May

Rating:
Summary: Romantic Comedy-Horror Movie
Review: comedy & horror movie

Rating:
Summary: Just friends....
Review: Angelina Bettis stars in this predictable, but creepy and well-made gothic thriller about a very shy and disturbed young woman with a lazy eye. When she's little, she has to wear an eye patch, and no-one wants to be her friend, so her mom gives her a rather disturbing-looking dolly in a glass case and tells her that if you can't find a friend, the next best thing is to make one! Hmmm, I wonder what's going to happen when she takes up sewing and a job at the veterinary clinic. As if that's not enough to telegraph the ending, the first shot in the film is one from the final scene. I guess they figured the audience might get bored if they didn't open with something flashy, I don't know. Non-linear opening shots are kind of cool, when we flash back and towards the end find out the story around the shot, but it would have been more effective left out.

Jeremy Sisto (who fans of Six Feet Under will know can be creepy himself) plays an artist who worships Dario Argento (really!) only to find himself involuntarily the middle of a real life Argento film. Anna Farris (from the Scary Movie series) plays her flaky, promiscuous co-worker, who I'm pretty sure is a lesbian (yes, I'm being sarcastic, she's all over May like a cheap suit about 3 seconds after meeting her).

May tells her doll, who she still has and keeps in a glass case, all about her new potential friends... but slowly begins to become unhinged when things don't work out the way she wanted... and her doll gives her bad advice.

Some critics complained that the movie tries to 'have it both ways' and be funny and scary, but I thought it found an OK balance, there's plenty of pitch-black humor that doesn't seem out of place. Again, nearly any horror fan will guess where the movie is going, but it's still fairly original, well-made and so twisted for a fairly mainstream release movie that it's still entertaining and worth at least a rental. Great acting from Angela Bettis. I'm pretty hard to gross out, but I'm squeamish about eyes, and I had to cover mine during at least two scenes. NOTE: Cat lovers should also skip the scene titled 'Cat Lover' #15 on the DVD.

Includes nods to Maniac, Night of the Living Dead, Pieces, Opera, and most strongly, Polanski's Repulsion, so that's always cool. I also can't help but admire the filmmakers who somehow managed to get May financed and made-- no WAY could this have been an easy sell, no matter how they pitched it.

The DVD includes two commentary tracks, both of them have oddball commentators such as 'Craft Services Guy'. The commentary is a little too self-consciously wacky in parts, but has some interesting trivia. The easter egg can be found by clicking on the nearly invisible Lion's Gate logo on the main menu--there's a trailer for May, as well as others. If you want to preserve some sort of surprise, don't watch the May trailer till after the movie.

Just friends...thats all May ever wanted....

Rating:
Summary: Very Intense
Review: I can totally relate to what May was going through in this film. She was forced to wear a patch for her lazy eye and was always an outcast because of her awkward personality. I was an outcast at my school and had to wear a neck brace. This movie is also a take off of Welcome to the Dollhouse which was also a great film. This movie turned that more into a horror film. This is a must see movie, but is most likely not to be that much of a blockbuster success because of all these chick flick movies out on video. All i can say is see this great film!!!

Rating:
Summary: Simply A-MAY-ZING! A cult classic in the making...
Review: Whoa! I'm speechless! May is one weird, fun, funny, sad, and disturbing film. It's just so many things. It's a strangely beautiful character study about a lonely girl who just wants a friend. I couldn't help but feel for her. She's weird and shy, but in a cute, sweet way. I was intrigued by her, and wanted her to find happiness. No matter how pathetic her character would become, I just couldn't stop caring. I wanted to reach out to her, and be her friend. Nobody deserves to be so lonely. All she needed was a friend. But things just don't exactly work out that way. Once she began to crack and take the plunge into madness, it was understandable how it could happen. That doesn't mean that the events that unfolded weren't shocking, because they definitely were. But we see why our heroine does what she does. We can't help but want things to be different though, and for her to go down a different path, but when she doesn't, we come along for the ride anyway, following her wherever she takes us.

Angela Bettis gives an amazing performance as May. So far this is the best female performance of the year, and when the end of the year comes, if it's still not THE best, it will be one of THE best. She makes us care about her character from the beginning, and we never really stop, even when she goes psychotic. Bettis shows so many emotions, and makes us feel all kinds of things. She was very natural, and sometimes her body language spoke to us more than her words. We just knew what she was feeling, and could feel her cracking more and more as the movie went on. She was sweet, sad, scary, pathetic, and yet strangely attractive. It's too bad the Academy are such prudes, because this girl is so deserving of an Oscar nomination that it's not even funny. Unfortunately, it's obvious her performance will be overlooked by them. May just isn't "Oscar material." Plus, the movie didn't make enough money and isn't well known enough for them to even consider honoring anything to do with "May." But even if they don't honor it, the fans will always remember it. I've seen Bettis in other movies, but after seeing this, I will always remember her as May... I've always been a fan of the underrated Anna Faris. She's a great comedic actress. I found her to be a lot of fun as Polly. She's funny and sexy. This is sure to be one of my favorite supporting performances of the year. Faris was a welcome addition to this twisted little film.

