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93
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82
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79
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78
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73
Kung Fu Panda
71
Tropic Thunder
71
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70
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
65
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
64
Wanted
64
Pineapple Express
63
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, The
61
Incredible Hulk, The
60
Traitor
57
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
55
House Bunny, The
54
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
54
Get Smart
53
Sex and the City: The Movie
53
Rocker, The
52
Longshots, The
51
Mamma Mia!
51
Step Brothers
49
Hancock
47
Swing Vote
47
X-Files: I Want to Believe, The
43
Meet Dave
42
Death Race
36
Space Chimps
36
Fly Me to the Moon
35
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
35
Mirrors
34
Happening, The
31
Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The
26
Babylon A.D.
24
Love Guru, The
19
Bangkok Dangerous
15
Disaster Movie
15
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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

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Man on Wire
86
Edge of Heaven, The
86
Up the Yangtze
86
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
85
Momma's Man
85
Alexandra
83
U2 3D
83
Tell No One
82
Frozen River
81
Trouble the Water
80
Encounters at the End of the World
80
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
80
Order of Myths, The
79
Visitor, The
78
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
78
Last Mistress, The
77
Pool, The
76
I Served the King of England
75
Young@Heart
75
Boy A
74
Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer
74
Mongol
73
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
73
Secret, A
72
Priceless
72
Transsiberian
72
I.O.U.S. A
71
To the Limit
71
Girl Cut in Two, A
71
Roman de gare
70
Love Songs
67
XXY
67
Jellyfish
66
Elegy
66
Patti Smith: Dream of Life
66
American Teen
66
When Did You Last See Your Father?
65
August Evening
64
Brideshead Revisited
64
Fall, The
63
In Search of a Midnight Kiss
63
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
62
Kabluey
62
Mister Foe
62
Baghead
62
Girls Rock!
61
Bustin' Down the Door
61
Wackness, The
61
Man Named Pearl, A
61
Red
61
Brick Lane
58
Beautiful Losers
58
Sukiyaki Western Django
57
Sixty Six
56
Bottle Shock
56
Then She Found Me
55
Save Me
55
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54
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54
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54
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54
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54
CSNY: Déjà Vu
52
Elsa & Fred
51
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50
Last Stop for Paul
49
Children of Huang Shi, The
47
Before the Rains
47
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46
Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer
46
My Mexican Shivah
44
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40
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26
Everybody Wants to Be Italian
25
Hell Ride
xx
Young People F**king
xx
Bachna Ae Haseeno
xx
Cthulhu
xx
Goal II: Living the Dream
xx
Surfer, Dude
xx
Beer for My Horses
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Party Monster
Strand Releasing
FILM:
MPAA RATING: Not Rated
Starring
Macaulay Culkin,
Seth Green,
Chloë Sevigny,
Natasha Lyonne,
Justin Hagan,
Wilson Cruz,
Wilmer Valderrama, Dylan McDermott,
and
Marilyn Manson
Based on the book "Disco Bloodbath" and the 1998 documentary "Party Monster," this film focuses on the relationship between two Midwestern kids who move to New York to re-invent themselves in the late 1980's.
| GENRE(S): |
Suspense/Thriller
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Fenton Bailey
Randy Barbato
James St. James (book Disco Bloodbath)
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Fenton Bailey
Randy Barbato
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD:
Video: February 10, 2004
Theatrical: September 5, 2003
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
98 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA / Netherlands |
Nominated, Grand Jury Prize (Dramatic), 2003 Sundance Film Festival

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...
80
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Thomas
For all its decadence, it moves effectively from outrageous camp humor to stark pathos and in the process manages to be oddly touching. As for Culkin, he succeeds as an adult actor in completely unexpected ways.

75
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
As stagy and awkward as some of the Warhol/Morrissey films of the early '70s.

75
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
Culkin plays Alig as clueless to the end, living so firmly in his fantasy world that nothing can penetrate his chirpy persona. Whether this is accurate--whether indeed any of the facts in the film are accurate--is not for me to say, but it works.

