Punk: Attitude (2005)

Punk: Attitude is a documentary showcasing the history of punk rock music and culture in the United States and in the United Kingdom. The film uses archive footage of classic punk performances as well as current interviews with punk rock musicians, fans and promoters. The main complaint many people have with this film is the bands that were not mentioned (Stiff Little Fingers, The Replacements, etc) but honestly, there's no way that a film, no matter how in depth, could mention every band/artist that helped shaped the face of punk rock music.

The film does do a good job of giving the audience a sense of how punk rock happened and why. This film probably won't shine any new light on the genre for people who have been fans of punk rock music for a while, in fact many of the performance footage has been used in several other documentaries and specials.

The film spends most of its time focusing on and discussing the early punk bands of the late 1970's such as The Ramones, The Dead Boys, The Clash, The Sex Pistols and The Damned. The film then gives a brief rundown of the 1980's hardcore punk scene but doesn't delve at all into non-hardcore punk bands of the 1980's (The Minutemen, The Replacements, Husker Du). The film then shows some even briefer clips of some pop-punk bands of the 1990's and 2000's. Honestly, I'm glad the film chooses to focus most of it's attention on the early 70's punk movement because I feel that these were the best and most significant punk bands. Perhaps a sequel is in order for a more in depth look at more punk bands from the 80's and 90's.

Overall, the film is very well done. It should be very enjoyable for fans of punk rock music and a great history lesson for anyone who thinks punk rock started with Green Day.

Ladies And Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains (1982)

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains is a long-lost teen punk rock movie from 1981, that was shelved by Paramount and never saw and official release. Since then the movie has obtained a cult following by those who actually saw the film at midnight showings in art house theaters or, more likely, on late night cable TV.

The film follows a group of runaway teenage girls, lead by the sassy Diane Lane (only 15 at the time of filming). Posing as a band (The Stains), even though none of them have any musical experience, the girls quickly end up on a rag-tag rock tour with an aging glam rock band (The Metal Corpses), an up-and-coming punk band (The Looters, featuring members of the Sex Pistols and the Clash) and a Jamacian bus driver named Lawnboy. What they lack in experience they make up for in attitude and style and quickly (almost comically so) gain a devoted following of young girls.

The film isn't perfect. Some of the acting isn't great and the story is pretty far from realistic. But LAGTFS is a fun jab at the music industry and features a lot of surprisingly good punk rock music. Some may even say this movie was the genesis of the Riot Grrl movement of the early 90's. The real gem of the movie, though, is the young, engaging Diane Lane who is so good as the troubled teen it's easy to see why she went on to become such a celebrated actress. Fans of vintage punk rock will delight in the excellent, quirky music (I may have to purchase the soundtrack) and fans of 80's teen movies will connect with the young stars as they bash their way through the brutal world of rock 'n roll.