Rating: 
Summary: My Thoughts
Review: Well, while it's fresh on my mind (I just got done watching it) I just think it's definetly a masterpiece. People have said that it's almost pornographic, or that many scenes are really explicit and are downright crude...I agree with the fact that they are indeed crude, but they just show that vivid realism that we dare not think of. I mean, after I got done watching this movie, I almost felt like "I" had done something wrong, and if that's not true genious in the cinema, then what is? "Bully" shows that reality that's out there sometimes, as hard as it may be, in certain situations. These kids acted upon something that we all hope we never have to deal with. So, in conclusion, I think that it's definetly gritty, crude, and blunt...but thats reality, and "editing out the bad parts" doesn't help to change it. This film is for a person that can understand it, and not judge it for it's explicit content.
Rating:
Summary: amazing
Review: if ur looking to see another (( kids)) then this movie really isnt what your lookin for. it has some simalarites to kids but not that many, anyway this film was a masterpiece. the acting was excellent, cast, story, meaning. its pretty graphic but its meaningful and i loved the story. i give this 5 stars and its well worth the money!
Rating:
Summary: Disturbing, compelling, yet better than 'Kids'
Review: I say it's better than Larry Clarks other notorious work, Kids, as this has a story to tell. Bully is not an excuse for nude teenagers getting stoned, as was the impression I got from Kids. Without giving away the spoiler, its about teens in a suburban enclave in South Florida who take revenge on a bully. The settting of a rapidly developing community should not be missed, as wasn't this the setting for Columbine also.....a suburban enclave without established family and social networks, overloaded with newcomers from northern cities. Lisa's mother even laments that families looked out for each other more in the Bronx, than in the so-called utopia of South Florida. As other reviewers have also stated, I didn't realize this was a true story until after seeing it. Bully is not a feel-good movie. It will disturb you, but maybe we adults need to be disturbed by this element of aimless, directionless teenagers that form a real segment of our society. What stuck me were the parents. No, they are not the idiots you'd expect on Jenny Jones and the talk show circuit. They were the type of parents to sit down at a family dinner with their kids and get involved in their business. Yet they were weak parents, parents who allowed themselves to be banished from their children's bedrooms while the kids were getting stoned and having unprotected sex.
Rating:
Summary: Ian and Roeper
Review: This movie is poignantly emphatic. The actors and actresses are phenomenal in their roles; they depict the realistic drama that occurred in Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood, Florida in the early 1990s. Clark's direction, as well as the dedicated performances by the cast members, make this movie truly one of the best of 2001.
Rating: 
Summary: And it's based on a true story!
Review: If Larry Clark's film "Kids" was too shocking for you, "Bully" won't upset you that much but still packs a mean punch. Disaffected teens -- that seems to be what Clark prefers to make films about. And boy oh boy, do these Florida kids live in a world I can't even imagine being a part of! For the most part, these characters (again, from true events) are upper-middle-class teens whose solution to dealing with a bully within their loosely-knit peer group is to [***] him. Like other Clark films, the teens in this movie are very [***} active, foul-mouthed, and frequently use [***]. In other words, they are like so many American kids we are too frightened to admit our parents and society have produced. So don't blame Clark if you are uncomfortable with the way these teens are portrayed. The real notable performances in this film are from Rachel Miner, Brad Renfro (in a wonderfully understated and subdued performance as the primary victim of bullying by Bobby, his "best friend"), and the wonderful Nick Stahl. If you saw "In The Bedroom", you saw Stahl in a great performance as a gentle, loving, romantic, and lovable lead. In "Bully", Stahl is the exact opposite.... Hard to believe it is the same actor. All the young actors in this film are great. Credit Clark with bringing out what he needed from them. But I've found that this movie isn't nearly as disturbing or graphic as the hype and press would have you believe. It's still worth watching, mind you, but its shock value has been somewhat overexaggerated.
Rating: 
Summary: Hugely disappointing...sex scenes were not worth the money
Review: I don't know why you may be thinking of buying this film....but for me, the decision was simple. Watching teenagers have sex. That being said...this film fails miserably at that level. Sure, there are numerous nude scenes by the two young actresses, but the sex was tame. This film is a good documentary of the younger generation in America today. It is well acted and directed and the story is compelling...for that I gave it two stars. However, as an erotic story of young love, it gets zero stars. Not once would your pants rise or would your wife or girlfriend, "get damp" in her shorts. The violent murder of the star of the film towards the end was too violent and shockingly gruesome. I would much rather have seen more graphic sex and or additional sexually violent scenes. That was not the case in this film. So, for those of you who we know who you are, that wanted to peek behind the bedroom doors of a teenager's sex life, save your money. The film reviews on Amazon lead me to buy this film...but those that wrote them must have seen a different movie than I did. Or they are "Mormon's" and have been living in a closet for the past 10 years. As a serious film...it deserves some recognition for tackling some tough subject matter...as a sexually stimulating voyer flick...it stinks.
Rating:
Summary: Bully
Review: Bully is one of the finest films I've ever seen. Even better than Kids, this gritty dark tale of twisted teens growing up in the modern world is a must see. Although too dark for some, this movie is exceptional.
Rating:
Summary: CLARK MAKES A KILLING WITH GRITTY MACABRE SATIRE...
Review: Larry Clark, a longtime photographer, turned his propensity toward keen images and his ability for stirring up controversy into a stunning, visceral "wake-up call" to America with 1995's "Kids"---a film that also made Indie It material of its high school dropout young scribe(then 19-year old Harmony Korine, who would go on to direct the equally satisfying experimental films "Gummo" & "Julien Donkey Boy"). After the surprise success of the improvisational masterwork "Kids", Clark made "Another Day In Paradise", a film about a Faustian father/son relationship between a Mephistophelean conman (James Woods) and a young hustler (Vincent Kartheiser).
