Garage Days [HD]

I wanted to like this a great deal more...
Garage Days (Alex Proyas, 2002)

There is something deeply, desperately wrong with a movie's marketing when the very tag line seen on posters around the world gives away the film's major plot twist. That doesn't stop this from being an amusing little film, however. It involves an Australian garage rock band fronted by Freddy (Spartan's Kick Gurry) who are trying to find a place to play. Freddy's girlfriend Tanya (Queen of the Damned's Pia Miranda) plays bass. Guitarist Joe (Brett Stiller) is predictably moody, and is in tenuous ground with girlfriend Kate (XX/XY's Maya Stange). Manager Bruno (Russell Dykstra, from the BlackJack franchise) is something of a lovable foulup who seems congenitally incapable of getting the band gigs, but a chance encounter at a bar between Freddy and the manager of Sprimp, Australia's hottest act, gives the band hope. Meanwhile, with the various relationships on the rocks, Freddy finds himself more and more attracted to Kate; will internal...

The "Citizen Kane" for struggling musicians
In the tradition of "Airheads" and "That Thing You Do" comes this against-genre film from the director of the dark fantasy adaptation of "The Crow" and sci-fi classic "Dark City" (as well as this summer's would-be box office hit "I, Robot") Alex Proyas. It's another in a line of interestingly quirky Australian movies (and in fact not terribly dissimilar from the late Michael Hutchence's acting debut "Dogs In Space", though certainly far more light-hearted) that adds to that nation's reputation as a producer of fine cinema that pound-for-pound can go round-for-round with the heavyweights of the industry in Hollywood without breaking a sweat.

The film was obviously a labor of love, and even though the band at the center of the movie was definitely low-fi, the movie itself was shot using first-class editing and production values. The scenes of introspection when characters are given to voiceover monologue are particularly effective, to say nothing of the "Fun With Drugs"...

another Proyas enjoyment....for the most part
After seeing The Crow I had much loved respect for Proyas and then he did Dark City and I still did, but I was pretty mad at him for doing I, Robot because I hated that movie with a passion. Then I saw this one on the video shelves and I rented it and I liked it, to some extent. Rock stardom is always interesting, especially when they play. Some good performances (one in mind being Kick Gurry), but some come off as bland. Brett Stiller?? Any relation to Ben Stiller? Maybe? Who knows. Anyway, the slow motion stuff was interesting and kept me from steering away. Marton Csokas (costarred with Vin Diesel in Triple X) also stars as the head manager to Sprimp (nice band name). Highlight would be the dinner scene when their all hallucinating..funny s**t. Proyas pulls off another enjoyable movie...for the most part. This made up for I, Robot. My suggestion is dont go see the crappy I, Robot...rent this one.

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