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Bitter, misanthropic, yet sometimes blisteringly funny,Art School Confidentialis not a movie for everyone. Jerome (Max Minghella,Bee Season) goes to art school in the hopes of having his genuine ability recognized and cherished--but instead, finds his teachers to be self-obsessed has-beens, his peers jaded and floundering, and himself being investigated for a series of gruesome stranglings. He becomes obsessed with a lovely student named Audrey (Sophia Myles,Tristan and Isolde), but she's more interested in hunky Jonah (Matt Keeslar,Splendor), whose crude yet acclaimed paintings of cars and tanks make Jerome want to tear his own eyes out. The crime-thriller plot ofArt School Confidential, however, is merely a contrivance to string together a series of caustic digs at the shallow, narcissistic, talentless hacks who go to art school in the vain hope of achieving fame, wealth, and sexual abundance with little or no effort. For most viewers, who want to think that people are largely well-intentioned and decent, this will seem snide and cruel; but for some viewers, who believe people are foolish and blinkered,Art School Confidentialwill seem like an oasis in the arid desert of lies and propaganda about the good side of human nature. If this is your movie, you know who you are, and I encourage you to seek it out as soon as possible. Directed by Terry Zwigoff (Bad Santa) and based on the work of cartoonist Dan Clowes; their previous collaboration was the much warmerGhost World. Also featuring sharp turns from John Malkovich (Being John Malkovich), Anjelica Huston (Prizzi's Honor), and Jim Broadbent (Moulin Rouge!).--Bret Fetzer
THE HUMOR OF PLAGIARISM "Art School Confidential" is an engaging film that provides some unintended humor. The movie identifies 13 musical items from sources other than "Composer" David Kitay. Yet, throughout the movie, the second movement of Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto appears repeatedly and effecvtively. Despite this, no acknowledgment of the music's source in Beethoven appears at all. In fact, in the accompanying "Sundance Featurette" so-called "composer" David Kitay speaks to the audience with Beethoven's music in the background. Again no acknowledgment of the source of the "composition" appears. The music is so close to Beethoven's original as to be virtually indistinguishable from its source. What is involved here is, first of all, a case of musical [...], and, secondly, an assumption of colossal ignorance on the part of the audience. Mr. Kitay needs the honesty to acknowledge his sources or at least the basic savvy not to "borrow" from something as familiar as this. A highschool kid would have covered his tracks much more cleverly. By the way, don't expect any acknowledgment of this from the Sundance Festival if you bring it to their attention.
Interesting Dark Comedy With A Few Surprises It tooke me a while, but I finally got around to seeing this movie, and it is pretty good. Funny with a lot of satire and an odd sub theme that ends up playing it's way out in the end. Jerome is a suburban kid who has always been different and picked on. He grew over the years to love art, and became good. He finds a brocure for an art college, and gets the chance to go and be amongst people who may actually finally appreciate him. Well, that's what he thought, but the more he tries, the more things come apart. Rent this movie, the acting is pretty good, the story is original, and the ending, well you have to see. Worth purchasing if you have to.Just Like Anything Pablo Picasso Ever Painted The first thing that came to my so called mind after the completion of this film was, "What was Terry Zwigoff thinking?" He is responsible for the documentary of Robert Crumb entitled `Crumb', which was one of the better films made in the last two decades. `Bad Santa' was a very big surprise as well, so I am caught scratching my head as to why he decided this particular script and/or subject matter was worth making a feature presentation over.
For starters, people who are serious artists and who over-emphasize the importance of their craft are the most annoying people on the planet. I can say that because I went through a department with this type of person. They are self indulged and think so highly of what they're trying to say that it irritates me just thinking about it. The fact is...they have nothing to say and what they are doing has very little significance to people who actually have talent (ie, those of us who don't need to "say" anything).
If Zwigoff focused on this and made a mockery of the entire `art-scene', that might be enough to make a entertaining film, but there isn't enough in here, really.
`Art School Confidential' gets too boggled down in a courtship where the main kid seemingly finds his first infatuation in a figure model at school. The two of them are so uninteresting that it made me yearn for some art school-critique talk from some of the hippies in the film.
It tried too hard to go over the top with some of it's jokes (male models walking up to female students where her eye level is at his pelvis level, the obnoxious roommate who offers nothing but `can I smell your finger' quirks).
It would have been nice if the story actually followed this student, who knew he was better than everyone else (and he was), ridicule the rest of the students who had absolutely nothing to offer the world (which is, essentially, about 98% of all "artists").
Instead it turns into your standard, boy tries to impress girl by stealing someone else's artwork who just happens to be a serial killer story. Wrong direction. There are/were too many opportunities to make fun of these types passed up for something that's been overdone way too many times. Terry should have known better!
There is a very entertaining Thanksgiving Dinner scene, which was worth two stars from me. The overbearing female who takes her artwork way too seriously even though it's complete trash was also amusing, so that earns two stars.
Just not enough irritating art-scene comedy in here to recommend it at all.
