*** Official "FULL FRONTAL" Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Blu]

Has anyone seen this movie yet? I'd like to know about how this movie came off since the director filmed it with a Canon XL1s

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

The film does not open until August 2nd, albeit in limited release at that. Until then, it remains a mystery.

~Edwin

 

[Blu]

I figured that there would have been someone on this vast list that has seen a advanced screening.

 

[Mark Pfeiffer]

I'm not scheduled to see it until next Friday. You should probably start hearing advance word next week.

 

[David Ren]

Well I attended a screening of it back in June and the picture quality was terrible! There were parts filmed with regular film but most of it was digital and it was home video quality.

As far as the movie is concerned, it was self-indulgent and boring. It seemed like there was no script and everything was improvised... badly. Plot is nonexistant, just a bunch of characters talking and talking and talking about nothing at all. It was almost unwatchable.

The only funny part was Nicky Katt playing an actor who plays a modern day version of Hitler in a play.

It's too bad cuz I loved all of Soderbergh's other movies.

David

 

[David Rogers]

I initially heard only two things about this film.

That it was from the same director as "Sex, Lies, and Videotape", and that Julia Roberts had agreed to do a nude scene.

Still haven't heard much beyond that. It opens 2Aug02 but I still haven't seen a full trailer that shows anything about the movie. The teaser is useless and not good IMO.

 

[Mark Pfeiffer]

That it was from the same director as "Sex, Lies, and Videotape", and that Julia Roberts had agreed to do a nude scene.

Well, you've got the first part right. Everything I've read has dismissed rumors of Roberts' doing a nude scene. The latest bit about the film making the rounds has to do with David Duchovny's erection underneath a sheet. IMDB and David Poland's "The Hot Button" are two places that ran items about it this week.

 

[JonZ]

Dark Horizons and Aint It COol News had some reviews recently.
None were very favorable.

 

[Steve Enemark]

David Poland's "The Hot Button"

Say what? I thought Poland's website has been down for months!

(checking)

Yup, "davidpoland.com" and "voicesofhollywood.com" are both out of service. What gives?

 

[Mark Pfeiffer]

Steve, you're right. Neither of those work. Apparently somebody swooped in and scooped the voicesofhollywood.com URL from him when it expired (or something like that). He's been posting stuff Monday-Friday at www.thehotbutton.com since he lost the Voices of Hollywood link.
Don't feel too stupid about knowing about it. I didn't find it until Jeffrey Wells made mention of it in one of his columns. Looks like you have a lot of catching up to do with Poland's archives.

 

[Steve Enemark]

Wow, thanks! I had no idea

 

[Scott Weinberg]

I've seen Full Frontal. I'm not about to divulge anything, but suffice to say that Person A will adore it; Person B may loathe it.
Take this however you choose to, but Full Frontal sure ain't mainstream!
And Mark is correct; no Julia skin.

 

[Nick Sievers]

Scott,
I would like to hear your opinions on this film, I know you said you wouldn't divulge anything but did you like/love/loathe it? - I value your opinion before someone over at AICN or DH, is it as bizarre as Schitzopolis? Also, what was approx running time?
Personally I think Soderbergh is the best director working at the moment. Always willing to try something different, and from all accounts so far it seems different to Ocean's Eleven .

 

[Scott Weinberg]

Nick,
I did like it, though it's a bit more 'out there' then I expected. I eagerly await the opportunity when I can see it again - preferably in my own living room. I'm certainly not aiming to damage the potential box-office of this flick, but it's one that you'll enjoy just as much on a small screen than on the large.
Running time is about 100 minutes, though you shouldn't quote me on that because I'm an idiot when it comes to estimating running times, particularly because I never know if I should count the end credits or not.
Thanks for publicly admitting that you respect my opinion. My own mother refused to light a candle at my Bar Mitzvah becasue she felt that my prayer readings "lacked that integral old-school Jew charm", so any form of praise thrown my way will be gulped up as if I were the world's skinniest piranha.
I did like Full Frontal...I just don't know exactly what to make of it just yet. Nicky Katt, as I expected, steals scenes whole. I'm grateful to him for doing this, as my longtime appreciation for this underrated actor will now be seen as prescient brilliance once you all see how funny he is in this flick.
And no, it's nowhere near as loopy as Schizopolis. Then again, I've never seen Schizopolis, so maybe you should disregard that last sentence. Based on what I've READ, Full Frontal is a lot more straightforward in its narrative than is Schizo.
And even if I disliked Full Frontal (I didn't), I think it's a phenomenal thing to see an A-list "toast of the town" director doing a movie like this. Does anyone doubt that Soderbergh could get an easy 10 million to helm ANY random studio product he wished? Absolutely he could.
Long live the non-sellout, talented filmmakers. May they grow successful and influence others!

