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Is there such a thing as a good punk movie?


I'm not asking about a documentary. Most of those are decent.

But I've seen Rude Boy, The Great Rock n Roll Swindle, and Jubilee and so far the only one that kinda sorta makes any sense is Rude Boy, and it's still not that great.

It blows my mind that even though punk saved the world from artsy-fartsy crap music it only added even MORE art to film-making. And yes, I know most of the old Brit-punks were art students. Maybe it's in film where that art student training expresses itself (and how!)?

Anyway, is there a decent punk rock film out there?

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Every punk movie I've seen tried too hard. It turned people into cartoons and unrealistic retards.



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I <3 how people try to defend this film by calling it a 'punk movie'. NEWSFLASH: It f ucking sucked.

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For a good punk movie, watch "Sid & Nancy". It is as close to real as you'll get, even with the allegorical bits. It shows neat and simple that the whole punk movement caught up basically two types: art-house clothes whores like McLaren & Vivian Westwood, & the working class dregs. Those who really had something to say and were not in it for the sake of being trendy, like The Clash, long survived the 70's.
I quite liked Jubilee, and laugh my ass at the 'punks' who get offended when someone outside their tightknit little world use the exact same affectations to call them on their self-indulgence.
Jubilee is, in my opinion, an essay on self-indulgence and self-importance. Sure, the punks are kitsching up "New Jerusalem" and "Rule Britannia", but they have nothing to replace them with. They can only mock it. Everything in the art-house punk world was rejection with nothing to embrace. Borgia Ginz was the perfect idol for them. Even Mad connected to that in the end, when the killing of the cop gave her no satasfaction at all. They stand for nothing and are therefore worth nothing.
You can like or dislike this movie on its own terms, but I find most of the folks who try to tear this movie down take themselves and their pop culture waaay to seriously.




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in some ways this is england is a punk movie. its great stuff. cant argue with that hm? theres another flick with the chick from juno. look it up. on her imdb. forgot what its called. its about german punks travelling round europe. its also gd stuff.

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I enjoyed this film as well. And I typically don't like "punk" films such as "great rock and roll swindle" and "suburbia". Too much glamor for me. This film seemed to be mocking, or "calling out", the label that had been applied and how everyone just went ahead and fell for it. And I feel like the addition of Bromley Contingent member Jordan just legitimized the sentiment.

People seem to forget that these folks didn't adorn themselves "punk", nor was that what they called the music, it was a label created by the media after the ball got rolling.

Also, I simply found it amusing to watch various icons do silly and absurd things. Toyah's role was fun and I find Little Nell, probably the best actor in the movie, delightful in whatever she's in.

If folks want a really accurate "feel" for the punk movement or whatever they're searching for picking up a book is a good place to start. And there's plenty of fly on the wall camcorder videos to be found on youtube if they search which helps capture a bit of the aesthetic.

At its simplest I find this to be an experimental social satire with a rather timeless punk rock ensemble cast. Take it or leave it, really.

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My opinion is there's too many books on the subject - usually done by Clash fans who are bigger fans of so-called "punk music" than punk itself, since they can study it and form intellectual opinions on it! I've yet to see one of these books that was worth bothering with since mostly they're just overpriced lists - something you can get off an internet blog for free.

There's never been an especially good punk movie because anyone who actually was punk can never agree on what punk actually is. Punk is the scene itself, or even the movement if you want to make it important. And anyone who's ever been in a "scene" has personalized it in their head. Again, no one's is the same so no one's vision of it will be correct to anybody but the person who made it.

Decline of Western Civilization was criticized because it almost seems like Penelope grabbed the biggest idiots out of L.A. to make the movie. But it's real punks in a real scene - warts and all. Out of this came Suburbia - which I believe became an almost unofficial guidebook to punks in the late 80's for style, even though the movie was done in 1984! And finally, Another State of Mind, much like Decline of Western Civilization, showcased several real scenes, warts and all. With these three, you got to see the scenes (particularly L.A.) that influenced others at the time, especially in America. People at the time made fun of these movies, but they liked them all the same.

Unfortunately, there's even less on the UK front - you have Jubilee, Sid and Nancy, etc., but I think they tend to make punk look a lot better than it really was! Although I think Jubilee was the most fun of all the punk movies at the time - it may not have been a perfect eye into the punk scene, but who cares!

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"Repo Man" is great, British director etc, although set in the USA.

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Breaking Glass is a great punk movie. In fact, the greatest punk movie if you ask me.

Required viewing. Seek it out by any means...

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no. because punk movies are bound to be as pretentious and shallow as the punk culture.

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Punk is supposed to be unpretentious... that's what it's about.

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Return of the Living Dead was best Punk movie.
I thought Hard Core Logo was okay but it was a while ago and I was drunk. SLC punk was pretty good too. Any musical scene is going to take a few years to filter down to movies because it takes a few years from script to post production. Early efforts like Rude Boy or rock n Swindle were likely quick efforts to cash in, and they sucked because of it. The Ramone's Rock N Roll High School was okay too.

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"Breaking Glass" was awful, just another shouty 'let's form a band' film.

"Jubilee" is probably the most interesting movie to involve elements of punk, but you couldn't really call it a punk movie. The essence of punk was spontaneity and being of the moment. You can't really capture that with a film, because film is too expensive, it takes too much planning, you need too many people and too much time. Even a rough and ready film like "Jubilee" or "Smithereens". Maybe you could do it now with DV technology, but the scene is no longer there to capture. So in short, no, there really aren't any authentically 'punk' films, let alone good ones.

In fact it's pretty hard to think of a good rock film at all, except for "Spinal Tap".

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