Customer Reviews

LOL

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've seen a handful of movies from this group of people, but only one by this actual director. I think I preferred this one a bit to his other movie, Hannah Takes the Stairs.

It definitely brings to light an interesting and important topic, being too connected and plugged in via the phones and computers (which I suspect might be me right now). And this movie is a good example of maybe what not to do! It depicts strained relationships and ones left unexplored because of technology as a distraction and interference.

My favorite parts of the movie were the montages of mouth sounds that are cut together to make music (by one of the characters.) I couldn't get enough of it! I also liked the montages of camera phone pictures played to voice mails. Beautiful stuff.

I saw this at SXSW in 2006, as it was one of only a small handful of films that actually sounded interesting. Being poorly shot and acted can sometimes be charming in an independent film, but this appeared to have no script and was simply about a bunch of morons wallowing around in a zombified state of non-existence. Sure, sure, that's what most people are doing at all times, but who wants to watch that? What could an audience member hope to gain from the experience? If you're going to make a worthwhile film (perhaps an inexorable oxymoron, these days) about such awful people, try adding some insight. Don't just get stoned and think that everything you commit to tape is genius. Many sections of this interminably dull tripe reminded me of an old friend who took snippets of minutia that he captured from people and places in his life and then edited together into effervescent little music videos to amuse himself. "Aw, isn't that cute?", we'd say during the first one. Then he'd do the same thing again... and again... and again... So if you don't mind praising a mindless twit whose only ambition in life appears to be making movies, despite not knowing one good reason why he should, watch this. If you have anything better to do, I suggest you do that instead.

Benten Films (www.bentenfilms.com) has listed all the DVD Bonus Features for Joe Swanberg's LOL on their website:

* Director commentary, with scene specific contributions from Kevin Bewersdorf and C. Mason Wells

* Cast commentary with Joe Swanberg, Kevin Bewersdorf, C. Mason Wells, Greta Gerwig, and Tipper Newton

* Hissy Fits: a short film made as a test for LOL

* Kevin-Casts: video podcasts documenting the
making of LOL

* Complete Noisehead Videos

* The Artwork of LOL

* Tipper Newton Casting Interview

* Additional Kevin Bewersdorf performance footage

* PLUS: It's Not You, It's MySpace, a new essay by GreenCine Daily editor David Hudson

* Optional English Subtitles