THE SALTON SEA
[Film stats: Earned $764554 domestically. Got 63% on Rotten Tomatoes and 82% on Flixster.]
Hello, all!
This film is a delight. That might seem an odd thing to say about a film that spends most of its time in the meth-addicted world of Los Angeles, but it’s true. To be fair, the film has its fair of random, even incoherent asides, as if the filmmakers wanted to ape a Family Guy cutaway… and yet it still remains cohesive and “works” in its own way.
The plot, according to the IMDB, is as follows: “After a tragic incident, a man drifts into a world populated by thugs and speed junkies.”
Straightforward enough, and I suppose a passable description, but there’s just so much good stuff in this quirky little film that there’s no way a one-sentence synopsis could ever do it justice. If you put PULP FICTION, CHOPPER, REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, and at least half of David Mamet’s brain in a blender, you’d have a rough approximation of what to expect from this movie.
For those of you who are keen to check out a trailer for the film, I’m going to change things up a bit and do you one better by sharing this clip from the [almost] very beginning of the film:
If you were at all amused by that clip, please do yourself a favor and watch the whole film. There are character actors scattered throughout, all contributing to the quirky awesomeness of the movie. Vincent D’Onofrio turns in the most significant supporting part as Pooh Bear, a drug dealer who has a nose for meth [you’ll see what I mean], but you’ve also got Adam Goldberg [of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN fame] as a junky, Danny Trejo [MACHETE himself] as a thug/junky, Doug Hutchison [of THE GREEN MILE fame (and also 16-year-old marrying infamy)] as a cop, and none other than the Iceman himself [Val Kilmer, not Casey Clausen] tying them all together.
The film isn’t perfect, of course, and the blender analogy above is more accurate than not, particularly given how disjointed the film sometimes manages to be. Still, it’s more than the sum of its parts, and, assuming you liked the clip I shared, every bit worth your time.
Enjoy!
P.S. For those of you who give this one a shot and enjoy it, you may also want to check out FIGHT CLUB or LAST ACTION HERO.
Other films recommended:
[Day 1 - BARTON FINK; Day 2 - CENTURION; Day 3 - THE BABADOOK; Day 4 - RISEN; Day 5 - CHOPPER; Day 6 - ZERO EFFECT; Day 7 - IN BRUGES; Day 8 - HOUSE OF GAMES; Day 9 - DREDD; Day 10 - THE MISSION; Day 11 - WARRIOR; Day 12 - ANNIHILATION; Day 13 - THE FISHER KING; Day 14 - GOOD KILL; Day 15 - THE HITCHER; Day 16 - SHORT CUTS]
[Film stats: Earned $764554 domestically. Got 63% on Rotten Tomatoes and 82% on Flixster.]
Hello, all!
This film is a delight. That might seem an odd thing to say about a film that spends most of its time in the meth-addicted world of Los Angeles, but it’s true. To be fair, the film has its fair of random, even incoherent asides, as if the filmmakers wanted to ape a Family Guy cutaway… and yet it still remains cohesive and “works” in its own way.
The plot, according to the IMDB, is as follows: “After a tragic incident, a man drifts into a world populated by thugs and speed junkies.”
Straightforward enough, and I suppose a passable description, but there’s just so much good stuff in this quirky little film that there’s no way a one-sentence synopsis could ever do it justice. If you put PULP FICTION, CHOPPER, REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, and at least half of David Mamet’s brain in a blender, you’d have a rough approximation of what to expect from this movie.
For those of you who are keen to check out a trailer for the film, I’m going to change things up a bit and do you one better by sharing this clip from the [almost] very beginning of the film:
If you were at all amused by that clip, please do yourself a favor and watch the whole film. There are character actors scattered throughout, all contributing to the quirky awesomeness of the movie. Vincent D’Onofrio turns in the most significant supporting part as Pooh Bear, a drug dealer who has a nose for meth [you’ll see what I mean], but you’ve also got Adam Goldberg [of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN fame] as a junky, Danny Trejo [MACHETE himself] as a thug/junky, Doug Hutchison [of THE GREEN MILE fame (and also 16-year-old marrying infamy)] as a cop, and none other than the Iceman himself [Val Kilmer, not Casey Clausen] tying them all together.
The film isn’t perfect, of course, and the blender analogy above is more accurate than not, particularly given how disjointed the film sometimes manages to be. Still, it’s more than the sum of its parts, and, assuming you liked the clip I shared, every bit worth your time.
Enjoy!
P.S. For those of you who give this one a shot and enjoy it, you may also want to check out FIGHT CLUB or LAST ACTION HERO.
Other films recommended:
[Day 1 - BARTON FINK; Day 2 - CENTURION; Day 3 - THE BABADOOK; Day 4 - RISEN; Day 5 - CHOPPER; Day 6 - ZERO EFFECT; Day 7 - IN BRUGES; Day 8 - HOUSE OF GAMES; Day 9 - DREDD; Day 10 - THE MISSION; Day 11 - WARRIOR; Day 12 - ANNIHILATION; Day 13 - THE FISHER KING; Day 14 - GOOD KILL; Day 15 - THE HITCHER; Day 16 - SHORT CUTS]
