Defending Your Life, and a few more films

The Decline of Western Civilization (1981)

Streaming free at Internet Archive

NEVERENDING
FILM FESTIVAL
#255  [archive]
MAR. 8, 2024

When punk hit America, I read the zines and loved the attitude, but the music never did much for me. That's where I'm coming from, you should know up front. 

This is a documentary by Penelope Spheeris, chronicling L.A.'s underground scene when punk was still new. The movie is a kick in the nuts, and reinforces most of my punk prejudices, but it's gotta be seen.

For laughs (and it is funny), the film opens with punk performers on stage who've been asked to read the movie's release contract to the crowd: "Please be advised that by your entry upon these premises, you are consenting to being photographed and having your ugly likeness used in a filthy motion picture!"

Spheeris talks with performers, fans, promoters, and security guards, but the heart here is the music. The performances have enormous energy, and audiences respond with pogo dancing, slamdancing, slugdancing, and occasional fist fights.

There are about a dozen songs in the movie, of which a few are openly racist, and some of the stage banter is decidedly anti-gay. The crowd at the shows is entirely white, wisely, because there's enough nihilism, anger, and bigotry in the room that attending would be unsafe for anyone black or brown or openly gay.

That said, there are assholes in any crowd, on any stage, and most of the people talking to the camera seem to be decent souls and with functional hearts and minds.

"I'm a total rebel. I rebel against everything."

What surprised me most was the music. Some but not all of the songs are subtitled, which is helpful, because punk singers aren't generally great at elucidation. Not all of the music is angry, off-key screaming, and some of it sounded like rock'n'roll to me. I even added X's "Beyond and Back" to my permanent playlist.

The most memorable interviews include Germs manager Nicole Panter, fanzine writer Kickboy Face of Slash, and the entire Black Flag band at their semi-squat in an abandoned church. Crazy to think that all these punkers are in their 60s now, like me. Or dead.

Hey, that guy looks familiar — Lee Ving, the lead singer from Fear, repeatedly insults the audience, until a few drunken fans storm the stage and get beaten down. Ving had a supporting role in Black Moon Rising, which I watched a few weeks ago.

Doug the non-punk says, see The Decline of Western Civilization for the music, the history, and the kickass spirit of it all, except for the racism and sexism.

Verdict: YES.

♦ ♦ ♦  

Defending Your Life (1991)

Is there a general consensus that Albert Brooks is brilliant? There should be, but nobody I know talks about him, mentions him, even knows who he is.

Mr Brooks makes (or made; he seems to be retired) very funny movies, and this is one of his best. Writer, director, and star Brooks dies in the first few minutes, and spends the rest of the movie in the afterlife's Judgment City.

He's charged with living his life in fear, as most people do, but the verdict won't be between heaven and hell; the question is only, did he live his life good enough to "move on," or should he be sent back for another reincarnation to try, try again?

At his trial that everyone insists isn't a trial, it's Lee Grant for the prosecution, and Rip Torn and Buck Henry for the defense. Brooks is shown vivid flashbacks of fearful and embarrassing moments in his life, and in the evenings between his days in court, he meets an equally dead Meryl Streep. And let me tell ya, French Lieutenant's Woman and Silkwood and Sophie's Choice are fine, but Meryl Streep should do more romantic comedies. She's heavenly, and so's the movie.

It's never huge, never gets overtly profound, but there's a message here, and the movie is consistently heartfelt and funny in every scene, all the way to its ridiculous tearjering finale.

My old friend Joe (a/k/a Capt Hampockets) said this was his all-time favorite movie. We saw it together a few years after it came out, on a double feature with Lost in America at the U.C. Theater in Berkeley. Joe snuck in cheeseburgers, and I brought Milk Duds and cherry cola. It is a damned fine flick, and I miss ya, Joe.

Verdict: BIG YES.

♦ ♦ ♦ 

Destino (1946/2003)

Streaming free at Internet Archive

This was a joint effort of Salvador Dali and Walt Disney, when Disney was still a man, not yet a corporate conglomerate. They were contemporaries, but it's a surprise they were collaborators.

Disney ran out of money, though, so the project was shelved until long after both men were dead. It was completed by Walt's nephew Roy Disney, with funding from Disney Inc, in 2003.

In its final form, this is a 6½-minute short, with no dialogue, only visuals, and for seven minutes, my heart raced. Destino has an undeniable Disney touch, but it's the Dali imagery that rules here. Having seen and admired many of Dali's works, watching this feels like I've just seen a dozen more. 

Verdict: YES.

