Kaboom (2010)

Gregg Araki’s tenth film Kaboom is unapologetically funny, sexual, inappropriate, and apocalyptic.  In short, it was entertaining and pretty brilliant.  The movie is a fast-paced, sex-driven, drug-fueled, surreal, highly-stylized, live-action graphic novel about coming of age and dealing simultaneously with the stress of college and the end of the world.  If that description seems crazy or a little bit confusing, just wait until you see the film.  But throughout all of the craziness, I was thoroughly entertained, amused, amazed, and impressed.  All in all, it is a film well worth watching.  Kaboom premiered in May at the Cannes Film Festival to rave reviews and is quickly creating the same buzz here at Sundance.  (more…)

To be totally honest, I am still in shock. I picked a movie I would have never seen in my life, with no idea what I would be walking into, and I watched it completely surprised. I sat down with my friend Aubrey, who is a fairly devout Christian, a peanut butter and honey sandwich, and a clear mind ready for anything. But what I didn’t expect was for Gregg Araki to blow my brain to smithereens with the shocking reality of the subject. I am sitting here once again in the same chair, about a month later, and still unsure of how I feel about it.

The story begins following two men who couldn’t be further different from one another. One man is a very reserved, almost conservative in taste, man who recently learned he is HIV positive. As Jon sits often to chat with his best girlfriend, he begins to feel that his life really is ending, and this is the living end for him. He meets Luke one day, as he picks him up hitchhiking. Jon is running from his problems, which also include being HIV positive. As the two men work through their problems, they bond a friendship unique to them and become a dynamic duo. Their relationship has its own pitfalls and of course, its successes. As their relationship grows, however, Luke admits that the way in which he wants to die, is while having sex with Jon. (more…)