MAD COWGIRL is a waste of time movie in the career of director Gregory Hatanaka, the man best known for making another waste of time movie, the infamous SAMURAI COP 2. This one's a would-be psychological thriller about a girl dying of a brain disorder who begins to lose touch with reality and descends into a frightening surreal world.The problems with this film are manifest from the start. The camera-work is amateurish and the plot is devoid of interest, so there's a lot of talk and not much else. The main actress gives a worthwhile performance but the production values are so poor that this mess is near unwatchable. Poor old Walter Koenig turns up for the hammiest cameo performance ever. The best thing I got out of it was a handful of references to old kung fu cinema; otherwise this is sorry-looking and painful to sit through.

I really have no other way to describe MAD COWGIRL. There's a lot of stuff going on in this film - probably a lot of "deep" symbolism and whatnot, but it's all so jumbled together that I personally couldn't find anything of real note in this film other than it's complete "oddness"...A young female meat-inspector contracts some sort of brain-tumors from consuming tainted meat that her brother (with whom she has some sort of vague incestuous relationship with) provides for her. A pre-tumor obsession with kung-fu flicks and a local pastor (played by Chekov from the STAR TREK TV series) causes her post-tumor delusions to manifest themselves in strange ways - namely, with the obsession of knocking off a gang of kung-fu masters from some TV show that she watches on a regular basis, and having weird fantasies/nightmares involving priests...There's quite a bit more to MAD COWGIRL than what I've mentioned above, and if the film itself was very notable on any level, I'd go into more depth. As it is, this one is a collection of interesting ideas that just doesn't feel fully "realized". As for the good points: The acting, camera-work, etc...are all pretty decent for an indie film. No real complaints in the "technical" department. There's also quite a bit of campy dark-humor that works on some levels. Unfortunately (and on to the bad points): none of it amounts to anything. It seems as though MAD COWGIRL had a lot to say in terms of social-commentary - namely things to do with consumerism, perhaps the hypocrisy of religion, etc...but it was all so vague that I couldn't decide if these elements were actually intended to be in the film, or if I were just reading my own interpretations into what could really be considered just a jumble of randomosity. Also, the pacing seemed a bit off. Things would get moving for a while and then become dull and tedious for stretches, making it hard to pay attention to the total product. My overall impression with MAD COWGIRL, is that it was weird, but not really in a good way, and that nothing really stands out about it in terms of content - meaning, if you asked me anything about this film a week from now, I'll have already forgotten about it. Not terrible in terms of low-budget, odd-ball films - I just didn't get anything at all out of it (P.S. - for the sleaze fans, there's a few shots of the lead actresses tits and a little bit of gore - but nothing to write home about)...5/10

I'm come to the conclusion that there needs to be a new rating added to the system: APC, "Artsy Poser Crap". Characteristics: No straightforward plot development, completely unlikeable and undeveloped characters, elements tossed in for no reason at all, designed with smirking, jaded "Film Appreciation 201" grads in mind. That's right, I'm completely unimaginative, totally bogged down in traditional petite bourgeoisie story telling methodology--probably even (gasp!) straight, gender-preference-wise. But see, here's the thing: when I see a movie I like, it's because it succeeds by having a real story, real characters and real atmosphere. It doesn't have to toss together a bunch of disjointed shots and rambling dialog adorned by a hodge-podge score, then hope no one notices the absolute emptiness that results--or else is too afraid of being labeled as "unappreciative of art" to admit it.Well, at the risk of being so pigeon-holed--"Cowgirl" is crap. Phony, jumbled crap. Interesting idea completely ruined by someone who apparently thought he would make "art".So, please, Hollywood: APC. For those of us who prefer or creativity to have both content AND form, instead of cinemagraphic cuisinart.Patooie.

Watching this movie my first thought was "Was that guy on Star Trek?" And my last thought was "I gotta get outta here!" It's probably not fair for me to critique this movie since I did not see the whole thing. That said, let me warn anyone who is thinking of seeing it that this is not a "regular" movie. By this I mean one that generally has a clear path or plot development that you can follow (or want to follow) from beginning to end. It has an off-beat independent film look and feel to it. Maybe it is. I didn't care enough to take 2 minutes to check.No one in this movie seemed to have their head screwed on tightly. They all seemed as dysfunctional as the script which seemed to randomly stitch scenes together and toss images at you, with the recurring theme of the lead character bestially gorging herself on meat. Less anyone get the wrong impression, I am not without range: I do like SOME "quirky" and "offbeat" films and support experimental and independent film making. I believe they serve a good purpose towards the expanded expression and development of the art and human consciousness. I just "personally" couldn't get into this one.Finally, for me this movie was like a long walk that was taking me nowhere (or nowhere I wanted to go, I'm not sure which). So half way thru I bailed. Lost my appetite, I guess. Love, Boloxxxi.