list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around Teeth on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/Teeth/313976/default.aspx Title: Teeth
Year: 2007
Director: Mitchell Lichtenstein
Plot: A high school student struggling to suppress her budding sexuality makes a startling discovery about her womanhood after becoming the victim of sexual violence in director Michael Lichtentenstein's semi-surreal exploration of the vagina dentate myth. Dawn (Jess Weixler) is a proud virgin and the most active member of her local chastity group. Though she struggles with every ounce of her willpower to resist the pleasures of the flesh, Dawn finds her noble efforts to remain chaste repeatedly challenged by her disturbed step-brother Brad - whose provocative advances are becoming increasingly difficult to resist. When Dawn is sexually assaulted and discovers that her vagina actually has teeth, she struggles to comprehend her anatomical anomaly while experiencing both the benefits and drawbacks of this strange new revelation. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 26
Number of Lists: 18
Number of blog posts: 8
Number of discussion threads: 9
SpoutRating: 3
]]>Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:54:18 GMTTeeth2007Mitchell LichtensteinA high school student struggling to suppress her budding sexuality makes a startling discovery about her womanhood after becoming the victim of sexual violence in director Michael Lichtentenstein's semi-surreal exploration of the vagina dentate myth. Dawn (Jess Weixler) is a proud virgin and the most active member of her local chastity group. Though she struggles with every ounce of her willpower to resist the pleasures of the flesh, Dawn finds her noble efforts to remain chaste repeatedly challenged by her disturbed step-brother Brad - whose provocative advances are becoming increasingly difficult to resist. When Dawn is sexually assaulted and discovers that her vagina actually has teeth, she struggles to comprehend her anatomical anomaly while experiencing both the benefits and drawbacks of this strange new revelation. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide26Tag Target (>10)18893http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/s313976.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/Teeth/313976/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/blogs/kevynknox/archive/2009/7/18/43173.aspx Post By: KevynKnox
Post To: KevynKnox Blog
Post Date: 7/18/2009 12:54:18 AM
Body: (this review was first published at Plume-Noire on 03/02/09) Teeth is a mish-mash of genre monikers, from female empowerment movie to coming-of-age saga to black comedy-horror to rape & revenge drama to Lynchian suburban melodrama. Pop artist fil Mitchell Lichtenstein gives us the story of Dawn, a white picket fence pretty young girl coping with growing up "pure and virginal" in a world obsessed with sexual innuendo around each and every corner. This includes her own house as her lecherous big bad wolf epitome'd stepbrother sniffs after her with tongue a-flicking. After a date gone horribly, horribly awry, Dawn finds out that she is cursed with the mythical mutation known as "vaginal dentata" - aka she's got razor sharp teeth in her pussy, yo! The result is that Teeth ends up being a quirky (how could it not be?), sunnily macabre work of neo-candy pop horror that can in no way whatsoever be watched by anyone of the male gender without constant squirming and shuffling about in what are suddenly very uncomfortable seats. Opening in the suburban shadow of a nuclear power plant with towers billowing grey choke from their gritty Teeth as if a nod-and-a-wink absurdist homage to The Simpsons. Teeth struts out with a creeping small town menace overlying everything and proceeds down a road of desperate reciprocatory acts of the most bizarre nature. With the perils of male violence festooned within every darting-eyed nook and cranny moment, Teeth takes place in a world completely ensconced within one of those old sex ed filmstrips made to keep junior high school girls legs clamped shut until their wedding night. Dawn, played with a scared forest animal comic frenzy by Jess Weixler, looking every bit the girl next door on the verge of bad girl in the basement is spokesperson for a promise ring wearing teenage purity movement - a movement lampooned on Family Guy but given real "teeth" here. Dawn is seen as the ultimate sexual goal-cum-prize by just about every male classmate in her school, as if every teenage boy is some sort of licentious lycanthrope ready to pounce and deflower every pretty girl they come across at the drop of a hat - or any article of clothing. Dawn sees herself as such too and fights even her own naturally budding urges (a scene showing our intrepid heroine in bed "thinking" about a boy she longs for attests to such) to keep her vow of chastity upright. That is until one fateful swimmin' hole romp that ends with the lake being dredged for the body of Dawn's unfortunate date sans one pretty important body part. Once the newly deflowered Dawn throws away the moniker of curse and looks upon her mutation as a rightful empowerment to avenge her becoming the victim of the seemingly rampant male violence of this strange new world the film goes from anti-sexual to proto-sexual. With Dawn going from Little Red Riding Hood to the Big Bad Wold herself, the film here turns from strangely charming fantasy to something straight out of a seedy dogeared pulp fiction paperback. It is at this point that Teeth philosophically joins in with such rape & revenge films as Abel Ferrara's Ms. 45 and its more recent counterpart The Brave One from Neil Jordan. Teeth though is a much less mature, more light-hearted film that the aforementioned. After all, horror-edged or not, Lichtenstein is going for laughs here. Leaving a hilarious slew of severed penii (as well as four fingers of a rather over-amorous gynecologist) in her wake, Dawn strews her victims "better halves" across the landscape like discarded cigarette butts in the early dusky morning after a concert in the park. One scene, inevitably choreographed, involves Dawn's salacious step-brother (played with a grim concupiscence by snarky Nip/Tuck regular John Hensley), his pet rottweiler and his freshly decapitated member half eaten with its pierced tip discarded like so much gristle. Though obvious in its outcome, this scene is certainly the pièce de résistance of this giddily twisted fairy tale of female empowerment overtaking a male dominated society of sexual despotism. On a whole, Teeth is funny, though a little bit crotch-writhing for those of us so engendered. Lichtenstein's film is a delight of, albeit stereotyped caricatures, fumbling their way through a darkish suburban nightmarescape that combines the punchy humor of a youthful Almadovar with the clean efficiently disturbed Middle America of a budding David Lynch. This critic for one, looks forward to what will come next.
