Blow Job

Blow Job (1963)

BOMB (out of 4)

Andy Warhol's directorial debut is a forty-minute movie showing the facial expressions of a guy getting a blow job. Um, yeah. To say this thing was boring would be the understatement of a lifetime. I'm sure this film only made sense to Warhol and God only knows what state of mind he was in. I know this film has it share of fans but I'd certainly love to hear from them.

Kiss (1963)

BOMB (out of 4)

Andy Warhol directed this film, which runs fifty-minutes and features various couples kissing for 3 1/2 minutes each. Man and woman, woman and woman and man and man. Once again, who in the hell would want to watch this?

Empire (1964)

BOMB (out of 4)

Andy Warhol is back again and this time he's got a camera set up shooting the top of the Empire State Building. I watched a 60-minute excerpt of this film, which originally ran a shocking eight hours. Can you imagine watching an eight hour film of nothing but the top of a building? This 60-minute version had me on the verge of suicide so....

Mario Banana 1 (1964)

1/2 (out of 4)

Mario Banana 2 (1964)

1/2 (out of 4)

Andy Warhol directed these two films, which show a man in drag (or an incredibly ugly woman) sucking and eating a banana. Part 2 of the film features the same footage in B&W. The only reason I didn't give these two a BOMB rating is because they thankfully only run three minutes each.

I saw this in an art house theatre and when the feature was over comments could be heard like "such artistic talent" etc.

Well I love Warhol's paintings, him being my favourite artist, but found that this film was frankly boring. I could see no logic as to why this should be a film and not a painting where it would work much better. It does not hold your attention for more than 2 minutes.

To be honest.. boring tripe. Avoid at all costs. Go to a gallery and see his real art... superb. The only great Warhol film I've actually seen is Harlot, not listed in the imdb.

Like all of Warhol's works, one does not need to see this film to understand all of it. It works better as an idea rather than a product, while lacking the boldness of, say, Duchamp's Fountain.

Warhol's films had a lot in common with porn in that, no matter the subject, they tended to be exercises in repetition. If you are the type to find a certain fetishistic beauty in such a visual process, then you might enjoy this. Warhol was also quite the visual stylist. Despite the popular perception, he was a fairly hands on director. I've seen his editing and lighting notes and know from speaking with people that knew him that he took a keen interest in how all of his work looked. By the way, for those who care to know, the guy doing the blowing is Willard Maas.

One last word: If you really do want to see a spectacular depiction of oral sex, I'd recommend Blowjob Fantasies Volume XI.

This is not an attack as Empire, nor a nice impression as Sleep, but just a short joke. There is quite a lot of action in the face and it takes only 36 minutes. You will probably forget it as soon as it finishes.