Punk Rock Cool Kid Required Viewing (for grownups)
(1 of 2)
Maybe you saw my posts discussing rewatches of the must-see movies of my 1980s alterna-teen years; it made me think about other movies that feel similar but which either hadn't come out by my high school graduation year of 1990 or just weren't in my gang's orbit at the time. While my reactions to the required viewing of my youth were varied (mostly positive but not everything ages well), these are exclusively films I enjoy/ed and recommend.
In no particular order:
Filmage: The Story of The Descendents/ALL (2013, dir. Matt Riggle and Deedle Lacour) A document of the storied career of seminal punk band The Descendents, a treat for any fan of music or subculture documentaries. I cried, and not just because some of my kids-in-law are in it and they were SO! LITTLE! (my dear friend nat is married to guitarist Stephen Egerton). A fascinating examination of the mind and drive of a true genius (founder/drummer Bill Stevenson) and the unique relationships among band members, particularly bands who've lasted nearly four decades.
The Filth and The Fury (2000, dir. Julien Temple) Director of The Great Rock-n-Roll Swindle, Temple circles back to the Sex Pistols from a 21st century perspective. And speaking of perspective, the surviving band members are interviewed in this one, so it leans away from Svengali Malcolm MacLaren and toward the views of his Trilbys.
Tapeheads (1988, dir. Bill Fishman) Wannabe music video producer/directors and current overnight security guards Ivan (John Cusack) and Josh (Tim Robbins) make guerilla music videos and eye-and-earcatching TV ads while attempting to resurrect the career of their idols, soul singers The Swanky Modes. Very '80s, very fun, with a great soundtrack including Devo, Fishbone, and Lords of the New Church among many others, not to mention the brilliant "Swanky Modes", Lester and Billy Diamond.
(now I'll be singing this all week. I ain't mad about it)
Valley Girl (1983, dir. Martha Coolidge) Deborah Foreman plays a rich priss from the Valley who falls for L.A. punk rocker Nicolas Cage. A cute and silly teen rom-com with a killer New Wave soundtrack featuring Modern English, the Plimsouls, and the Psychedelic Furs.
The Punk Singer (2013, dir. Sini Anderson) Documentary about the symbolic "queen" of the Riot Grrls, Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre. + for its examination of third wave feminism and "bedroom culture" but - for its sort of cliffhangerish ending wherein Hanna was diagnosed with long Lyme disease. She toured a couple years ago so I guess she got better???
Hit So Hard (2011, dir. P. David Ebersole) Speaking of riot grrls, drummer Patty Schemel is featured in this documentary about being a woman in that '90s grunge/punk milieu--in particular in Hole during its zenith--a female drummer, a lesbian finding herself, and for a harrowing period, a crack addict. I found this documentary particularly moving, and Schemel's own super-8 footage adds depth to the reminiscences of a unique period in music.
SLC Punk! (1998, dir. James Merendino) No other film has felt as close to my own experience of being a teenage misfit as this one. Matthew Lillard plays Harvard Law School-bound, Salt Lake City punk Stevo, coming to grips with the sea change of life from youth to adult. With best friend Heroin Bob (Michael Goorjian), Stevo moves through a youth culture of punks, skins, druggies, hippies, and weirdos--"a gathering of the tribes"--as he struggles against the oppressive Mormon culture of his home state, a romance, anarchy, and loss. Worth it just to hear Adam and the Ants criminally underappreciated "Beat My Guest," frankly, but I love this movie inordinately, on every level.
(Jason Segel is also in this. Look. There he is.)
Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns) (2003, dir. AJ Schnack) A documentary of surreal polka-rock (??? how does anyone define or describe them???) duo They Might Be Giants. I venture that everyone loves They Might Be Giants, yet true TMBG fans are a very specific and unique breed of person, as They Might Be Giants are a very specific and unique band. I particularly love the fairly fannish tilt of this doc, and here's one more very important note: people like to say that TMBG are from Brooklyn. Don't you dare believe it. They Might Be Giants are from Massachusetts and you will pry them from my cold, dead, Bay State hands.
