Thoughts on Art School Confidential

Friday, July 16, 2010 8:36 AM By Simon

-So a guy, played by Max Minghella of Agora supporting, thinks himself the biggest art shit since the turn of the century or whatever. He goes to art college, where dreams go to die and pretension pools the streets like flood water. In this art school, apparently, instead of countless self-portraits in the exact same style as Our Noble Hero's. This is, I'll wager, a way to help us sympathise with him, with his obviously extremely competent portraits getting overlooked for literal crayon scribblings. Which, y'know, helps, because the guy's kind of a whiny little bitch.

-Oh, yeah, he's in love with an art model Johnny Depp's Wife From Hell. She's kind of like Kim Novak in Vertigo, so she must get credit.

-Guy from Avatar, Guy from Middleman, Guy from Reno 911!, Guy from American History X (and My Name Is Earl), Guy from Party Down, Girl from The L Word all show up. Basically, a lot of That Guys.

-Also, Jim Broadbent is a maybe-serial killer, John Malkovich and Anjelica Huston are wary teachers.

-Remind me never to go to art achool.

-Seriously, from what I can tell, if you're a good artist, going to art school is a redundant way to boost your ego and throw away 800 bucks. If you're not, it is also to boost your ego and throw away 800 bucks, because nobody can seem to tell the difference between true works of beauty and someone painting tin foil pink and gluing it to a canvas.

-The 800 doesn't even really seem to matter, because everybody's a rich suburbanite with delusions of rebellion and political statement.

6 comments:

Alex said...

Art school is pretty useless either way, except to get contacts and hear overconfident professors lecture against the establishment. Also everyone learns how to show off. Sometimes there can be really nice things though, like free art supplies and non-bullshitty teachers.

Anyway, this movie is way lame.

July 16, 2010 at 10:13 AM
Colin Biggs said...

I haven't heard anything good about this movie. From anyone.

July 16, 2010 at 11:53 AM
CMrok93 said...

Makes me want to go to art school. Just as long as my teachers are as crazy as this.

July 16, 2010 at 2:21 PM
Chris said...

Maybe I missed it in your review, but did you actually like/dislike this film, Simon?

July 17, 2010 at 6:16 AM
The Taxi Driver said...

I thought this movie was hilarious because it was a spot on satire about people that I used to know in University. Forget art school, you'll meet people like this no matter where you go to school. THe whole serial killer stuff doesn't work but man, the satire is spot on.

July 17, 2010 at 7:37 PM
Simon said...

Alex: Non-bullshit art teachers are a rare breed, my friend.

Fitz: Someone had to like it, with a 36 on Rotten Tomatoes (not the best site, but you know what I mean)

Travis: The teachers weren't that crazy. Just sad and misanthropic and serial killer-y.

moviesandsongs: I liked the first half, but then it went overboard with the misanthropy and I lost interest.

Mike: I know all kinds of people like the ones in this movie. Or at least budding ones, the fourteen year olds who fancy themselves intellectuals and bring in splatter-paint self portraits for a mandatory art class.

July 18, 2010 at 2:46 AM