X
- 2011
- Not Rated
- IFC Films
- 1 h 26 m
- 2011
- Not Rated
- IFC Films
- 1 h 26 m
Summary The latest film from iconoclastic independent filmmaker Gregg Araki, Kaboom is a hyper-stylized ”Twin Peaks” for the Coachella Generation, featuring a gorgeous young cast. A wild, witty and sex-drenched horror-comedy thriller, Kaboom tells the story of Smith, an ambisexual 18-year-old college freshman who stumbles upon a monstrous conspi...
Directed By: Gregg Araki
Written By: Gregg Araki
- 2011
- Not Rated
- IFC Films
- 1 h 26 m
- 2011
- Not Rated
- IFC Films
- 1 h 26 m
Kaboom
64
6.1
Where to Watch
Summary The latest film from iconoclastic independent filmmaker Gregg Araki, Kaboom is a hyper-stylized ”Twin Peaks” for the Coachella Generation, featuring a gorgeous young cast. A wild, witty and sex-drenched horror-comedy thriller, Kaboom tells the story of Smith, an ambisexual 18-year-old college freshman who stumbles upon a monstrous conspi...
Directed By: Gregg Araki
Written By: Gregg Araki
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 24 Critic Reviews
64
54% Positive
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
38% Mixed
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
8% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 24 Critic Reviews
64
54% Positive
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
38% Mixed
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
8% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
It's by far the funniest and warmest movie Araki has ever made, with much less juvenile angst and much more command of his craft.
It's all goofy stuff, played for laughs, but it's clear we've been catapulted into a world where things are not quite right.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 29 User Ratings
6.1
45% Positive
13 Ratings
13 Ratings
31% Mixed
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
24% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 29 User Ratings
6.1
45% Positive
13 Ratings
13 Ratings
31% Mixed
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
24% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
The best movies are the ones that you can't stop thinking about. This is one of those movies. It's one of the coolest, trippiest, most screwed up movies I've ever seen, but it's quirkiness allowed it to lodge itself into my brain. While this movie probably isn't the best you will ever see plot-wise, it makes up for its flaws in its art, as a unique and sexy teenage com/dram.
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Greg Araki's movies just have a fresh feeling to them - a sense of style that other movies lack. This one feels like it's from another era, but it's fun as hell. I saw his "Splendor" a few years back and thought it was fairly conventional, but Kaboom is campy, B-movie fun with a ton of laughs. I liked how he used the UC San Diego building from Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.
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Funny, scary, and exuberant, Kaboom delivers the goods as both a generational marker and a tale of things to, uh, come.
The movie has been cast, designed, clothed, scored and edited to the bleeding edge of hip, but it hasn't exactly been written.
Chaotic, trifling, oddly likable film.
It's certainly all Araki up there, and the film is handsome and swiftly paced. But it also feels terribly routine and even, strangely, for all the trangressiveness it strives for, retrograde.
With Kaboom, Araki takes a huge step backward from the maturity and restraint he demonstrated in 2004's "Mysterious Skin," his best and most-assured film to date.
One thing's for sure - watching Kaboom is an experience. A tale of young adult sexuality with supernatural and sci-fi elements, there's very little even remotely like it out there. The closest comparison I can think of is Donnie Darko, a similar tale of troubled young adults with a bit of a "weird factor" thrown in (and coincidentally James Duvall, who played Frank in Richard Kelly's film is also in this). The young cast are all pretty good, with Thomas Dekker's Smith and Juno Temple's London forming the emotional core of the film, and with Haley Bennett's Stella and Chris Zylka's Thor providing the majority of the film's comic relief. The film is effective as a relatively light-hearted, but intelligent and thoughtful comment on sexuality. Towards the end of the film, where things get a little weirder, I'm not quite sure to what extent the film manages to retain its composure. I admire indie veteran director Gregg Araki for his ideas, his originality and for his visual prowess, but I do feel he gets carried away with his undeniably unique world-view now and again - sometimes a little less is more. Perhaps I need to see a couple more of his films to really "get him". Even so, Kaboom is a strangely rewarding viewing experience (with "strangely" being the key word in that statement) that you're likely not to forget for a good long while.
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This movie is a huge mess, but it's such hilarious and campy fun. I saw it back in September 2010 when it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Gregg Araki has made far better films, but this one is a joy to sit through (even though the plot holes are massive). I wouldn't really recommend to see this in theaters, but it's definitely worth a look.
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Ce truc commence comme un film de cul sur le campus, une sorte de film d’ados (un film très con donc), néanmoins saupoudré de dialogues savoureux et drôles…
Drôles également (et si caricaturaux) ces protagonistes qui baisent avec tout le monde (fille, garçon, chèvre, peu importe) et qui se retrouvent dans une sorte de mauvais « souviens-toi l’été dernier » -pour autant qu’on puisse faire plus mauvais que ça évidemment (pas évident).Cependant, il y a un second degré et même un troisième ou un quinzième degré clairement assumé là-dedans, de jeunes acteurs (Thomas Dekker des Chroniques de Sarah Connor) et de jeunes actrices (Juno Temple, Roxane Mesquida entre autres) qui sont à fond dans le délire du réalisateur.
Une sorte de, oui difficile de ranger Kaboom dans une catégorie, une sorte de (?) Donnie Darko avec une fin qui verse dans le grand n’importe quoi (David Lynch dans les cordes… enfin presque !).A noter l’esthétique très soignée, la belle photographie et un sens du découpage bien fichu, dynamique mais toujours clair. Une bizarrerie donc, qui se laisse un peu trop aller mais qui pourtant maintient l’attention et la tension.
Un film d’ados pas aussi con qu’on aurait pu le craindre et bordéliquement marrant… mais un peu trop bordélique quand même.
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Production Company
Desperate Pictures,
Wild Bunch,
Super Crispy Entertainment,
The Next World,
Graveyard Machine,
Why Not Productions
Release Date Jan 28, 2011
Duration 1 h 26 m
Rating Not Rated
Awards
Cannes Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
San Francisco Independent Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Casting Society of America, USA
• 1 Nomination