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

Looks like an understanding of this film requires the same effort as that of Sex, Lies and Videotape. From what I've read, this is the most unconventional film since SLAV. It looks like Soderbergh has unearthed another spectacle for the neuroses.

I'm looking very much forward to it.

~Edwin

 

[David Ren]

Edwin,

The difference between Sex Lies and Videotape and Full Frontal is that SLAV actually HAD a plot!

I doubt they even had a screenplay for FF when they started filming. It was so messy, it's like they just made it up as they went along. That can be good (I liked BLack and White) but the actors in FF were so boring. There are scenes that just go on and on that you wonder why they're there in the first place.

It's just slow, pretentious, and self-indulgent. And I'm the biggest Soderbergh fan. Looking forward to Solaris.

Just my opinion though.

David

 

[Josh Lowe]

I am disappointed in the work that has been coming from my favorite director, Soderbergh, as of late. The Limey is atop my list of all time favorite movies. Traffic is not far behind and even the benign Erin Brockovich is in contention. But since then it's been rough. Ocean's 11 to me was a flop. It was 2 hours of self-indulgent wanking around on camera. It was mostly not funny. And now it sounds as if Full Frontal goes down that same path.

One can only hope Solaris is something better, but any space opera that stars George Clooney is suspect.

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

Edwin,

The difference between Sex Lies and Videotape and Full Frontal is that SLAV actually HAD a plot!

Well, My Dinner With Andre didn't really have a plot, per se, but the film was still engaging. So, which is it?

~Edwin

 

[Seth Paxton]

Well, since Soderbergh has said openly that you are a fool if you don't use your improved status to sometimes try different things, and that Full Frontal was such a known stretch on his part just to experiment, then I don't see the problem with it being "self-indulgent".
Especially since "The Limey" is his very most self-indulgent work and everyone seems to love how that came out (he became enamored with the out of sequence back and forth cutting in scenes during Out of Sight and proceeded to make a whole film doing nother but that).
Also, if you will recall back to when this work was first announced, Soderbergh told the actors that there would be NO makeup crew, costumes, etc. The actors were expected to do that themselves as he was trying to pare way down to a raw filmmaking experience. I think Julia was quoted as saying "He said we'd be lucky if we got fed".
So I know everyone loves to hate her since it's so in fashion but here she is trying something unusual and a tad risky to her current hot status; and everyone wants another Traffic or Limey or something, but the guy CLEARLY is stepping from stone to stone in his career rather than letting himself get too hung up on one method/idea.
Why this bugs people baffles me. This is the sort of thing people usually demand from an artist if he is to achieve credit for being all that he can.
Perhaps you would prefer SS go out like Oliver Stone and get obsessed with mixed-media films to the point that he applied it even to Nixon in a manner not unlike Natural Born Killers, despite the fact that it totally contrasted the subject matter of Nixon.
When SS tries something like this and is open about his approach and the expected audience response (I saw him the other day saying he doesn't know what sort of response to expect), then I keep that in mind when choosing to see it.
It's not like he is trying to trick people into seeing another Erin B with adverts or another O11.
Not every risk will work in film, but I admire a director that is willing to go out and shift his paradigm film after film. Maybe Full Frontal will not appeal to me, but at least I'm curious to see how what he tried to make came out.
Reminds me of the Time Code experiment. Somebody needs to try these things just to see. That's where stuff like Waking Life, Memento, and Dancer in the Dark come from.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This thread is now designated the Official Discussion Thread for "Full Frontal". Please, post all comments, links to outside reviews, film and box office discussion items to this thread.
All HTF member film reviews of "Full Frontal" should be posted to the Official Review Thread.
Thank you for your consideration in this matter.
Crawdaddy