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A German Shepherd humps the title character's leg and thereby effectively sets the tone on this poster for Trey Parker's Orgazmo
A good young Mormon male gets astray and involved in a porno in Los Angeles, which puts his value system to the test.
Orgazmo is written, directed and co-edited by Trey Parker (Cannibal! The Musical (1993)), who also stars as Joe Young, the Mormon in question, who becomes Orgazmo. Matt Stone (South Park (1997-)) co-produced, contributed uncredited writing and also co-stars as 'Dave the photographer'.
The film is surprisingly well-crafted and far from the trash one might suspect given the title and obviously low budget. The film takes the piss out of Mormons, the porn industry and superhero movies (Batman & Robin in particular.) It is crude and liberal-minded but never mean, and there's a great amount of energy in front of and behind the camera all the way through. Everyone acts with a passionate drive: Especially worth pointing out are Parker and Robyn Lynne Raab (Hey Dude (1990, TV-series)) as his fiancée Lisa, Michael Dean Jacobs(The King of Queens (2003, TV-series)) as porn producer villain Maxxx Orbison as well as Stone. Even real-life porn star Ron Jeremy (Northern Sights (2000)) is good.
The effects and fights are awful, - but they're also supposed to be. Parker and Co. get so much, - and so many laughs, most importantly, - out of precious little here. Hooray for Orgazmo!
Parker and others from the cast give an interview about the film here
Cost: 1-1.3 mil. $ (different reports)
Box office: 647k $
= Huge flop (returned approximately 0.56 times its cost)
[Orgazmo premiered 6 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 94 minutes. Shooting took place from February - March 1997 in Los Angeles, California. The film opened #18 to a 210k $ first weekend in 94 theaters in North America, where it grossed 602k $ (93 % of the total gross). It was released in a handful of other markets. The-numbers.com alleges that it made only 45k $ internationally, but that it has also made 334k $ on its domestic Blu-ray release (many years later). Roger Ebert gave it a 0.5/4 star review, translating to 4 notches under this one. Parker returned with Master P: Kenny's Dead (1998, music video) and theatrically with South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999). As an actor he returned in BASEketball (1998). Orgazmo is rotten at 48 % with a 4.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
Best Film (lost to The King's Speech) Best Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black (lost to Christopher Nolan for Inception) Best Lead Actress: Jennifer Connelly (won) Best Supporting Actor: Barry Shabaka Henley (lost to John C. Reilly for The Extra Man) Best Cinematography: Eric Alan Edwards (lost to Wally Phister for Inception)
+ Most Under-appreciated Movie of the Year
Jennifer Connelly looks troubled and is aslant on this poster for Dustin Lance Black's Virginia
Virginia is a fickle-minded mother with a past of mental illness, who lives in an American town that has her confused with its excessive focus on God through different Christian sects. The local Mormon sheriff Tipton, who is running for office, has carried on a two decades long extra-marital affair with Virginia. Her teenage son is now out to prove that Tipton is not his father, in order that he can date Tipton's daughter. - Life is not easy for Virginia.
Virginia is written and directed by Californian master filmmaker Dustin Lance Black (The Journey of Jared Price (2000)), whose 2nd film as a director it is. It is a movie that is hard to sum up, but it is a rich and emotionally rewarding experience. It is about a woman who struggles for respectability; struggles to do the right thing; struggles to keep it together; but struggles most of all for her son. It is about everyone's pursuit of happiness, reassurance, God, redemption and love. And the anxieties and stresses that all of these concepts also congest in the human mind. Jennifer Connolly (Requiem for a Dream (2000)), one of the finest actresses we have today, is magnificent as Virginia. She helped pick items for Virginia's house and wardrobe for the film, and throughout the film it is a luxurious joy to see her truly own that character. Connolly is supported by great actors in all the other parts: The young Harrison Gilbert (Need for Speed (2014)) impresses as Virginia's direct, sincere son. Ed Harris (Appaloosa (2008)) shines in another difficult part as sheriff Tipton, a desperate and dangerous man who has built himself a life that's only held together by corroding lies. Barry Shabaka Henley (Collateral (2004)) has a small, but pivotal part as Virginia's old male nurse. Their scenes are nothing short of heartbreaking. Emma Roberts (Valentine's Day (2010)) and Amy Madigan (Winter Passing (2005)) are good as the daughter and wife of Tipton. And Toby Jones (Kaleidoscope (2016)) and Paul Walter Hauser (Richard Jewell (2019)) are a gift as a tragic - and sometimes funny - couple. Virginia
is so rich with texture and American life: The sheriff Tipton character
inevitably made me think of last year's Mormon presidential candidate
Mitt Romney, who was about as trustworthy as sheriff Tipton and probably
had a Virginia or two in his chained up Mormon closet somewhere as
well. The
movie plays out mostly in a sleepy Summer town with a theme park.
Everything comes to life around a governor's visit to the local
sheriff's campaign. There is an unreal, stagnant atmosphere in that
little society. The characters are never judged. The roller-coasters in the town's background seem to reflect on their co-mingling lives in
the drowsy town. Quite often in Virginia,
the characters speak lines that are unintentionally poignant and/or
funny, (but intentionally written so, I am sure.) The underlying
intelligence is keen, and the film stays living and breathing through
it, but many times I was too emotionally invested in the characters to
laugh at them, even if they did say some ridiculous things. This is a
testament to great, truthful acting and seriousness in direction. Virginia has a sensitive, delicate score by Nick Urata (I Love You Philip Morris (2009)), and great, unpretentious cinematography by Eric Alan Edwards (Knocked Up (2007)). The movie is a first class heartbreaker.
Cost: Unknown Box office: 12k $ = Box office disaster (estimated return of 0.003 times the cost)
[Virginia premiered 15 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 116 minutes. Shooting took place from September - November 2009 in Michigan and New Jersey. The film opened #43 to a 742$ first weekend in 5 theaters in North America, its peak there and the film's only theatrical market. If made on a very lowly estimated 4 mil. $ budget, the film would rank as a rarely bleak disaster with a return of just 0.003 times the cost. The release was obstructed by a bad first premiere in Toronto and following re-editing and re-titling by Black, who also told a festival reporter that the film, which is allegedly autobiographical, "was pretty bad", effectively taking the life out of it himself. Black as a director has only returned with 2 shorts and 2 TV credits since. Connelly returned in The Dilemma (2011); Harris in Salvation Boulevard (2011). Virginia is rotten at 11 % with a 4.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
