Director Gregg Araki is a stylistic freak – whatever his budget , he will always color his films with a wide spectrum of shocking sights and sounds. Nothing is too delicate or controversial for the director.

In Kaboom, Smith (Thomas Dekker) is a regular bisexual college student: he lusts after his hunky blonde surfer roommate, Thor (Chris Zylka), and he hangs with his BFF, Stella (Haley Bennett). Everything is going well for him until Smith meets a girl named London (Juno Temple). The two quickly become more than just friends, and then suddenly chaos ensues when a mysterious red-head (Nicole LaLiberte) and a witch (Roxane Mesquida) – who becomes Stella’s love interest – appear.

Dekker is terrific in the role of the protagonist: he captures perfectly the vulnerability in his sexual ambiguity. As emotionally disturbed as the rest of the characters are, they are incredibly endearing. While the rebellious anti-heroes Araki idolized in the past still haunt his artistic vision, he now seems more enlightened and optimistic. Araki, however, still takes chances in his thematic work. He always finds a way to mix sexuality, violence, murder and nudity into the story. With Kaboom, the nudity and sex is prominently explored, yet the film isn’t nearly as violent as his The Doom Generation was. This is a story primarily of sexual awakening and embracing new experiences before our time on this earth is up.

One minor problem with the film is its much-too-quick final act. After focusing so extensively on character development throughout the strangeness, it would have been nice to slow down the action before the end credits. The final few minutes are too abrupt and explosive. I guess that’s why they call it… Kaboom!

Sundance Selects, the theatrical and video-on-demand film label announced the second partnership with the not-for-profit Sundance Institute for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival (January 20th – 30th, Park City, UT). Five films will be screened as part of the “Direct from the Sundance Film Festival” where each film will be simultaneously available nationwide, on-demand and through Sundance Selects.

The five films included are Brandon Fletcher’s Mad Bastards, Michael Tully’s Septien, Paul Mariano and Kurt Norton’s These Amazing Shadows, and Joe Swanberg’s Uncle Kent. One other film featured will be the U.S. premiere of Gregg Araki’s Kaboom. The screenings will begin on video-on-demand at the same time they premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.