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Schizopolis - Criterion Collection

Schizopolis - Criterion Collection

List Price: $39.95
Your Price: $35.96
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Funniest and Most Brilliant Movie I've ever seen...
Review: Rent this movie if you can't buy it... and rent it often. Gets better the more you watch it. You're continuously saying, "huh? oh... but wait... what? Ah-ha! wha??" inbetween riotous laughter. An editor's wet dream and a movie lover's best friend. Check it out and be assured that Soderbergh is one of the best filmmakers of our time.

MB

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Nose Army!
Review: So, you like cult films, undeground, bizarre, unusual... this is the new KING! Bow down (eventually) to Schizopolis, and may your sense of sanity, cinema, and singularity's never be the same. If this isn't you, please kindly ignore...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Soderbergh's Skill of Purpose
Review: SS has maintained throughout his career the ability to utilize a storytelling style that is quite definitely underappreciated (especially being that he is an indie director making a successful and artistic transition to H-Town). Schizopolis is his transition film in a way from the one type to the other, and it is unapologetic (in the most obvious ways ever) & so will have its detractors. But the fact is, it is genuinely revolutionary, period. And, it's awesomely intelligent in a pure American way. It does not lag (despite the overt philosophy) in a Tarkovskian way. It is pure intent. I don't mean to sound full of BS, but Soderbergh has made a thing not only of beauty, but of an intense and unconscious signature, establishing what his gift is. Watch at 7am after being up all night.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: AN EXCELLENT SUPER ZANY FILM.
Review: Steven Soderberg lets it all hang out on this one.

A lesson on how to go through life saying absolutely nothimg

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Like the title says
Review: This is a boldly experimental film that has only the merest of plots. Along with Sex, Lies and Videotape, Schizopolis highlights Steve Soderbergh's talent as an alternative director, before he settled into a more conventional and less interesting style. It's difficult to describe this movie or compare it to anything else, which is refreshing. This is one of the few films that is truly unique. If it must be characterized, I suppose you could call it a broad satire on modern life. There is a cult called Eventualism that is a connecting thread. A significant point is that this Scientology-like cult, whose leader is played by Soderbergh (who also has another role as a dentist), is no more ridiculous than anything else in the film. Everything, from the sitcommish way a husband greets his wife after work to office politics is reduced to absurdity. If there is a message here, it may be that the line separating the ordinary from the bizarre is razor thin. There is something disconcerting about seeing everyday conversations transformed into non sequiturs. In one scene, people spontaneously start talking Chinese. In others, they simply talk nonsense. As in a David Lynch film, people's very identities are subject to change. Is reality really as solid and reliable as we normally assume? While some people will find this simply confusing and pointless, if you let yourself get into the mood, it will make you think. If you have an offbeat sense of humor, it will also make you laugh.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Criterion of Bad Movie
Review: This is movie is terrible. It's not funny, albeit the great effort. This movie tries very hard to be funny, but it's just stupid. Not only that, but this movie claims to be very funny, when actually it's terrible. It's not even original, when one can plainly see that it's an imitation of better things, like Monty Python. I would rather suffer a beating than watch this awful film.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: scitz
Review: This is one of the strangest movies I've ever seen. Strange but very funny. This movie must be seen more then once to get everything that's going on.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Truly Original. I Loved It
Review: This movie is just plain bizarre, but Soderberg has this knack of making the totally bizarre work for the movie rather than against it. In other words, this movie was for me absolutely watchable and enjoyable despite the fact that Soderberg is constantly testing the patience of the viewer. It has a John Waters quality in that regard. Soderberg achieved the same thing with the unconventional "The Limey", although "The Limey" is nowhere near as strange as "Schizopolis".

Besides all the laughs and strange stuff that left my mouth hanging open, I really enjoyed the way that this movie just barely tells a story. There _is_ a story buried in all the strange sequences (I won't even bother trying to describe these sequences), but it's just that: buried. The story is only revealed through glimpses, just enough to keep you watching.

As I see more and more of his movies, I become more and more of a Soderberg fan. I really liked "Sex, Lies, and Videotape", but did not really keep up with Soderberg after that. I've been going back and catching up and having a blast. I was especially impressed with his acting ability in this movie. (I saw an interview with Soderberg in which he says that he starred in this movie because he could not find anybody else to do some of the strange things he does.) Be sure and check out "Schizopolis".

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Pure Genius
Review: This movie is not for the masses, but the mensas. Most people may not "get" this movie. Some of it you are probably not meant to get as the movie is peppered with distractions for humor or effect. Those who don't get it probably didn't watch it to the end. There is so much disconnected information from the beginning that it can be difficult sit still watching this flick for the first few minutes, let it unfold. My take is that there is a deafening commentary on communication on all levels in our modern society, from what we say, to what we hear. As other reviews state here and on imdb.com this is not a one-time watcher, rewind it and watch it again. Much of this commentary become crystal clear the second time around.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Very Weird. has some cool scenes.
Review: This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.

Schizopolis, directed by Steven Soderbergh, is probably one of the most unusual films I have ever seen but does not even come clost to the weirdness of David Lynch's Eraserhead.

The film is about Fletcher Munson, the speechwriter (played by Soderbergh) for new-age scientology-esque guru. He discovers that he has a doppelganger Dr. Korchek, (also played by soderbergh) who is a dentist and loves listening to "muzak." He later discovers that his wife is having an affair with him.

The film has breaks in it which are similar to the ones in some of Paul Verhoven's films, (notably Robocop and Starship Troopers.) There are also scenes where different characters converse in unusual manner. Munson and his wife talk to each other in what was dubbed 'generic speak.' They talk to each other as if they are narrating what is happening. Another charachter, a pest exterminator talks to women by using random words together in phrases that almost seems like a code.

The film has some very nice cinematograpgy including a scene filmed at 2 frames per second and another in time-lapse photography. The acting is not very good but acceptable.

The special features on the DVD are a theatrical trailer, what looks like a deleted scene, and two audio comentaries. One with Steven Soderbergh interviewing himself, the other with producer John Hardy, actor and casting director David Jensen, production sound mixer Paul Ledford, and actor Michael Malone.

This film would probably be appreciated most by diehard Soderbergh fans.


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