Neko

Gregg Araki

Gregg Araki (born December 17, 1959 (Sagittarius) ) is my favourite director. He is best known for his involvement with the New Queer Cinema movement. Arakiself-identified as "a gay Asian American" And in 2014 he said "I don't really identify as anything", adding "I'd probably identify as gay at this point, but I have been with women."

His movies are raw and sincere, often focusing on alienation, rebellion, existentialism, disillusionment, surrealism, angst, and the search for identity. His movies are set in a world that feels confusing, hostile, nihilistic and indifferent, but are contrasted by an inner world of surrealism, hallucinogenic, absurd, vibrant dreamlike and fantastical Araki’s films are a clash of dark comedy, drama, romance,thriller, and sci-fi, His films are subversive, edgy and Provocative, tackling controversial subjects and to depicting explicit scenes, but always in a purposeful unapologetic way, not for a cheap shock factor Araki has the coolest taste in music. He uses a lot of shoegaze in his movies. Infact his movies, The Living End and Nowhere owe their titles to this shoegaze! The Living End after The Jesus and Mary Chain song of the same name, and Nowhere after the Ride's album of the same name.

Araki made his debut in 1987 with Three Bewildered People in the Night. With a budget of only $5,000 and using a stationary camera. His next film The Long Weekend (O' Despair) (1989) also had a budget of 5,000. Despite the low budget, Araki's films received critical acclaim. Araki's next three movies—Totally F***ed Up (1993), The Doom Generation (1995), and Nowhere (1997)—make up the Teenage Apocalypse trilogy. Nowhere is my favourite Araki movie. In the new millennium Araki's wrote, directed, and shot the pilot episode of This Is How the World Ends,but ultimately MTV decided against the project and it sadly never aired, but you can watch it here Filming for Arakis upcoming film wrapped up on October 27 2024. Branded as a psychosexual erotic thriller film, I Want Your Sex will star Olivia Wilde, Cooper Hoffman, and Charli XCX. The screenplay was written by Araki and Karley Sciortino. It is expected to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in 2025

Gregg’s worked on a bunch of tv shows including, riverdale 2018, heathers 2018, 13 reasons why (2017–2018) and Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (2022) In 2019 he cowrote, produced and directered a one-season / ten-episode show called Now Apocalypse. In the show Ulysses, his friends, Carly and Ford, and Ford's girlfriend Severine navigate love, sex, and fame in Los Angeles. Troubled by sinister, premonitory dreams, Ulysses wonders if the end of the world as we know it is coming, or if he is simply suffering some kind of marijuana-fueled delusions. It was cancelled after the first season. I have not seen it yet.



Recently the critian collection released a special edition of the The teenage Apocalypse Trilogy, it includes a 2K digital restoration of totally fucked up and 4K digital restorations of The Doom Generation and Nowhere, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks The project was supervised and approved by director Gregg Araki. The 4K UHD edition contains one 4K UHD disc of The Doom Generation and Nowhere and two Blu-rays with all three films and the special features which include:
  • New conversations between director Gregg Araki and filmmaker Richard Linklater
  • New audio commentary on Nowhere with Araki and actors James Duval, Rachel True, Nathan Bexton, Jordan Ladd, Sarah Lassez, Guillermo Diaz, and Jaason Simmons
  • Audio commentary on Totally Fucked Up with Araki, Duval, and Gilbert Luna
  • Audio commentary on The Doom Generation with Araki, Duval, Rose McGowan and Johnathon Schaech
  • A new documentary on the trilogy’s visual style featuring Araki, Duval, producer Andrea Sperling, cinematographer Jim Fealy, costume designers Cathy Cooper and SaraJane Slotnick, production designer Patti Podesta, art director Michael Krantz, and hair and makeup artist Jason Rail
  • James Duval’s Teen Apocalypse Archive, a new conversation between Araki and Duval
  • Q+As with Araki, moderated by filmmakers Gus Van Sant and Andrew Ahn
  • The Doom Generation video comic book
  • Trailers
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • An essay by critic Nathan Lee


Filmography

Three Bewildered People in the Night (1987) "The film follows three characters through the dissolution of a heterosexual relationship and the possible beginning of a gay one." - Haven't watched.
The Long Weekend (O' Despair) (1989) "The film follows three couples, one gay, one lesbian and one heterosexual, spending a weekend together." - Haven't watched.
The Living End (1992) REWATCH AND REVIEW INCOMING !!!!
Totally F***ed Up (1993) REWATCH AND REVIEW INCOMING !!!!
The Doom Generation (1995) REWATCH AND REVIEW INCOMING !!!!
Nowhere (1997) “Dear diary, what a day. I swear I've never been so depressed, miserable, and lonely in my entire life. It's like I know there's got to be somebody out there somewhere... just one person in this huge, horrible, unhappy universe who can hold me in their arms and tell me everything is going to be okay. And how long do I have to wait before that person shows up. I feel like I'm sinking deeper and deeper into quicksand.”



This is my favourite Araki movie, and likely my favourite movie of all time. Nowhere is set in LA, and follows the strange and colourful lives that an assortment of college students lead.

The angsty Dark (as in the absence of light), his bisexual girlfriend, Mel, her lesbian lover Lucifer and their wider friend group plan on attending the wildest party of the year, hosted by the one and only Jujyfruit.But they’ll only make it there if they can survive a surreal day full of alien mirages, a suicide invoking televangelist, and death by a can of Campbell’s Tomato soup. As the world crumbles around them with the incoming apocalypse, the cast bathe in a hedonistic lifestyle of sex, drugs and rock and roll.

The movie ends with a shocking contrast of comfort, companionship, hope, and love against grotesque, gory, Kafkaesque horror. When I first watched this movie with J we were speechless, jaws on the floor, our eyes going between the TV and each other, as if to say, “Did you see that shit !?!” When I showed a group of friends, they had to rewind and rewatch it multiple times. Every line of the '90s nonsense slang dialogue and every outfit is incredibly iconic and quotable. All being backdropped by a hyper-saturated, absurdist pop art set.
The movie is host to a bunch of quirky names, a few I would like to mention,
  • James Duval as "Dark" ( I love James Duval, he features in several of Araki’s films)
  • Kathleen Robertson as "Lucifer"
  • Joshua Gibran Mayweather as "Zero"
  • Christina Applegate as "Dingbat"
  • Sarah Lassez as "Egg"
  • Guillermo Diaz as "Cowboy"
  • Alan Boyce as "Handjob"
  • Heather Graham as Lilith
  • Scott Caan as "Ducky"
  • Gibby Haynes as "Jujyfruit"
You can watch the movie here ! CW- RAPE

Splendor (1999) REWATCH AND REVIEW INCOMING !!!!
Mysterious Skin (2004) REWATCH AND REVIEW INCOMING !!!!
Smiley Face (2007) REWATCH AND REVIEW INCOMING !!!!
Kaboom (2010) REWATCH AND REVIEW INCOMING !!!!
White Bird in a Blizzard (2014) REWATCH AND REVIEW INCOMING !!!!