]]>Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:54:18 GMTKevynKnoxKevynKnox Blog7/18/2009 12:54:18 AM(this review was first published at Plume-Noire on 03/02/09) Teeth is a mish-mash of genre monikers, from female empowerment movie to coming-of-age saga to black comedy-horror to rape & revenge drama to Lynchian suburban melodrama. Pop artist fil Mitchell Lichtenstein gives us the story of Dawn, a white picket fence pretty young girl coping with growing up "pure and virginal" in a world obsessed with sexual innuendo around each and every corner. This includes her own house as her lecherous big bad wolf epitome'd stepbrother sniffs after her with tongue a-flicking. After a date gone horribly, horribly awry, Dawn finds out that she is cursed with the mythical mutation known as "vaginal dentata" - aka she's got razor sharp teeth in her pussy, yo! The result is that Teeth ends up being a quirky (how could it not be?), sunnily macabre work of neo-candy pop horror that can in no way whatsoever be watched by anyone of the male gender without constant squirming and shuffling about in what are suddenly very uncomfortable seats. Opening in the suburban shadow of a nuclear power plant with towers billowing grey choke from their gritty Teeth as if a nod-and-a-wink absurdist homage to The Simpsons. Teeth struts out with a creeping small town menace overlying everything and proceeds down a road of desperate reciprocatory acts of the most bizarre nature. With the perils of male violence festooned within every darting-eyed nook and cranny moment, Teeth takes place in a world completely ensconced within one of those old sex ed filmstrips made to keep junior high school girls legs clamped shut until their wedding night. Dawn, played with a scared forest animal comic frenzy by Jess Weixler, looking every bit the girl next door on the verge of bad girl in the basement is spokesperson for a promise ring wearing teenage purity movement - a movement lampooned on Family Guy but given real "teeth" here. Dawn is seen as the ultimate sexual goal-cum-prize by just about every male classmate in her school, as if every teenage boy is some sort of licentious lycanthrope ready to pounce and deflower every pretty girl they come across at the drop of a hat - or any article of clothing. Dawn sees herself as such too and fights even her own naturally budding urges (a scene showing our intrepid heroine in bed "thinking" about a boy she longs for attests to such) to keep her vow of chastity upright. That is until one fateful swimmin' hole romp that ends with the lake being dredged for the body of Dawn's unfortunate date sans one pretty important body part. Once the newly deflowered Dawn throws away the moniker of curse and looks upon her mutation as a rightful empowerment to avenge her becoming the victim of the seemingly rampant male violence of this strange new world the film goes from anti-sexual to proto-sexual. With Dawn going from Little Red Riding Hood to the Big Bad Wold herself, the film here turns from strangely charming fantasy to something straight out of a seedy dogeared pulp fiction paperback. It is at this point that Teeth philosophically joins in with such rape & revenge films as Abel Ferrara's Ms. 45 and its more recent counterpart The Brave One from Neil Jordan. Teeth though is a much less mature, more light-hearted film that the aforementioned. After all, horror-edged or not, Lichtenstein is going for laughs here. Leaving a hilarious slew of severed penii (as well as four fingers of a rather over-amorous gynecologist) in her wake, Dawn strews her victims "better halves" across the landscape like discarded cigarette butts in the early dusky morning after a concert in the park. One scene, inevitably choreographed, involves Dawn's salacious step-brother (played with a grim concupiscence by snarky Nip/Tuck regular John Hensley), his pet rottweiler and his freshly decapitated member half eaten with its pierced tip discarded like so much gristle. Though obvious in its outcome, this scene is certainly the pièce de résistance of this giddily twisted fairy tale of female empowerment overtaking a male dominated society of sexual despotism. On a whole, Teeth is funny, though a little bit crotch-writhing for those of us so engendered. Lichtenstein's film is a delight of, albeit stereotyped caricatures, fumbling their way through a darkish suburban nightmarescape that combines the punchy humor of a youthful Almadovar with the clean efficiently disturbed Middle America of a budding David Lynch. This critic for one, looks forward to what will come next. http://www.spout.com/groups/Filmgaming/Re_DVD_Box_Set_Giveaway/563/38744/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: mciocco
Post To: Filmgaming
Post Date: 12/22/2008 9:37:32 PM
Body: Well I still haven't finalized my list, but here's 5 films I loved and what my mom would say: 1. The Dark Knight - "I didn't understand it." 2. Timecrimes - "I didn't understand it." 3. Let the Right One In - "I didn't understand it." 4. The Bank Job- "I didn't understand it." 5. Teeth - "I didn't know we could do that!" She's not much of a movie person.
]]>Tue, 23 Dec 2008 02:37:32 GMTmcioccoFilmgaming12/22/2008 9:37:32 PMWell I still haven't finalized my list, but here's 5 films I loved and what my mom would say: 1. The Dark Knight - "I didn't understand it." 2. Timecrimes - "I didn't understand it." 3. Let the Right One In - "I didn't understand it." 4. The Bank Job- "I didn't understand it." 5. Teeth - "I didn't know we could do that!" She's not much of a movie person. http://www.spout.com/blogs/dibot/archive/2008/12/16/38447.aspx Post By: dibot
Post To: dibot Blog
Post Date: 12/16/2008 12:33:21 PM
Body: Quantum of Solace is a good Bong movie, and that's it. It doesn't transcend or reinvent like Casino Royale. It's just fun and forgettable. In fact, I can recall nothing except Daniel Craig ("Defiance") continues to be good. Dame Judi Dench ("Notes on a Scandal") continues to be great. Stuff blows up and the girls are hot.Why am I a sucker for Sci-Fi channel originals? That may be something only years of therapy can uncover. But until then, I am so in. Kaw is set in a small town where the sheriff is putting in his last day. Then crows start going crazy and people start dying and the whole retirement party is put on hold. Most of the acting is really bad. But I fount it watchable. I even bought the explanation. However, the end wrapped everything up in a tidy bow and was sort of anticlimactic. Still, not a bad afternoon.As a warning, In Bruges is not a knee-slapping-side-splitting laugh riot as the trailer implies. It is funny, especially when Colin Farrell ("Pride and Glory") opens his mouth. But it's deeper than that. Brendan Gleeson ("Beowolf") is an aging hit man hiding out with his young protege, Farrell, in a quaint Belgium city after a hit gone bad. It turns into a meditation on the meaning of one's life and what makes someone a good person. It's also beautifully shot and made me cry. Definitely see this.Tropic Thunder is also not the laugh riot depicted in the trailers. It is consistently funny, but only a few laugh-out-loud moments. I think of it more as a ridiculous action movie, one that's intentionally funny. A group of actors from other genres are put together to make a film about the Vietnam War. Robert Downey Jr. ("Iron Man") as usual blows everyone else away. Tom Cruise ("Lions for Lambs") deserves the attention he's getting. But I really enjoyed Jay Baruchel ("Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist") as the only actor taking this thing seriously. Amusing, but it's no Sarah Marshall.I had only heard of Teeth as the horror movie where the girl has teeth in her vagina. But it tries to be something more. It builds a mood of innocence and confusion as a young girl, Dawn, (Jess Weixler, Goodbye Baby") discovers there's something different about her. And then totally freaks out when she inadvertently kills some boys. I say this film is a good deterrent against rape. My husband is just totally freaked out. Because this is a graphic and bloody film. And if you had problems with the end of Hostel 2, this is not for you.
