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Better Living Through Circuitry
Seventh Art Releasing


8.0

based on 16 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 1 votes
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Internet Movie Database

MPAA RATING: Not rated

Starring Jason Bentley, Frankie Bones, and Carl Cox

Documentary about the rave phenomenon, going deeper than you'll want to go unless you are already a fan of electronic dance music.

GENRE(S):	Documentary
DIRECTED BY:	Jon Reiss
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: November 21, 2000 Video: November 21, 2000 Theatrical: May 26, 2000
RUNNING TIME:	85 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Chicago Reader Ted Shen

It's as slick as anything you might find on the Discovery Channel, and the snippets of 3-D computer animation are too cool for words.

Los Angeles Times Eric Harrison

Circuitry plugs into the underground world of raves. The scene, complete with drugs and its own culture, is blissfully examined in a documentary that speaks the language of its youthful generation.

LA Weekly John Payne

Succeeds in articulating the fluid values and constituent parts of the "culture" even as that culture's subjects are at best mildly articulate.

Newsweek David Ansen

Fascinating but repetitious, Better Living Through Circuitry nevertheless does a good job describing the scene.

Salon.com Jeff Stark

In this floor-level view of the rave scene, director Jon Reiss keeps it pumping, humming, buzzing and spinning.

San Francisco Chronicle Niva Chonin

It's the content that makes this documentary fly. The documentary's only stumbling point is its dearth of historical context.

Entertainment Weekly Bruce Fretts

It's got a good beat, you can dance to it.

Film.com Ernest Hardy

Questions loom heavily over this entertaining but not-too-deep film, making it more a commercial than real exploration.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Intelligent and engaging, this documentary about rave culture overcomes the challenge inherent in its subject; rave's appeal is by nature nonanalytical and experiential, while documentary films play to the intellectual observer.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

The movie is essentially pro-Ecstasy. No matter how much the D.J.'s may claim that their electronic sounds produce the euphoria of a good rave, the movie clearly implies that Ecstasy is the key that unlocks it all.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak

While there is a faithful following of kids, it just never seems as exciting or sad or emotional -- or as ablaze with personalities -- as what has gone before.

Mr. Showbiz Andrew Strickman

Jon Reiss' compelling documentary on the people, music, and social constructs of dance culture, may perhaps provide some needed balance to the mass media attention.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Suffers from a surplus of interviews and information that imbue it with a vague sense of overkill.

San Francisco Examiner Wesley Morris

Fans likely to rave about Living.

Miami Herald Cary Darling

While Circuitry has its pleasures, it's not as intelligent as "Modulations," a previous documentary on the subject, and its focus is a bit skewed.

New York Post Hannah Brown

It's not much fun to watch people go to raves. And it's even less fun to listen to people talk about how much fun it is to go to raves.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 1 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Mike gave it an8:
Interesting throughout, with the occasional fascinating gem.

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Better Living Through Circuitry Seventh Art Releasing

Better Living Through Circuitry
Seventh Art Releasing