Dinner in America

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DarkImbecile
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Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 6:24 pm
Location: Albuquerque, NM

Dinner in America

#1 Post by DarkImbecile » Fri May 28, 2021 10:40 am

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TAKE IT DOWN A NOTCH.

Welcome to the Dollhouse collides with Napoleon Dynamite - with an added dose of the endlessly quotable dialogue of Heathers - in Dinner in America - a DIY love letter to being authentically yourself, finding your voice, and being punk AF.

In a dreary Midwestern suburb, aggro punk rocker Simon (Kyle Gallner, Jennifer’s Body, The Cleansing Hour) finds himself on the run again after a bout of arson and a close call with the police. A chance encounter with the spirited and socially awkward Patty (Emily Skeggs, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Mile 22) provides him a place to lay low. As the two embark on a series of misadventures, they begin to realise they have a lot more in common than they first expected…

Skilfully directed by Adam Rehmeier (Jonas, The Bunny Game), produced by Ben Stiller (Zoolander, Tropic Thunder) and Ross Putman (Plus One, The Violent Heart) and set to the beat of brilliant original songs, Dinner in America is an empowering and wild ride through the places and people of suburbia — in all their peculiar and chaotic forms.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
  • High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
  • Original 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Brand new audio commentary with director Adam Rehmeier, producers David Hunter and Ross Putnam and lead actors Kyle Gallner and Emily Skeggs
  • Fantasia International Film Festival 2020 live-streamed Q&A with Adam Rehmeier, Emily Skeggs, Kyle Gallner, Ross Putman, and cinematographer Jean-Philippe Bernier hosted by Mitch Davis
  • Pendance Film Festival 2021 live-streamed Q&A with Adam Rehmeier, Kyle Gallner and Emily Skeggs hosted by Robert Misovic
  • Trailer
  • Image gallery
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by John Pearson
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Booklet featuring new writing by Michelle Swopes

beamish14
Joined: Fri May 18, 2018 3:07 pm

Re: Dinner in America

#2 Post by beamish14 » Fri May 28, 2021 12:04 pm

I don't think I should subject myself to anything that is Napoleon Dynamite-esque

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Dinner in America

#3 Post by therewillbeblus » Wed Jun 01, 2022 7:59 pm

I thoroughly enjoyed this! Much closer to Welcome to the Dollhouse than Napoleon Dynamite, the latter's comparisons start and stop after a brief setup, where the film transcends cheap shots at exaggerated 'observations' of middle America's social idiosyncrasies, and instead follows an irregular wavelength of dark comedy that pitches humanism against the friction of universalized red flags in distinctive, quirky personality traits- hence the magnetism towards the former inspiration. The thematic central conceit seems to be twofold: at once repurposing the bootstraps-pulling literal self-actualization of believing in yourself against the grain of the safe yet demeaning routes paved out before us, and also celebrating uniqueness as a mode of alternative ways of 'being' that we're blind to when we allow the docile masses to decide our fates with conventionality and forced conformity.

The film dares to see normalcy as not only boring but regressive and oppressive, and yet its makers never try to paint their protagonists in a light that asks to challenge our reservations about approaching them. Here a fear of abnormality is simultaneously permitted to be quite comprehensible, harmful in obstructing micro and macro progress, and earnestly pitied as a self-handicapping approach to life. Thankfully through art we can safely let our guards down to engage with these offbeat personalities, though the film does fearlessly stretch this relatively deep to cause us to consider the eccentric alternatives as broadly attractive after we get off the ride. At least it did for me, precisely by not being didactic, commendably inviting critique of these principals, and still managing to craft compassion and interest amidst the no-holds-barred narrative thrust and self-conscious peaks of consequence.

Outside of any analysis on its satirical function, it's a genuine love story for the alienated, as these two people are the only ones who have a patience for, and willingness to engage with the other's antisocial behavior. That's acknowledged as a good quality, as it should be- even amidst the rest of the questionable actions. More of us should have such tolerance.

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