]]>Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:33:21 GMTdibotdibot Blog12/16/2008 12:33:21 PMQuantum of Solace is a good Bong movie, and that's it. It doesn't transcend or reinvent like Casino Royale. It's just fun and forgettable. In fact, I can recall nothing except Daniel Craig ("Defiance") continues to be good. Dame Judi Dench ("Notes on a Scandal") continues to be great. Stuff blows up and the girls are hot.Why am I a sucker for Sci-Fi channel originals? That may be something only years of therapy can uncover. But until then, I am so in. Kaw is set in a small town where the sheriff is putting in his last day. Then crows start going crazy and people start dying and the whole retirement party is put on hold. Most of the acting is really bad. But I fount it watchable. I even bought the explanation. However, the end wrapped everything up in a tidy bow and was sort of anticlimactic. Still, not a bad afternoon.As a warning, In Bruges is not a knee-slapping-side-splitting laugh riot as the trailer implies. It is funny, especially when Colin Farrell ("Pride and Glory") opens his mouth. But it's deeper than that. Brendan Gleeson ("Beowolf") is an aging hit man hiding out with his young protege, Farrell, in a quaint Belgium city after a hit gone bad. It turns into a meditation on the meaning of one's life and what makes someone a good person. It's also beautifully shot and made me cry. Definitely see this.Tropic Thunder is also not the laugh riot depicted in the trailers. It is consistently funny, but only a few laugh-out-loud moments. I think of it more as a ridiculous action movie, one that's intentionally funny. A group of actors from other genres are put together to make a film about the Vietnam War. Robert Downey Jr. ("Iron Man") as usual blows everyone else away. Tom Cruise ("Lions for Lambs") deserves the attention he's getting. But I really enjoyed Jay Baruchel ("Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist") as the only actor taking this thing seriously. Amusing, but it's no Sarah Marshall.I had only heard of Teeth as the horror movie where the girl has teeth in her vagina. But it tries to be something more. It builds a mood of innocence and confusion as a young girl, Dawn, (Jess Weixler, Goodbye Baby") discovers there's something different about her. And then totally freaks out when she inadvertently kills some boys. I say this film is a good deterrent against rape. My husband is just totally freaked out. Because this is a graphic and bloody film. And if you had problems with the end of Hostel 2, this is not for you. http://www.spout.com/groups/Community_Recommendations/Re_Collaboration_Best_Films_of_2008/643/38281/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: mciocco
Post To: Community Recommendations
Post Date: 12/11/2008 9:43:37 PM
Body: A couple years ago, I started putting together top 10 lists. I had no problem in 2006... indeed, several of my honorable mentions could easily have made the list. 2007 was more difficult, but there were some great late year entries and discoveries that made the list easier. 2008 has been difficult so far, but I'm still holding out hope. I only have two definites for this year's list: The Dark Knight Timecrimes As far as some other films I enjoyed and am considering for the list: Forgetting Sarah Marshall The Bank Job Teeth Burn After Reading Let the Right One In And some movies I want to see before finalizing my list: The Counterfeiters Slumdog Millionaire Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day Doubt The Brothers Bloom Kung-Fu Panda (got the DVD this week!) Frost/Nixon Man on Wire The Curious Case of Benjamin Button The Wrestler And probably 15 others:p I think I'll be able to put together 10 that I consider worthy... ~Mark
]]>Fri, 12 Dec 2008 02:43:37 GMTmcioccoCommunity Recommendations12/11/2008 9:43:37 PMA couple years ago, I started putting together top 10 lists. I had no problem in 2006... indeed, several of my honorable mentions could easily have made the list. 2007 was more difficult, but there were some great late year entries and discoveries that made the list easier. 2008 has been difficult so far, but I'm still holding out hope. I only have two definites for this year's list: The Dark Knight Timecrimes As far as some other films I enjoyed and am considering for the list: Forgetting Sarah Marshall The Bank Job Teeth Burn After Reading Let the Right One In And some movies I want to see before finalizing my list: The Counterfeiters Slumdog Millionaire Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day Doubt The Brothers Bloom Kung-Fu Panda (got the DVD this week!) Frost/Nixon Man on Wire The Curious Case of Benjamin Button The Wrestler And probably 15 others:p I think I'll be able to put together 10 that I consider worthy... ~Mark http://www.spout.com/groups/HORROR_MOVIES_101/Re_Horror_Nudity/222/36991/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: barefootbill
Post To: HORROR MOVIES 101
Post Date: 11/5/2008 1:24:29 PM
Body: [quote user="joem18b"] Great opportunity for seeing male bits was in Teeth, but I can't remember that there were any. [/quote] My bits are visible in the director's cut of "Scream Farm;" but the scene was trimmed for the retail version. A friend made a copy of the deleted scene to share online. However, reality says that no one really wants to see my nude zombie scene.
]]>Wed, 05 Nov 2008 18:24:29 GMTbarefootbillHORROR MOVIES 10111/5/2008 1:24:29 PM[quote user="joem18b"] Great opportunity for seeing male bits was in Teeth, but I can't remember that there were any. [/quote] My bits are visible in the director's cut of "Scream Farm;" but the scene was trimmed for the retail version. A friend made a copy of the deleted scene to share online. However, reality says that no one really wants to see my nude zombie scene. http://www.spout.com/groups/HORROR_MOVIES_101/Re_Horror_Nudity/222/36987/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: joem18b
Post To: HORROR MOVIES 101
Post Date: 11/5/2008 11:35:04 AM
Body: Great opportunity for seeing male bits was in Teeth, but I can't remember that there were any.
