Comments on: 5 High Points in Punk Rock on Film

By: Jay Ro

Jay Ro — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 05:10:50 +0000

Cool list. But I’d toss on there Return of the Living Dead.

Check out this new punk rock web series some friends and I have been working on: http://vimeo.com/6533810

By: S Daddy

S Daddy — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 19:45:47 +0000

“Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains” deserves your consideration. Diane Lane, mebers of the Sex Pistols (sounding awesome), and the inimitable punk anthem “Don’t Put Out!”

By: matt

matt — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 16:34:15 +0000

don’t for get SLC Punk, for what it is is fairly good.

By: Again Where's SLC Punk!

Again Where's SLC Punk! — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 09:33:38 +0000

SLC punk was the best I’ve seen so far.

By: Outta left field

Outta left field — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 07:44:26 +0000

Forbidden Zone is a pretty punk rock movie.

By: Outta left field

Outta left field — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 07:29:13 +0000

Punk was a movement that begot a revolution. That revolution has been desperately marginalized by shitty bands apeing what was. However, in the gutters of any major city and in the shadows of all hipster havens are amazing bands doing what they do. Namely shaking things up and making people redefine what others think of as punk.

Best punk movie…if you want an image Sid and Nancy, Decline Of Western Civilization, Suburbia. etc
That’s what was…it begot people who use the D.I.Y ethic and the “my rules, my way” ethos.

Punk didn’t die with Sid Vicious…it evolved.
3.1.G records puts out all kinds of bands taking chances with music the likes of which were only undertaken by bands like Black Flag, Bad Brains…whatever. Like SST back in the day.
Nothing is ever what it used to be…if it’s worth being what it is.

High Tension is punk rock movie based on its principals. No happy endings, it’s visually shocking and takes no prisoners.

Tetsuo: the iron man- Punk rock not as a snap shot, but as an ethos.

Art at all costs. Truth at all costs. Take no prisoners.

Either your on the ride ’till the end, or this stop is your stop.
That’s punk rock…not what people wore in the ’80’s.

By: thelordofhell

thelordofhell — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 05:24:26 +0000

Valley Girl?? Punk?? Puhhhh—-leeez. The only good thing about that movie was seeing E.G. Daily’s gorgeous naked rack. And if you’re gonna talk punk movies, where’s the skin-head love people…….Romper Stomper……..American History X…….c’mon now.

By: FangsFirst

FangsFirst — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 04:51:06 +0000

If we’ve gotta do Sex Pistols, Filth and the Fury is the winner for me over Swindle.

By: Puff Adder

Puff Adder — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 04:48:57 +0000

Good list. Also! slc punk doesn’t belong on this list, and I question anybody demanding it’s addition to this list whether they’ve seen the rest of the movies on this list. It’s very much inferior to everything listed, and I’d shitty and predictable. Awesome that you had Suburbia and then Repo Man on the list, as they’re the first ones to come to my mind. …and i love Rock n’ Roll High School as I love the Ramones, but the Ramones themselves probably woulda told you it didn’t belong on the list.

By: Kris

Kris — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 04:02:00 +0000

The movie about The Gits:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0463028/

is a must-see…truly, genuinely fantastic.

By: Doyle

Doyle — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 02:44:23 +0000

SLC Punk should be on the list Matthew Lillard and Devon Sawa introducing Jason Segal. Much better than Sid and Nancy.

By: mr shinobi

mr shinobi — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 02:37:06 +0000

I don’t get it.
Where’s “SLC PUNK” in this??
I agree with everything except freakin “VALLEY GIRL”!!!
VALLEY GIRL?? SERIOUSLY??

I insist: where’s SLC PUNK?
I demand SLC PUNK.

By: jay

jay — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:18:40 +0000

“heartfelt cool”…yeah…and what about “Return of the Living Dead”? probably wouldn’t make this list, but hilarious caricatures nonetheless.

By: Mama C

Mama C — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 23:55:04 +0000

Not to be a stickler, but “Pablo Picasso” was a Modern Lovers song, really. Jonathan Richman wrote it, but it was played by The Modern Lovers. My uncle David was the drummer, so I get a little defensive about it. That said, good list. A few I’d like to add:
1. Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains
2. The Decline of Western Civilization
3. Times Square
You gotta represent the ladies!

