Last Days
Directed by Gus Van Sant
By Ashley Carter

It's hard not to be ambivalent about Last Days, a film that morbidly teeters on the line of fact and fiction. As the final instalment in Van Sant's “news item” trilogy (preceded by Elephant and Gerry), Last Days speculates on the final hours of Kurt Cobain's life. Or, rather, the life of “a brilliant, but troubled, musician named Blake.”

In this “loosely based” character study, Blake (Michael Pitt) stumbles through the woods in a heroin stupor while wearing Cobain's most iconic outfits, avoids calls from his band-mates, gets counselled by his friends (surprise, it's Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon), and - stop me if you've heard this one - shoots himself in the face in his greenhouse. The aftermath even matches, detail-for-detail, the infamous police photos from April '94.

Barring some awkward, cloying takes on Nirvana lore, Last Days is surprisingly well-handled. Drug use is only ever implied and the winning gunshot is neither seen nor heard. The pace is slow and hypnotic. Even when you're made to watch Blake pour himself some Cocoa Krispies or watch an entire Boyz II Men video (he nods off to “On Bended Knee,” for reals), it's somehow never boring and always with the purpose of showcasing despair. Michael Pitt, as Blake, not only pulls off the blond-haired, tortured, pretty boy look, but is strangely impressive in the role, even though he barely utters a single organised sentence. It's his silence that makes it all the more climactic when he finally busts into song.

While it may not have been necessary to heap this onto the Nirvana pile, it's only a matter of time before a slimy biopic comes out that embraces the clichés Last Days was careful enough to avoid. If Van Sant is helping beat a dead horse, at least he's doing it with a slightly more well-intentioned golf club. (Alliance Atlantis)

Me and You and Everyone We Know - Dir. by Miranda July
Noted video artist Miranda July makes the jump to features with this misfit rom-com, and the push-pull between the two aesthetic milieus makes it a pretty satisfying mash-up. July casts herself to type as a struggling video artist who can't get a gallery and works as a driver for senior citizens; she seems to have found her mate in baffled shoe salesman John Hawkes, but can't seem to get his attention. ...Read More
2046 - Dir. by Wong Kar-Wai
Broken Flowers - Dir. by Jim Jarmusch
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Dir. by Tim Burton
Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo - Dir. by Mike Bigelow
Four Brothers - Dir. by John Singleton
Happy Endings - Dir. by Don Roos
Hustle & Flow - Dir. by Craig Brewer
Lipstick and Dynamite, Piss and Vinegar: The First Ladies of Wrestling - Dir. by Ruth Leitman
Lost Embrace - Dir. by Daniel Burman
Must Love Dogs - Dir. by Gary David Goldberg
My Date with Drew - Dir. by Brian Herzlinger, Brett Winn and Jon Gunn
Rize - Dir. by David LaChapelle
Show Me - Dir. by Cassandra Nicolaou
Sky High - Dir. by Mike Mitchell
Stealth - Dir. by Rob Cohen
The Aristocrats - Dir. by Paul Provenza
The Beautiful Country - Dir. by Hans Petter Moland
The Cave - Dir. by Bruce Hunt
The Dukes of Hazzard - Dir. by Jay Chandrasekhar
The Great Raid - Dir. by John Dahl
The Last Mogul: The Life and Times of Lew Wasserman - Dir. by Barry Avrich
The Skeleton Key - Dir. by Iain Softley
The Syrian Bride - Dir. by Eran Riklis
Valiant - Dir. by Gary Chapman
Mary J. Blige - Stronger with Each Tear
Mary, we love the fact that you're happy ― no more drama ― and that your personal issues seem to be a thing of the past. Trouble is, your pain was what fuelled your passion. It's the reason why What's the 411 was a classic, and why subsequent albums were usually measured by whethe... Full Review
Toronto Punk Finds A Voice
If you've ever wondered why Toronto's first wave punk scene lacks the oral histories, band biographies, and memoirs pouring out of similar scenes, Treat Me Like Dirt is for you — as evidenced by a first printing selling out a week before its release. "I didn't know that any of this had happened the way I knew that New York and London had these great punk movements," says author Liz Worth.... Read More
The Hurt Locker Dir. by Kathryn Bigelow
Taking a break at about the halfway mark of director Kathryn Bigelow's Iraq war drama, The Hurt Locker, I realized my jaw was sore. I had been unconsciously clenching it from the first moment of The Hurt Locker, which chronicles a three-man team of explosives ordinance disposal (bomb s... Full Review
Social Networking
• Be our friend on MySpace
• Be our fan on Facebook
• Tweet us on twitter
Viewing the August 2005 Issue: • Contents Page • News • Click Hear • Articles --> On the Cover  •  Front Five  •  Points  •  Comics  •  Questionnaire  •  Research  •  Timeline  •  Videogames • Music Reviews --> Recently Reviewed  •  Aggressive Tendencies  •  Beats & Rhymes  •  Destination Out  •  Frequencies  •  Groove  •  Pop Rocks  •  Wood, Wires & Whiskey  •  Concert Reviews • Motion Reviews --> Recently Reviewed  •  Dvd Reviews  •  Film Reviews  •  Music DVD Reviews  •  Videogame Reviews • Music School --> Label Life  •  Meet & Greet  •  Need to Know  •  What I Play • Contests • Contact --> About Us  • Advertising  • Distribution  • Getting Reviewed  • Getting Published  • Letters To The Editor  • Partnerships  • Subscriptions • Exclaim! Radio --> Aggressive Tendencies Radio  • Beats & Rhymes Radio  • Frequencies Radio  • Destination Out Radio  • Groove Radio  • No Future Radio  • Pop Rocks Radio  • Wood, Wires & Whiskey Radio • Exclaim! TV • Home & Latest Issue • Browse Issues