Garage Days

I had to check the DVD box three times to be sure that it was the name ALEX

PROYAS as director, because this is just such an unbelievably bad and

amateurish film. It would be more believable with its odd tone, jokiness and

musical/fantasy elements if it were a hitherto undiscovered, very, very very early Baz Luhrman project.

"Garage Days" is a whimsical look at a contemporary Sydney, Australia rock

band. For an American viewer, the first obstacle is the slangy, heavily accented Australian dialect. I do understand that is the setting, but for anybody in another English speaking country to understand even half of the plot, they needed to

tone down the accent and the words that are incomprehensible to the (much

larger potential) US audience. Like "pokies"...I guess they are slot machines but it certainly was not clear.

The story is so aimlessly told that although it's about a rock band -- I did get that -- I have no idea after watching the whole film what the band's NAME was. They don't play a whole song until the very end, and then we are told that they really suck -- although actually they are not that terrible. So all the sturm and drang is for absolutely nothing, because they are talentless and as the tie-ups at the end tell us, all the members went on to other careers or get married.

The overall tone of the film is very like an old episode of the Monkees or The Partridge Family -- very jokey and cartoon-like, with lots of stylized action. Of course, because this is the 2000's, we have to get the requisite CGI effects: bullet time, slo mo, CGI monsters and drug trips and other comical moments.

None of this really pans out or seems to work. The emotional tone is so sixties and caricaturing, and yet the story is supposed to be very "now" and the

characters wouldn't have even been born in the 60s.

Some of the lamest moments involve "drug trips", portrayed like something out of Reefer Madness.

I can only scratch my head wondering why Alex Proyas, who made two of the

most stylish, influential and original sci fi fantasy movies of the 90s would have stooped to this embarrassing garbage. It can't have been money, because this is a pretty low budget affair and it can't be fame, because it seems to be aimed mostly at the Aussie film market. Perhaps Mr. Proyas was himself once in a

Garage Band and wanted to relive it a bit, although he would have to be at least 20 years older than the characters in the film.

"Garage Days" suffers quite badly also when compared to rock band films like

"Almost Famous" or "The Committments". Although the idea of a bad, untalented band is quite funny -- think "Spinal Tap" -- there is an inherent problem that no one wants to listen to really bad music for 2 hours. Also, "Garage Days" is just plain unfunny, with tired sitcom-like jokes.

The sound track has a mixture of oldies and contemporary music, played loudly and over every scene, apparently to compensate for a lack of any original music or even covers played by the band in the film. While some of this music is

enjoyable, the loud overwhelming presence of other, more talented rockers

music only draws attention to the lack of any interesting qualities to the

characters or the plot, and doesn't allow the action to slow down enough for us to develop any intimacy with the characters or the romance between the two

leads.

If shown on MTV as the senior project of an wannabe film director, this would still be lacking in quality, but more understandable and maybe forgivable. As the work of one of most respected sci fi fantasy film directors of the last decade, it is actually disturbing. Since "Dark City", Mr. Proyas has only made two films, this and the dull, derivative "I Robot". WHAT HAPPENED???? I'd give ten dollars to know...but the answer would probably make me very very sad.

Do yourself a favour and see "The Wannabees" (about a gang of foul-mouthed thugs who become the country's most successful children's show), "Razzle Dazzle" (about a failing dance instructor and a bunch of fellow losers trying to coach a bunch of pre-teen girls to victory) and "Garage Days" about... as best as I can summarize... a rock'n'roll soap opera that plays out like a Hunter S. Thompson nightmare (Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas).

"Garage Days" is exactly what a quirky, offbeat, rock'n'roll Aussie comedy should be: quirky, offbeat & full of rock'n'roll. Before I even get to my review, I'll mention some of the tunes on the soundtrack: AC/DC "It's a Long Way to the Top" & "High Voltage", The Cure "Boys Don't Cry", Violent Femmes "Blister in the Sun", Roxy Music "Love Is the Drug", and a particularly hilarious choreographed psychedelic scene set to Rick James "Superfreak". As in Proyas's masterpiece "The Crow", the music really sets the stage for the whole experience.

