Hey, Happy!

Description

Turn in, Turn On, Spin the DVD . . . A prairie boy's libido triggers an apocalypse! DJ Sabu scratches apocalypse in his mythic quest to sleep with 2000 guys. Will he achieve his goal before the cumming of the great flood? Or will the evil Spanky OiNeil unleash the Armageddon of an acid queen? A smashing soundtrack charges this authentic, tripped-out rave movie. Conceived, shot, and edited under the influence of opiates and a love of skater trash.

Customer Reviews:

stylish, outrageous, beautiful, touching.......2004-08-14

What a wonderful discovery! Noam Gonick has designed a film which is impressive in every way. It is shot in 16mm Cinemascope with expansive shots of the prairies around Winnipeg, and its railroads. The design is striking, and the colors vivid against the bleak post-industrial, pre-apocalyptic locations. The score is varied and descriptive. The story is a wonderfully curious blend of science fiction, sadism, and romance, with glances over the shoulder towards Fellini's 'Satyricon' and Kubrick's '2001'.

Mr. Gonick has put together a cast which could not be improved upon. The title role of Happy, a Parsifal-like innocent who communes with aliens through his short-wave radio, is sweetly played by Craig Aftanas. Clayton Godson, as Spanky the vicious queen, is appropriately outrageous. John Simone as Ricky G, the owner of an outdoor XXX store, is (especially when he laughs) a cross between Paul Lynde and the undertaker in Bruce LaBruce's equally stunning fantasy, Hustler White. But the centerpiece of the film is certainly Jeremie Yuen as Sabu, the stunningly sexy and sensual prairie boy on a personal quest to bed his 2000th man.

When Sabu falls in love with Happy, Spanky (who wants Happy for himself) goes ballistic. Their lopsided triangle is played out against the background of an impending flood and the planning of a final rave, bringing nihilistic and biblical overtones to Mr. Gonick's allegory. Happy is told that, if he gives himself to Sabu, the aliens will take him with them. His romantic encounters with Sabu lend lovely moments of tenderness and affection to the film, plus a bit of serenity in the midst of the surrounding madness.

Mr. Gonick's delightful little gem joins, in my mind, Curtis Wehrfritz's '4 Days' as two of Canada's finest indies. I love Bruce LaBruce, but these very special works cannot be topped for sheer imagination of conception, remarkable design of production and, above all, the beauty of their respective leads.

So Bad, so very bad.......2004-02-04

I have no idea what to make of this movie. Should I think of it intellectually as a modern, messed fairytale, or some weird allegory for a degradation in society that fears losing all that it holds dear... No, I think this is just poor cinema, with no sets... little plot that makes any sense, and characters that you can't even remotely care about! This is one of the top 10 worst films I have ever seen! And it's a disgrace to quality Canadian cinema. The only saving grace is Spanky - a twisted Male version of the Wicked witch of the West. But sadly, even his over-the-top performance can't save this film.

Amazing and funny!!!.......2004-01-23

ok, so i was extremely lucky to have seen this on my canadian satellite, considering the fact that it IS a canadian independant film, and i was speechless as to describe it. it seems like something made under the influence of drugs, but it is a great movie anyways. i won't say anything about it cause you have to see it yourself. but pick it up if you want some good film. and a lot of the screen shots are gorgeous, like when Sabut is in front of the red truck...truly gorgeous (as is Jeremie Yuen aka. Sabu) great movie, great comedy, and someewhat dark. Highly Recomended!!!

I want the soundtrack!.......2003-08-21

I saw it late one night on the sundance channel... It... uhh.. it's.. I liked.. it.... No words can describe it. Cept the words "funny", "extremely", "gay", "sexy", "what the ...?", and "BOOBIES!". Yes. Very much. Like the other people said, 'watch it if you have an open mind' specially in regard to EXTREME HOMOSEXUALITY. Ho yeah. :D

Hey Happy VHS.......2002-07-10

Hey Happy was a very funny, and obscure film. I found it so humorous because even though the characters were so odd, I could relate to them, and I could see my friends as the other characters. I feel other people who watch it, would find the same. However, if you do not like nudity and homosexuality, I don't think this is the movie for you! But if you have an open mind, and a sence of humor, I think you would love it!

Average customer rating:

Happy End...
Liaisons Dangeureuses, Korean style
A simple story of deceit and murder.
video quality 3 stars, audio 2 star, the story not bad
Kind of American soap opera-y

Happy End
Starring: Joo Jin Mo , Choi Min-Sik , and Jeon Do-yeon
Director: Jung Ji-woo
Manufacturer: Tai Seng
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( H ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: B0000648Z2
Release Date: 2002-04-30

Customer Reviews:

Happy End..........2007-02-15

This movie just shows you what can happen when you have someone with "power" that's just a little...crazy. In the end, it's another murder story. Three stars!!

Liaisons Dangeureuses, Korean style.......2005-09-28

Personnally, I didn't care bout the mandarin or cantonese languages... I always prefer to watch actors speaking in their mother tongue anyway.
Although I don't understand Korean, I enjoyed watching the movie very much (not to mention the hottest erotic scenes between the lovers!!)
"Menage a trois" or adultery is not a very original subject in the industry. As a result, it makes the attempt of any director to make it captivating and intriguing very difficult.
The success of this movie lays more in the way it is beautifully and romantically filmed, and the way it is spontaneoulsy and well acted, rather than in the story itself. The spectator will like each caracter, because one can easily relate to each of them. They are just "every day", working, middle-class people, otherwise very sensible and likeable, who are caught in a dangerous path which they didn't choose. None wants to act soon enough and escape from this path, until it is too late.

