The Chumscrubber

[elephant1978]

http://www.apple.com/trailers/picturehouse/the_chumscrubber.html

Ugh...more crap about the seemingly perfect suburbia with the dark, quirky secrets. Another disturbed kid. Another uncaring father. Another girl fascinated by the weirdo. Another movie trying waaaay too hard to be hip and quirky.

This one not only seems to rip off Desperate Housewives, but Tim Burton, Garden State, David O. Russell, American Beauty.

F*ck this crap.

Ele...

[mdunn6161]

agreed. as in life, if you have to try to be cool...it ain't gonna happen, unless you're the fonz.










--edittted for speeling, man...good ting i hve spell checks

[refriedwhiskey]

The Fonz doesn't have to try. He's the Fonz.

[whitenavel]

Come on Ele. This looks better than most of the mind numbing crap that Hollywood secretes into theaters. Sure it looks like a retread of American Beauty, Garden State, etc. but that cast is great

[elephant1978]

I do like my hometown boy Bill Fichtner.

Ele...

[NiteScribe]

This was a great script, and it should've been a studio film. Instead, it was made independently, for almost nothing, on a very tight schedule. It's a miracle it turned out as well as it did. It's moving, and I urge you to support it by seeing it in a theater, or it may not make it out of the art-houses at all.

This film isn't a remake, sequel, or rip-off. Is it a rip-off to depict suburbia as drug-soaked and surreal? They can't make enough films that depict how drug-addicted and suicidal this country really is. People really need to wake up. Kids are killing themselves.

I was really moved by this script, and I was also moved by this film. It had heart, brains, and balls. While flawed, due to the budget, it still works well.

While I was watching it, I realized that the cynical teens in the row behind me...were crying. When it ended, I heard them say. "I cried." "Me too." "I'm still crying." "That was intense."

No kidding. Best review I've heard.

[BigFatTire]

This one not only seems to rip off Desperate Housewives, but Tim Burton, Garden State, David O. Russell, American Beauty.

F*ck this crap.

Ele...

So how does a script that was written, sold and produced rip off a show that came after all of the above happened? This film was an offical selection to the 2005 Sundance Film Festival which was held January 20 - 30, 2005.

Ele, are you seriously staying that this film rips off a TV show that came after it, or are you posting because you like to hear yourself talk?

[NiteScribe]

This script landed on my desk in Spring of 2003.

[elephant1978]

So how does a script that was written, sold and produced rip off a show that came after all of the above happened? This film was an offical selection to the 2005 Sundance Film Festival which was held January 20 - 30, 2005.

Ele, are you seriously staying that this film rips off a TV show that came after it, or are you posting because you like to hear yourself talk?

Yeah, I'm saying it ripped it off. I've only seen the trailer and maybe the film isn't completely in the vain of Housewives (since it was created before the show was)...but are you trying to tell me that the distributor didn't want it marketed in a way that would capitalize on the breakout success of Housewives and Garden State? I work in the trailer business. I can tell you it happens more than you know.

Ele...

[elephant1978]

And also, the script is one thing, the film is another. A script can be directed to look like other films. One script can be translated to the screen in many different ways. I'm not suggesting the script ripped off those films. I'm suggesting the directing, the editing, the marketing...ripped off those films. I can give them coincidence on the script thing.

Ele...

[BigFatTire]

Who cares if the film is marketed like the other films? The goal is to get butts in the seats. If the film is close in nature with American Beauty, or Garden State, or Desperate Housewives, then why shouldn't the people behind it get that across to the fans of those films/show? Is this really a bad thing?

The goal of this business, as with any business, is to make money. So if the people behind the film want to capitalize on the success of the genre then I say more power to them.

The distributor doesn't care if you like the way they market a film, they only care about making money on the film.

[elephant1978]

They do care if the public likes the way a film is marketed. Because if they don't like the marketing, they have no interest in seeing the film, hence no butts in seats. Box office receipts and marketing are always hand in hand. You can't have one without the other.

Ele...

[NoTalentAssClown]

You should see the movie before you hate it.

[elephant1978]

I said it looks like sh!t. Not that it is sh!t. Do I not deserve the right to do that? Isn't that what trailers are for?

Ele...

[whistlelock]

I'm actually getting kinda tired of these kind of movies. Not to say that there aren't elements of truth to them. I grew up in a lily white suburb. I know how horrible that place was. I don't need to go see another movie to remind me of that.

You know what I wanna see? I want to see a movie set in the 'Burbs where they ship an innercity basketball coach in. Have him use his tough, but caring, nature to turn those apathetic, drug-soaked kids around. You know, those kids who are 80% more likely to go to college than to go to jail.


Get Jackson on the line, I gotta pitch for him.

