Sunset Strip (2000)

I have been watching so many horror movies lately that I felt it was time to move on and start watching some other genres and nothing interests me more than music and the Sunset Strip. It is for that very reason when I saw the title Sunset Strip on HULU, I had to check out this 2000 film that was directed by Adam Collis (Car Dogs) and the film follows a group of people (a song writer, a photographer, musicians, and a stylist) that all live in the Los Angeles area and congregate to the world famous strip as the camera follows them and what happens to them in a 24 hour period of time. The film stars Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club) as Glen Walker, Simon Baker (The Devil Wears Prada) as Michael Scott, Anna Friel (Limitless) as Tammy Franklin, Nick Stahl (Bully) as Zach, Rory Cochrane (Dazed And Confused) as Felix, Adam Goldberg (Dazed And Confused) as Marty Shapiro, Tommy Flanagan (Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2) as Duncan, Darren E. Burrows (Causalities Of War) as Bobby, John Randolph (Escape From The Planet Of The Apes) as Mr. Niederhaus, Mary Lynn Rajskub (Little Miss Sunshine) as Eileen, Stephanie Romanov (The Final Cut) as Christine, Judy Greer (Buffaloed) as young waitress, and Mike Rad (It's In The Kitchen) as Badger. 

Adam Collis and the writers of the film obviously went to the school of Richard Linklater and have shown their love of his classic set in the 70's look at teens in Dazed And Confused. Now the overall concept of the film may be different as one looks at teens in Texas over a 24 hour period while this film looks at musicians and various other industry people over a 24 hour period besides the only other similarity being the two actors from Dazed (Cochrane and Goldberg) also being in this one. The story technically evolves more around three characters as Stahl's character feels that it's his destiny to be in LA while Baker's character is trying to balance his photography business while dealing with a depressed friend and the fact that he can't muster up the courage to ask out Tammy who is the last character we follow as she balances her personal life with his business life. I found these personal journeys not as interesting as some of the performances in the film especially coming from Jared Leto who acted the part of a rockstar who is just so full of himself to a T. There were three sides of the spectrum with this film as far as the musicians were concerned and Leto's was the type of musician who made it for the excesses that come with the job rather than Stahl's character who still has love for the craft. Meanwhile, Flanagan's character is the embodiment of what a British rock star is and that is complete coolness like they've been there before and love is what they are missing. If I had to pick an MVP for the film though it would definitely go to Leto and Anna Friel who was just superb. You also have to check out the interactions between Goldberg and Cochrane in this film cause that is Gold. One of the other highlights is the sets that they use like the world famous Whiskey A Go-Go. Check out the film for yourself, but I am giving it an B for a final grade. 

Bully (2001)

The 90's brought us grittier films especially in independent cinema that helped challenge the blandness that Hollywood was putting out with films like Kids which complete shocked me the first time I watched it. The film I chose for today is another one of those films that is just gritty from beginning to end and it's called Bully and it was released in 2001 and was directed by Larry Clark (Kids). The film stars the late Brad Renfro (Apt Pupil) as Marty Puccio, a typical teenager who just seems to make the wrong choices and is a complete pushover. Marty is friends with Bobby Kent (Nick Stahl), a kid who takes advantage of Marty's shortcomings, has some bad intentions himself,  and bullies him to the point that Marty and the rest of his friends plan and try to execute a hit on Bobby Kent to get rid of him permanently. The film also stars Bijou Phillips (Hostel: Part II) as Ali, Rachel Miner (The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations) as Lisa Connelly, Michael Pitt (Boardwalk Empire) as Donny, Kelli Garner (Lars And The Real Girl) as Heather, Daniel Franzese (I Spit On Your Grave) as Cousin Derek, Leo Fitzpatrick (Bubble Boy) as The Hitman, Ed Amatrudo (The Right Stuff) as Mr. Kent, Elizabeth Dimon (The Mystery Files Of Shelby Woo) as Mrs. Connelly, and Nathalie Paulding (All My Children) as Claudia.

The film is definitely very gritty and it has a real sense to it like it almost feels too real for one's liking. I feel like a lot of Larry Clarke's films explore just how dumb young adults and teenagers can really be and if you never seen Kids then you need to check that out first. Then you can make yourself over to this one and it's just another film about kids not being rational about anything so the first thing they think of is to try and kill a guy. That is the first mistake they make because the second mistake is that involve way too many people in the scenario with the third mistake being that they just can't keep their mouths shut. They sit there and they are told to get their alibis straight, but their they are blabbering to anyone who'll listen to them about how they killed someone. So when I say that a lot of his films are about teenagers making bad choices and just being irrational and stupid then you'll know what I am talking about. The tone and look of the film is just gritty and dirty like you're watching a Dateline special if you get my gist. The acting overall is pretty good by most of the parties involved and there is a crap ton of nudity in this film like they were happy to just be naked and I get it Florida can get very hot and sticky. It's sad to know that Brad Renfro passed away some years after this film because he had a lot of promise, but unfortunately like many others we'll never know what his true potential could have been if he had lived. If you want something gritty then definitely give this one a watch, but for now I am going to give the film an B- for a final grade.