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Party Monster

Party Monster

List Price: $14.98
Your Price: $13.48
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Seth Green makes a great queen
Review: I read "Disco Bloodbath" recently (upon which the movie is based) and am duly impressed with how Seth Green captured the author James St. James's voice as a 1980s club kid who often dresses in drag when donning his over-the-top outfits. Especially impressive is the scene where he dances to Stacey Q's 1987 hit "I Need You." He rocks!

Green's acting notwithstanding, the film captures the club kid movement very well, particularly the rise and fall of the overly ambitious Michael Alig (Macauley Culkin), a fresh-faced kid new to New York who begs James to teach him how to be faaaabulous!!! Alig soon believes his power a little too well, ending in tragedy for one of the other club kids towards whom he has a love-hate agression.

The fact that this is a true story (in fact the full title is 'Party Monster - the Shockumentary') makes it all the more compelling and, well, scary. Rent it and see for yourself.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Party Monster
Review: I realy enjoyed the move!! Macauley Culkin did an exlent job!! I recomend this move as a collectors item. One of many great moves that macaulay has made so far !!!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The Party Ends Before It Really Gets Started
Review: The real-life story behind PARTY MONSTER the appeal of a three-car pile up on the highway of life: distasteful, grotesque, and you can't quite manage to look away. Michael Alig hit 1980s New York from nowhere and promptly managed to parlay himself into the party promoter to end all party promoters, earning big bucks for over-the-top "event" concepts that drew New York youth by the thousands. But Alig also developed a drug habit, a nasty arrogance, and a sociopathic disposition, and his story ends with the sort of grotesque murder you might find on the front page of a super market tabloid.

In other hands, PARTY MONSTER might have been a fascinating film, a commentary on the too-much-too-soon syndrome by way of the 1980s ultra-plastic "Me" generation. But while directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato start well, they immediately run into a major problem: for all the excitement he may have generated on the New York 1980s club scene, Michael Alig was a deliberately abrasive person--and ultimately PARTY MONSTER manages to contain all the abrasion without enough of the excitement.

The cast is generally quite good, with Marilyn Manson, Diana Scarwid, Dylan McDermott, and a host of others scoring memorable turns; Seth Green is also truly remarkable as "Club Kid" James St. James (on whose book the film is based.) But ultimately it is with Macaulay Culkin, former child superstar of HOME ALONE, with which the film sinks or swims. Culkin does indeed look the part of Alig, and heaven knows he nails Alig's grating quality--but the script and directors let him down: they never manage to provide him with an opportunity to show the excitement that Alig was said to generate, and consequently his performance feels singularly one note.

It's all very well to say what every one's intentions were, but ultimately what counts is what shows on the screen. And while it has moments of interest, when all is said and done the party's over before it really starts. The DVD includes several bonuses, including several interviews with Alig himself, and presents the film in your choice of widescreen or pan-and-scan.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The best bad movie since The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Review: A friend of mine, after watching this movie, commented that this would be a great movie to receive the Rocky Horror treatment--meaning that the possibilities for call-back lines, character costumes, throwing things at the screen, and other rituals, are endless. This movie can and should achieve a cult following, because that is the only way it can be appreciated. You really have to have a certain sense of humor and frame of mind in order to like Party Monster. It doesn't always make sense or have a definite plot. The characters often break out of the story and start talking to the camera about the movie itself, and the parts that are supposed to be emotional often come across as contrived. These things may turn off a lot of viewers but make it more endearing to others.

Seth Green, as the club kid James St. James, gives what is definitely the best performance of his career. I honestly wish he could have won an Oscar for this. He has all the best lines in the movie and somehow manages to be the sane one in the picture. Macuhlay (obviously not spelled right) Culkin seems to be a terrible actor unless you keep in mind that the real Michael Alig was, in fact, monotone and nasal. Marilyn Manson gives a showstopping cameo as the hilarious drag queen Christina Superstar. If nothing else, the novelty of seeing these three parade in over-the-top club outfits is entertaining in itself.