By: Oi2dwrld

Oi2dwrld — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 22:49:46 +0000

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Saying Sid and Nancy is a true story! Did you believe Braveheart was real too? If you are going to use a Sex Pistols movie in this list, try the Great Rock and Roll Swindle. Way crazier, and at least a modicum of truth.

By: bvk

bvk — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 21:29:16 +0000

I agree that SLC and 24 Hour should be on the list…….

But no one thinks to mention Hardcore Logo?

By: M

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 21:01:01 +0000

FYSS,

Clockwork Orange is NOT a punk movie. It may be popular with punks, but is not ABOUT punk. It was written before there was any such thing…

What We Do is Secret is a ridiculous whitewashed fiction that has nothing at all to do with the true story of the Germs.

And 24 Hour Party People, like Valley Girl, is more about New Wave than punk.

Also, there is no apostrophe in “yours.”

Or, to put it another way: Shut up.

By: Chris Cunnington

Chris Cunnington — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 20:13:33 +0000

SLC PUnk!

By: FuckYourStupidShirt

FuckYourStupidShirt — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 19:03:35 +0000

Where the hell is “SLC Punk”, “Wassup Rockers”, “A Clockwork Orange”, “What We Do Is Secret”, or “24 Hour Party People”? All those are missing and “Valley Girl” is up here? I think you are confusing New Wave with Punk. If you can’t tell the difference between the two you must have a cock in your ear. Also, the greatest punk rock moments on film have been documentaries. Why watch some rich ass hollywood snobs pretend like they’ve experienced life as a punk when you can watch it first hand. My list (better than your’s) is:
1. Decline of Western Civilization
2. American Hardcore
3. Media Blitz: the Germs Story
4. Hated: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies
5. Instrument

By: Red

Red — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 17:13:36 +0000

except != accept

By: Adam

Adam — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 17:12:11 +0000

SLC PUNK! For sure. Also, I love that part in 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE where they show that tiny Sex Pistols show in Manchester and all the people who attended and who they went on to become. Seeing that gave me chills. Cool moment.

By: Ian Gilchrist

Ian Gilchrist — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 16:33:11 +0000

Not a bad list, but you missed one key film that in my ‘umble opinion blows most of these films away: Made in Britain, starring a then unknown Tim Roth as a psychotic skinhead at the dawn of the ’80s. Directed by agent provocateur Alan Clarke, and charged with his usual hard left political agenda, it is a searing condemnation of British society and the nihilistic rampaging of a portion of disaffected working class youth.

The first time I saw this film, I thought it was actually something of a docu-drama, and that Roth was a non-professional who had been plucked off the street to play the lunatic malcontent Trevor. Clarke’s work is not that well known outside the UK, but DVD label/heroes Blue Underground have released all of his work in the US…seek it out!

Sid and Nancy hasn’t really aged that well I have to say…good central performances but romanticising that poor junkie idiot was not a good idea.

This is England is tremendously good though!

And don’t forget the recenrtly released The Fabulous Stains…

By: Bryan Connolly

Bryan Connolly — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 16:16:50 +0000

Hey,
I worked on a book coming out later this year called Destroy All Movies: The History of Punks on Film. If you liked this little list than you’ll love this fun boombastic book. Look for it soon!!!

By: M

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 16:11:08 +0000

Very well-written article. And rather than argue your picks or waste time debating what is “punk” and what isn’t…

I will simply suggest adding “Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains” to this list. To me that movie IS punk rock. Everything that is, or ever was, good AND bad about punk is addressed in that film in some way, shape or form.

And “Join the Professionals” (or whatever the actual title is…) is actually a great punk rock song…

By: Tony M

Tony M — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 15:27:52 +0000

Rude Boy, if for no other reason than it showed at the very beginning exactly why punk in its pure, orignal form could never hold together.

Not exactly punk, but 24 Hour Party People also shows the energy followed by the crashing against the rocks insanity of trying to remain ideologically pure.

Punk was a brillaint moment, followed by doomed attmepts to sustain the explosion. True punk was an attitude, not a style. That’s why the Pogues were punk singing Irish folk songs and why the Hives, for example, are not.