Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Contentar Best movie of this year hands down!

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Patience Watson One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

leone_glembay This is a very charming debut by Todd Haynes, signaling his talent, but it is also understandably raw. The approach is the most fascinating thing here. Having dolls instead of real actors, but filming it as if were made by cameras of the 70's works great. Thus acting is nonexistent, but the conversations are not lacking in spark. In the dramatical context, the minimalistic approach is spot on, but the actual dialogues are too banal for my liking. Also, the messages about anorexia nervosa are not subtle enough, so it sometimes feels like we are in a commercial. Even though I found several significant flaws, I enjoyed the movie on a substantial level. At the end of the day, it is a very original idea, but perhaps not done to its full potential. It is as if the director was 'too nice' to make something even greater, somehow reminding us of the Carpenters themselves.

Charles Herold (cherold) In New York in the 1980s I recall there were always these low-budget short art films floating around, shown in clubs or bars to audiences who all dressed in black and didn't own televisions. Superstar is reminiscent of the movies I saw back then, although it's somewhat more focused and coherent than most of them.Using Barbie dolls to play real people is an interesting device that works to some extent. The movie has a well meaning concern with anorexia, and tries to explain, a little bit, what it is and how it happens.On the other hand, the movie has, like most art films, a lot of pretentious, random shots (in this case of holocaust victims and spanking) and the movie seems to have an ax to grind with Richard Carpenter; he is portrayed as domineering and unsympathetic and it is implied, for no reason that I can see, that he is gay. (On the other hand, the movie ignores his drug problems.) But the real problem with the movie is it's not all that interesting. The story itself is somewhat interesting, but 45 minutes is a long time to spend with bland Barbie dolls and the movie's lack of conventional movie devices such as character development just illustrate why art films never do well beyond a niche audience who so hates Hollywood that they fall in love with any movie that purposely flouts film conventions.The irony is that the thing that powers the movie and keeps it from being completely painful is the most movie-conventional quality, the wall-to-wall Carpenters sound track.

nycruise-1 This movie stands as an indictment of the whole American Middle Class culture of the 70s and its associated hypocrisy.In the heart of the Age of Aquarius, Karen and Richard are selected to sell "young and innocent" as "happening" (one of the most hilarious lines in the film).The anorexia, the implied homosexuality of Richard (honey, we ALL KNEW back then...), the California Suburbian culture and the politics of the time are all woven into a vivid presentation of the sad reality of Karen's life.Despite all the "camp" associated with the film's style of presentation, the storyline is very direct and to the point: Karen, for whatever reason and despite all her success, remained anorexic.I suppose ultimately you might call this movie a "murder mystery" - since the causes of anorexia are still not known with any certainty.I think the only people who cannot find this movie involving are those who actually knew Karen. To them I say: this film, for all its irreverent humor, is still a tribute to her.

dave-sturm I had long heard about this movie and was intrigued, but I never thought I'd have an opportunity to see it. But I did, on screen and with an audience, outdoors in Prague in the late 1990s (twin billed with Todd Browning's "Freaks," believe it or not.)I'm not sure the Czechs in the audience "got" it (they liked "Freaks," though), but I thought it was moving. I had expected it to be John Waters-ish. Not so. The Barbie gimmick really works.I just wonder what thought process went through Todd Haynes' mind to think this up. "A movie about Karen Carpenter. Using Barbie Dolls. Hmmm." The man's an artist. I've known ever since seeing "Safe."