]]>Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:35:04 GMTjoem18bHORROR MOVIES 10111/5/2008 11:35:04 AMGreat opportunity for seeing male bits was in Teeth, but I can't remember that there were any. http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/10/30/36795.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 10/30/2008 11:01:00 AM
Body: Movie posters have become increasingly more controversial in the past decade, or else people have become a lot more sensitive. Either way, it seems like there’s a new and controversial movie poster or billboard being banned somewhere. Usually it’s for one of two reasons: sex or violence, with violence being far more popular. One of the first sexually banned posters I could find was 1981’s For Your Eyes Only, which featured an A-frame design that was banned. It wasn’t so much the vaginal roof as it was the exposed buttocks, so they had to release a retouched version that covered more derriere. It’s been more than 25 years since that poster was sent back to the drawing board, so why do posters keep getting banned? Marketing people know that controversy can turn into a marketing campaign of its own, so maybe they’re pushing the boundaries in the vein of “there’s no such thing as bad publicity.” With that in mind, here’s a look at controversial movie posters from the past several years. Prepare your innocent eyes and take a look after the break. Click on thumbnails to see the full posters Zack And Miri Make A Porno Most people never would have even heard of this controversy if the MPAA hadn’t banned it right in the middle of the Toronto Film Festival. Which is even weirder because Canada didn’t have a problem with it. The image is more funny than offensive… and is it even offensive? As a result Kevin Smith came up with the stick figure drawings that you see everywhere now, which is a clever way to get around the censors and “stick” it to the MPAA. Now I’ve reached my bad pun quote for this post. Choke The poster for this Chuck Palahniuk adaptation not only cleverly combines the activity that XXX uses to solicit money from strangers, but it also comments on his obsession with sex and women. Plus, it recalls the cover of the famous June 1978 cover of Hustler magazine that featured a nude woman going into a meat grinder. Well, at least she has high heels on in the Choke poster. Wristcutters This poster caused controversy even before it was released, and had groups of parents protesting because they thought it glorified suicide. While I’m not sure how the image of a wrist with a red line through it on a yellow warning sign makes suicide look glamorous… but where were these poeple when M.A.S.H. decided to use “Suicide is Painless” for the theme song? For shame, protesters. Ali G Indahouse This poster was withdrawn in the United Kingdom after more than 100 people complained about it being viewable in public where kids could see it. Even though his hand covers more than most modern-day bikinis. It didn’t hurt the film though, it was ranked #1 in the UK when it was released. Despite that, the distribution company was told they’d have to have all of their posters pre-screened for the next two years. Ouch. Shoot ‘Em Up The UK also didn’t like two of the movie posters for Shoot ‘Em Up, saying that they glorified violence and the use of guns. Did they even see the movie, or anything involving a gun in the past umpteen years? Specifically, groups objected to the lines in Giamatti’s poster that read “Just another family man making a living.” Even though the distribution company argued that the guns weren’t pointed at the viewer, they still got yanked. Teeth Even X-ray images aren’t safe from censorship, as proven by the movie poster for Teeth. If you know what the film is about, then this poster makes a lot of sense (and is funny, to boot) but if you had no idea then this poster probably would make you more curious than concerned. Unless you’re an x-ray technician, in which case you normally see stuff like this. Captivity These billboards were yanked down in Los Angeles and removed from taxi tops in New York after the “wrong files were sent to the printer.” That sure is hard to swallow. You mean there’s no way to check or proof work between sending a file to a printer and then spotting it on an enormous billboard? Lionsgate blamed Distribution partner After Dark for the gaffe, went with the ant farm version, and they both went on to see the movie tank. I guess there is such a thing as bad publicity. Wanted Anti-violence struck again in the United Kingdom when it decided that posters for this Angelina Jolie / James McAvoy movie glorified violence. Again, it’s not just the depiction of guns, but also the slogan “Six weeks ago I was just like you… and then I met her… and my world was changed forever.” Apparently the British Advertising Standard Authority thought that meant life is better as a high-paid assassin, and not just getting to hang around with Angelina Jolie. Dying Breed Not to be outdone by the UK, Australia recently banned posters for this film from bus stands around the country. People that they were just a bit too graphic, and it probably isn’t the first thing you’d want to see on your way to lunch. Still, it’ll be visible in cinema foyers, online, and just about everywhere else. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:01:00 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com10/30/2008 11:01:00 AM Movie posters have become increasingly more controversial in the past decade, or else people have become a lot more sensitive. Either way, it seems like there’s a new and controversial movie poster or billboard being banned somewhere. Usually it’s for one of two reasons: sex or violence, with violence being far more popular. One of the first sexually banned posters I could find was 1981’s For Your Eyes Only, which featured an A-frame design that was banned. It wasn’t so much the vaginal roof as it was the exposed buttocks, so they had to release a retouched version that covered more derriere. It’s been more than 25 years since that poster was sent back to the drawing board, so why do posters keep getting banned? Marketing people know that controversy can turn into a marketing campaign of its own, so maybe they’re pushing the boundaries in the vein of “there’s no such thing as bad publicity.” With that in mind, here’s a look at controversial movie posters from the past several years. Prepare your innocent eyes and take a look after the break. Click on thumbnails to see the full posters Zack And Miri Make A Porno Most people never would have even heard of this controversy if the MPAA hadn’t banned it right in the middle of the Toronto Film Festival. Which is even weirder because Canada didn’t have a problem with it. The image is more funny than offensive… and is it even offensive? As a result Kevin Smith came up with the stick figure drawings that you see everywhere now, which is a clever way to get around the censors and “stick” it to the MPAA. Now I’ve reached my bad pun quote for this post. Choke The poster for this Chuck Palahniuk adaptation not only cleverly combines the activity that XXX uses to solicit money from strangers, but it also comments on his obsession with sex and women. Plus, it recalls the cover of the famous June 1978 cover of Hustler magazine that featured a nude woman going into a meat grinder. Well, at least she has high heels on in the Choke poster. Wristcutters This poster caused controversy even before it was released, and had groups of parents protesting because they thought it glorified suicide. While I’m not sure how the image of a wrist with a red