I now have two children, I still do twenty to thirty shows a year with Tuff, and I play with a band out of Germany called Shameless. Culture of Respect: Conservatives Need Not Apply? 1. The movie is about the Los Angeles punk rock scene and was d. I want to go but my brain cant tell my body to move. ", At a certain point, Spheeris started seeing "these guys with the torn-up jeans, bandanas and long hair with hairspray"; she and her friends would laugh at them, watching punks and metalheads brawl in parking lots. Like hunting down a rare vinyl record or an out-of-print fanzine, scoring a copy of the 1981 documentary required a rabid degree of dedication in exchange for street cred. Thats why I went to Chicago and played with the guys in [industrial band] Pigface. Super nice guy. Both are illegal. A lot of those guys are my friends, theyve either died or have moved on to something similar but better in life. Grunge absolutely ended it for London. Depending on how drunk you were when you watched it for the first time, The Decline Of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years is either an uproarious celebration of the 80s Sunset Strip scene in all its hedonistic glory or a fist-gnawingly embarrassing parade of idiots, bozos and no-hopers who didnt have the brains to tie their own shoelaces in the morning. International Man: The decline of Western Civilization is on a lot of people's minds. 'OK, cool, let's go get some beer. A lot of these guys were my buddies from growing up in Seattle, so I was pleased to see them getting success. As far as how we were and what we did, how we lived, it was pretty accurate party all the time. These are the writers who know the great truth that the first requirement in fighting something is to understand it. A look into the Los Angeles punk rock scene, that was largely ignored by the rock music press of the time. The film was ostensibly a followup to her first documentary, 1981's The Decline of Western Civilization, which focused on an earlier Los Angeles scene, the punk of the late 70s and early 80s. "What can oppose the decline of the west is not a resurrected culture but the utopia that is silently contained in the image of its decline.". the decline of western civilization collection. She was lookin for bands that were staples on the LA music scene, and Odin certainly was that. Factory. I get dizziness, I get the shakes in my hands. By Kory Grow. It was a terrible burden to have, to have everybody asking for all these years. This feels legitimately dangerous a way that not many movies do, and it captures the sense of outrage and dissatisfaction that drew so many people to punk rock in the first place, looking for somewhere to belong, to be heard. I found guys like Chris Holmes of W.A.S.P. Now I was intrigued. Ill get stuck in the hallway because I cant get my legs to move. When 19-year- old Spoon says this a half hour into "The Decline of Western Civilization, Part III," she isn't indulging in punk posturing. Spheeris: "Some people are put off by that, they don't get the joke, they don't get that it was totally tongue in cheek. It is the third film of a trilogy by Spheeris depicting life in Los Angeles at various points in time. Spheeris later credited the 1998 film with having a profound effect on her. A disturbing social commentary on homeless . A projected 45 \% increase in global population will be an accelerant in the negative turn for western civilization. Growing up a punk rock kid in a small or at least smallish town, Penelope Spheeris ' 1981 documentary The Decline of Western Civilization, chronicling the early Los Angeles scene, served as a de . I love you, Chris.. There was as much going on in the street as there was inside the clubs. READ MORE:Sorry, Ladies: Study on Women in Film and Television Confirms the Worst, Penelope Spheeris, the films director, has a less romantic way of explaining the movies thriving underground market: theft. There are extended interviews with some of the players, panels on the chapters in the trilogy, and various other features that explore the cultural impact of the Decline saga. This was your primer, your roadmap to being an outsider. But we need these kind of books now more than ever. You just point a camera at him and off he goes. With the box set slated to come out on June 30th, the director selected 10 clips from all three Decline of Western Civilization films and explained what they meant to her in the pages that follow. It is the third film of a trilogy by Spheeris depicting life in Los Angeles at various points in time. Blackie was always threatenin me to be thrown out or this or that, and on top of it the person was jealous of me bein me. "I had to grow my hair out." At the end of 1995 the band came to an end. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Black radical activist Congresswoman from Houston has introduced a bill in the House that would criminalize thought crimes, and in particular it would criminalize sites like The Occidental Observer, but also the much more mainstream Tucker Carlson. But I like that it's done. Takes on Hollywoods Bias Against Women Directors (and Women Directors Respond). I was starting to hear about this stuff called the internet. The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: the Metal Years is a tragicomic look at the late-80s 'hair metal' scene. The Best Picture Race Got a Lot More Confusing This Week, Tom Cruise Made the Rounds This Week, but Other Oscar Nominees Got More Applause Than Top Gun: Maverick, These Oscar Categories Are the Hardest to Predict, Translating the Unconscious Into Images: The Cinematography of Bardo, Poker Face Takes Viewers on a Cross-Country Road Trip Without Leaving New York, Why TR Looks Different from Every Other Movie of 2022, The 50 Best Movies of 2022, According to 165 Critics from Around the World, All 81 Titles Unceremoniously Removed from HBO Max (So Far), 10 Shows Canceled but Not Forgotten in 2022. The Decline of Western Civilization Part III (1996) - A film detailing the furious lives and tragic deaths of a group of gutter punks living in L.A. from 96'-97'. The first "Decline," which focused on the early L.A. punk scene, was made in 1979 before most of the punks in "Part III" were even born, and Spheeris uses interviews with some of the old . Our bus was confiscated, all our gear, all our shit, we were left in a hotel with our rooms already