lazarillo

This is not a particularly good, but certainly interesting artifact from the early 70's. I won't rehash plot too much, but it was obviously "gay interest" with a trans lead,(Andy Warhol hanger-on Ultra Violet), which was very unusual at the time. There is also a lot of gay male interest and nudity, which was much less common then than it is now. There is also a LOT of lesbianism and female nudity, which was definitely NOT unusual at the time, including the young-looking Kitty Carl ("Carhops") and Susan Romen ("Weekend with the Babysitter"), who in 1970 may not just have been young LOOKING. I guess you can say it has something for everybody as far as exploitation goes. But it is kind of a weak story that is all over the place without being as memorably awful as similar fare of the time like the bigger-budgeted "Myra Breckenridge" or "Sextette".

If you read the synopsis of this movie, it is really easy to write it off as another #metoo tale, but it actually a pretty singular story and more complex than that. The coach (Jeremie Renier) is certainly abusive, but he is not a one-dimensional predator. He seems genuinely focused on being a coach and is not simply "grooming" the teenage protagonist (Noee Abita). It is perfectly acceptable for elite coaches of underage athletes to be physically and emotionally abusive--he just takes it a step farther and is sexually abusive as well. The teenager is certainly confused and traumatized by what is happening, but still remains in the orbit of this charismatic authority figure. I won't spoil the ending, but it will frustrate those expecting a morally unambiguous #metoo message. This movie actually reminded of the recent American film "Diary of a Teenage Girl" in that it refuses to impose a clear moral on the narrative, but leaves it to the viewer to draw their own.

I find most of these movies a little hypocritical since they always seem find an incredibly attractive 20-year-old to play the "teenager" and an incredibly attractive 35 year old to play the older predator, and French movies always seem to add some teenage (or rather "teenage") nudity. But both actors are excellent and quite believable as elite athletes. The sex scenes are both hot (because of the actors involved) and troubling (because of the story) at the same time, so you just have to deal with that. The skiing scenes are simply wonderful , and its a very beautiful looking movie. You can decide for yourself what the moral is.

The premise of this documentary is to try to conflate hecklers and critics. The problem is the two groups are completely different. Hecklers (if you didn't know) are drunken idiots who try to disrupt performances that they themselves paid to see. Critics, however, 1. Are doing a legitimate job, 2. Only affect the people that freely CHOOSE to read and view them, and 3. Even if they are all virgins living in their parents' basement., are STILL far more entertaining than a ;lot of half-ass comedians like Jamie Kennedy.

It's weird to see someone come off so unlikeable in a documentary he himself directed. Kennedy tries to confront his various critics. But he loses all these confrontations as his only rejoinder seems to be that they're all just jealous because he rides around in limousines and gets more stranger sex than they do. But isn't that probably true of all celebrities? Why isn't Leo DiCaprio critically reviled?

I expect this from Kennedy (and maybe he's being ironic anyway), but it's sad to hear comedians like Bill Maher and Andrew Dice Clay complain about critics attacking THEM. If your JOB is to throw stones at others, guys, you can't live in a glass house. Maybe if an insult is funny it's not really mean, but then some on-line critics are pretty damn funny. The documentary ends with the famous footage of critically-reviled German director Uwe Boll beating up his critics in boxing matches (one of whom was a 17-year-old kid). But does that somehow make Boll any better of a filmmaker? And does Kennedy utterly failing to lay a glove on any of his critics in this weird doc make him any more talented as an actor or comedian? Hmmm.