line through it on a yellow warning sign makes suicide look glamorous… but where were these poeple when M.A.S.H. decided to use “Suicide is Painless” for the theme song? For shame, protesters. Ali G Indahouse This poster was withdrawn in the United Kingdom after more than 100 people complained about it being viewable in public where kids could see it. Even though his hand covers more than most modern-day bikinis. It didn’t hurt the film though, it was ranked #1 in the UK when it was released. Despite that, the distribution company was told they’d have to have all of their posters pre-screened for the next two years. Ouch. Shoot ‘Em Up The UK also didn’t like two of the movie posters for Shoot ‘Em Up, saying that they glorified violence and the use of guns. Did they even see the movie, or anything involving a gun in the past umpteen years? Specifically, groups objected to the lines in Giamatti’s poster that read “Just another family man making a living.” Even though the distribution company argued that the guns weren’t pointed at the viewer, they still got yanked. Teeth Even X-ray images aren’t safe from censorship, as proven by the movie poster for Teeth. If you know what the film is about, then this poster makes a lot of sense (and is funny, to boot) but if you had no idea then this poster probably would make you more curious than concerned. Unless you’re an x-ray technician, in which case you normally see stuff like this. Captivity These billboards were yanked down in Los Angeles and removed from taxi tops in New York after the “wrong files were sent to the printer.” That sure is hard to swallow. You mean there’s no way to check or proof work between sending a file to a printer and then spotting it on an enormous billboard? Lionsgate blamed Distribution partner After Dark for the gaffe, went with the ant farm version, and they both went on to see the movie tank. I guess there is such a thing as bad publicity. Wanted Anti-violence struck again in the United Kingdom when it decided that posters for this Angelina Jolie / James McAvoy movie glorified violence. Again, it’s not just the depiction of guns, but also the slogan “Six weeks ago I was just like you… and then I met her… and my world was changed forever.” Apparently the British Advertising Standard Authority thought that meant life is better as a high-paid assassin, and not just getting to hang around with Angelina Jolie. Dying Breed Not to be outdone by the UK, Australia recently banned posters for this film from bus stands around the country. People that they were just a bit too graphic, and it probably isn’t the first thing you’d want to see on your way to lunch. Still, it’ll be visible in cinema foyers, online, and just about everywhere else. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/groups/Heroines_in_Hollywood/Re_The_List/647/36480/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: Ravie13
Post To: Heroines in Hollywood
Post Date: 10/18/2008 5:13:24 AM
Body: Teeth! TEETH is a blatantly feminist movie in the guise of a horror comedy. But my horror buff friend points out to me that 90% of all horror movies are actually really pro-women. Isn't it always a woman that kills the beast or controls him in the end? But back to Teeth! Teeth is about a woman with teeth in her vagina... there really isn't much more that needs to be said. It speaks for itself. :)
]]>Sat, 18 Oct 2008 09:13:24 GMTRavie13Heroines in Hollywood10/18/2008 5:13:24 AMTeeth! TEETH is a blatantly feminist movie in the guise of a horror comedy. But my horror buff friend points out to me that 90% of all horror movies are actually really pro-women. Isn't it always a woman that kills the beast or controls him in the end? But back to Teeth! Teeth is about a woman with teeth in her vagina... there really isn't much more that needs to be said. It speaks for itself. :) http://www.spout.com/blogs/captainryannn/archive/2008/8/8/33738.aspx Post By: CaptainRyannn
Post To: CaptainRyannn Blog
Post Date: 8/8/2008 5:01:23 AM
Body: Since January 1st, 2008, I've been keeping track of all the films I've watched. Because I don't feel like taking the time to highlight each movie up until this point, I will start at the previous week, Week 29 and continue from now on. 328. The Dark Knight (2008) -My second time seeing it. Such a great movie. Although not good enough to be considered 'best film of all time'. 329. Teeth (2007) -The storyline attracted me to it. Within the first 20 minutes I wanted it to be done. I hated this thing so much. 330. Heima (2007) -Such a beautiful documentary for such an amazing band; Sigur Ros. Check them out if you haven't yet. 331. La Haine / Hate (1995) -One of the best French films I've seen. If there's one thing I'll remember about this movie years from now, it'll be the ending and how shocked I was after it was all said and done. 332. À ma soeur! / Fat Girl (2001) -There was something sad in the way that the relationship between Anais and her older sister works out. I can't quite place my finger on it. The whole mood of the story is it's strongest part. Even a week after watching it, it still lingers with me. 333. C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005) -I had heard much about this before but now finally got around to watching it. I enjoyed this quite a bit. It deals with real people and real family issues. 334. Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005) - When I first saw this when it came out, I really liked it. After viewing it for a second time, I can't remember why. It's filled with unrealistic dialouge and characters I didn't care about. 335. À bout de souffle / Breathless (1960) -What had been hailed to be the 'crown jewel' of the French New Wave was also the last thing I saw before I feel asleep on Thursday. I think I'm going to have to give this another try. 336. Son of Rambow (2007) -After the rave reviews and catchy trailer, I had been looking forward to this. But after finally viewing it, I was left unfulfilled and wanting something more. 337. Phone Booth (2003) -Are there plot holes? Sure. Is the story likely? Nah. I mainly watched this for mere entertainment and nothing more. 338. Dazed and Confused (1993) -Immediately reminded me of American Graffiti except this took place in the 70's. I always fall for the movies that focus on how familar characters interact with one another. Although American Graffiti played this out much better, I thought this was pretty alright. 339. Batoru rowaiaru / Battle Royale (2001) -Although the dialouge seemed kind of cheesy, I can look past that because this was one hell of a ride. A group of 9th. graders put on an island and ordered to kill each other. Man, if only America had the balls to put something like that out. 340. Dazed and Confused (1993) -Yes, I watched it again. 341. Cool Hand Luke (1960) -My dad told me I would like this film. I did more than like it. Although many of us have never worked on a chain gang, the theme and spirit that this movie has is something that we can all relate to. 342. 21 (2008) -The only reason I watched this is so I could have an opinion about it when I hear kids talking about it in the hallways. I thought it was decent. Although it had many cliches, it was a little better than I expected it to be. 343. Vanishing Point (1971) -One of the first movies from the 70's that I fell in love with. Probably one of the best road chase movies out there, it's easy to tell why Quentin Tarantino decided to use it as his inspiration for Death Proof. 344. Casablanca (1942) -Classic, classic, classic. What else can I say? 345. The Breed (2006) -Such a horrible movie. Don't ever watch it.
