Rating: 
Summary: Recommended Viewing
Review: I'm mainly a sci-fi and action fan, but this "real life" drama was too good to stop watching when I rented it at random. The characters were entertaining, funny, and sad. It's a rare movie I can watch and enjoy more than once. If you like movies like "Man in the Moon," you'll love "Gas Food Lodging".
Rating:
Summary: I'm glad I was dragged into this "chick-flick".
Review: Normally, I have to be tied to a chair to watch this sort of movie. But my girlfriend at the time made me watch it and it really got to me. Unlike the sappy drivel you find Sandra Bullock or Julia Roberts starring in, this movie is very depressing (in a good way) and painfully realistic. There is no hunky guy to sweep the heroine off her feet at the end. These girls and their mother have a hard time throughout and the bleak landscape of New Mexico only adds to the sadness. Bergman would have a hard time making such a melancholy film. The best man AVAILABLE (at the end, you'll know why I emphasized that word) in the movie is a nerdy satellite TV installer. The others are deadbeats, drunks, lechers. When Shade finds a boyfriend from the other side of the tracks, you can't blame her since the boys and men from her part of town are such lowlifes. The language and emotions in this movie are VERY raw and no punches are pulled. A few scenes stand out from all the sadness. When Shade (Fairuza Balk) is with her new boyfriend, it seems so sweet and innocent. First love is usually the cruelest, but this time it's the one really good thing to happen. The mother's courtship by the satellite guy is also a break from the bleak scenery. Most of all, it's two scenes with Trudi (Ione Skye) that stand out. In one there is no dialogue, just the sound of a guitar being strummed. Trudi is waiting and longing for her boyfriend to come back for her. She is holding a fluorescent rock he gave her. Her face is lit by the afternoon sun as a train passes by in the background. This scene is a reflection of love and anticipation, since she is obviously thinking of him. However, it is also sad because you get the feeling he may never come back. The other scene takes place in a cave lined with fluorescent rocks. Trudi and her geologist boyfriend drive out to look for some sort of rare rock. In the cave the two grow closer and in an almost psychedelic sequence, Trudi bares her breasts in a way that "offers" them to her lover. He seems hesitant at first but then makes love to her. The scene is primeval, almost Adam and Eve-like, as though they are the first man and woman on Earth. It is also very erotic! Ione Skye never looked more beautiful and the weird bluish light reflected in her face and on her breasts from the cave wall is hauntingly beautiful and dreamlike. Afterward, she tells him a painful personal secret. It's amazing how many emotions are conveyed in such a short scene. So much of the movie reflects sorrow, regret, longing and anger that these scenes stand out all the more. Allison Anders is a true artist.
Rating: 
Summary: Watch both the widescreen and pan-and-scan versions.
Review: There is quite a bit of artistry here for such a low-budget film. Both the widescreen and pan-and-scan versions have their faults as well as their good points. The widescreen version shows much more of the brilliant cinematography. The dreary desert, the railroad station, even the trailer park really come alive here. On the other hand, during the famous sex scene in the acid-trip cavern, the picture is cropped right above Ione Skye's breasts, whereas in the pan-and-scan, there is a full view. This has led me to wonder if this is a "false" widescreen -i.e., the film was shot with standard, @16:9 cameras and cropped to make it look widescreen even if it never was, as Disney did with Peter Pan. It would be nice if standardized and accurate information about aspect ratio was printed clearly on all DVDs. By the way, the MOVIE is one of the best tearjerkers I've ever seen. The performances are perfect, as is the script. The picture is beautiful. Of course if I actually had to live in a desert trailer park, I don't think I'd be so impressed with the scenery.
Rating:
Summary: an all-time great movie about mothers and daughters
Review: This is one of the most emotionally true movies I have ever seen. I saw it as a teenager, with my parents, and the next time my mother and I had a fight, it ended when we realized how much we sounded like the characters in this movie and both just started laughing. Gas Food Lodging features the best performances I have ever seen by both Ione Skye (who was also great in Say Anything) and Fairuza Balk, who shows a much greater acting range here than you might suspect if you had only seen her in more recent movies like "The Craft" and "The Island of Dr. Moreau." Almost every single character in this movie is fully realized and well acted, and the story successfully negotiates a wide range of emotions, from the joy of falling in love to feelings of exclusion and loss. Although this story could have come out feeling sad or depressing, I don't think it does; rather, it's bittersweet and all the more memorable for facing up to difficult things.
Rating:
Summary: #1
Review: this movie is just brilliant. great actors (james brolin and fairuza balk, both fantastic), beautiful landscapes, heart-rending story...I watched it at least 10 times and I always cry. hay there's even j mascis from dinosaur (he also did a great job on the soundtrack) in a little role. buy it...best movie ever made.
Rating:
Summary: Great underrated film
Review: This movie tells a very realistic ,and moving story. I think nearly everyone will be able to relate to one of the characters or at the very least feel for them . Both F.Balk, and I.Skye put forth great performances .I recommend you buy this movie , you wont regret it
Rating:
Summary: a beautiful woman movie for everyone
Review: This one was released in France as part of a five-indie movie program and was certainly the best of the five. The story is really simple and moving, far away from the Hollywood stuff. People in this film are real people, with their joys, blues, hopes, mistakes. They just want to escape from their smalltown or cope with life. The soundtrack is great, with a few instrumental pieces by J Mascis, who also has a very very short cameo as an apathic traveller, out of the American dream, like all the characters. Excellent acting and wonderful landscapes, too. It's indie US cinema as its best, "easy-watching" for everybody with a soul.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful independent film that has a great story to tell.
Review: Very rarly do I get to see a film that effects me the way that this Gas Food and Lodging did. The film is a very down to earth story about a young girl and her one parent family. It tells of heart break and elation. A must see for anyone that loves good solid stories. END
Rating:
Summary: a definite sleeper... a great film
Review: What an awesome film. Rich in culture... who knew we Americans even had a culture? :-) A story of familial and romantic love in the middle of nowhere. If you liked "Dancer, Texas: Population 81," you'll love this film. If anyone knows where to get this on DVD, please let me know!
Rating:
Summary: a definite sleeper... a great film
Review: What an awesome film. Rich in culture... who knew we Americans even had a culture? :-) A story of familial and romantic love in the middle of nowhere. If you liked "Dancer, Texas: Population 81," you'll love this film. If anyone knows where to get this on DVD, please let me know!
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