[BigFatTire]

No Ele, you said that the film rips off Desperate Housewives, American Beauty, David O. Russel, Garden State and Tim Burton. Yet you haven't seen the film, you've only seen the trailer.

Again, why should I care if they make a trailer that rips off any of the above films? I happen to like Desperate Housewives, Tim Burton, Garden State and American Beauty. This film seems to be of the same tone of the films/show mentioned above. So the distributor has done their job in connecting prior films of the genre to their own. They haven't ripped off anything.

[elephant1978]

Okay, it "appears" to be a hack job. Just my opinion.

Ele...

[NiteScribe]

I would, respectfully, disagree. I neither liked it nor thought it was a studio film.

Fair enough, on both accounts, and I do respect your opinion, CE.

Someone must've liked that script though, with that talent attached. My point about it being a studio film, is that I think it needed a studio budget to execute properly. The film misfires, but still worked for the audience I saw it with. I've heard yays and nays on the film though, but am surprised by some of the venom leveled at it on the net. I thought that was reserved for event films. This is an indie film that was lucky to get made at all. Maybe it's overpowered by the stars attached. Maybe some people feel it treads too closely to the hallowed ground of some of their favorite films. I don't know. To me, it's part of an emerging sub-genre. Anyway, I enjoyed it and hope it makes it out of art-houses and into mainstream theaters. Is it perfect? No. Did it try to do something good? Yes, I believe it did.

[elephant1978]

That all seems pretty reasonable, Nite. But the title alone still warrants this film some ridicule. :D

Ele...

[NiteScribe]

Yeah, Chumscrubber sounds like a guy who cleans fishing boats. One criticism I have is that it's even more of an ensemble story than it read. Maybe due to the stars. I also imagined it as more visual, but I guess the limited budget took care of that. The narrative drive could've been clearer, and the tone could've been darker. Still, it worked for me and the audience I saw it with. It's starting to sound like a "love it" or "hate it" film on the net though. Interesting. I'm liking it even more already. The indie film that could. We'll see.

[kintnerboy]

This was a great script, and it should've been a studio film. Instead, it was made independently, for almost nothing, on a very tight schedule. It's a miracle it turned out as well as it did. It's moving, and I urge you to support it by seeing it in a theater, or it may not make it out of the art-houses at all.

This film isn't a remake, sequel, or rip-off. Is it a rip-off to depict suburbia as drug-soaked and surreal? They can't make enough films that depict how drug-addicted and suicidal this country really is. People really need to wake up. Kids are killing themselves.

I was really moved by this script, and I was also moved by this film. It had heart, brains, and balls. While flawed, due to the budget, it still works well.

While I was watching it, I realized that the cynical teens in the row behind me...were crying. When it ended, I heard them say. "I cried." "Me too." "I'm still crying." "That was intense."

No kidding. Best review I've heard.




Just saw this. Wonderfully absurd black comedy. NiteScribe summed it up perfectly.

I have heard it called derivative of American Beauty, Requiem For A Dream and Donnie Darko. I think it's better than all of them.

Very funny. And moving. Odd that such a surrealistic comedy can say more than the 'serious' films that try so earnestly to touch on the same ideas (Imaginary Heros, Safety Of Objects).

The story itself wouldn't hold up under any serious scrutiny, but there is talent to spare on display here.

[kintnerboy]

http://www.apple.com/trailers/picturehouse/the_chumscrubber.html

Ugh...more crap about the seemingly perfect suburbia with the dark, quirky secrets. Another disturbed kid. Another uncaring father. Another girl fascinated by the weirdo.


Yes. That's why they call it satire.

[whitenavel]

I wanted to see this but it was only out for a week here in LA. I'm telling you, only a week (no more than two).
I will definitley rent it. It looks much better than the Thumbsucker.

[whistlelock]

Watched it last night.

It was good. Really good.

Recently a good friend of my brother-in-law commited suicide. This movie had a strong impact on us all.


The use of the surreal to bring home the emotion of the real was well pulled off. The end speech about his best friend in the world was touching and well done.

If you haven't rented this movie, do so. It's nothing like Desperate Housewives or any of that crap on television.

[whitenavel]

I thought it was good, but didn't have a lasting impression on me. It's forgettable. But I love big ensemble casts.

I didn't buy the kidnapping. The bad kid wasn't believable either. I just had problems with all the eccentric suburban characters.

[kintnerboy]

I thought the kidnapping was a parody of the Jesse James Hollywood story? If it was, then it's not that far from reality.

The ending of this movie (the kidnapping) scared the hell out of me. I was sure that it was going to end badly and that this weird comedy was going to take a left turn into a dark place. Certainly wasn't predictable.

I grew up in an upper middle class suburban town, and I recognized every single character in this film. Probably played funnier to me.

[whitenavel]

I didn't catch the parody.