Change Your Image
supersonica
Reviews
SubUrbia (1996)
it really makes you think..
i didn't even know the name of this movie when i first watched, but how was i to know it'd become my most favourite movie?
the story is a satire about kids in a typical suburban city in the USA. a group of friends who hang around their local Circle K each day are a few years out of high school and are soon to discover one of their old friends (..or not!) who actually "made it out" of the suburbs and got "famous" after high school is coming back to visit.
through pony's visit, the gang soon discover new things about themselves. sooze wants to leave for new york, her boyfriend jeff doesn't want her to go. tim was discharged from the army and doesnt care much for leaving the little niche he's got himself in, and buff.. well buff just wants to get laid.
pony seems to become an ideal for sooze, and she seems to get more and more caught in his little "nice guy who can help you out" trap as the movie progresses. jeff's protests against pony dont seem to help his cause. and buff.. well buff's still trying to get laid.
all in all, the film really makes you think. a lot of people come out of high school and then they're lost. they don't know what they're doing, or they do, but they just can't get out of their rut. kids in the suburbs.. suburbs where houses are all built the same, everyones taught the same, the stores are the same, the brands are the same, the tv is the same.. all of this shows how many people can lose their dreams and become stuck in this rut they soon become comfortable in. they come out of high school thinking they can conquer the world, soon to discover that they cant, that they just have to end up stuck in suburbia like their parents. some, like sooze, try to make it out. others, like pony, do make it. the irony of it all is that it shows how people like sooze need to jump on the back of someone like pony's bandwagon to get out. others, like nazeer, are actually working hard to get by in life. im sure everyone who sees the movie will even see parts of their own psyche, or life experiences, through these characters.
another great aspect is the great choice of actors who were chosen to play the characters. giovanni ribisi (just recently in 'gone in 60 seconds') plays Jeff perfectly. other notable mentions are steve zahn as buff and parker posey as erica.
its hard to explain the message it's trying to put across. you just need to watch it to understand and i think the track by gene pitney, "a town without pity", which is played during the titles sums it up quite nicely.
Since You've Been Gone (1998)
i can't WAIT for my reunion now..
i saw this one for the second time on cable this morning whilst flicking thru the channels. a movie about a typical high school reunion - with a twist. the characters dont all turn out how you expect them to be from the way they look. sure, the D&D nerds are still annoying, the head cheerleader and star quarterback are still together (hehehe) and the class psycho is still psycho, but everyone seems to be trying to be something they're not, and some are doing better (or much worse) than others. you'll ask yourself "where have i seen that actor/actress before??" many times through out the film. look out for some 80's stars cameoing as well (as well a cameo by jerry springer!) the best character? well fred of course! cuz "you've gotta dance!!"