How to Talk to Girls at Parties

"The film looks dreadful, and the CG effects are a legitimate eyesore: An opening animated sequence is so tacky, it took me a while before I realized it wasn't just another logo animation for a random film fund."

"The film enunciates its raw themes - punk means individuality! the aliens are all about conformity! - but never begins to figure out how to embody those themes in a narrative that could lure in the audience."

"An unfortunate amount of the enjoyment began and ended on set."

"The director's lost and his panic is contagious."

"It's all a bit mad, but ultimately rather moving."

"There's too little narrative cohesion or persuasive subtext to make this much more than a low-budget folly that's outre without always being terribly interesting."

"The cinematic energy that permeated the screen in both 'Hedwig' and its follow-up, the oft-forgotten 'Shortbus', is completely missing here."