My Thoughts on ‘The Canyons’

“The Canyons” poster via the film’s Facebook page

Seemingly against all odds, The Canyons has arrived. I’ve been morbidly anticipating the film for quite a while now, so I sat down and ordered the movie through IFC on demand. This instant gratification method of watching films fits with the theme of the movie and it’s exactly what attracted veteran filmmaker Paul Schrader to the project. While promoting The Canyons, he’s talked extensively about the wonder of VOD and the death of big budget studio films. Even Spielberg and Lucas have chimed in as of late about the bloated tent-pole flicks and their imminent demise. I believe that’s what’s referred to as irony…

Anyway, Schrader has never really made “studio” pictures, though he has made bona fide classics, and writer Bret Easton Ellis doesn’t exactly practice in mainstream fare. To quote him via his Twitter feed, “Coldness. Amorality. Deadness. Vicious and Unsympathetic Characters.