]]>Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:01:23 GMTCaptainRyannnCaptainRyannn Blog8/8/2008 5:01:23 AMSince January 1st, 2008, I've been keeping track of all the films I've watched. Because I don't feel like taking the time to highlight each movie up until this point, I will start at the previous week, Week 29 and continue from now on. 328. The Dark Knight (2008) -My second time seeing it. Such a great movie. Although not good enough to be considered 'best film of all time'. 329. Teeth (2007) -The storyline attracted me to it. Within the first 20 minutes I wanted it to be done. I hated this thing so much. 330. Heima (2007) -Such a beautiful documentary for such an amazing band; Sigur Ros. Check them out if you haven't yet. 331. La Haine / Hate (1995) -One of the best French films I've seen. If there's one thing I'll remember about this movie years from now, it'll be the ending and how shocked I was after it was all said and done. 332. À ma soeur! / Fat Girl (2001) -There was something sad in the way that the relationship between Anais and her older sister works out. I can't quite place my finger on it. The whole mood of the story is it's strongest part. Even a week after watching it, it still lingers with me. 333. C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005) -I had heard much about this before but now finally got around to watching it. I enjoyed this quite a bit. It deals with real people and real family issues. 334. Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005) - When I first saw this when it came out, I really liked it. After viewing it for a second time, I can't remember why. It's filled with unrealistic dialouge and characters I didn't care about. 335. À bout de souffle / Breathless (1960) -What had been hailed to be the 'crown jewel' of the French New Wave was also the last thing I saw before I feel asleep on Thursday. I think I'm going to have to give this another try. 336. Son of Rambow (2007) -After the rave reviews and catchy trailer, I had been looking forward to this. But after finally viewing it, I was left unfulfilled and wanting something more. 337. Phone Booth (2003) -Are there plot holes? Sure. Is the story likely? Nah. I mainly watched this for mere entertainment and nothing more. 338. Dazed and Confused (1993) -Immediately reminded me of American Graffiti except this took place in the 70's. I always fall for the movies that focus on how familar characters interact with one another. Although American Graffiti played this out much better, I thought this was pretty alright. 339. Batoru rowaiaru / Battle Royale (2001) -Although the dialouge seemed kind of cheesy, I can look past that because this was one hell of a ride. A group of 9th. graders put on an island and ordered to kill each other. Man, if only America had the balls to put something like that out. 340. Dazed and Confused (1993) -Yes, I watched it again. 341. Cool Hand Luke (1960) -My dad told me I would like this film. I did more than like it. Although many of us have never worked on a chain gang, the theme and spirit that this movie has is something that we can all relate to. 342. 21 (2008) -The only reason I watched this is so I could have an opinion about it when I hear kids talking about it in the hallways. I thought it was decent. Although it had many cliches, it was a little better than I expected it to be. 343. Vanishing Point (1971) -One of the first movies from the 70's that I fell in love with. Probably one of the best road chase movies out there, it's easy to tell why Quentin Tarantino decided to use it as his inspiration for Death Proof. 344. Casablanca (1942) -Classic, classic, classic. What else can I say? 345. The Breed (2006) -Such a horrible movie. Don't ever watch it. http://www.spout.com/blogs/rik_tod/archive/2008/8/3/33485.aspx Post By: rik_tod
Post To: The Cinema 4 Pylon: SpOutpost
Post Date: 8/3/2008 4:34:45 PM
Body: Director: Mitchell LichtensteinCinema 4 Rating: 7Having spent a couple of posts recently squirming in anguish over the lost or squandered opportunities of others (the Undead or Alive posts and the bit on Severance), it hit me suddenly that perhaps I haven't explained precisely why I get so anguished over such things. In the Severance piece I hinted at the feeling that overtakes me within a viewing of a particularly interesting film where I know I will be visiting that flick again sometime in the future, perhaps even dozens of times. But, for me, there is a level above and beyond even that one...I am, like so many others, what is described as a movie nut. Honestly, I am probably more of a movie fetishist, but let’s not get into semantics. A fetishist is a nut in most people’s eyes, and most likely some form of addict, so let’s leave it at that. The first step is admitting you have, well, not a problem… I prefer to call it deep focus. (It just so happens that is a movie term, too… see how neat and tidy this all is? At least, in my mind...)There is a feeling that for me is better than any high offered by any form of illicit narcotic or pharmaceutical. It is a feeling that only pops up for me, at most, a handful of times a year, but usually even less so. If I am lucky, once or twice annually. To someone so focused on movies, this is almost a mental orgasm, and often better than a real one, which in truth, is pretty damn fleeting and often less emotionally connected. But this feeling can stick with you for life, and every time you return for an encounter with the source of its power, you can actually build on that initial moment of discovery. The movies which contain the rough elements of this feeling can be a varied lot. Certifiably classic films can bring about this "cine-gasm" in me, and they only get better and better over time and unending viewings, where most, more generic films would only bring about an overdose of familiarity and quick boredom.But equally as often I gain this feeling from films most people, except those happily indoctrinated, would consider "low" films. It's there in Raimi's Evil Dead series and it's there in Romero's first two zombie flicks (but none of the rest). Most of Cronenberg's and Lynch's early work does this for me, so inventive and daring were they, even while fulfilling the drive of the respective philosophies of those two distinctive filmmakers. This in no way means that something like Scanners is on the same level film-wise as a Citizen Kane -- just to mention two films that perfectly embody the thrill of which I am speaking -- but I revisit them each almost equally as often. It's not about outright quality sometimes, but pure coolness. And it is a deeply personal sense too, unique to each individual that chooses to recognize the sensation. The feeling is so personal, that to me to watch any of the first seven Marx Brothers films is to experience waves of pleasure within my brain that a lifetime of continual service from the most practiced and beautiful of Thai hookers couldn't bring about physically in me (not that I am not fully willing to give this theory a thorough, scientifically grounded testing...)Strangely enough, and much to my complete surprise, midway through Teeth, an invigorating feminist horror film that tosses about severed penises like so much confetti, I realized this most elusive feeling. Where once I would have expected to wince in shocked agreement with my assumed brotherhood that is the male population that perhaps, for once, now that the tables have turned on us, that this low-budget gore film has gone too, too far, instead I found nirvana. And, more than ever, I knew definitely that there was no such thing as a brotherhood to which I belonged. I split from the fraternity of "guys" long ago. Bunch of mama-missin', homophobic, beer-swillin', peer-pressurized rapists. Sure, I can be a base perv as much as any male, but most of the time, when I choose to act that way, the portrayal is meant to be ironic. (It's like when my bro Shane yells "Foo'ball!" to mock jock-heads.) And my own perversity is mainly limited to my own battered psyche, where anything goes and nothing is judged. Part of this self-imposed limitation can definitely be attributed to the siphoning off of certain energies via my ability to focus them out through enjoyment in other arenas. Such as when a movie strikes that perfect note for me...Midway through Teeth, Dawn O'Keefe -- whose character fulfills both the classic heroine role and that of the supposed "monster" in a traditionally developed horror movie -- goes to see a gynecologist named Dr. Godfrey. The reason? The discovery that she, indeed, has something inside her vagina that has left her once would-be boyfriend-turned-rapist minus his penis and perhaps dead. The shy teenager, once the most erstwhile of bible-beating "promise keeper"-type abstinence touters, couldn't resist her normal urges to the point where sex may