Kaboom (2010)

dir Gregg Araki

Currently I’m marinating in 2000s nostalgia loop. Maybe it started with Hannah Montana, I don’t know. But here we are: Kaboom!

This was my first Araki feature (way back when), which I’m happy about even though it’s objectively not his best. There’s heavy crossover with Nowhere (1997) and Araki’s brief television series Now Apocalypse (2019) like blah blah blah bisexuality and the end of the world. I never get tired of it. It’s a formula that just works. Undeclared queer dude + bitchy lesbian sidekick + indecipherable messages from God(?) + animal people = fig is seated with a bowl of popcorn and their weed vape.

Let’s take a moment to appreciate the soundtrack, because that’s one of the coolest things about Gregg’s work. The guy knows his needle drops.

Saturdays- Cut Copy

Crystal Visions- The Big Pink

Weekend- Ladytron

Mind the Wires- Tears Run Rings

Paris- Friendly Fires

Mirror’s Image- The Horrors

Stars- The xx

In Your Room- Airiel

This Love Is Fucking Right!- The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

Soft Shock- Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Dream About Me- The Depreciation Guild

Shallow In Youth- Auburn Lull

Our Secrets- Hellan Stellar

First Punk Wars- Iron Curtain

Clean Coloured Wire- Engineers

Song Seven- Interpol

The Bitter End- Placebo

Side note: I watched a rip of this on what I believe is Russia’s version of Youtube. The copy I got a hold of included non optional Spanish subtitles which were oddly enjoyable. Do you think I could learn rudimentary Spanish by watching everything with subtitles? Hmm… I’ll keep you posted.

Something a little odd is that I’ve seen this film at least thrice, and yet the ending felt totally different this time around. Did Russian Youtube lead me astray? Or is it my short term memory? Maybe I seriously am smoking too much weed. I always say that I don’t believe in the idea of a “rewatch” because every time you watch something, you get something new out of it. Maybe I wasn’t bullshitting as much as I figured. Hm.