Trash Humpers nicole@dragcity.com, SteveI@landmarktheatres.com www.trashhumpers.com CHECK QUOTES Like most of my peers who were in their teens during the 1990s, I distinctly remember watching Harmony Korine's low-budget debut, the cult favorite Kids. That film launched the career of current Big Love star and notorious Vincent Gallo fellator ________________, who had previously been a cog in the wheel of pre-hipster hipster New York kids that could be found hanging about [Washington Square Park] back in the days when Manhattan was a real city, before the economic and media booms of the last decade rendered it a yuppie paradise. After that of course came Gummo, which I also saw but vaguely remember. And by that I mean the only part of the film that I can recall is the footage that has been indispersably lodged in my brain. Those kids drowning the cat. I'm all for the glorification of violence in film, so long as it glorifies violence against other humans. But the wanton destruction of an innocent life, particularly of the cuddly animal companion variety, absolutely repulsed me then as it does today. And that at a time when no real moral or socially aware brain cells had yet been formed in my rurally shaped skull. Korine's latest venture, Trash Humpers, is the tale of... The picture debuted at the 1009 New York Film Festival, but is just now seeing a limited theatrical release. Little wonder, because as per usual, shock value is what Korine is after. Prompted to put the picture into words, one film critic exclaimed that, "never have so many curbside trash containers been violated in the name of art, as well as trees, a mailbox, and a forlorn electric pole." The link for 'INFO" on the film's official website simply opens an email addressed to wtf@dragcity.com. Drag City, the Berlin-based independent music label cum media distribution house, Thus far the picture has been mildly hyped. Variety considers the film to be "a pre-fab underground manifesto to rank beside John Waters' legendarily crass Pink Flamingos," though that is certainly going too far. More balanced analysis comes from the Village Voice, where the movie is recommended as "spectacle to be watched in a wino stupor," echoing the half-hearted endorsement of neighbors New York, who say Korine's vision "mimics the look of a VHS home video" before conceding that Trash Humpers is "endearing" yet "uncategorizable." (The latter magazine gets poinus points for describing Korine as a "runty, contrarian director.") That VHS reference is to the process Korine used, which consisted of actually shooting the picture on VHS tape before stretching it to 35mm "While most films want to focus on beautiful people framed and lit perfectly, Korine chooses the opposite. Yet, through these ugliness comes a reflection of ourselves and that’s no small feat." - Film Threat Filmcritic.com calls it "an unabashed, unromantic ode to society's amorous refuse,” while Manhattan's heaviest cultural authority, The New Yorker, laments that "the few undeniable instants of transcendence... can't relieve the long, droning stretches of calculated emptiness." If there is anything fundamental to be said about Harmony Korine and his films, it is that Korine is an artist working in the medium of film rather than a filmmaker trying to make art. The film opens at Los Angeles' NuArt Theatre on Friday, and Korine himself will be on hand for "a very special Q&A" at the theatre. The B-List Spike Jonze will begin fielding questions around 7:30pm, and will personally present the 9:45 screening of the film. Once moviegoers are sufficiently perplexed, amused, offended and bewildered, they can join Korine and a certain number of other left-field celebrities for the debut's official after-party, which goes down at the Mandrake at 10pm.