God help, I'm thinking of going to see 'The Rules of Attraction' this weekend.

(nb: i agree with mel.)

Shannyn Sossamon is in this? Now I have to see it. Great. (I've never read the book, but I love the line about it in that big Salon book about modern writers - "It was not as bad as everyone said it was, for the simple reason that it is physically impossible for a book to be that bad.")

I imagine the movie wld be better [i've not yet seen it], if only because it confines an overly repetitive [she was wearing blah de blah de BLAH ad nauseum] book to a digestable length.

OTM.

(not really, but i had to make that pun)

I've seen worse movies this year, and I'll see worse movies this year.

Andrew McCarthy < James Van Der Beek < Christian Bale, although Van Der Beek came the closest to seeming like a real human being of the three.

Jessica Biel is the median between sorority girl and porn star.

The soundtrack wasn't bad, and had a neat effect of throwing the 'timing' (historically, um) off. Clearly set in the present, but several eighties touches, like, when was the last time an American college student listened to post-Second Edition PiL? ("Rise" in this case, which I hadn't heard in forever and which I greeted like a guy I knew in high school suddenly popping up in a movie)

All of the techinical tricks were superfluous, and only the European Vacation part was a real kick.

It was also a kick to think 'so that's Patrick Bateman's little brother'.

Fred Savage should have been left on the cutting room floor.

Every review I've seen of this, even the positive ones, have noted that the characters are completely unsympathetic and repulsive, so does it make me a repulsive person to sympathize with these characters?

Better than Sunshine State!

That is so OTM.

The European vacation scene was interesting, but it felt so anachronistic - people still talk about hanging out with Paul Fucking Oakenfold (even when this movie was new)

----
Just saw this today. Absolutely loved it. I have to wonder now (and I believe this was briefly touched upon in a Kill Bill thread), how much of Quentin Tarantino's perceived talent was actually Roger Avary?

BTW, I believe it's now official that Avary has the rights to Glamorama.

I watched this film with some friends and I think they were a bit weirded out when I insisted that I identified with Van Der Beek's character the most.

that "ooh look i just stopped writing trick" is a bit much these days, maybe just coz i'm bored with it and the shock value seems to exceed the technical effect.

Everyone agreed the other dude was really cute, and yeah he was but his character was the most nutso to me. The backwards stuff was rubbed in a bit too much early on, and that whole "people like us" line that was the real ending was such a groaner.

The suicide scene was pretty well done, and the way it held on the flickering lights so you got the real tension when the girl stumbles into the bathroom and you KNOW that there's going to be the body there when she turns around.

So yeah, continuity-wise it was real strong.

the scene with him at the dinner table with his mother was k-classic.

(haha i thought it was just affecting enough and at the end it was TOO affecting)

Did we see two different movies? :)

All this needs now is Girolamo to roll in on his Avary-train.

that part is great.

Hey, I said my peace [sic?] (and not just in this thread). I don't see what else I can add at the moment, unless you want to debate something a little more specific than the movie as a whole.

Here's a question, though (which I can not answer, as I haven't listened to it, but):

Carrot Top commentary track: Classic or Dud? And does such a dialectic truly exist when discussing this topic?

I loved the scene where they're in the dorm room together and Van Der Beek's internal monologue is like "I need some dope, and then a fuck", while Somerholder's is like "I watched him slowly roll the joint and it occured to me that..." It was a wonderfully succint explication of the difference between the two characters - living on pure instinct versus constructing an on-going narrative for your life. I think this is why Somerholder's character chooses the harder task of trying to seduce a straight guy - it's sort of like his hero-quest. Van Der Beek's task should be relatively easy (and indeed it would have been if he didn't fuck it up) but he can't keep his eye on the prize because he lives from moment to moment.

The "Faith" scene is also beyond classic, although my reasons for thinking so are hardly noble.

Well, I think s1utsky said it- I just never realized you were meant to care for any of these people, and felt comfortable assuming a kind of distance from the film which in turn left me feeling bored, irritated, frustrated, and cheated by this movie. Which is funny, because you said a similar thing about Kill Bill.

