JohnathanSchaech Tagged Articles at Cinematical

The '90s were a good time to be a teen -- especially if you were itching for more than just the mainstream. Nestled between the John Hughes '80s and the bubbly Disney '00s, the '90s were a time when teen films thrived in tunes-led rebellion. It wasn't all about spunky mainstream music marketing and bubbly personalities. Scores and strangeness got to go a little wild, and Gregg Araki ran with that idea when he made The Doom Generation.

Dubbed Araki's "heterosexual movie," the film starred then-newcomer Rose McGowan as Amy Blue, a tough-as-nails, filthy-mouthed, self-proclaimed virgin in love with one Jordan White (James Duval). Their rather mundane lives are thrown through the ringer when they help out a strange boy named Xavier (Johnathan Schaech), who leads them through an insane road trip of unintended violence. A trip, mind you, that showcases a slew of names from all walks of life -- Skinny Puppy (band), Margaret Cho, Dustin Nguyen (21 Jump Street), Heidi Fleiss (the Hollywood madam), Perry Farrell (Janes Addiction), Parker Posey, Nicky Katt (Dazed and Confused), Zak Spears and Rex Chandler (gay adult film stars), Christopher Knight (Brady Bunch), Lauren Tewes (The Love Boat)...

It is, however, a film spliced in tone. The first three quarters are violent, black comedy, while the last third makes the violence personal as the trio faces off against Neo-Nazis -- a rather apt juxtaposition between pulpy imaginary thrills and violence laced with a sense of reality.

Get dark with The Doom Generation now on SlashControl!

Friday Night Double Feature had been lingering in my brain for a while before its December release, stemming from memories of insatiable video rentals, and double or triple-movie theater-going when it was too hard to pick between the films screening. However, it has come to our attention that our friends over at Cinema Blend have their own Friday Night Double Feature. (Nuts!) To differentiate the two, this column is now Cinematical's Friday Night Double Feature, and I definitely urge you to check out their own double-feature picks for more viewing options.

Now, onto the 3-ways. Two of my favorite movies of the '90s, a decade that I spent indulging in hordes of cult movies and youth cinema, happen to both dip into alternative sexual relationships -- Gregg Araki's Splendor and Andrew Fleming's Threesome. What is so great about these films is that they are not stunning, pitch-perfect examples of cinema, but rather, awkward, flawed, and endearing glimpses into expanding sexuality. The characters fail to find one person who can fulfill all of their idiosyncratic desires, and come to realize that if they cannot merge two people, perhaps one person is not enough.

Splendor



When Splendor came out in 1999, it was a bright, fun, and candy-coated surprise from Gregg Araki, the filmmaker who always knew how to deliver humor and romance, but always in a dark and disturbing package. With this story, Araki showed that he was more than f-bombs and Rose McGowan, and used his modern sensibility to revisit retro, pulpy romance. The story is simple -- Veronica has been suffering from a romantic dry spell when she meets two guys in the same night -- the light, carefree and sweet Zed, and the dark, pensive, and serious Abel. Thinking she'll date both and then choose, she quickly discovers that she wants them both, because each man has his own special appeal. Neither romantic choice wants to back down, so they decide to try an open-to-two relationship, which has its sexy perks, and its dramatic troubles.

It's dysfunctional, unlikely, and all sorts of fun. Casting Kathleen Robertson, Johnathan Schaech, and Matt Keeslar was step one. Adding an incredibly-vibrant and colorful world was step two. The final, finishing touch -- a great soundtrack that featured the likes of Everything But the Girl, My Bloody Valentine, and New Order. It's the sort of flick you can laugh with, swoon with, sing with, and just be goofy with.

Watch Kelly McDonald rant on the phone, dubbed-style.

A bottle of alcohol, a love triangle, and a game of Dare can only turn out one way.

Before Splendor, there was Rose, Traci, and Shannen as Valley Girls in Nowhere.