Angie X

Ok, I managed to watch the whole movie, I was in a party mood so I started laying a bottom with some beers before going out. So I tought, WTF, it's a dope movie with 80's music, parties and all, even a true story also...

Of course I knew I was in for a low budget movie, written, directed and produced by Angie herself. But the first half was bearable, sometimes funny even, but the second half OMG. The girls started crying, mumbling and crying some more till the end of the movie. And that's where I knew the writer wasn't honest: or she covered things up in her own life and only shows the regret (the legal issues of cooking & selling drugs, murder, embezzling,... aren't even touched), or she exaggerated her own youth but didn't have the money to pay for those consequences in terms of a solid script, with of course the necessary settings, additional actors,... I dont know, but when this movie hits the point of crisis, it stays there till the end.

I see people from the crew are talking about the 80's feel & setting. Except for a few songs, I never had an 80's vibe. And the sets, as cheap as possible, as less as background possible. A club is one long sofa with people sitting next to each other haha.

And for someone who took and selled XTC, she knows not very much about the product. Nobody takes some pills and starts dancing right away, first you have to get through that nauseating feeling for half an hour and only then (if you are not sticked to your chair high on serotonine) the party's on for 2 hours.

I find it kind of a pity this movie spiraled down that hard in the second half. 'Cause despite the low budget I tought the first 40 min. seemed promising, but she couldn't keep it up. My advice: don't watch it.

This movie confronts head-on a difficult problems within a tangled and male-dominated sub-genre. Meeting all of the criteria that the genre demands and more this movie confronts challenges, such as underrepresented minorities in cinematography. One major issue that I found with the movie, which is very loosely based around true-ish events was the movie covers in entirety the lifestyles of young party-goers and the consequence of their choices. Simply dismissing this film as an attempt to appeal to a younger audience is wrong in my opinion because as far as I can tell, no other film to date gives such a comprehensive view of the 1980's club culture aside from anti-drug PSAs, clearly what this movie is not, and historical films. This film plays like a biographical narrative while being a fun and light-drug movie that brings a strong theme of the destructive effects of criminality, warning the viewer away from the dangers associated. While the movie doesn't condescend to the viewer the story takes on too many subjects, drawing the viewer away from the entertaining aspect of watching these young people at their worst. I believe this movie is underrated. The actors play their parts with gusto, guiding you in the chaos that the subject entails. The movie moves quickly from topic to topic, but in a easy to follow format that many clubbing movies simply lack. The reviews for this movie are of course critical, and the poor rating shows that the movie was received under the same criticisms that movies in the genre, following scarface and other classic clubbing movies, are subjected. Many movies that are ascribed to the niche 'party movie' genre were underfunded and suffered from poor casting. A movie like this one would have received praises had it been release 20 years sooner, when the genre was thirsty for innovators.

One of the more narrow minded reviewers challenged others to make it through 10 minutes of this movie. well i watched the whole thing and was pleasantly surprised, maybe if they had the patience they would have realized this this movie was actually quite good. they told the story of Angie very well and made the viewer feel for her. the acting was mostly good and the story had its ups and downs to keep you glued.

6.5

Well scripted and well acted, MDMA is worth watching, and Angie Wang deserves kudos for writing, directing, and producing this autobiopic. Annie Q emoted more than most actors ever will and had great chemistry (pun intended) with Francesca Eastwood. (I'm glad I didn't know "Neen" was Clint-the-Gunslinger's kid until after the movie's end, or I would've pre-judged her). The story arc worked, and I enjoyed the inclusion of Adam Ant's music (though I could have stood for more 80s tunes throughout the film). Epilogues would have given the audience some needed satisfaction.

Biographies are usually whitewashed to make the subject look like a decent person or a scumbag, rarely do they show both.

The acting, writing, direction for a first time director were better than one could expect, especially when you realize this is her life story so it is a truly from the heart movie, where she opens herself up to honest ridicule and judgement during the bad times.

However, we see her redeem herself and become a productive person who, due to her past, shows hope and shares her lessons of pain and strength to overcome even the worst of times.

Some people don't like honesty.