The MirrorARCHIVES: Jun 05 - June 11.2008 Vol. 23 No. 50  
Vidiot's Box

 


Man, this Smiley Face movie is something else. Directed by art/shlock weirdo Gregg Araki (The Doom Generation, Mysterious Skin), Smiley Face is a day in the life of a dissolute stoner played to uncomfortable perfection by Anna Faris, who eats a plate of laced cupcakes belonging to her creepy roommate (Danny Masterson) and goes on a series of THC-laced adventures. I’ll be honest: I only made it through about 20 minutes of this incredibly—and I’d wager to guess intentionally—annoying movie.

Araki throws every horrible psychedelic visual motif into the stew—the movie is called Smiley Face, after all—and it’s almost painful to watch. You have to admire the talented Faris, who goes all out, playing deeply, deeply stoned for the entire film (or at least as much of it as I saw), but even she, who can redeem even the least Scary Movie, couldn’t keep me watching.

The original film inspired by the Zodiac killer, Dirty Harry and all its spawn are out on DVD this month in spankin’-new special editions and Blu-Ray whatsits. In the first film, Clint Eastwood plays a cop on the trail of the Scorpio killer, who’s dreamed up as sort of a bleeding-heart nightmare machine, exploiting liberal guilt to get away with his devious crimes. It’s almost laughably reactionary and pretty out of place in the San Francisco of 1971, where it’s set. Still, Eastwood’s macho swagger and deadly .45 struck a chord and Magnum Force, The Enforcer, Sudden Impact and The Dead Pool were to follow, for better or worse.

The two-disc version of the original film features a bunch of look-back docs, the kind typical of these editions: a featurette called The Long Shadow of Dirty Harry, interviews with cast and other people involved or influenced by the films, etc, etc. The other films are just as laden with special features: if you ever wanted a hardcover book extolling the merits of The Dead Pool, or a replica of Harry’s badge, you’re in luck!

MARK SLUTSKY
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