My Entire High School Sinking Into The Sea

Sometimes, a film comes around that seems as though it was made for you. This looks like one of those, at least for me. Jason Schwartzman, Reggie Watts, and Maya Rudolph voicing high school newspaper geeks? Umm, yeah, I *lettered* in newspaper.

Really, really looking forward to seeing My Entire High School Sinking Into The Sea. (Not literally, of course.)


From acclaimed graphic novelist Dash Shaw (New School) comes an audacious debut that is equal parts disaster cinema, high school comedy and blockbuster satire, told through a dream-like mixed media animation style that incorporates drawings, paintings and collage. Dash (Jason Schwartzman) and his best friend Assaf (Reggie Watts) are preparing for another year at Tides High School muckraking on behalf of their widely-distributed but little-read school newspaper, edited by their friend Verti (Maya Rudolph). But just when a blossoming relationship between Assaf and Verti threatens to destroy the boys’ friendship, Dash learns of the administration’s cover-up that puts all the students in danger. As disaster erupts and the friends race to escape through the roof of the school, they are joined by a popular know-it- all (Lena Dunham) and a lunch lady (Susan Sarandon) who is much more than meets the eye. But even as the film piles on brilliant details like a post-apocalyptic cult formed by jocks, video game homages, and an infectious synth soundtrack, it never loses sight of the characters at the heart of the story. Hailed as “the most original animated film of the year” and “John Hughes for the Adult Swim generation” (Indiewire), the film’s everyday concerns of friendships, cliques and young love remind us how the high school experience continues to shape who we become, even in the most unusual of circumstances.

Rose McGowan's Directorial Debut DAWN Streaming Free on YouTube

It's no surprise that Rose McGowan's first turn behind the camera is both quirky and menacing. As an actress, she has always embraced the offbeat, toying with cliches of youthful innocence and sinister violence.

Dawn starts off as a picture postcard from an era that is often romanticized. The cars are cool, the furniture is even cooler, and the churchy parents are definitely uncool. But what starts off as a giddy teen romance quickly denigrates into something more perverse. Remember the first time you read Shirley Jackson's The Lottery in one of those gigantic American literature textbooks? This is the cinematic equivalent. It's not subtle but you get the point:

McGowan is not afraid of throwing stones at people who want to box girls in to conventional stereotypes of morality. Dawn is a victim of her own curiosity as well as the technicolor lifestyle her parents have created for their suburban family, where girls should be seen but not in a certain light.



Realizing that her passion lies in filmmaking, Rose McGowan's breakthrough directorial debut, DAWN, is a disturbing tale of a young girl's budding sexuality and one's desire to experience the unknown. Dawn (Tara Barr) is a quiet young teenager living in Kennedy era America who longs for something or someone to free her from her sheltered life. When she strikes up an innocent flirtation with the boy who works at her local gas station (Reiley McClendon), she thinks that he is perhaps the answer to her teenage dreams. Though when she invites the boy and his friends into her otherwise cloistered world, she gets a lot more than she bargained for.

The Lonely Life

Sort of an introspective sci fi indie film featuring crazy animation and Will Oldham, The Lonely Life is a short film by Mike Aho from ((sounder)).


Streaming on on Juxtapoz.