During Martin Scorsese’s notorious “lost weekend” period when he had a serious cocaine problem, he still managed to produce a lot of interesting films. With the exception of the big-budget musical “New York, New York,” the documentary about the Band’s last concert, “The Last Waltz,” is probably the most famous and highly regarded. However, the least known (and arguably, best) film from this period is Scorsese’s documentary “American Boy: A Profile of Steve Prince.”
Prince is probably most famous as the scary gun salesman in “Taxi Driver,” but prior to that he was Neil Diamond’s road manager (among other jobs) and was a heroin addict. During one moment in the film, Prince relates a tale about reviving a woman who overdosed with a medical dictionary, a shot of adrenaline, and a magic marker that’s … um … very similar to a scene in the Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 film “Pulp Fiction.”
The film is a fascinating look at the life of someone on the edge … a life that Scorsese obviously identified with considering his drug-intake and near-death at the time. Not only did Scorsese survive (and subsequently make many classic films), but so did Prince, who was the subject of a sequel in 2009 called “American Prince” directed by Tommy Pallotta.
Arguably, the first “gangsta” song to reach #1 on the Billboard pop charts … way back in 1959. “Stagger Lee” is an adaptation of a popular blues/folk song whose first published version came in 1911, but apparently had been around since 1897 in a version called “Stack-a-Lee” by “Prof. Charlie Lee, the piano thumper”. It’s based on a true story of the murder of William “Billy” Lyons by Stagger Lee Shelton in St. Louis in 1895.
Even though Price’s version is relatively slick and is now considered one of those “safe” oldies relegated to Cousin Brucie-style radio shows, it still packs quite a wallop and if a similar song was released nowadays, would arguably be extremely controversial.
Artists typically fall into two categories: dreamers and doers. While it’s important to have a dream, it doesn’t mean anything if it just stays inside your head. Zachary Oberzan is a doer.
Oberzan saw the movie “First Blood” back in the early 1980s. “First Blood” is the Sylvester Stallone Rambo film most critics call “the good one.” Oberzan was such a fan of “First Blood,” he picked up the David Morrell novel on which the movie was based and was blown away even more. The novel, far more complex and nuanced from the resulting film, gave Oberzan the dream to one day make a more faithful adaptation of Morrell’s original book.
Unfortunately, since the Rambo series took on a much different tone with the second film (where Rambo rescues POWs from Vietnam), a tone that proved to be very popular with 1980s era audiences, there was not much hope someone would ever do a more faithful remake of the original book.
Normally someone with Oberzan’s dream would try to wrangle the rights away from the copyright holders, convince financiers to invest several millions of dollars, find bankable actors to carry the movie, find a distributor, and then release the film. Even when said process runs smoothly, it can take several years, and oftentimes the end result is a film that’s never released, let alone made.
Oberzan said “F–k all that!” and just did it himself … in his 220 square foot New York City apartment … with a home video camera … and a total budget of $96. Oberzan not only wrote, directed, shot, and edited his adaptation, but also performed all of the acting roles. The result is one of the most compelling films I’ve ever seen.
On first glance (especially from the trailer), Oberzan’s adaptation, called “Flooding with Love for the Kid,” seems completely insane and ridiculous, like Ed Wood directing the Max Fischer players from “Rushmore.” However, once you get over the shock over how the film looks and plays, you start to pay attention … and then you find yourself riveted.
This will likely never wind up on anyone’s list of greatest films ever made. But Oberzan, using tools most of us have access to … but would never use … even if some of us filmmaking dreams, made a completely fascinating and exciting feature length film. He does such a great job with what he had to work with, it makes you wonder what he could do with a bigger budget and better tools. Oberzan is not only someone to watch, but his story is an inspiration to artists everywhere.
If you’re interested, check out Oberzan’s website which provides more details on how you can order the film:
A sweet acoustic ballad that beautifully conveys the experience of love when you’re in middle school, you don’t have a license to drive, and your big social events with your significant other are walking each other home from school and going to the middle school dance. I don’t know how much of that has survived in these increasingly jaded times, but I feel sorry for anyone who leapfrogs over a stage like this.
This is an alternate version of the song that wound up on Big Star’s “#1 Record.” There’s some very nice and (I’m sure) extremely rare footage of Big Star in this clip. I know “Radio City” is the critic’s favorite in Big Star’s oeuvre, but I have to say I love “#1 Record” more. The song was recently heard on “That 70s Show” when it underscored the romance between Eric and Jackie.
I always liked Neneh Cherry and thought she was a severely underrated performer. Here is an absolutely electrifying cover of the classic punk reggae song by X-Ray Spex. This is the best quality I could find online, but if you stay with it, I swear you will be richly rewarded. Cherry punks out quite energetically on this one and with the drums and bass slamming incredibly hard, you will be dancing around the room if you have a pulse.
A terrific sludge metal cover of an early KISS classic, by Aberdeen, Washington’s The Melvins. I’ve never confirmed for sure if this track was produced by an obscure former Melvins roadie named Kurt Cobain, but this is some extremely heavy, artery-clogging s–t that makes Black Sabbath sound like Wham! If you could make music out of a quaalude, it would sound like this.
Before Van Morrison disappeared “into the mystic” (and as some fans would allege “up his own a–“), he was the leader of a nasty Irish garage punk / Rolling Stones-like band called Them. “Gloria” may be Them’s biggest claim to fame, but this sleazy little gem arguably should have that honor. Later covered quite well by the MC5.
The hardest rocking Scandanavians in recent memory (Norwegian death metal excluded) returned in 2012 with the album “Lex Hives.” “Go Right Ahead” was the single and it’s kind of a louder, crunchier version of ELO’s “Don’t Bring Me Down.” This is a killer live version and, like most Swedish pop bands, the band is still rocking the matching suits.
The American punk pop pioneers from hardcore’s glory years returned in 2012 with a lo-fi, but hooky and criminally catchy fist pumper. It’s nice to see a band whose band members are in their late 40s/early 50s still rocking harder than younger angst-filled cretins. From the album “Researching the Blues.”
The late, great comedian Mitch Hedberg’s classic routine about teeth, tarter, fish and other topics. If you’ve never heard Hedberg, his jokes may seem like the corniest ones you’ve ever heard. But his delivery is amazing and you will find yourself laughing despite yourself. It was a sad day for comedy when Hedberg passed. He was a true original. However, there is some off-color language here, so not safe for work or little ones.
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