I Shot Andy Warhol (1996) from Tuna
 I Shot Andy Warhol (1996) is based on the true story of 60's radical Valerie Solana, who wrote the SCUM Manefesto arguing that men were no longer necessary (SCUM = Society for Cutting Up Men). Valerie wrote a play called "Up Your Ass" and wanted Warhol to produce it. When he ignored her, she shot him.

NUDITY REPORT
none, but Catherine Zeta-Jones was seen from the rear in a leotard that didn't cover her entire behind.

DVD info from Amazon.

  • Widescreen anamorphic, 1.85:1

  • no features
I am at odds with the reviewers on this one. They praise the production design, acting by Lili Taylor as Valerie and Jared Harris as Warhol, and the insightful look into two unusual characters. I saw it as a crazy bull dyke manufacturing a reason to kill a weird and immature but popular Warhol. At the same time, I found it very pretentious. Lili does show her breasts, as do Martha Plimpton in a very dark scene, and Anna Thomson in a picture within a picture. 

If this sounds like fun to you, go for it.  

Scoop's note: One reviewer was far from the positive consensus. Tom Keough wrote on amazon.com, "a highly suspect mishmash of golly-gee counterculture reconstruction and inflammatory agitprop"

The Critics Vote

  • General consensus: three stars. Ebert 3.5/4, Berardinelli 3/4, Maltin 3/4.

  • Rotten Tomatoes summary. 56% positive, 100% from the top reviewers

The People Vote ...

  • With their votes ... IMDB summary: IMDb voters score it 6.5 
  • With their dollars ... arthouse distribution, $1.8 million gross 
IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, this film is a C. The genre is arthouse 60's strange.

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