Writer/Director Lucky McKee proves to be a great new talent. It's hard to believe this is his first feature film. Very impressive if you ask me. I'm looking forward to whatever he does next. If it's anything as wonderful as "May," then it should be great... Also deserving of a mention is composer Jaye Barnes-Luckett. She does a terrific job here, always providing the right music at the right moment. If she keeps this up, she'll have a bright future ahead of her.

I'm still blown away by this film. There's so many praises I have for it, that I doubt I could remember to mention them all. It's original, well acted, well written, well directed, etc... It's just twistedly wonderful. It's too bad it wasn't given a better release in theaters, but it's not exactly a mainstream movie either. It still deserved better than what it got. At least I can find comfort in knowing that it's sure to become a cult classic. Word of mouth will help it a lot. It's definitely not for everyone though. It's weird, morbid, quirky, wicked, and gutsy. It doesn't shy away from much. In fact, it has one of the best and most realistic slit throats I've ever witnessed on screen. But don't let that scare you, it's definitely worth a look for any horror fan, or any film fan in general. I'm proud to have this haunting film as a part of my collection. It's simply A-MAY-ZING!

Grade: 9/10 (A-)

Rating:
Summary: This film made me want to gouge my eyes out...
Review: First of all, that is NOT Angela Bettis on the cover of the DVD. I guess the artistic director thought that airbrushing a picture of the main character to make her look "gothic" to appeal more directly to disaffected teens. Don't be fooled, goth kids!!! You can find better horror movies to fawn over, I promise!!!

Despite having the indie cred of having a cameo role by James Duval, lots of heavily smoking good looking twenty something characters, and a main character who dresses in patchwork clothing that pathetically cry "look at me, I shop in trendy thrift stores", this movie just doesn't achieve the coolness it so desperately wants. Awkward, stilted dialogue, an embarassingly lame and immature plot, and a performance from Angela Bettis that is exactly the same as her turn as Carrie in the recent tv movie all contribute to a film that should have never seen the light of day in theatres. With lots of editing, it could have been a fun, crazy slasher flick, but as it stands, it's a heavy handed badly drawn allegory with L.A. hipster chic. Stay away if you are over twelve and know a good movie when you see one.

On a positive note, however, I enjoyed the Breeders soundtrack. It was inappropriate and unnecessary, but oh well.

Rating:
Summary: Buy This Movie Immediately
Review: This movie is simply amazing. I cannot remember the last time a movie had such an effect on me. It is disturbing, haunting and heartbreaking. Plenty of gore too. I cannot say enough good things about May. Buy it right now. I guarantee you won't be disappointed. Buy it.....now.

Rating:
Summary: WOW!!
Review: this film is destined to be a classic and will definately become one of the most memorable cult films every made. ENJOY IT!!

Rating:
Summary: Good production values can't save bad movie...
Review: I just saw "May" last night and was thoroughly disappointed. If you want to see a great story about an outsider and their struggles trying to fit in, go see "Welcome to the Dollhouse" or "Buffalo 66". If you're looking for the sorriest excuse a protagonist has had to become a mass murderer, this one's for you! This type of film is proof that the better horror films are currently being made outside the U.S. It'd be nice to tell me something about a character's background at some point in a film. However, establishing sympathy for someone is not always necessary via flashbacks to trite little traumatic events in an unhappy childhood. I don't need a crash course in pop psychology rammed down my throat everytime something bad happens to someone in a movie. Also, for some bizarre reason, the writer thought that someone who thinks of herself as an outcast would have a really active social calendar. Did the meaning of the word outcast change recently? These are just a few of the flaws I found with this production. Normally, I enjoy the type of character study "May" attempts. In this case, it works against the rest of the movie as it degenerates into a campy slasher flick. I have no problem with campiness. Camp is fine. Camp is good if that's what you've been doing all along. But it wasn't and it's not.

Rating:
Summary: Forget what you've heard, it doesn't do this film justice
Review: The "modern day Frankenstein" tag that this film has been saddled with is not only wholly inaccurate, it is also a major disservice. Lucky McKee's May is a film unlike any other, with a breath and life that transcends just about any one-line summary. Angela Bettis plays her May closer to the way Anthony Perkins summoned Norman Bates... you hurt for them. You want them to not reach the ultimate conclusion you know is going to happen. You wish that the world around them would just understand them, reach out and hold them. Let's not be confused though, when McKee turns on the horror motor, the movie still pumps with energy and resonance... you just wish that things could've maybe gone another way. Enough cannot be said about Bettis' performance in this movie. Simply amazing. She brings a pain and emotion to a role that could've easily turned out like the dreadful Mila Kunis vehicle American Pscyho II. Not that McKee would've let that happen... no, this director has more skill and artistry in his little finger than most "mainstream" blockbuster directors have in their careers. He and Bettis both are ones to watch for years to come. I had to drive 45 minutes, and got lost twice on the way trying to see this film in theaters. Afterwards, I felt like I had gotten a bargain. May is easily a personal favorite... do yourself a favor, if you can stomach some pretty graphic violence, and pick this one up... and another copy for a friend. Anybody who likes Burton, horror, or has ever felt lonely and rejected will dig it.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: with not much marketing and a crappy poster (and not that great a title) May failed at the box office. But I saw it yesterday and loved it. Very strange!And man the acting was unbelieveable! Go see this film!!