While "Kids"' follow-up was both well-made and very well cast, it narrowly escaped the sophomore slump and lacked much of its predecessor's imagination and will to admonish. Also absent was the fledgling cast of charming real-life ne'er-do-wells that so entertained us the first time around. Why can't Casper (R.I.P. Justin Pierce) be in this Burroughs [type] flick? I remember a friend asking me upon viewing 'Paradise'. Alas, I did not have an answer.
Then just as KIDS enthusiasts were beginning to think that they would have to forever rely on "Gummo" and Clark's own books of avant garde realist photography, along came "Bully". The film, widely overlooked during its limited release in theaters, was apparently a return to theme for Clark which was enough of a reason for anti-Another Day in Paradise folks to give Clark another taste. And I bet they were glad that they did since the 1999 film is not only a return to theme but a rare return to form for this gifted filmmaker.
Marty is a Florida teenager whose lifelong companion is a self-loathing, faux-narcissist/closet case homosexual who is fond of beating Marty inexorably and causing him great abashment in the presence of young ladies. As if this abuse isn't enough, Marty must also deal with the fact that he is a perpetual punching bag with negligent parents, a catatonic little brother and a homicidal ugly duckling girlfriend with a bun in the oven. Is the baby his or does it belong to his "best friend" (Nick Stahl) ???
Just when things seem like they can get no worse for poor Marty (who is forced by his friend to dance at a gay club on teen night, only to receive ridicule for it mere moments later)
he finds out the news of the pregnancy and finds himself at the end of his emotional tether. His girlfriend, who he doesn't even seem to like all that much, insists that she loves him ("Shut up," he says like some outlaw in a New Wave movie) and begs him to consider drastic measures to dispose of their conundrum. Something must be done about Marty's bro who is
"the source of everyone's problems". In this way, she acts as a catalyst for the murderous turn of events that eventually unravel.
What follows is Clark's unique, fresh, stylistic take on the true story of six teenagers' night of promiscuous sex, excessive drug use and premeditated murder. The way in which he handles the story is what gives "Bully" its magic touch and sets it apart from every other teen cautionary tale. Clark's American teen movie is an iconoclastic, voyeuristic, some would say 'non-judgemental' exploration of the young, bored & uninhibited. The fresh cast, particularly "Kids" alumna Leo Fitzpatrick as The Hitman & the remarkable Michael Pitt as the charmingly clueless stoner/player, is just one of this film's many attractions.
Careful treatment of songs, location and point of view make this an eerily atmospheric experience, like "The Curse of Frankenstein" or "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" in the sense that it creates a world perturbingly familiar yet altogether visually jarring. The Mortal Kombat on acid sequence in tandem with the courtroom finale are reason enough to run out and buy this. And try not to kill anybody on the way to the video store, burnout!! [For more movie and/or music reviews like this, check out my author's page at: ....getunderground......also visit: ...lex_sativa... Also Recommended:
Bergman's "Hour of the Wolf"
"The Doom Generation" An Irresponsible Movie By Gregg Araki
"Breathless" by Jean-Luc Godard
"Sid & Nancy" Directed by Alex Cox
"River's Edge"
"Mulholland Drive" by David Lynch
"Fritz Lang's M"
"Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2"
Rating: 
Summary: Just like KIDS
Review: If you like kids, youll like this movie
Rating:
Summary: dementia in paradise
Review: For viewers of "Kids," there was a faint escape rationalization that the characters were throwaway teens equally at home in shooting galleries and on the streets, not "normal" adolescents. In "Bully," that safety net is gone. Here we are given suburban kids, but there is no illusion that family values are just beneath the surface, struggling to break through. If anything, the characters in "Bully" are more detached, and we are not in for any answers as to why. In the central players, it is difficult to find much attractive to latch on to. The primary force at work among these characters is bottomless self-esteem. As a viewer from an older generation, the disregard for even self-preservation is a disturbing constant theme. Drugs are a ready escape (OK, I get that part!), and sex is like a Swiss army knife, a good tool for any occasion. Rape fans will find plenty, and there's no doubt that rape is about power. There are several elements that fail to create a cohesive tale. Bobby (Nick Stahl), the bully, is loathesome enough, but not all that menacing physically. There is, in his character, a subtheme of homosexuality, that is noticeable but not examined with any depth. His main victim, Marty (Brad Renfro), is incapable of standing up to him, and thus endures constant humiliation. This leads Lisa (Rachel Miner), Marty's new Swiss army knife, to band together a group of equally misanthropic kids to get rid of Bobby. They enlist a street-wise "mafia" kid, who keeps telling them that they're in really serious territory, but who is stupid enough to go along with them. Bobby is lured to the beach with a promise of sex from Ally (Bijou Phillips), whom he has already raped and whose body does not seem all that tough for someone with a pulse to acquire. The rest of the movie is the result of a major plot twist: kids whose moral equivalent is deep space are suddenly haunted by pangs of remorse and guilt. A few sharp parents pick up on this new evidence of their children's pointless existence. This, added to Lisa's glib blabbering, leads to keen detective work and the wages of sin. Depending on your point of view, this unrated version is "grittier" than the R version. By that I mean it has more nudity and violence and sometimes graphically violent nudity or graphically nude violence. Altogether, if you're feeling too hopeful for humanity, this is at least shorter than "The Killing Fiekds" and will accomplish the same thing.
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