have, literally, killed. Confused, she heads to the doctor, who happens to be a male, though the question remains open (at least, to me it does) whether his position still gives him such power over his female subjects that he is actually taking advantage of Dawn, albeit in a seemingly clinical fashion. Regardless of unspoken intent, and with a world-weary air about him, the doctor's examination of Dawn finds his hand searching about inside her. And then, to his complete surprise, he does find something. Or, really, it was lying in wait for him, like the stealthiest of predators.It grabs onto him, and he screams and struggles to pull his hand out of Dawn. Her legs kick as he pulls harder and harder, but he cannot escape. They struggle far past the point that a normal director would allow such a scene to linger, and as the doctor's fight for release surges on -- 20, 30 seconds? It just seemed like it went on forever -- the scene actually shoots beyond being a mere shock sequence to one that is jaw-droppingly hilarious, if not more than a little sick (in the manner that Lenny Bruce used to be described as a "sick" comic). You may have heard the theatrical term "hold for laughter" (also applicable to applause), where a performer pauses slightly in their shtick to allow the audience to show their appreciation. This is almost what it seems director Mitchell Lichtenstein is doing for this scene. Holding for laughter, which I emitted like I was the one playing The Joker in the latest Batman flick.Dawn kicks and kicks, the doctor yanks harder -- and finally, his hand is released! Minus four fingers, though... but instead of flailing about the office and screaming for help or the police, Dr. Godfrey assumes the role of a mad scientist who has discovered something amazing. He yells "It's true! Vagina dentata! Vagina dentata! Vagina dentata!" as if he and his cohorts in the gynecological trade whispered the very notion of shark-like teeth within the female anatomy secretly amongst themselves like an ancient, laughed-away conspiracy theory. The stumps of his fingers spewing blood, the doctor maintains his composure just enough to realize he has stumbled upon the gynecological equivalent of the alchemical formula. Soon, Dawn's monstrous hidden self expels the doctor's fingers, and she flees the office. And so ends a simply amazing scene.What didn't end for me then was the very feeling of which I spoke previously. With just this scene, while I had been slightly impatient earlier in the film waiting for it to rev up fully, I knew that Teeth was going to be a keeper, no matter what happened afterward. As it turns out, unlike many horror films which peter out (I was trying to avoid such sordid puns as much as possible here, given the subject matter, so, sorry...) once the monster is identified and explained, this one gets more powerful at the same time that Dawn does, and more interesting as she discovers how to use what she once thought of as an affliction as both a weapon of revenge and as an instrument of mental and physical growth. Trapped in a world of men who only see her as a prize to be used sexually and then discarded with a laugh and a sneer, Dawn is slowly becoming what men fear most in the darkest corners of their minds. It's Girl Power writ large and snarling.I'm not going to go so far as to stupidly suggest that Jess Weixler, the actress that brings Dawn to life so vividly and so variedly through each stage of her development in the film, deserved an Oscar nomination. (She won a Special Jury Prize for her acting at Sundance last year.) Such statements betray a basic lack of understanding of how the Oscars work. But if there was a harder role through which someone was led in 2007, I would be hard-pressed to believe it compared against Weixler's truly complex performance in Teeth. Cringingly annoying at first in her goody-two-shoes phase, she is soon blushing and innocent in the throes of first love (however deceived), then she is frightened following the rise of her power, then confused by the implications of such power, and then she has to climb several rungs up the ladder towards Dawn's growing self-confidence and liberation. Show me somebody else who had to convey so much in one 90-minute plus movie in recent history. And then show me that somebody who does it as spot-on as Weixler does here.Despite the gore -- heavy on the blood-gushing from the lower portions of the male anatomy, and featuring a hilarious if not disgusting bit (again, no pun intended) involving a Rottweiler -- it's actually rather non-exploitative in the usual horror film sense (unless you are one of those that consider all nudity to be exploitative. If you do, I feel sorry for you...) There is so much that Lichtenstein could have shown considering the subject matter, and if you think he held back in order to get the "R" rating, I will say that the biggest shock for me concerning the film is the rating. I have seen far less graphic or harsh portrayals of sexual frankness garner an X or NC-17. It wasn't until I finished the film -- thinking the DVD was unrated -- that I noticed the "R." So, now I am wondering if the director didn't hold back, and just got lucky. Or slept with Jack Valenti before he croaked, and had lurid pictures blackmailing the former head of the MPAA. Whatever the circumstances, I was shocked at the rating, but it also explained why there wasn't an actual shot of her teeth-laden vagina. No close-ups of teeth gnashing though male appendages or fingers. Just the sublimity that decent acting and directorial wit can bring to a horror movie when properly applied. He doesn't have to show it -- we believe it happened.The movie, like most horror movies tend to do, could be setting the stage for an eventual sequel, but I hope not. The film closes like a good short story or Twilight Zone episode -- with a clever shot that hints at things to come for Dawn, as well as for the "monster" that normal society, especially men, would consider her to have become. Like the stuff Lichtenstein could have put on screen, they don't have to show it. Teeth works as it is. And the feeling that I found miraculously in Teeth would also go away with a sequel. Any follow-ups would betray a false set. You can eat with dentures, but food wouldn't be the same.
]]>Sun, 03 Aug 2008 20:34:45 GMTrik_todThe Cinema 4 Pylon: SpOutpost8/3/2008 4:34:45 PMDirector: Mitchell LichtensteinCinema 4 Rating: 7Having spent a couple of posts recently squirming in anguish over the lost or squandered opportunities of others (the Undead or Alive posts and the bit on Severance), it hit me suddenly that perhaps I haven't explained precisely why I get so anguished over such things. In the Severance piece I hinted at the feeling that overtakes me within a viewing of a particularly interesting film where I know I will be visiting that flick again sometime in the future, perhaps even dozens of times. But, for me, there is a level above and beyond even that one...I am, like so many others, what is described as a movie nut. Honestly, I am probably more of a movie fetishist, but let’s not get into semantics. A fetishist is a nut in most people’s eyes, and most likely some form of addict, so let’s leave it at that. The first step is admitting you have, well, not a problem… I prefer to call it deep focus. (It just so happens that is a movie term, too… see how neat and tidy this all is? At least, in my mind...)There is a feeling that for me is better than any high offered by any form of illicit narcotic or pharmaceutical. It is a feeling that only pops up for me, at most, a handful of times a year, but usually even less so. If I am lucky, once or twice annually. To someone so focused on movies, this is almost a mental orgasm, and often better than a real one, which in truth, is pretty damn fleeting and often less emotionally connected. But this feeling can stick with you for life, and every time you return for an encounter with the source of its power, you can actually build on that initial moment of discovery. The movies which contain the rough elements of this feeling can be a varied lot. Certifiably classic films can bring about this "cine-gasm" in me, and they only get better and better over time and unending viewings, where most, more generic films would only bring about an overdose of familiarity and quick boredom.But equally as often I gain this feeling from films most people, except those happily indoctrinated, would consider "low" films. It's there in Raimi's Evil Dead series and it's there in Romero's first two zombie flicks (but none of the rest). Most of Cronenberg's and Lynch's early work does this for me, so inventive and daring were they, even while fulfilling the drive of the respective philosophies of those two distinctive filmmakers. This in no way means that something like Scanners is on the same level film-wise as a Citizen Kane -- just