Don't get me wrong, I LIKE fun, this movie just goes in my top-five worst with 8mm, David Gale, and the like.

Add this to my Spirited Away hate, and maybe ILX does think I hate fun. ;)

http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/coverv/62/190062.jpg

(though I realized you were supposed to care, I just couldn't figure out why or how)

For me, this was indeed what did happen. But it only made me love the film more knowing that I couldn't really approach these characters, yet they still kept me into the feel of the whole sick crew. And I don't think it's outrageous to suggest that, in a dark comedy, this is oftentimes part of the intentions. To force you to maintain some resonating frequency with the film while at the same time repulsing you.

Kill Bill, on the other hand, seemed to be begging me to love it. Like an even more pathetic version of William Macy's character in Magnolia, it had so much it wanted to, needed to, had to give me. And it did nothing but make me keep on tiptoe-ing backwards, starting slowly and quickly accelerating away from any engagement whatsoever. It wasn't engaging me despite itself, despite my dislike, despite my loathing. Rather, it was just affirming, affirming, affirming its ragged, leper-like disease.

(is that what you mean?)

Agreed, and some of my favorite movies achieve that with style- however much this film succeeded in that, I guess the "comedy" part didn't really work for me.

See, this is exactly what I would say about Rules of Attraction - I'm thinking of the "tricks", James Van Der Beek's attempted suicide scene, etc. - This movie wanted you to think it was the funny, daring, dazzling, dark comedy, breaking taboos left and right and doing it with style, but it really was like being stuck in an elevator with one of the most annoying, unfunny, offensive, and dull people alive. I have no idea why Kill Bill didn't do the same to me, and I'm getting weirdly sensitive to violence the more movies I watch. I'll have to think abou that. I'm not saying it was the best movie of the year (at all), but it was kind of hard for me not to enjoy it because it seemed to have so much to offer, and I guess you could kind of pick and choose.

Kill Bill=Kish Kash
Rules of Attraction="Spinal Meningitis" by Ween

That's as best as I can put it. :)

like i didn't get an "ooh he's talking about jerking off" frission nor did i get the sense the movie really was GOING for one.

"Film critics" just don't get it, d00d!

I finally worked my way through all six commentary tracks, and I honestly loved most of them. Just great stuff. I wish there were more substantial features on the DVD, audio tracks aside.

I was way too pure in college I guess. Especially for a dropout.

Christ.

And way better than it has any right to be.

I actually have it too and probably that's not so much the surprise, seeing as I'm fairly blithe about many things (rightly or wrongly, I guess -- maybe not so much blithe as resolutely unsurprised by many of humankind's stupidities).

Tep has a point though, re: lately.

Frankly, today made me want to see Rumsfeld choke on his own copious bile.

but here's a question, who's seen the sucide bit in full? over here (uk) the dvd was cut after the theatrical vers. due to usual bbfc hoo-ha over easily imitable stuff (ie how to slah yr wrist). on the uk dvd (which is all uncut apart from the suicide) there is only the very briefest of razor-meeting-skin but apprntly the original vers. was like *unwatchably graphic*. ive also seen it said only 'a few frames' were cut.

seriously that FAITH bit is one of the funniest scenes of all time. clearly they are not coreographed and are just d*cking about, which made it even more classic. the sudden appearance on the bed of the 2nd guy in time with the kicking in of the chorus is as classic as it gets.

Also, listening to one of the endless number of commentary tracks, apparently the "Faith" scene was completely unscripted and unrehearsed. One take.

Ok Adam did mention that, but I like this movie, and Kill Bill and Spinal Meningitis by Ween, so there.

my question is good formalism enough to carry off a medicore film, and why didnt any of the reviewers note this ?

how do you separate 'form' from 'film'? i enjoyed this film, i'm slightly ashamed to say.

i think that the split screen talked about the essential isolation and the similarty of banalities in van der beek and the girl

i dont have an answer for this, this was stupid to bring up again.

we can now perve on james van der beek

I don't even think that it worked out technically since the distance between the two turned out to be three feet rather than face-to-face like the scene implied.

i loved it. and i loved the following exchange of words:

Mr. Lance Lawson: Can I interest you in a turn-on?