♦ ♦ ♦ 

Detroit 9000 (1973)

Streaming free at Daily Motion

It's the 1970s, and a black person has never been elected Governor in America, so it's a big deal when Detroit Congressman Aubrey Clayton announces his candidacy. Bad guys wearing masks storm his fundraiser, though, and make off with $400,000. It's an instant political circus, with questions about why there was no police presence at the fundraiser.

"In your opinion, Inspector, was this a crime by blacks against blacks, or do you think that it was a honky caper, to keep black power from taking over the state government?"

In the racially-uptight aftermath, two cops — one black and one white — are assigned to investigate. They don't particularly want to work together, but darn it, there's a case to be cracked.

The script is as respectful of the police as any Clint Eastwood movie, and Detroit 9000 is mighty white for blaxploitation, with Alex Rocco (white) clearly the star, and Hari Rhodes (black) in a secondary role. But it captures the racial and political tensions well, with crackling dialogue, gunfights and chases and such, and it finishes with a flourish so memorable that any shortcomings earlier must be forgiven. 

If the meaning of '9000' in the title was explained, I missed it, but this is primo stuff. 

Verdict: YES.

♦ ♦ ♦ 

Dimensions of Dialogue (1983)

Streaming free at Vimeo

This is a beautiful short, twelve minutes or so, comprised entirely of stop-motion animation. That's the technique pioneered in King Kong and used in oodles of other classic sci-fi, that involves posing inanimate objects slightly different, frame by frame, to simulate movement. It takes enormous patience, dedication, and especially skill, so of course modern films have mostly switched to cheaper but heartless CGI.

Dimensions of Dialogue consists of three stop-action vignettes, showing kitchen utensils and vegetables, and later people, which/who usually end up talking with each other, and often eating each other. The third vignette is my favorite, and seriously made me laugh, as two old men argue without words, by spitting various objects out of their mouths.

It's from stop-action superstar Jan Svankmajer, and it can't really be described, must be seen to be appreciated. Like Svankmajer, the film is from Czechoslovakia, but there's only the animation and some music, so no subtitles are needed.

Verdict: YES.

♦ ♦ ♦ 

Dishonored (1931)

Streaming free at Internet Archive

Marlene Dietrich plays a war widow and prostitute in Vienna, pressed into service as a spy during World War I. As Agent X-27, her mission is to expose an Austrian military officer suspected of treason. 

Dietrich always owns the screen, but the man she's trying to catch is played quite badly by Victor McLaglen. Director Josef Von Sternberg tosses in several very, very slow dissolves and double exposures, to what purpose I'm unsure; it's a distraction from the drama.

In the first act, there's a long party where everyone's tooting kazoos, nonstop and apparently all night long. I didn't stopwatch it, but it felt like five minutes of kazoos, and I watched the rest of the film with a kazoo headache.

The movie gets better, though. Eventually Dietrich goes in disguise as a dull-witted maid, and somehow switches off everything 'Dietrich' about herself. She's so ordinary, it took me a few minutes to realize that she was Dietrich. She also plays the piano to crack a code, and it's Dietrich tinkling, not a piano double.

The film has its weak points, but it's stylish and wild, with a very strong ending. The story is basically Mati Hari, with Dietrich at Full Dietrich, and that's enough.

Verdict: YES.

 3/8/2024  

• • • Coming attractions • • •     

Do the Right Thing (1989)
La Dolce Vita (1960)
Dolemite (1975)
Downsizing (2017)

... plus schlock, shorts, and surprises

There are so many good movies out there — old movies, odd or artsy, foreign or forgotten movies, or do-it-yourself movies made just for the joy of making them — that if you only watch whatever's on Netflix or playing at the twenty-plex, you're missing out.

To get beyond the ordinary, I recommend:

Alter • Cineverse • Criterion • CultCinema Classics • DocsVille • Dust • Fandor • Films for Action • Hoopla • IHaveNoTV • IndieFlix • Internet Archive • Kanopy • KinoCult • Kino Lorber • Korean Classic Film • Christopher R Mihm • Mosfilm • Mubi • National Film Board of Canada • New Yorker Screening Room • Damon Packard • Mark Pirro • PizzaFlix • PopcornFlix • Public Domain Movies • RareFilmm • Scarecrow Video • Shudder • ThoughtMaybe • Timeless Classic Movies • VoleFlix • WatchDocumentaries • or your local library. 

Some people even access films through shady methods, though of course, that would be wrong.

— — —

Illustration by Jeff Meyer. Reviews are spoiler-free, or at least spoiler-warned. Click any image to enlarge. Arguments & recommendations are welcome, but no talking once the lights dim, and only real butter on the popcorn, not that fake yellow stuff. 

 

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