so, after all the hype, i finally saw vincent gallo's "the brown bunny" this weekend.

it wasn't just the infamous hummer scene that got me to go - i LOVED his last movie, "buffalo '66", and i think VG is a creepy but fascinating 'insane genius' type, so i was looking forward to seeing what kind of kooky stuff he had ready for us this time.

(by the way, if you wanna hear a really pretty album, pick up vincent gallo's album "when". it's a really gorgeous kinda retro soft jazz thing, and for whatever it's worth, the first song is about paris hilton. but anyway...)

so yeah, i saw it, and let me start off with what everyone wants to know about.

the blowjob scene wasn't completely gratuitous. there was kind of a reason for it. once you learn that reason, the scene isn't as pornographic or sexy as you probably are thinking it would be if you hadn't seen the movie. but still, it's a real live honest-to-gosh BJ on film, vincent gallo is hung like a freakin' drawbridge, and chloe sevigny should get an oscar nod just for fitting all that mess in her mouth.

and that's all i'll say about THAT.

now, about the rest of the movie - it was bleak. sad. depressing. obtuse. slow. almost without dialog. there was one scene that reminded me of matthew barney's cremaster 2, if you want to know how obtuse this movie is. at times, i thought there WAS a really nice meditative beauty to the movie, like you could just sit and stare and zone out at some of the long, winding scenes of him driving through neighborhoods and down dark highways. there are also some self-serving scenes of vincent gallo looking really cool on a dirt bike.

see, that's the thing about this movie that bothered me - i didn't know if he was trying to make a vulnerable, soulful movie about love and intimacy, or if he was making a vanity movie where we get to see his dirt bike and his big dick and how cool he looks in faux-vintage clothes.

but then, that seems to characterize vincent gallo's whole schtick - in both of his movies, he has an attitude of really wanting to be loved, but when someone tries to love him, they're pushed away. i think he's playing that trick on the audience with this movie. it lulls you into his world, and when you're with him, he does something truly obnoxious and self-indulgent that makes you want to walk out of the theater. purposefully? subconsiously? interesting? stupid?

i dunno. i can't really say "the brown bunny" was bad, but it had a toxic residue to it that i couldn't quite shake the rest of the night. i wouldn't go as far as ebert did when he completely savaged this movie (gallo and ebert have since kissed and made up, by the way), but i would at the very least call it "the feel-bad movie of the year".

so that's what i got from it.

(i gotta say, though - i'm LOVING the posters for this flick.)

while I have no interest in seeing that movie, I have seen the clip of the blowjob...and here's my 2 bits...
BIG FREAKIN' DEAL!!!
who remembers the double dildo scene with Jennifer Connelly in that drug movie (the title escapes me)?...there was a reason for that too and hardly anyone said boo about it...
for those of you who wish to make a to-do about a scene like that, here's a word of advice...
grow up...it's sex...it happens in everyday life...most everyone has it at one point in their lives...
...and...Anxiety...it was good of you to downplay it too...
I'm done with that now...

Hey, Anxiety...You're a good fucking writer!!!!!

And I agree--Gallo is a tortured genius. This film hasn't played in the Detroit area yet (at least I dont think it has) but I loved "Buffalo 66" and am dying to see "Bunny."

I saw an uncut version of the movie through a movie buf friend of mine and I had a simular feeling about the movie.

I am sure the movie was judged on that one fact that YOU know how to place in perspective.

I havent seen much by Gallo and do not know in what way they changed the movie to get it in theatres over there, but I do know this movie will not make any of my 'best of' lists.

I personally adore Chloë Sevigny for her daring choices, not only when it comes to picking movies.