Monday, January 23, 2006

Hostel

It's a sad moment in American film criticism when the puritanical, pseudo-moralist posturing of the current political establishment has crept into the work of those charged with tempering such overzealous thinking.

Eli Roth's electric Hostel has been met with a groundswell of hatred, from nearly every spectrum of the critical landscape. Roth's film - gory, sadistic and prurient - has been called just about every vile thing possible, for the very grotesque but affecting aesthetic that should be celebrated.

While the majority of America's film critics have been caught up in their moral superiority, they seem to have missed the fact that Roth has crafted a supremely political film, one that lambasts the jocular xenophobia of the typical American, and showing just what the rest of the world probably feels about us all.

Hostel is, without question, extreme. But satire is never really effective if it's too in line with reality. With the distance that Hostel provides with its rabidly violent overkill and graphic sexual content, it becomes quite evident that Roth is having a wickedly fun time, but is also very aware that he's made a hot-button film.

Perhaps it's good that the film has had so much negative press. The old saying and all. But sometimes, when you champion a film, you just wish that everyone else "got it". Or maybe you're just crazy yourself.

Grade: A-

7 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just saw it. Can't stop thinking about it. Work of art.

Love,

Lori

3:04 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don´t understand why you people think that the rest of the world hates you... it´s just envy. Im from Argentina and i must say... if i were a psyco mother f$%&"$&, i would stop what im doing if i hear an american accent. I love americans and all about them. I wish i could be one!!!!

1:52 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yet another fat, self loathing critic who is willing to blame his home country of the United States of America for all the world's problems. Your day if over, we are waking up and don't give a damn what the world thinks. We are coming... we are coming.

1:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

ur an american, sooo quit trying to be clever pretending to be argentinian, we can smell ur yankee blood!

5:14 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ok, so if there is some premeditated message here about callous Americans getting what they deserve, why does the main character turn into a unstoppable Rambo figure bent on revenge who has all his vengence placed laughably before his eyes? Is the hidden message that, as ignorant as Americans can be, the rest of the world is meaner to us, so we should be even MORE meaner to it? Even based on this silly review, the "masterful politlcal message" loses focus and credibility.

To be honest Hostel is, quite simply, poor storytelling. Gore and cult value aside, for the production value and budget of this over-hyped film, more attention should've been paid to pacing and continuity. It's one thing to have a *fairly* novel horror film (Saw and Seven both did it better, but more importantly: first), and even to be one with a vaguely political message, which this reviewer has overblown. But it's quite another to be a quality film.

Saw, for all its oft-(unjustly)maligned schizophrenia, managed to keep its focus much better than this film--and though its message was paper-thin and cliche, at least it was consistent.

9:04 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's kinda funny that the most "uncaring" country in the world gives more money that any other country to charities around the world. Lol you fat tub of guts! Move to Iran you stupid fuck. Thank you.

10:21 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I disagree...one silly message about the ignorance of Americans hidden in 90 minutes of boring, un-stylish mind poop? Do you realize how many sick teenage boys are gonna grow up with this and the idea of recreational violence? I fully agree that Roth should make whatever kind of art he wants, but it seems he's capitalizing on intense shock value and sex to make money....He and Tarantino saw the web site and decided it could be reallly gory and cool to make. Tarantino plastered his name on everything and gave Roth an assload of money he didn't have. The fact that part 2 is coming only confirms that HOSTEL isn't a one-time statement, but an excercise in exploitation and moneymaking. Roth made a misogynystic, brutal film he knew would make money with shock happy, video game playing teenage rejects... and then when it became successful he wants to say "Look how far removed it all is from humanity..." You're not deep, Eli.

Bijou Phillips is in the sequel for god's sake. She will undoubtedly be nude in some way during the film, as she always is (which I'm sure is why Roth cast her, along with the fact that he probably wanted to party with her/sleep with her, because at heart Roth is of the same breed of foolish man-boy that he portrays in his film). Just listen to what snivveling nerds he and Quentin sound like on the commentary......ugh....what fools!!...

And bigger than all of this.....THE MOVIE IS NOT SCARY OR THRILLING.....he's gonna cut off her toe! he's gonna cut off her toe!!!.....and.......CUT to them in the hotel lobby......again......sitting there..........

A real reflection of the ignorance in American society would be the fact that trash like this is celebrated by people who will believe anything some asshole fanboy will tell them. American Beauty said tons more about our culture and who we really are...and I fear that truly....no one "got that".

Oh, the lameness.

10:40 AM  

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