Popular reviews

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  Review by Austin Shermer ★★★★½ 11

  Attention grabbing opening statement. Generic description of the plot (or lack there of). Praise of Soderbergh ingenious and bewildering deconstruction of modern society and human communication. Acknowledgment of flaws preceive by others, notably that the film lacks focus. Dismissal of such claims on the basis that the film's spontaneity and zaniness is what makes it so powerful and unique. Heartfelt plea that Soderbergh returns from semi-retirement.

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  Review by Patrick Willems ★★★★ 1

  Steven Soderbergh's only lead acting role as a guy who jerks off a lot

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  Review by Cinematic Underdogs ★★★★ 4

  Schizopolis is a riotous Möbius strip of deranged word games, goofy doppelgängers, esoteric quips, metaphysical raillery, and tongue-in-cheek jabs at professional malaise.

  An anarcho-punk provocation of visual, verbal, and textual semiotics—replete with comic set pieces predicated upon logorrhea and aphasia—Soderbergh is working on an onanistic plane here: parenthetically playing with himself in every sense of the phrase.

  The concepts on display evoke the interests of late-career James Joyce—it is an erudite / gasbag / bloated piece of high concept art filled with lyrical reveries, existential riddles, deadpan gags, postmodern gimmicks. Or perhaps, the experimental riffing in Schizopolis is more aligned with the work of William Burroughs, trading Burroughs cut-ups for wacky montages, and similarly fusing odd pairings of language with…

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  Review by Rafael "Parker!!" Jovine ★★★★

  Ok….. what in the actual fuck Steven Soderbergh?

  After having pretty much peaked and made a name for himself, the Atlanta native decides to channel to make a comedy heavily influenced by Monty Python, Luis Bunuel, Abrams/Zucker and Tommy Wiseau, blend all them together and you got this movie. Its utterly bizarre, beyond surrealist, experimental a la 60s, absurd, ridiculous, screechy, nonsensical, retarded, brilliant and shocking. Everything and nothing really makes sense and by the end you are left numb, staring at the screen and wondering the hell you’ve witnessed.

  All in all, I mean, part of me really wants to give this film a zero but the other, mad side just had a blast with whatever happened on screen. I guess I’ll recommend it. But I’m certain much of you would hate it.
  I’m seriously torn on this one.

  TODAY SCHEDULE
  Habit
  Schizopolis
  Jungleland
  10 Cloverfield Lane

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  Review by KYK

  I died at:
  - Soderbergh speaking Japanese
  - Soderbergh "I don't know her"-ing Oliver Stone
  - "I may vote Republican but I'm a firm believer in gum control"

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  Review by ScreeningNotes ★★★★ 9

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  Schizopolis is the most important motion picture you will ever see in your life. I wanted to tell you that now because I know it can be difficult to fully comprehend reviews without an introduction, and you're going to need as much help understanding this one as you can get because it will doubtlessly be the most important thing you've ever read.

  In fact, Schizopolis itself was most likely inspired by my own structural analysis, as I was born almost 8 years before Soderbergh released his film. You ought to be grateful for this marvelous interpretation, because without it the film would be an incomprehensible mess. If you do not understand this review, please know that this is your fault,…

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  Review by josiah ★★★★ 1

  steven soderbergh's the sims .

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  Review by Josiah Morgan ★★★★★

  Unsure if a film has ever truly deserved the word 'unpredictable' but if anything does, this is it. This is the world of the poseur, the pretender, the fraud.

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  Review by Justin Peterson ★★½

  Criterion Collection Spine #199

  Too much of a CF for me to be compelled to analyze, not funny enough to be redeemable.

  "In the event that you find certain sequences or ideas confusing, please bear in mind that this is your fault, not ours. You will need to see the picture again and again until you understand everything.”

  Director Steven Soderbergh's obscure post-modern satire on … fuck if I know. Schizopolis offers up a few funny moments amidst a sea of complete randomness. Maybe it has something to do with becoming lost within the flow of modern domestic/work life … maybe?

  As the opening quote states, you will likely not get it and will need to watch it again and…

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  Review by Evan “Kaizō Haya-shill” Pincus ★★★★★

  Idea missing. Extremely aggressive stuff, but if you can meet Soderbergh on his bizarre wavelength here, there's some seriously potent moments to be found. One of the most honest and, surprisingly, brutally sad depictions of a communication breakdown... and also a laugh riot of a freewheeling formal cypher. The only Soderbergh I've seen so far that could be described as "difficult," but it's worth the effort (and make no mistake, it takes effort). Another day, another soundtrack I'd love to see be made available.

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  Review by {Todd} ★★½

  "Oh my God, I'm having an affair with my wife" -Fletcher Munson,

  - Soderbergh: boxd.it/axqbw

  It's "clever".... I just don't always enjoy "clever."

  On the plus side there are a lot of quirky and great moments that made me giggle out loud. There's this "look at me I'm edgy" quality to this film that regularly annoyed me... that's the bad news. I, personally, might have liked this better had I seen it when it came out because you know...different times man. The humor just doesn't feel fresh to me while it may have in 1996.

  It's a no from me but most people seem to really enjoy it.

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  Review by Mike D'Angelo ★★★★ 2

  72/100

  [Currently revisiting some favorite 1997 U.S. releases that I hadn't seen since around that time, in preparation for an A.V. Club "It was 20 years ago today" retrospective. For the most part, I'm just gonna make a few quick notes and then cut/paste what I wrote back then, because I've already fallen like a week behind with updates.]

  • Fourth time's the charm, very belatedly, for a movie that I desperately wanted to love when it was originally released and just could not. Schizopolis still is what it always was: a mess, stuffed with too many random ideas and sophomoric jokes to "work" in any conventional sense. But I'm less inclined to care about intellectual coherence now, and more willing…