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Cool School, The
Arthouse Films


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Internet Movie Database

MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Starring Jeff Bridges, Dennis Hopper, Frank Gehry, Ed Ruscha, John Baldessari, Billy Al Bengston, Ed Kienholz, and Irving Blum

The Cool School is the story of American art in the 1950s and '60s, LA's coming of age, and a distinctive, fraternal group of headstrong talents. The renowned Ferus Art Gallery groomed certain members of the LA art scene from a loose band of idealistic beatniks into a coterie of competitive, often-brilliant artists. What was lost and gained is tied up in complex web of egos, passions, money, and art. The Cool School is about San Francisco versus LA, New York versus LA, commercialism, and bohemianism. Ferus managed to do for art in LA what the museums would not; the gallery gave birth to a vibrant, coalescing scene. Assemblage art, abstract expressionism, or Pop--the men of Ferus shared ideas, goals, studios, women, and a vision. The Cool School is an extraordinary lesson in how a city can build an art scene from scratch without losing its soul. (Tremolo Productions)

GENRE(S):	Documentary
DIRECTED BY:	Morgan Neville
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: July 29, 2008 Theatrical: March 28, 2008
RUNNING TIME:	86 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

The rare footage of '50s and '60s L.A. alone is a treasure; the City of Angels has rarely looked so hip. Bonus: cool music from the likes of Charles Mingus and the Velvet Underground.

TV Guide Ken Fox

Happily, many of the figures spoken about throughout the film are still with us -- Neville is even able to reproduce Patricia Foure's famous group photo with most of its original subjects.

San Francisco Chronicle Kenneth Baker

Takes its title from an early Artforum article that described the sleek aesthetic of the then-new Southern California art.

The Hollywood Reporter Sheri Linden

Documentarian Morgan Neville has fashioned a spirited riposte to the groundless cliche that Los Angeles is a cultural wasteland.

Variety John Anderson

What The Cool School does so well, through its color accents and black-and-white photography, through the kinetic music that propels Jeff Bridges' narration by and the unorthodox attitude that reflects the artists themselves, is impart a sense of discovery.

Village Voice Nathan Lee

All told, and well told, this is essential history.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Filmed largely in black and white, The Cool School includes interviews with one of the gallery's founders, Ed Kienholz, as well as with Dennis Hopper, Dean Stockwell and architect Frank Gehry.

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

The Cool School, is, well, cool, but it’s also fairly parochial.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

The cultural cock-strutting gets to be a bit much, but Neville handily captures the excitement of an art scene percolating, breaking wide open, and finally burning itself out.

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Cool School, The Arthouse Films

Cool School, The
Arthouse Films