Lauren: Um... no thanks.

Mr. Lance Lawson: Well... don't mind if I do.

Lauren: Are-are we gonna do it on the couch or ...

Mr. Lance Lawson: Do what?

Lauren: You know, "it"...

Mr. Lance Lawson: What? Fuck...? Oh, are you mad? I'm a married man. And I would lose my tenure...

Lauren: But... aren't you coming onto me?

Mr. Lance Lawson: Well... for a hummer, sure... I'm quite aware of your abilities, Ms. Hyde. And it certainly couldn't hurt your GPA. So... Shall we?

NO, she is beautiful and the only redeeming part of this movie.

someone told me that someone's making a movie based on the 3-minute travel bit.

PS - the movie is Glitterati, and is being edited from the European rough footage by Avary himself, for use as a bridge-story between RoA and Glamorama.

I'm not big on the Euro-travel thing.

I re-read the book again, and I don't think Paul was any less (un)likeable than he was in the book. His hang-ups about Sean and his family are pretty irritating to get through (but then, everybody had hang-ups about Sean. Except Victor, Deirdre and, for a good while, Suicide Girl).

Glamorama is gonna be crazy hard to pull off as is.

haha, i was gonna say 'that's eurotrip' but now i see what you mean. that montage is amazing.

It was disagreeable, dislikeable, annoying, even disturbing - yes. But why? That is the question I had to ask myself.

-- the pinefox (pinefo...), October 5th, 2006.

I may have the answer, though it may not be the one you're looking for. You found it disturbing because it dredged up post-secondary memories of when you, yes, even you, had your back vomited on while victim of SURPRISE! BUTTSECKS!

"cause it's essnetially true to Easton Ellis's book and he's not so much a confessional writer as a show-off. There were some quite pats to this movie, however; the sleazy Euro travel-log was quite genius I thought.

If 'essnetially' didn't give away the fact that I had no business attempting to type this morning...

Best thing about the movie: the technically stunning backwards tracking shots to simulate temporal simultaneity. Unfortunately, this is only the first 10 minutes of the film (and a little at the end). (Also n/a OTM about the "SUCKS COCK" line.)

- the shots following dawson and shanosassmym which join
- the eurotrip montage sequence

even if the rest of this movie was awful, it would be saved by that late shot of wasted Jessica Biel heading into a dorm room with the entire offensive line

http://www.movieline.com/2010/05/bret-easton-ellis-on-rules-of-attraction-and-its-sexy-illicit-spinoff-youll-never-see.php?page=all

this is crazy

I love this poster. My friend has one hanging in his editing suite.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3291/3129340465_8b9fcd8bdd.jpg

Great interview in 'Movieline'.

'Informers' book SPOILER:

BEE says in the interview something like "a guy who *thinks* he's a vampire". I thought that, maybe because of the end, that they were really vampires?

as noted upthread, I really enjoyed this movie when I originally saw it. Tried to watch it again recently and I didn't even make it twenty minutes in. Ugh.

i enjoyed this film, i'm slightly ashamed to say.

― Henry Miller, Tuesday, February 15, 2005 5:03 AM (5 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

This but I love the book too. What everyone said regarding the Eurotrip montage being awesome is OTM. I haven't seen this since it came out so no clue if I'd like it now. Saw it in the theater with a friend and his mom. That was . . . awkward.

I might rewatch it because I finished Imperial Bedrooms last night.

it's been a while since i read the informers, but yeah, wasn't there a part where they literally change into bats?

also having a hard time believing this:
"the carrot top commentary was very very funny"

have been eying imperial bedrooms warily - verdict?

it's short! even if you are disappointed, it won't have taken much time.
I'm not sure if it's a proper sequel -- it takes place in a universe where someone who isn't
Bret wrote Less than Zero, and nu-Clay spends the first chapter responding to that book, and
the movie that was made of it.
So, not quite a reboot, but not in the same universe either.

should have been set in the 80s, imo.

there's a lot of cel phones and texting in it, if that's a dealbreaker.

i suppose the book might have been more interesting if he turned journalist and caught up with the actual terrible people 'Less than Zero' was based on, but they're probably all semi-powerful Hollywood execs now.

have been eying imperial bedrooms warily - verdict?