due. Then, just as Newlydeads was starting to take off, we got offered a new record deal for Faster. Why Are So Many Young People Dying Suddenly? While its predecessors focused on punk music and musicians, this latest episode concentrates on the audiences -- kids who weren't born when the original film was released. The Decline of Western Civilization: Directed by Penelope Spheeris. A couple of years ago I moved out to Las Vegas. If I was still drinkin Id be dead now. You know that feeling you get in your stomach thats like this fluttery kind of fear? she told Indiewire recently, describing the sensation that would wash over her when shed stumble across a bootleg copy of The Decline of Western Civilization, including the 1988 and 1998 sequels of the same name. Mike Myers is incredibly talented but he was also unbelievably difficult to work with. They treated us really good, but Id been shoved into the industry for the first eight years of my adult life. And I'm like ah fuck, 'I can't do it man.'" I just knew I had to make another film, about these people. Attempts were made to get me to include more of the mainstream, successful bands, but that wasnt really what interested me. "It was pretty organic," she says. In the UK alone, he has written for Smash Hits, Q, Mojo, The Sunday Times, Radio Times, Classic Rock, HiFi News and more. The term is often used, therefore, to suggest a highly developed culture. It was almost like I was on my deathbed and I was watching my life flash before me, she said of watching the old footage. Of all the bands to emerge from the Sunset Strip of the 80s, few had as many future superstars as London members of Guns N Roses and Cinderella passed through. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. Starting out framed like the previous two films, as an exploration of a particular rock and roll subculture in Los Angeles, essentially checking in with the spiritual descendants of the original Decline of Western Civilization, it quickly eschews the musical trappings, choosing instead to focus on the homeless young kids, the gutterpunks, who dwell on the streets and squats of Southern California. And because it was not my band, I really enjoyed being able to kick back a bit and be more carefree. [3] Decline III was also released separately via streaming video. All Rights Reserved. I made this video to explore what happened to the bands that feature prominently in the cult film The Decline of Western Civilisation Part ll: The Metal Year. Shellenberge agreed. The movie is about the Los Angeles punk rock scene and was directed by Penelope Spheeris.In 1981, the LAPD Chief of Police Daryl Gates wrote a letter demanding the film not be shown again in the city.. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. I cant play guitar any more, so now Im the singer. Civilization" on their Victory medal.3 "Western civilization" would be a good idea, in other words, if we were sure where to find it. I did a solo album, but I couldnt even get it reviewed. Im sure that movie did enhance our career. Whether you have a nostalgic connection to the subjects, or just want to glimpse into a couple of under-examined subcultures, this is a set well worth adding to your collection. As well as Armored Saint I also have my own band, DC4. 90-95% of kids from churches have been indoctrinated by the secular education system to doubt and not believe the Word of God beginning in Genesisbut to believe the pagan religion of evolution as fact. The promoter said we didnt have to play, so we just hung out and played basketball. Theyre not particularly high def; then again, the grittiness and grime are a part of the overall aesthetic, so you wouldnt want them to get too dressed up. "They said, 'No, Penelope has to do that.' But never say never.. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. With Myke Chambers, Stephen Chambers, Eyeball, Flea. The third film, The Decline of Western Civilization III (1998), chronicles the gutter punk lifestyle of homeless teenagers in the late 1990s. But now were back again. Here are three that help explain what is happening with our culture. Gone, too, is the unintentional hilarity of 1988's "Decline of Western Civilization, Part II: The Metal Years," in which Spheeris simply pointed her camera at the city's gaggle of ambitious big-hair bands and let them make fools of themselves. But Ive been doin it a long time. The 11 most pivotal periods in western history. Theyre skeptical of the camera, of anything that resembles the society they either ran away or were forcibly ejected from. He died shortly before the film was released, though the promotional images for the film and album release had been designed before his death. In the late 90s, she turned down a distribution deal to release it because it would have required her to give up the rights to Parts I and II (which initially had very limited theatrical releases). While the Los Angeles punk scene comes across gritty and raw, The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years, depicts a scene that is bloated, almost a caricature, and, in 1988, was only a few short years from imploding and collapsing in on itself. Documentary filmmaker Penelope Spheeris spoke to Goldmine magazine about the the infamous scene in her "The Decline Of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years" movie in which then-W.A.S.P . Axl and Izzy were at our very first show. Check them out. The Decline DVD box set wont stop the countless black market VHS tapes floating around online, but for Spheeris, its a form of justice against her bootleggers. The Decline of Western Civilization includes never-before-seen footage, new interviews, and even performances that didnt make the original cut. Every day the staff of Intellectual Takeout come to work eager to do their part to restore and improve our great nation. The movie never got a proper release . Or why not treat yourself? This article about a music-related documentary film is a stub. Penelope Spheeris and her boyfriend, Eyeball Penelope Spheeris, creator of The Decline of Western Civilization series, is a veteran Hollywood filmmaker, a "den mother" and most importantly, a cheerleader for punk rock. She knew we had something, so she interviewed us for the movie. All three are now available in on Blu-ray in a fantastic new package from Shout! Check them out. 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