1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Possibly The Most Annoying Movie In The History Of Cinema, April 26, 2009
This review is from: Wasabi Tuna (DVD)
"Wasabi Tuna" was given to me as a gift because I enjoy films so bad that they're good, i.e. movies high in camp value. This one, however, is just dreadful in every conceivable way. Featuring such luminaries as Anna Nicole Smith and Antonio Sabato, Jr., the film explores the world of gay Hollywood Halloween parties, and is told in the format of flashbacks during a police interrogation. Rest assured that this is one gift that will be repaid.
The "plot" is all over the place and contains the worst gymnasium flirtation scene in film history, a bevy of transvestite Anna Nicole Smith impersonators, a drug dealer named "Nasty Anna" ("she's a major drug smuggler for the Armenian syndicate...,") Nasty Anna's servants in leather chaps, a subplot about a vase full of heroin, awful car chases in numerous types of cars, an eye-rolling martial scene arts involving every imaginable buffoon in Southern California, and, of course, Sugar Pie, Anna Nicole's annoying little dog. Apparently Lee Friedlander and Celia Fox threw every stereotype and hackneyed plotpoint they could think of into a blender, and ended up with an unfocused and deeply unfunny movie that is wholly dependant on the gay, transvestite, or Anna Nicole Smith worshipping crowds; since I don't fall into any of those groups, I, like nearly everyone else outside of the targeted demographics, loathed this movie. It is possible to make a comedy starring a lead who is either gay or a transvestite, but this isn't exactly "Tootsie," or even "Polyester." Then again Anna Nicole Smith was no Dustin Hoffman. (Or Divine.)
The plot hinges on Halloween costume selection (the principals originally wanted to go dressed as sushi, hence the title....) Ultimately going as gangsters is the best concept they can come up with; the endless debate about what kind of gangsters only serves to agonize the audience, so, true to form, Friedlander and Fox have them change costumes and cars several times in an unsuccessful attempt to cover as many bases as possible. Of course the multiple car swaps bring different, though equally contrived, problems, and in the end the audience just breathes a sigh of relief when it's all over. I can sum it up thusly: never trade your Porsche for a lowrider. Aside from the myriad of plot, characterization, and acting miscues, I did have one particular least-favorite directorial choice in "Wasabi Tuna": the frequent and pointless black and white (presumably public domain) film clips inserted throughout the movie. It was an apparent attempt to generate humor through editing, but to say it was unsuccessful is a huge understatement: it was unnecessary, failed to further the plot or characters, served to point out how derivative much of the film was, and served to pad the running time of the film without having to come up with original material.
The DVD comes with several extras if you can stomach them. There is a behind the scenes feature, cast interviews, a music video, and multiple trailers. Normally I recommend watching all the extras to learn as much about a given film as possible, but here it will just delay throwing the disc in the trash can, so I recommend that you skip them and dispose of this straightaway.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Only buy it for Anna, June 8, 2007
This review is from: Wasabi Tuna (DVD)
Anna Nicole's brief onscreen appearances are the only plus side of this movie. While the ideas were fun, the stereotypes were sad. Also, Alexis Arquette and the rest of the "Santa Ana Annas" were terrible! Their wigs were cheap, costumes predictable and not really Anna Nicole enough. We have better wigs here in Boise (and better Anna Nicole impersonators, I might add). Alexis Arquette screams her way through a sad script. Allana Ubach and Antonio Sabato Jr.'s performances were nice though. This could have been executed a whole lot better.
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