Three and a half stars may seem like a high rating for a film that on the surface is all gloss and pop music. If you can look deeper though you'll see a film that's about teen angst, yearning and the tortures of growing up in an age where nothing matters. The movie follows a group of teens through one harrowing day in their lives, a day that they believe will end in apocalypse. We meet several characters and watch in amusement and sometimes horror at what happens to them. There's a lot of weird stuff going on, like a guy in a lizard suit who zaps people into ashes with his ray gun, an Ecstasy induced game of 'kick the can', strange cameos by former television stars (John Ritter plays a televangelist!) and a group of punk rock psychos straight out of REPO MAN. In fact it's hard not to see REPO MAN'S influence throughout this film, which portrays Los Angeles as an apocalyptic wasteland and its residents as drug and sex crazed loonies. Each character has a vice that eventually leads to either a downfall or an awakening and this film beautifully shows us the desperation of suicide, the depths of inner turmoil and the satisfaction of a love that is finally realized. Then, in the end, it's all taken away. Araki uses amazing visuals and a beautiful pop soundtrack to convey to us his character's emotions and by the end of the film, somehow I understood everything that he was trying to say. Nowhere is a lush, erotic visual piece with strange characters and strange dialogue. It's funny, brash, shocking and deeply sexual. Sometimes his metaphors are obvious and sometimes not and while this is definitely not a movie that every one will enjoy-if you have an open mind- it deserves to be seen.