The first seventy pages chronicle his usual anomic tour through an L.A. wasteland, with a couple of moments of creepiness that reminded me of Lynch's Lost Highway. Once it becomes clear where the thing is going, it's a wheeze. The last twenty pages are gruesome and pathetic.

sorry, meant RoA movie should have been set in the 80s.

Thought Rules of Attraction was the name of some rubbish I watched on a bus journey once with Pierce Brosnon and Julianne Moore. What's that one called?

Ah, that's Laws of Attraction. Carry on.

Well what do we have here? Should be funnier, but a few laughs...
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/4310ae6f7f/bret-easton-ellis-presents-all-that-glitters?playlist=featured_videos

Ebert's review of this movie cracked me up:

"The parties are a lapse of credibility. I cannot believe, for example, that large numbers of co-eds would engage in topless lesbian breastplay at a campus event, except in the inflamed imaginations of horny undergraduates. But assuming that they would: Is it plausible that the horny undergraduates wouldn't even look at them? Are today's undergraduate men so (choose one) blase, Politically Correct or emasculated that, surrounded by the enthusiastic foreplay of countless half-naked women, they would blandly carry on their conversations?"

'All That Glitters' is better on second viewing.

Ebert hearts byoobs

It was disagreeable, dislikeable, annoying, even disturbing - yes. But why? That is the question I had to ask myself.
-- the pinefox (pinefo...), October 5th, 2006.

I may have the answer, though it may not be the one you're looking for. You found it disturbing because it dredged up post-secondary memories of when you, yes, even you, had your back vomited on while victim of SURPRISE! BUTTSECKS!

― LeCoq (LeCoq), Thursday, October 5, 2006 7:43 AM (3 years ago) Bookmark

this film is way more relevant than 'lost in translation' #noughtiesnostalgist

still need to rewatch this

surprising amount of love for this on here. still holds up!

Teresa from Warpaint played the girl who killed herself. I haven't seen it since it first came out.

“We shot all of the hotel room scenes at the Ritz Carlton in Marina del Rey and we had finished our day early. Ian was in make up, and I was looking at Russell Sams, who plays Dick, wearing his aviator glasses, and I said you look like George Michael.” “…I thought what the hell, let’s shoot something fun to watch in dailies tomorrow. Our sound man, Felipe Borrero, to quickly find a CD of George Michael’s Faith, which he happened to have in his car. I then told Russell, who was always game for anything, ‘okay, this is your first film, and as an initiation, I want you to do a striptease dance for the crew to Faith’. Russell stared at me for a second, in slight disbelief, and then said, ‘okay, sure’.” “It was improv, and we only had time for one take, so I planted the camera with a wide lens at the foot of the bed, played Faith full blast, and let him loose…Midway through, I looked over and saw Ian Somerhalder in the hallway…looking into the room incredulously. I made a quick motion for him to ‘go for it’ and the next thing I knew he jumped into the shot, right on the beat.” “It was, honestly, a completely spontaneous, magic moment, and it was such a funny scene that I simply had to include it in the movie. The only problem was that there was no way we could afford the music licensing rights to Faith, so I wrote a letter to George Michael, and sent him the scene, begging him to let me use it. George, being one of the coolest guys in the universe, gave us the song for a dime, and I will forever be grateful because it’s one of my favorite scenes in the movie.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kur5Inh7Keg&feature=youtu.be

cool story!

i bet this is really bad but id still love 2 see it -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glitterati_(film)

A Carrot Top commentary was my idea. I wanted to be in the mind of an average moviegoer, and hear them discover the film in real time. Then I heard Mr. Top’s commentary on his own film, Chairman of the Board—which is a hilarious stream of consciousness commentary, if you haven’t…

— Roger Avary (@AVARY) February 12, 2026