shallow and angsty about sex 'n stuff. While it's not a bad movie, it's definitely not a great movie either. I think people are being fooled by the seriousness of the subject matter, a shocking scene, and some nice camerawork. Otherwise, it's just dull. This one will fade to black before many other movies do.
Robert H. gave it a2:
Terrible. I mean the dialogue, for starters, has been praised for the realistic feel of "real teenagers" and how they "really speak" I would compare it to how a real teenager would speak during a crappy school production. Secondly, the artsy shots of skateboarders throughout the film with low quality film stock. Very gritty indeed. More like filler if you ask me. I give the same treatment to those slow motion long shots of the main character and a couple others in slow motion while some crap O.C. rock music (or whatever you want to call it) playing in the background. I'm sure if you took out all these moments and left the actual meat of this snore-fest you would not be left with enough material to make an entire feature film. Which is why i think people call this movie too long. Just the whole film in general really. The protagonist reminds me of a young Edward Furlong, without the personality. The rest of the cast while they may be realistic in that, yes, they are teenagers, does not mean they will perform like a real teenager on screen.
Jay H. gave it a7:
Intriguing with wonderful cinematography. Director Gus Van Sant does a great job, but goes a little too heavy on style. It is Gabe Nevin's terrific performance that pulls the film together. The score is excellent as well. Believable story. Very well done in all areas.
Punkish Bax gave it a7:
An improvement on Last Days which began atmospherically but forgot about plot development. the main accusations against Paranoid Park seem to be that the lead actor is vacant and not engaging as a character, sounds like your average teenager to me. As for those that reify this film as masterpiece, it is slight and certainly Van Sant has not made a great film since drugstore cowboy. good soundtrack though.perhaps the users that disliked it so intensely seen the 'good will hunting' credit and expected mawkish sentimentality.
d lloyd gave it a2:
Simply bad. It feels like a high school student got a large budget and made a very amateur, cringe inducing film. Another reminder to ignore the critics when Gus releases his teeny abominations. Does he pay them off or what?
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