Rating: 
Summary: Profoundly Disappointing
Review: Readers expecting to find the humorous, satirical writing of Joe Bob Briggs are in for a bitter letdown. "Profoundly Disturbing" is a very serious book about movies that broke boundaries and shocked audiences in their day. The movies are well-chosen for neophyte shock seekers, but most people who would be attracted by the Joe Bob by-line will consider these fairly familiar. This could easily be a textbook for a film class, with all the good and bad that that implies. This isn't really Joe Bob Briggs at all, it's John Bloom (Joe Bob's creator/alter ego, writing a book that tries very hard to be scholarly, and engages in the kind of sociopolitical analysis that Joe Bob sneered at. It's not a bad book on the subject if you just want to skim the topic, but Joe Bob's fans will miss their hero and his three B's.
Rating:
Summary: Profoundly Disappointing
Review: Readers expecting to find the humorous, satirical writing of Joe Bob Briggs are in for a bitter letdown. "Profoundly Disturbing" is a very serious book about movies that broke boundaries and shocked audiences in their day. The movies are well-chosen for neophyte shock seekers, but most people who would be attracted by the Joe Bob by-line will consider these fairly familiar. This could easily be a textbook for a film class, with all the good and bad that that implies. This isn't really Joe Bob Briggs at all, it's John Bloom (Joe Bob's creator/alter ego, writing a book that tries very hard to be scholarly, and engages in the kind of sociopolitical analysis that Joe Bob sneered at. It's not a bad book on the subject if you just want to skim the topic, but Joe Bob's fans will miss their hero and his three B's.
Rating: 
Summary: No Drive in Totals? Now THAT'S Disturbing!!
Review: That's right, in this book, Mr. Briggs dispenses with the "9 breasts, 10 dead bodies" reviews, and pens literate, thought provoking essays about fifteen films that shocked film audiences and helped change film history. Whether it's the legitimization of porn (DEEP THROAT) or the beginning of explicit gore (BLOOD FEAST) all fifteen of these movies hold places in film history that are just as important as BIRTH OF A NATION or CITIZEN KANE. The essays are all well written, thoughtful, and informative. Once in a while, the trademark Joe Bob humor kicks in. I'd like to thank Mr. Briggs for writing a book that shows that the movies that I've been watching and loving for years have had a great significance to the world of cinema and are more than just trash. All I can say is, BRING ON THE SEQUEL!!
Rating:
Summary: A Serious Book By A Funny Man
Review: The name on the cover is "Joe Bob Briggs" but make no mistake: "Profoundly Disturbing" is the product of the mind of John Bloom, Joe Bob's alter-ego and a damn fine writer and critic. Readers used to Joe Bob's comic persona may initially be put off by this difference in tone, but if they will stick with this book, they will experience a very satisfying set of essays of analysis and history about these films. These essays are very funny in a different, more irony-laced sort of way, in their own right. And what films they are! Some of them still couldn't be shown on network television after all these years. Briggs/Bloom skillfully gathers together the pertinent, fascinating facts on each movie and gives his own perspective as well. I have never seen Cronenberg's "Crash" because of its somewhat perverted, NC-17 rated reputation. Joe Bob's persuasive essay on why it really is a fine film makes me want to seek it out and see it. The same can't be said for "Deep Throat" and "Ilsa She-Wolf of the SS", but he make me see why some people would be attracted to these dangerous films. Essays on "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "The Exorcist", and "The Wild Bunch" are nostalgic for the 1970's and what seems like the last era American movies were truly adventerous and independent. Many observers have noted that Briggs/Bloom has written criticism for the conservative magazine "National Review", and that sort of tough realism about sex and violence carries over into this book. Politically correct liberal puritans would be shocked and appalled by most of these films. (In the essay on "Resevoir Dogs", Joe Bob chortles about how that film changed the image of the initially granola-ish, overly earnest Sundance Film Festival.) This book is a celebration of the freedom we have in America to appreciate art that is made from the most unlikely material. "Mom and Dad" and "Shaft" can teach us more about our great, weird old American culture than a thousand pious textbooks.
Rating:
Summary: A Serious Book By A Funny Man
Review: The name on the cover is "Joe Bob Briggs" but make no mistake: "Profoundly Disturbing" is the product of the mind of John Bloom, Joe Bob's alter-ego and a damn fine writer and critic. Readers used to Joe Bob's comic persona may initially be put off by this difference in tone, but if they will stick with this book, they will experience a very satisfying set of essays of analysis and history about these films. These essays are very funny in a different, more irony-laced sort of way, in their own right. And what films they are! Some of them still couldn't be shown on network television after all these years. Briggs/Bloom skillfully gathers together the pertinent, fascinating facts on each movie and gives his own perspective as well. I have never seen Cronenberg's "Crash" because of its somewhat perverted, NC-17 rated reputation. Joe Bob's persuasive essay on why it really is a fine film makes me want to seek it out and see it. The same can't be said for "Deep Throat" and "Ilsa She-Wolf of the SS", but he make me see why some people would be attracted to these dangerous films. Essays on "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "The Exorcist", and "The Wild Bunch" are nostalgic for the 1970's and what seems like the last era American movies were truly adventerous and independent. Many observers have noted that Briggs/Bloom has written criticism for the conservative magazine "National Review", and that sort of tough realism about sex and violence carries over into this book. Politically correct liberal puritans would be shocked and appalled by most of these films. (In the essay on "Resevoir Dogs", Joe Bob chortles about how that film changed the image of the initially granola-ish, overly earnest Sundance Film Festival.) This book is a celebration of the freedom we have in America to appreciate art that is made from the most unlikely material. "Mom and Dad" and "Shaft" can teach us more about our great, weird old American culture than a thousand pious textbooks.
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