A simple story of deceit and murder........2005-06-07

The movie picks some momentum during the first half, but runs out of puff during the second and culminates with a fairly dull end. It is essentially a 'a day in the life of' kind of a movie. Lots of movie time has been spent shwoing people chopping vegetables, working in office, driving to work and watching TV instead developing the characters and making the simple story a wee bit interesting.

The DVD quality and the dubbing is poor.

video quality 3 stars, audio 2 star, the story not bad.......2004-11-15

this is a korean movie and it is somewhat mysterious why its audio track is in cantonese and mandarin dubbing only... the dubbing usually need to match with the lip movement and therefore it is hard to match the original script. that said, the mandarin dubbing is not bad. if it can have the original korean audio track, would be one more option for the viewer.

for the video, it kind of feels like a VHS to DVD-R transfer work.

this movie has quite a bit of suspense and the details are quite nicely filmed... a bit grotesque kind of movie but if you like story with original plot and don't mind grotesque movies then you may like it.

Kind of American soap opera-y.......2004-09-07

Although this is a Korean film, the film has only the options of listening to it in either Cantonese or Mandarin or reading it in English subtitles. The quality of the picture and sound are good but not top notch.

Although the plot itself is not incredibly unique -basically, what will happen when a man finds out that his wife is having an affair with her previous lover- I thought it was pretty well done. The actors did their part decently, and the characters they played were quite believable (except for one climactic scene that I didn't fully buy). The sex scenes are pretty intense (think Monster's Ball with better lighting) so keep the kids away. To me, the most interesting part was how they used the title of the movie in context.

Happy End (Nowhere To Go But Up) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL Reg.2 Import - France ]

Average customer rating:

(2.5 STARS) Audrey Tautou in New York City: Barely OK Romantic Comedy

Happy End (Nowhere To Go But Up) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL Reg.2 Import - France ]
Director: Amos Kollek
Manufacturer: Studio Canal
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: B000A7HWSG

Product Description

France released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. Languages: o French (subtitles) o English (Dolby Digital 5.1) o French (Dolby Digital 5.1) Synopsis: An overly-optimistic French actress (Amelies Audrey Tautou) moves to Manhattan in hopes of finding fame and fortune. She comes close when she meets a screenwriter (Mulholland Drives Justin Theroux) who has scripted a big hitbut he now has writers block. Amos Kollek (Fast Food, Fast Women) directs this romantic comedy. Special Features: o Interactive Menu o Scene Access

Customer Reviews:

(2.5 STARS) Audrey Tautou in New York City: Barely OK Romantic Comedy.......2006-12-15

Considering the profile of Amos Kollek as director of independent films like `Sue' and `Fast Food Fast Women,' it is a little surprising that `Nowhere to Go But Up' (aka `Happy End') features such famous names as Audrey Tautou, Jennifer Tilly and Justine Theroux. `Happy End' was made back in 2003, only two years after Ms. Tautou enchanted us with her beloved character Amelie, and the film's story is set in today's New York (like other Amos Kollek films), but I think few people have heard about it. As a fan of Audrey Tautou, I gave it a try anyway, and now I think I know the reason why this film has been so obscure.

My impression about the film is it is OK ... barely. Well, Audrey Tautou plays a positive-thinking woman named Val, who is a struggling actress from France, dreaming one day that she will be a Hollywood star like Garbo. But now she is living homeless, occasionally sweeping sidewalk for the shop owner and cleaning rooms for a rich lady by day. At night she sleeps in the open, sometimes in Manhattan, just outside the house of a young screenwriter having writer's block. The young writer is Jack (Justine Theroux) who has done nothing since he astonished the film industry with his masterpiece five years ago.

While Val strives to be a professional actress, doing many jobs (including cook at Chinese restraint), meeting unique people (such as poetess/waitress Edna by Jennifer Tilly), Jack realizes that Val could be the inspiration for his new script that is going to be produced by major Hollywood studio.

Though the film's acting is not bad, and handsome Justine Theroux is convincing as Jack who still wants his ex-lover back, the lack of chemistry between Tautou and Theroux is doing considerable harm to the film's credibility. Though I know very well that Amok Kollek is not trying to make another `When Harry Met Sally..." the two leads' relation should be more credible for the film to work even in indie films about oddball characters like this. To make matters worse, the film's satire on Hollywood (which becomes the basis of its `Happy End') is nothing edgy or insightful, reminding that good films are always good, Hollywood-made or not.

One thing should be said about Ms Tautou. It is not surprising to see that in this low-budget film she is loved by the camera, but her character Val often behaves unbelievably even by the standard of independent films, and her unbelievable behaviors are not what would make this character more amusing. Her incessantly spoken fake German (or Swedish?) accent during auditions doesn't make much sense. It is simply annoying, and do not make Val charming or lovable; it is more likely to present her as hopelessly clueless person instead. Tautou's visible effort, or probably the director's effort, to infuse quirky humor into the personality of Val all falls flat. You will also see Val roller-skating or wearing the costume of one famous character from "Hunchback of Notre dame," but actually one single smile from Tautou can do much better than these antics.

It is quite unfortunate that some people always associate Audrey Tautou with Amelie. She is great there, and she can be very different elsewhere if she wants to (see `Dirty Pretty Things' or `He Loves Me... He Loves Me Not'). Surely `Happy End' has such inspired moments - the Laundromat episode is amusing, and its short musical scene at the end is not bad - but here she alone cannot save the entire film from what it is, indie film that fails to captures the great opportunity to make itself several notches better than other films of that ilk.

DVD:

DVD

DVD