to mention two films that perfectly embody the thrill of which I am speaking -- but I revisit them each almost equally as often. It's not about outright quality sometimes, but pure coolness. And it is a deeply personal sense too, unique to each individual that chooses to recognize the sensation. The feeling is so personal, that to me to watch any of the first seven Marx Brothers films is to experience waves of pleasure within my brain that a lifetime of continual service from the most practiced and beautiful of Thai hookers couldn't bring about physically in me (not that I am not fully willing to give this theory a thorough, scientifically grounded testing...)Strangely enough, and much to my complete surprise, midway through Teeth, an invigorating feminist horror film that tosses about severed penises like so much confetti, I realized this most elusive feeling. Where once I would have expected to wince in shocked agreement with my assumed brotherhood that is the male population that perhaps, for once, now that the tables have turned on us, that this low-budget gore film has gone too, too far, instead I found nirvana. And, more than ever, I knew definitely that there was no such thing as a brotherhood to which I belonged. I split from the fraternity of "guys" long ago. Bunch of mama-missin', homophobic, beer-swillin', peer-pressurized rapists. Sure, I can be a base perv as much as any male, but most of the time, when I choose to act that way, the portrayal is meant to be ironic. (It's like when my bro Shane yells "Foo'ball!" to mock jock-heads.) And my own perversity is mainly limited to my own battered psyche, where anything goes and nothing is judged. Part of this self-imposed limitation can definitely be attributed to the siphoning off of certain energies via my ability to focus them out through enjoyment in other arenas. Such as when a movie strikes that perfect note for me...Midway through Teeth, Dawn O'Keefe -- whose character fulfills both the classic heroine role and that of the supposed "monster" in a traditionally developed horror movie -- goes to see a gynecologist named Dr. Godfrey. The reason? The discovery that she, indeed, has something inside her vagina that has left her once would-be boyfriend-turned-rapist minus his penis and perhaps dead. The shy teenager, once the most erstwhile of bible-beating "promise keeper"-type abstinence touters, couldn't resist her normal urges to the point where sex may have, literally, killed. Confused, she heads to the doctor, who happens to be a male, though the question remains open (at least, to me it does) whether his position still gives him such power over his female subjects that he is actually taking advantage of Dawn, albeit in a seemingly clinical fashion. Regardless of unspoken intent, and with a world-weary air about him, the doctor's examination of Dawn finds his hand searching about inside her. And then, to his complete surprise, he does find something. Or, really, it was lying in wait for him, like the stealthiest of predators.It grabs onto him, and he screams and struggles to pull his hand out of Dawn. Her legs kick as he pulls harder and harder, but he cannot escape. They struggle far past the point that a normal director would allow such a scene to linger, and as the doctor's fight for release surges on -- 20, 30 seconds? It just seemed like it went on forever -- the scene actually shoots beyond being a mere shock sequence to one that is jaw-droppingly hilarious, if not more than a little sick (in the manner that Lenny Bruce used to be described as a "sick" comic). You may have heard the theatrical term "hold for laughter" (also applicable to applause), where a performer pauses slightly in their shtick to allow the audience to show their appreciation. This is almost what it seems director Mitchell Lichtenstein is doing for this scene. Holding for laughter, which I emitted like I was the one playing The Joker in the latest Batman flick.Dawn kicks and kicks, the doctor yanks harder -- and finally, his hand is released! Minus four fingers, though... but instead of flailing about the office and screaming for help or the police, Dr. Godfrey assumes the role of a mad scientist who has discovered something amazing. He yells "It's true! Vagina dentata! Vagina dentata! Vagina dentata!" as if he and his cohorts in the gynecological trade whispered the very notion of shark-like teeth within the female anatomy secretly amongst themselves like an ancient, laughed-away conspiracy theory. The stumps of his fingers spewing blood, the doctor maintains his composure just enough to realize he has stumbled upon the gynecological equivalent of the alchemical formula. Soon, Dawn's monstrous hidden self expels the doctor's fingers, and she flees the office. And so ends a simply amazing scene.What didn't end for me then was the very feeling of which I spoke previously. With just this scene, while I had been slightly impatient earlier in the film waiting for it to rev up fully, I knew that Teeth was going to be a keeper, no matter what happened afterward. As it turns out, unlike many horror films which peter out (I was trying to avoid such sordid puns as much as possible here, given the subject matter, so, sorry...) once the monster is identified and explained, this one gets more powerful at the same time that Dawn does, and more interesting as she discovers how to use what she once thought of as an affliction as both a weapon of revenge and as an instrument of mental and physical growth. Trapped in a world of men who only see her as a prize to be used sexually and then discarded with a laugh and a sneer, Dawn is slowly becoming what men fear most in the darkest corners of their minds. It's Girl Power writ large and snarling.I'm not going to go so far as to stupidly suggest that Jess Weixler, the actress that brings Dawn to life so vividly and so variedly through each stage of her development in the film, deserved an Oscar nomination. (She won a Special Jury Prize for her acting at Sundance last year.) Such statements betray a basic lack of understanding of how the Oscars work. But if there was a harder role through which someone was led in 2007, I would be hard-pressed to believe it compared against Weixler's truly complex performance in Teeth. Cringingly annoying at first in her goody-two-shoes phase, she is soon blushing and innocent in the throes of first love (however deceived), then she is frightened following the rise of her power, then confused by the implications of such power, and then she has to climb several rungs up the ladder towards Dawn's growing self-confidence and liberation. Show me somebody else who had to convey so much in one 90-minute plus movie in recent history. And then show me that somebody who does it as spot-on as Weixler does here.Despite the gore -- heavy on the blood-gushing from the lower portions of the male anatomy, and featuring a hilarious if not disgusting bit (again, no pun intended) involving a Rottweiler -- it's actually rather non-exploitative in the usual horror film sense (unless you are one of those that consider all nudity to be exploitative. If you do, I feel sorry for you...) There is so much that Lichtenstein could have shown considering the subject matter, and if you think he held back in order to get the "R" rating, I will say that the biggest shock for me concerning the film is the rating. I have seen far less graphic or harsh portrayals of sexual frankness garner an X or NC-17. It wasn't until I finished the film -- thinking the DVD was unrated -- that I noticed the "R." So, now I am wondering if the director didn't hold back, and just got lucky. Or slept with Jack Valenti before he croaked, and had lurid pictures blackmailing the former head of the MPAA. Whatever the circumstances, I was shocked at the rating, but it also explained why there wasn't an actual shot of her teeth-laden vagina. No close-ups of teeth gnashing though male appendages or fingers. Just the sublimity that decent acting and directorial wit can bring to a horror movie when properly applied. He doesn't have to show it -- we believe it happened.The movie, like most horror movies tend to do, could be setting the stage for an eventual sequel, but I hope not. The film closes like a good short story or Twilight Zone episode -- with a clever shot that hints at things to come for Dawn, as well as for the "monster" that normal society, especially men, would consider her to have become. Like the stuff Lichtenstein could have put on screen, they don't have to show it. Teeth works as it is. And the feeling that I found miraculously in Teeth would also go away with a sequel. Any follow-ups would betray a false set. You can eat with dentures, but food wouldn't be the same. http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/sex/MemberTagFilms.aspxsex
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