Teeth.

"Inarguably the best film about a woman with a toothed vagina to ever screen at the Museum of Modern Art, Teeth premiered in Midtown Monday night with breakthrough star Jess Weixler and first-time filmmaker Mitchell Lichtenstein in attendance," writes the Reeler's ST VanAirsdale. "Generally underwhelmed by the film upon its Sundance premiere in 2007, I found its genre-hopping from horror comedy to political satire to rape-revenge flick a little more intriguing after viewing it last week in New York - particularly the latter theme, which acquires some clever superheroic muscle as young Dawn (Weixler) harrowingly discovers her body's capacity for self-defense, vengeance and, ultimately, total ownership of her sexual experience."

Updated through 1/20.

"Weixler's appealing, sympathetic presence removes any misogyny from the premise: Indeed, the movie's best joke is its cock-chomping vengeance upon predatory male sexuality, an inversion of the slasher-movie same-old, same-old," writes Jim Ridley in the Voice.

Lichtenstein "imagines a fairly standard coming-of-age trajectory, as Teeth intriguingly, if awkwardly, morphs into an exploration of burgeoning, unique female sexuality and its empowering possibilities," writes Kristi Mitsuda at indieWIRE.

"The jokes aren't particularly funny and the scares aren't particularly scary," writes Matt Singer. "Maybe there's no other way to make a movie about a woman with a toothed vagina, though I'd like to think there is." Also at IFC News: "There are often guys who storm out at some point in the movie, which I usually find satisfying," Lichtenstein tells Aaron Hillis.

For Nerve, Ken Mondschein traces the history of the vagina dentata, "a universal motif, showing up in myths originating everywhere from the Indian subcontinent to the Plains Indians," while John Constantine interviews Weixler.

Updates, 1/17: "It works until it doesn't," writes Eric Kohn in the New York Press. "There's a delicate irony to Lichtenstein's two-pronged narrative: He subverts oversexed tomfoolery by giving the upper hand to a young woman, but the uncouth set-up condescends to the notion of the body as a temple. Instead, Lichtenstein views it as a battleground."

Jason Guerrasio profiles Weixler for indieWIRE.

For Premiere's Glenn Kenny, Teeth "aspires to be a fond parody of 50s science-horror pictures, a satire of particularly American prudishness, and a gross-out comedy to gross out even the likes of John Waters, and fails on every count."

Updates, 1/18: "Lichtenstein mercilessly skewers the way the evangelical obsession with chastity results in people thinking and talking about sex constantly, putting them in a state of perpetual, hysterical excitement," writes Carina Chocano in the Los Angeles Times. "Campy, shameless and sophisticated, Lichtenstein's debut is gutsy and original, and it makes Juno look positively tame by comparison."

"As much as you applaud its satiric nerve, once Teeth, has demonstrated how far it will go, its joke becomes repetitive," writes Stephen Holden in the New York Times. "The problem with shockers, comic or otherwise, is that once the coup de grâce is delivered, there are no big surprises left."

"This former 2007 Sundance offering is best enjoyed as lightweight camp entertainment, as if it were a B-horror flick with a sense of humor, instead of the tonally risqué fable of sexuality that first-time director Mitchell Lichtenstein halfheartedly pitches," writes Nicolas Rapold in the New York Sun.

"If nothing else, Lichtenstein has made a great discovery in Jess Weixler, who proves adept at expressing every stage of her character's development, from good-girl naïveté to trepidation and shock to a frightening, darkly funny sort of self-possession," writes Scott Tobias at the AV Club.

"[T]he very idea of the movie is tastelessly funny, and while the director is willing to drive through midnight movie country, he doesn't want to live there," writes Lauren Wissot at the House Next Door. "Lichtenstein calls the vagina dentata myth 'a tricky subject that can too easily be misconstrued as misogynist or sexist.' To head off such accusations, Lichtenstein has imbued Teeth with what can only be described as misplaced gravitas."

Update, 1/20: Capone talks with Lichtenstein for AICN.

Posted by dwhudson at January 15, 2008 3:04 PM