So don't expect much while watching Party Monster for the first time, and I guarantee that it will only get better the more you watch it. Unless, of course, campy schlock movies don't appeal to you.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Explosion of color and sound
Review: This movie is colorful in every way. The cinematography is lusious, the costumes are extravagant, the music is what color would sound like (the soundtrack is a great buy, i've burned it for all my friends, and haven't had anything but praises). Maculay, Seth, Marilyn, and Chloe make this movie something like a moment of experience in the club scene a la NY 1980s. I had a lot of fun with the DVD because there is an interview with the real Michael Alig, and he's just so much fun. It is a great piece.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Everything Bad Is Just Bad.
Review: The film feels under-populated and low-budget. I gave it 2 stars because I enjoyed Seth Green's portrayal of James St. James & also because I laughed a couple of times at Marilyn Manson as Christina. Besides that, this is amateur night at the movies. As enthralled as I was with this story, even its source material leaves alot to be desired. St. James' "Disco Bloodbath" hardly feels like the last word on such a milestone event in NYC night life history. The book was pretty bad, to put it bluntly. St James, I hope that trust fund is still pumping out funds.

Nobody in this film really feels like their inhabiting their roles. Even Green, who is admittedly amusing in several scenes, I didn't necessarily buy as a gay club kid. And speaking of which, Culkin is not exactly setting the world on fire as an adult performer. At least Green commands some self confidence. But Culkin still feels unsure of himself. Manson seems to inhabit his role better than Culkin. Culkin just comes across like he's playing dress-up at home. Not recommended and the 2 stars is extremely generous.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Lame Party
Review: I really had high hopes for this movie, but I was left sorely disappointed. The story of Michael Alig and the Club Kid movement is interesting enough, but Macaulay Culkin (and most of the cast) gave poor deliveries in their roles. In my opinion, Culkin's acting completely lacked emotion. Had there not been an interview with the REAL Alig on the DVD, I might've been a little more lenient with my judgement, and assumed that he really didn't have much emotional depth in real life. (which is feasible considering the harsh nature of Angel Melendez's murder) But there was, so I wasn't. As anyone can plainly see, Alig was much more flamboyant than shown by Culkin. But enough picking on Macaulay, it wasn't entirely his fault. Most of the shots appeared to be with a handheld camera, giving it a neat little indie look, but after the first 30 minutes or so, it gets old, fast. And the way the story was told, going from James St. James doing his interview to Alig describing to James the events of Angel's murder, and then back to James St. James' interview later on, it seemed to be more convoluted than it needed to be. I will point out a few things that I did enjoy, however. The soundtrack, though not really synonymous with the time period, was solid and created a decent atmosphere during the film's more lively party scenes. The montages were also suprisingly well filmed, considering the aforementioned hand-held technique. The costumes, I must say, were excellent. They were very flashy and flamboyant, and actually constructed from whatever was lying around, just like the real club kids. Marilyn Manson's portrayal of Christina was also very funny, though not really a stretch from Manson's normal behavior, it provided some comic relief in what was, I'm sorry to say, a trifle of a movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wow
Review: What a great movie! I've been very interested in this story since I read a magazine article about it in the summer of 2003. I'm too young to remember when it all really happened (I was born in 86.) I agree with most people, my favorite parts were any ones that had Seth Green in them. He's a fantastic actor and I totally believed him in his role, but I have to say I loved Macaulay Culkin as Michael Alig also. I thought they had good chemistry on screen, I believed they could friends.

Good costumes, and great music, although admittedly not of the right era. I would suggest seeing this movie before reading the book so you can see it at least one time without saying "Oh where's Jennytalia? and Mavis? Where did Freeze come from?"
I also loved the inclusion of some real club kids, like my favorite and yours, Richie Rich. Look for him in the movie, he's the cute blonde on roller skates when they're on the talk show.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Could have been worse -- weird at best
Review: It's as if the Rocky Horror Picture Show vomitted into the 80s and tripped over drugs and Macaulay Culkin. Culkin didn not seem like the best pick to me for the lead role. I think his younger bother would have been a better lead or just someone else altogether. Seth Green did well, and while I'm not a huge fan of Marylin Manson, he played a great Christina.

This movie is weird at best if you're into that sort of thing, but not same finesse at Rocky Horror.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: One Major problem with this movie.
Review: THE MUSIC ....is absolutely wrong. Allthogh I am a fan of the latest trend in dance music , 80's throwbacks, and even Electroclash. It would be nice if the music matched the time that the story took place. There is no hint of real late 80's Early 90's club music. I think it makes the story a little unrealistic, and if you didnt know it was based on a true story, you would never guess. The club scene is nothing like how it was then, and it seems like the movie is trying to make it seem like New York night life is still as amazing as it was when Micheal Alig ruled the party scene. You could tell the actors struggled with the characters at the start , but became more convincing as it went on. Its worth watching if you don't know the story, but not as great as I hoped.


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