Half-Cocked

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Audience Member The box bills it as the "Easy Rider of the 90's". I don't know if it's the 'anything' of the 90's, but it is a good example of the early mumblecore genre. The production is very low-budget, with black-and-white, grainy film quality and ho-hum sound recording. The acting is OK. There's a lot of dry humor and self-deprecation of "arty" and "hip" types, as well as a lot of flannel and uncombed hair hanging in peoples' faces. Honestly, there's not much in the way of a plot; a group of kids steals a van and music equipment, pretend to be a band, and make their way across the American south playing "gigs" at local alternative music venues (the movie was shot on location in Louisville, Nashville, and Chattanooga). This movie has a somewhat charming, innocent, timeless quality about it. It kind of made me nostalgic for vinyl, polaroids, and land lines. The soundtrack is pretty good, and the movie itself is replete with alt-rock name dropping, which gets it some points from me. If you're not interested in the 1990's alternative music scene, you probably miss some of the jokes (the movie parodies many elements of the mid 1990's "scene"). I have to say I think that there's a little bit of Tara in all of us. Overall, not great, but good. Definitely has re-watchability. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member If I would have seen this movie back in the early 90s I would have thought it was one of the best movies ever. The way it is now, I found it rather interesting and fun but not very well aged. None of the bands present ever really lived up to the hype we all thought they were gonna have. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Audience Member If you've seen it, chances are you Get It - a bunch of 90s indie rock types play non-musicians who form a band in order to meet other people with similar artistic bents; the beauty of mid-90s indie culture unfolds before them. Your level of enjoyment will likely rise and fall with your familiarity with a) the bands (the Make-Up, Rodan, Ruby Falls, etc.), b) the D.C./Louisville/etc. scene at the time, and c) the sublime joys of road-tripping and/or touring. The film wanders and trips through its ad-hoc "story" - it was a (mostly) self-financed run through the DIY jungle - but, despite its shortcomings, it somehow always manages to ring true. A document in the best sense of the word. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Audience Member Every person who's ever been in a band should see this. Everyone else will probably find it slow and underproduced. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Actually an understated quite beautiful low budget film. Nice shots of Kentucky in just off black and white. The feel of being in a band, just letting go and hitting the road, the shit going down. Not deep, but poetic nevertheless. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Audience Member Look not going to be interesting for people not into math and noise rock. No real actors actually are featured here, as it's more of a series of appearances by members of bands in the genres:Rodan and Nation of Ulysses for instance. A mediocre movie with an awesome cast. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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