Great. A career-best performance from Paul Giamatti. He plays a documentary filmmaker who is attempting to examine the life of the modern teenager, although he seemingly misses every important moment and manipulates the result into focussing more on himself than his supposed subjects. I can't help but see this as Todd Solondz's response to American Beauty - there is one delicious, deliberate reference - and it's infinitely more complex, insightful and meaningful. Also has music by Belle & Sebastian.

One of the best and most maturely written films of the 21st century thus far.

"Listen up because here's a lesson... Life's not fair." -Marty,

- Film Club Ranked: boxd.it/3M2sq

Meta.

I love how Solondz does a story about two stories and criticizes the stories within the context of the story. It's an interesting exploration of the process, what works and what doesn't and how different takes on an experience can impact different groups.

I personally enjoyed Fiction, the first story, a bit more but really feel that both get at important things. I could've watched more students read their stories and get criticized by the group in Fiction, I found the vibe of those scenes to be interesting. Many reviews discuss how intense this film is but I don't find the intensity to be so bad... the film has a few shocking parts but it's fairly grounded for the duration, which I appreciated.

Really good!

WOW.
Isn't it funny that fiction sometimes seems like nonfiction, or vice versa? This is Solondz's most mature and honest work yet, peeling back the layers on misconceptions of American youth and adulthood. People treat others badly, sometimes forcefully, and other times in a subtle way. A brilliant masterpiece, and the endings of both segments hit me like a bullet. Todd Solondz makes even the harshest things ironic.
I'm blown away.

not even sure what to say about this its absurd and would probably never recommend this to anyone but it kinda???sorta???worked for me in the weirdest way. dont even want to delve into the politics to this as its all so convoluted and fucked but idk. just really want to have a long conversation with todd solondz with what the fuck is going on in his movies

dry and nasty with some irreconcilable moral conundrums. few films hate performative liberalism as much as this, and the utterly terrifying scenes between the kid and the maid consuelo underscoring the portrait of the middle-class nuclear family, showing what has to be upheld to ensure it, are a great rebuke to films like roma that gloss over the inherent exploitation in the homeowner-maid relationship for the sake of a whitewashed and uncomplicated nostalgia. i have no clue if some of what's in here is defensible but the way it consistently engages with itself as a text and deconstructs issues of ethics and exploitation while at the same time knowing it may also be perpetuating these things due to the failure oftentimes of satire as providing adequate cushioning means it's at least solondz's most interesting film to me.

This would be called alt-right if it came out now.

Film Club #67

I knew there were 2 versions of this and didn’t think it mattered which one I found until the giant red boxes showed up to censor a scene WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA there were so many other ways to censor that scene pleaseeee

There's some smart(?), or at least clever, ideas going around about the blurred or non-existent lines between fiction and non-fiction but it's buried DEEP underneath layers of cruelty, misanthropy, and nasty humor that's gonna be impenetrable to most people, perfectly understandably. I swear after every Solondz movie (still just my third) I wanna report him to the FBI.

Wow 20 years ago this edgelord nonsense disguised as a thinkpiece was considered provocative lmao

Solondz quite brilliantly prods and pokes at the often vacant, moral and intellectually bankrupt psyche of the subjects in question. Through his own spread of wry humour and pitch black wittiness he delivers sharp and amusing dialogue that examines themes of personal turmoil, youthful angst, racial and sexual taboos and even an entertainingly sad dissection of the American nuclear family, which for me doesn’t even seem like it’s that satirical at all. Void of all the quirky and comedic elements to the film, there’s also an underlying tragedy that courses through the veins of it; hopelessness. It’s a film which teeters on the precipice of awkwardness and sheer discomfort but remains engaging all the way through. I need to watch more of these Solondz films.

Ranked - Film Club Weekly Picks

This was arguably the most restrained Solondz film I’ve seen so far, but that’s not saying a lot. Another pessimistic, misanthropic slice of suburban life gone wrong. Brutal, offensive, darkly funny, what else would you expect really.

I have a lot to say about this movie.

“It kept you on edge the entire time, waiting for the satisfying outcome... it blue-balls you.”

- my roommate

That’s why it’s a perfect movie. It blue-balls you.

Hits on two settings I know well: liberal arts college and New Jersey suburbia

Todd Solondz is a white Spike Lee.

Sad how every american adolescent grows up convinced they’re entitled to some kind of career in art or media...
Hits a chord of cynicism and critique that seems to only have been possible during that brief period of time after columbine and before 9/11. Gen X is so depressing but unfortunately right about a lot 😔. Wish they hadn’t given up making this stuff. Selma Blair has the sexiest eyelids!

Todd Solondz, you nasty fuck

Amo a John Goodman

that little boy deserves the electric chair