Κάντλι Τόις

Taylor Heider5.0

I know I’m gonna be dirty forever but please can you please forgive me. Being a woman is the most tortuous kind of existence. I dumb myself down until I am smaller and smaller and hope that no one even notices me at all. The greatest desire that I have is that I can become so delusional and stupid that I can be embraced and feel some kind of warmth from it. Nothing works, though. I do accept whatever I can get. I mean, look at my hair. Look at the length of it and the shape of my body. If I told you that I was raped, do you really think that anybody would think I didn't ask for it? I didn't ask for it

Carl Russo4.5

CUDDLY TOYS EXPLODES WITH great ideas, and it’s a thrill to see how feminist artist Kansas Bowling pulls them all together. Both a hilarious parody of youth-exploitation scare movies and a visceral scream from the depths of trauma, this is one mondo movie that actually rings true.“Parents, beware,” says a clinically monotoned Bowling in a white lab coat. “Lock up your daughters.” What follows is an audiovisual collage of pseudo-cautionary tales that document “today’s untamed youth.” Despite the sarcasm, this raucous mixtape of the anorexia, rape, predation, and shame that teenage girls experience is rough stuff. Bowling gleefully dances in your discomfort zone to make a point, in the same (slit) vein as early Miranda July: a priest advises a grieving mother to take solace that her daughter “died young and beautiful,” while a male surgeon marks up a healthy girl’s body for cosmetic butchery.The road movie is turned on its head by an episodic narrative that runs throughout, rendering common horror tropes absolutely unspeakable in this context. In classic mondo style, reality is woven in with unscripted interviews that recount personal teen tragedies, each as disturbing as the satirical sequences. Viewers, beware.Viewed on Blu-ray disc (Vinegar Syndrome Pictures)

Blake Bergman "Various Spaghetti"4.0

A strongly executed film that foremost should be praised for its unique process of display, "Cuddly Toys" is absolutely not going to be for everyone but then again nor should it be. Even I found myself sitting in moments where the film ran against the grain for me as well, but assuredly it seems like Kansas Bowling put forth the effort to do that on purpose as "Cuddly Toys" is very much an execution of trials in vignette form. The film is unapologetically brash, which more power to it for what it is in intention. Set forth to take on Hegemonic masculinity head on, "Cuddly Toys" is articulated as a blend of Mondo Documentaries, New Hollywood naturalism, and 42 Street exploitation grindhouse but all set purposely within the focus of the Female Gaze. It's unapologetic about some of the cruel realities and isn't shy to stick it right in your face.From a production standpoint, the film is quite fantastic in its design. Once again as I ebbed and flowed with how well the narrative sat from moment to moment, the quality of production and creative measure would never cease to exist. In the end I can say without a doubt that there are moments in the film that is not for me but then again it's not for me anyway as I believe it was Bowling's mentality to push this out there as a distinct artistic statement regardless of public interpretation. Either way I appreciate a daring artistic film where it lands for what it is and I could easily see "Cuddly Toys" as a possible important cult film in the future.