15 January 2014

Best of 2013: #5. Spring Breakers (Harmony Korine)


#5. Spring Breakers. d. Harmony Korine. USA.

Unmoved and unamused by director Harmony Korine’s previous efforts, I found myself taken by massive surprise with Spring Breakers. More than any other film in recent memory, Spring Breakers astounded me at every turn. At no point over the course of ninety minutes did I have the slightest clue where the film was headed (an extremely rare treat), and all of my preconceived ideas of Korine’s artistic motives proved to be false. It also contains a career-best performance from one of the busiest actors/filmmakers of 2013, James Franco, a cinematic figure—like Korine—one shouldn’t underestimate. Like one of the more under-appreciated films of the 90s, John McNaughton’s Wild Things, Spring Breakers is a thrillingly sleazy, bizarre, and amoral love letter to the penis of America, Florida.


Spring Breakers is currently available on Blu-ray and DVD from Lionsgate in the U.S., and from Universal in the U.K., and from TF1 Vidéo in France.

With: James Franco, Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine, Heather Morris, Justin Wheelon, Emma Holzer, Ashley Lendzion, Dave Kramer, Gucci Mane, Russell Curry, Jeff Jarrett

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