"Garage Days" follows a month in the life of a struggling punk-metal-grunge-pop band trying to get their one big shot. Along the way we get roped into the common themes of sex, drugs, love & friendship... and the not-so-common themes of creepy goth girlfriends, soul-sucking slot machines and talking cantaloupes. The whole movie comes at you hard & fast, like "Amelie" on crack.

Quite surprising for director Alex Proyas, master of the cinematic shadows ("The Crow", "Dark City")--it's very bright and lively. If you're a fan of Proyas, you must see this side of him. Much like Tim Buton who did "Batman" as well as "Peewee's Big Adventure", Proyas proves that there's a fine line between darkness & light, and he's able to cross it seamlessly.

A note for us Yanks, it helps to watch it with the subtitles because the Aussie accent can run over you like a rabid kangaroo. And some of the quips are priceless, you don't want to miss a beat. I found the script to be hilarious, the acting charming, the story suspenseful and the presentation memorable.

Tastes may vary, but I found each character to be instantly likable, from "Freddie" (an odd mix of Peewee Herman and a young Christopher Walken) to "Tanya" (a punk rich girl who sports the perfect blend of hot, cute & badass), "Lucy" (Henry Rollins meets Billy Idol meets Mongo from Blazing Saddles), "Joe" (a puzzler who is best left for you to decipher), "Joe's dad" (an aging rocker who himself is more childish & clueless than his son), all the peripheral characters who did a stellar job, and then there's the guy who steals the show "Bruno" their loser manager (played by Russell Dykstra from the aforementioned "Wannabees").

There aren't many well-known movies I can compare this to because it's so unusual, but if you've seen the hilarious Japanese flicks "Kamikaze Girls", "Swing Girls" or "Otakus in Love" I'd say this fits right alongside them. It also reminded me a bit of the funny Rainn Wilson flick "The Rocker", only pumped up with twice the adrenaline and totally Aussified. If you like rock'n'roll comedies, do not miss this!

This movie is just plain fun that takes a pretty average, well-known look at the music industry and the hike that bands take to get to where they want to be. But Alex Proyas adds some CGI effects (pretty funny ones, I might add...like Mellie the "baby") to make up where this average movie was headed. ALl of the actors are pretty unknown in the States (where I am), but it all doesn't matter because they were all vivacious enough (and good-looking enough) to make you believe that they encountered this past themselves.

This movie tries to take you on an emotional roller-coaster of relationships between band members and their girl/boyfriends, but where that comes up short, the movie just throws more fun at you. My favorite parts are the melon-baby and the hallucination scene where the band's bassist tries to get money from her parents and finds herself tripping out. I hated the where-are-they-now ending and cutesy-poo looks back on life and love and careers and whatever else, but the movie as a whole was OK. I gave it a 6/10.

This film taught me an important lesson. Don't choose a movie based on the past works of the people who made it (which works both ways, actually).

I was expecting a film directed by Alex Proyas to be at least half-decent, but was unpleasantly surprised.

This film has a storyline so lame it's funny, mediocre dialogue, truly appalling acting (with one or two exceptions) and superfluous special effects. Don't waste your time with it. I watched it with my girlfriend and we were ready to switch it off after 10 minutes. We gave it another 10 minutes to see if it improved - nope. Back to the Loch with you, Nessie!

Well, I got mixed feelings about this movie after I saw it. The story is not really bad... and it tries to show what Rock And Roll is about... dreams! But the band image...... I think it happened as many other Rock And Roll movies. The band doesn't look real, it looked as a fake, hand-made band. There's no authenticity in the band. They look like some kinda punk-garage band (specially the bass girl), but the song they're playing at the end sounds as an 80's power ballad or so. The guy doing drums looked more like a techno-whatever D.J. And the other band, the one that it's supposed to be the successful band, is called "Sprimp"... what kinda name is that, for Christ sake?