70
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
Culkin's Alig has the face of a debauched cherub, but the former child star never quite captures the charisma everyone swears was an essential component in Alig's success. Green's St. James steals the picture out from under him (poetic justice of a sort), and the supporting cast is nothing short of amazing.

70
Dallas Observer
David Ehrenstein
Emotionally distressing yet compulsively watchable,

60
Film Threat
D.W. Smith
Overall, I have to recommend the film for its alternate take on the whole "Leaving Las Vegas," "Basketball Diaries," "Less Than Zero" drug-induced tragedy genre.

58
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sean Axmaker
Taking on the sneeringly blase Alig may be a cagey career move for Culkin, but it's a disappointingly thin performance.

50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Liam Lacey
Alig's superficiality seems to have been his only talent. His banality is a problem that the film can't overcome.

50
Portland Oregonian
Kim Morgan
So what is the picture saying? With its uneven tone, flat direction (on bad-looking digital video) and varied performances, very little.

50
The New York Times
Dana Stevens
His (Culkin's) performance is earnest and brave, but also mannered when it should be un-self-conscious, and awkward when grace is called for.

50
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
The plot is sordid and predictable -- indiscriminate nightclubbing leads to escalating drugs, promiscuity, and violence. Things perk up cinematically in the last few scenes, but by then it's almost too late.

50
San Francisco Chronicle
Peter Hartlaub
Most moviegoers will have trouble looking past Culkin the actor, who does a decent job of sending up youthful fame in a movie that's barely worth the effort.

50
Newsweek
David Ansen
There isn't an ounce of genuine affection on display. Fenton and Barbato already made a documentary of the same title about Alig, and their fascination with this vapid, charmless pied piper of decadence remains a mystery.

50
Premiere
Glenn Kenny
Better than I expected but still not entirely convincing. As a cautionary tale for demimonde-sters, though, it has its useful points--never argue about money while you're in a K-hole, that sort of thing.

40
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
If this were witty, it might have qualified as a downtown version of "All About Eve"; if it were believable, I wouldn't have come away feeling that the actors (including Dylan McDermott and Chloe Sevigny) were wasted.

40
Variety
Dennis Harvey
A colorful, lurid and ultimately so-what look at obnoxious personalities careening down their own road to ruin.

40
Village Voice
Laura Sinagra
Party never gets rolling.

38
Chicago Tribune
Mark Caro
In the end you don't believe what you're watching, and you don't care. This party is a drag.

38
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
Devotes most of its energy to its costumes and makeup, which are fabulous. But that and a tabloid-worthy star just aren't enough to revisit this sordid tale as a kind of twisted comedy.

30
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Nathan Rabin
The film's only real bright spot is Seth Green, who, as Culkin's sidekick, brings Party Monster a droll wit it otherwise lacks. It's such a dreary mess that when Culkin insists that life in prison isn't too different from being a club kid, it's all too easy to believe him.

30
Washington Post
Michael O'Sullivan
The psychologizing in Party Monster never goes deeper than what you might get out of Dr. Phil on a bad day.

25
New York Daily News
Jami Bernard
Macaulay Culkin still can't act, and it's no longer cute. His performance in Party Monster is so embarrassing one doesn't know where to look.

25
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
Feels fake, forced and indigestible.

25
Boston Globe
Ty Burr
"Prison isn't all that different from a nightclub,'' comments Alig toward the end. Funny; this movie isn't all that different from prison.

20
Wall Street Journal
Joanne Kaufman
The distance between tawdry and tedious can be amazingly short. It is traveled with Concorde speed in the arch Party Monster.

20
LA Weekly
Ernest Hardy
There's really only one reason to see Party Monster, and that's Seth Green's scene-stealing performance as former (and somewhat reluctant) New York club kid James St. James, the boy who would be queen.

20
Washington Post
Ann Hornaday
The wanton fabulistas of Party Monster are as boring and insignificant as the very "normals and drearies" they so contemptuously deride.

20
Austin Chronicle
Marc Savlov
A colorful mess, all style and substances and little else.

10
Salon.com
Charles Taylor
Unwatchable.


The average user rating for this movie is 7.7 (out of 10) based on 21 User Votes
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