THE DOOM GENERATION (1995)

"The world sucks."

Two attractive twenty-something year old teenage lovers (Blue and White) accidentally pick up a third attractive twenty-something year old teenager (Red) in their crappy old car and then set out on an aimless road trip around Los Angeles. Occasionally stopping along the way for some good ol’ American robbery, dismemberment and cock mutilation. Sounds cool, but it’s nowhere near as exciting as you would imagine. Not even close. Oh yeah, you did catch on that the three main characters, Red White and Blue, all have names that coincide with the colours of the American flag, right? Okay, cool. Just making sure. Cuz man…that’s fucking deep.

Featuring a cameo by Heidi Fleiss (among other forgotten celebrities), a joke about "Richard Gere's butthole", a Ministry shirt and music by everybody from Nine Inch Nails to MC 900 Ft Jesus, THE DOOM GENERATION is definitely a product of its times. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but it is an interesting historical (and low budget) look back to the mid-1990’s America.

I remember seeing THE DOOM GENERATION when it first came out on home video (probably 1996) and being disappointed that it paled to NATURAL BORN KILLERS. Revisiting it now, the whole thing just looks cheap.  And the dialogue is cringier than I remember. Also, the whole gay thing (two dudes) is so lightweight that is almost doesn’t exist. Lame.  And the ending sucked.

Worth watching if you’re curious and / or interested in 1990’s independent cinema. Others would probably just find it boring. Writer, Director, Editor and Producer Gregg Araki would later go on to make the devastating MYSTERIOUS SKIN in 2004.

THE HOUSE OF YES (1997)

"Jackie's hand was holding Marty's penis when they came out of the womb."

Adapted from the play of the same name, THE HOUSE OF YES is about a college student, Marty, who brings his fiancee home to meet his family...his very disturbed family.  You've got: his little brother who plays at being innocent, but is quite manipulative; his mother who lives in a fantasy world and his sister, Jackie-O, who as you can guess is obsessed with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.  So much so that when her and Marty were younger they would dress up like John and Jackie and reenact the JFK assassination before making sweet brother-sister love.  Did I also tell you they were twins?  Yeah, that only adds to the level of weirdness in this home.

Set entirely in just a couple of rooms and with only a cast of 5 characters, THOY doesn't have a whole lot going on.  It's almost like a short story, but like any good short story, it quickly gets deep into the inner workings of each characters personality and it stays with you long after you're done. 

Beautiful house, excellent script rich in quotable lines, quick pace, perfect clothing, bizarre sexual proclivities, outstanding acting especially by Parker Posey because pretty much the entire film rides on how she portrays her mental illness and a surprisingly good acting job by Tori Spelling.  And while we're talking about pleasant surprises, I thought Freddie Prinze Jr. did a fine job also as the younger brother.  The only thing I would change would be a longer runtime. I wanted more!

One of the better 1990's art house films.  Highly recommended.