Inclubabu Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Brooklynn There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

moosic To try and comment on this film without mentioning Spinal Tap would be hard considering not only all the comments that have gone before but also the synopsis provided on this site. And the fact that not even real Rockumentary's can be reviewed without mentioning it hints at the brilliance of that film. Hard Core Logo, is not, however, Spinal Tap......and it's none the worse for it.Hard Core Logo is an intelligent drama (with the occasional comic moment) about the intense love between two friends and their mutually destructive force on each other when their paths once again entwine together years after the dissolution of their band.The copy I watched was pretty pore so I can't really comment on the cinematography but I can imagine, from the fuzzy version I did see, that its strikingly beautiful in it's own slightly decrepit way. The plot line is almost non-existent leaving the main focus on the four members of the band, mainly founding members Joe Dick and Billy Talent.So without good actors this film would sink. As it is the director has pulled fantastic, three dimensional, heart rending performances from both Hugh Dillon and Callum Keith-Rennie. Hugh Dillon's Joe Dick is a self destructive black hole that pulls in those around him. His love for Billy can never be doubted but he can't stand to think he's been left behind and will do almost anything to bring Billy back into his life. Dillon's energy and screen presence is quite extraordinary.Billy on the other hand is trying to get out, not just for money reasons but because he sees it as a way of salvaging his life from his group of self destructing band mates. Keith-Rennie's performance is all in the close ups of his face or his performance in the background of a scene while watching those around him. Billy talks crap but his face never lies.well, at least that was my take on this film...and that really is where Hard Core Logo comes into it's own. With so much of what the characters actually mean not being said (they chose, instead, to spout the generally expected views of a rock band) it really does depend on the viewer what film they watch. Bruce McDonald is a director that knows the beauty of well acted silence. They don't need to say anything for us to know exactly what these characters are feeling. Truly spectacular.But I'm rambling, seriously, watch it, don't watch it, but if you don;t you're genuinely missing out!!

forkerouac The second best Canadian movie of all time. (The best is Going Down the Road.) Here is why Hard Core Logo ranks so high: 1. It moves. Canadian movies in general are terribly, terribly slow. Hard Core Logo is 100 miles per hour. 2. It deals with places/contexts that other Canadian movies don't, i.e., it is not about growing up in a small town. 3. The heroes, although they are in a band, aren't a group of teenagers trying to make it big. They are "grown-ups," at least in terms of years on the planet. Their struggle, their demons aren't glossy. 4. This is existential stuff. The main characters' struggles aren't confined to the world of music, or to a small sub-culture of it. Pigeonholing the movie as a music movie or as a comedy in the style of Spinal Top misses what is really going on here. This isn't a comedy, not even a black comedy (which is usually code for a comedy that isn't funny.) Instead, here you get to see Sisyphus -- right at the top of the mountain.

Raleon This is a dramatic comedy, and more than any other type of dramatic comedies, it''s dark and very real. Though there are quite a few jokes, many inside jokes, it melts into the tension of the four guys like a fast gliding bird would melt into a brick wall in a cartoon. Worthy to be a classic. Hugh Dillon is a great actor and has perfect chemistry with Callum Keith Rennie.

kamerad While I was watching my ultra rare, bootlegged, wide-screen edition of "Hard Core Logo", ( that I actually came into possession of just one week after the film's theatrical release in October of 1996) a couple of punk songs kept running through my mind. One of the songs was "Proud to be Canadian" by Dayglow Abortions, the other was "As Canadian as F--k" by The Ripcordz. These songs are fiercely, uncompromisingly Canadian just like the film. That the film is about an aging Canadian punk band trying to make a comeback, makes my mention of the songs all the more appropriate. The film, despite it's quality, will never be able to be enjoyed on the same level anywhere else in the world than here. That's not a bad thing at all though. There are so many jingoistic flag waving American films that get seen here ("Armageddon", anyone?). Yet HCL, isn't even anywhere close to patriotic propaganda. It just lets it's Characters talk like real Canadians without worrying if people will understand the Canadian references. There are ample references to cities, people and politics that are strictly meant for Canadian ears to appreciate. At on point the band's bassist Mentions why he likes playing in Calgary: "...better than Toronto with it's smug little rat race faces, or Montreal with it's separatist chain smoker faces..." Would an American audience even get what "separatist" was in reference to? When I mentioned before that HCL was not propaganda, I think I was right. The film is a bleakly cynical look at the state of Canadian music. When at the end of the movie, band frontman Joe Dick (played by real life Canadian punk rocker Hugh Dillon, of "The Headstones") cleans his head out with a bullet, it is not only symbolic of the death of the golden age of early eighties Canadian punk, but also Canadian music's selling out to The States. The guitarist joins a trendy L.A. alternative pop band, and the bassist joins a Texas based country band. The irony also spills over into real life. The film's director, Bruce MacDonald's next film was also about a rock band, but it was the superficially stylish TV movie "Platinum". Quentin Tarantino saw the film. Loved it an promised to release it in the U.S. under his lable . It didn't make much of an impact after its U.S. release (2 years after it premiered in Canada). "Hard Core Logo" is not only too Canadian for most Americans to take, it is also too good, too honest, to strong and too smart for most of them to understand.