Monthly Archives: August 2013

“My Way” – Sid Vicious

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Sid Vicious’s biggest musical moment … this is Sid’s infamous punk cover of the Frank Sinatra warhorse, with new filthy lyrics. The video, originally at the end of Julien Temple’s Sex Pistols documentary “The Great Rock n Roll Swindle,” is equally as infamous, with a graphically violent climax that must be seen to be believed. Not safe for work.

Perhaps the best use of this song was over the end credits of Martin Scorsese’s gangster classic “Goodfellas,” a perfect choice that sums up the entire picture.

And … as a bonus … here’s the version of the scene from the 1986 Alex Cox-directed biopic “Sid and Nancy” with Gary Oldman dynamically taking the mic as Sid. While this is not Oldman’s first big performance, it was the one that made him famous.

“I Like Spiderman” from “Knocked Up” (2007) scr./dir. Judd Apatow

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http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xkzgww_catching-pete-red-handed-part-3_shortfilms

This is one of the most realistic scenes of marriage malaise I’ve ever seen. And not because it involves any of the parties doing anything heinous, like starting an affair, or gambling away the family fortune, or becoming a porn, booze, or drug addict.

No, what starts this crisis is the husband making unexplained disappearances … to spend time by himself because he needs a break. On the surface, this doesn’t seem like a big deal. Except for the fact that his wife needs a break too. And maybe … actually wants to have a break where she spends time with her husband. On the surface, the husband’s desire to see “Spiderman 3” by himself doesn’t seem like a big deal. And that’s sort of correct. But the wife’s reaction … and the knowledge that her husband wants to spend time away from her … is not wrong either. Leslie Mann’s pained reaction to her husband’s actions breaks my heart every time I see it. Key line: “You just think because you don’t yell that you’re not mean.”

By the way, if you can get the accompanying clip to work, more power to you. I can’t find this clip anywhere else and I can only get the clip to work on my phone. So, that’s why I’ve included a transcript of the scene below:

Pete: It’s just that I know you’ve been mad ’cause I’ve been working so much, and I didn’t want to upset you.
Debbie: I wouldn’t be mad. I don’t get mad.
Pet: It’s a fantasy baseball draft. I’m not cheating or anything.
Debbie: No, this is worse.
Pete: How is this worse?
Debbie: This is you wanting to be with your friends more than your family.
Pete: Look, the reason I make that up is because if I told you what I was really doing, you would just get mad. So you think I’m seeing a band, I do my fantasy draft, and it’s win-win.
Debbie: Well, what’d you do last Wednesday night when you said you went to see a band?
Pete: I went to the movies.
Debbie: With who?
Pete: By myself.
Debbie: What’d you see?
Pete: Spider-Man 3.
Debbie: Why do you want to go by yourself? Why didn’t you ask me to go?
Pete: Because I needed to get away, you know. With work and you and the kids, sometimes I just need some time to myself.
Debbie: I need time for myself. I want time for myself, too. You’re not the only one.
Pete: It’s not that big of a deal.
Debbie: I like Spider-Man.
Pete: Okay, so let’s see Spider-Man 3 next week.
Debbie: I don’t wanna go see it now. I don’t wanna have to ask you to ask me. I want you to just come up with it on your own.
Pete: I don’t even know what to say. What do you want me to do?
Debbie: You just think because you don’t yell that you’re not mean, but this is mean.
Pete: I’m not being mean. I’m being honest. You’re telling me I need to be honest.
Debbie: No, you’re not. You’re lying.
Pete: I’m doing it because I need to keep my sanity a little bit.
Debbie: You know what? I don’t want you at the house anymore, okay?

“Tales from the Trial” – Jello Biafra

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From Jello Biafra’s 1989 spoken word album “High Priest of Harmful Matter” comes this monologue about the “Frankenchrist” trial from 1987. “Frankenchrist” was a 1985 album released by the legendary punk rock group The Dead Kennedys (Biafra’s band at the time) and the album infamously included a poster that featured the H.R. Giger painting “Penis Landscape.”

Never mind that a sticker on the album cover contained a warning label about the poster, Biafra (and others) were brought up on criminal charges for “distributing harmful matter to minors.” What the prosecution hoped to do was for Biafra (an artist on an independent record label) to plead guilty so a legal precedent would be set.  The prosecution actually admitted that going after Biafra was a “cost-effective” way to send a message.   Had that precedent been set, then prosecutors could have gone after bigger game, such as Prince or Madonna. But Biafra … seeing the big picture and the REAL reason he was targeted … chose to fight the charges instead. Sadly, his fight was without the help of any major record label (who seriously should have seen the bigger picture as well and helped Biafra … but did not). Fighting the charges was expensive and nearly bankrupted Biafra and his record label, but he won … sort of. The trial resulted in a hung jury and the judge chose to dismiss the case after the jury couldn’t come to a unanimous decision.

The entire arrest and subsequent trial are brilliantly (and very entertainingly) explained in this 43-minute monologue. Some bad language here and there, but to quote the label on the “Frankenchrist” album, “life can sometimes be that way.”

Some bizarre footnotes of this trial:

1) Gene Simmons of KISS wanted to the buy Biafra’s life rights to make a dramatic film about the trial with Billy Crystal playing Biafra (?!?)

2) The prosecutor, Michael Guarino, later admitted it was a mistake to have gone after Biafra and later came together with him on Ira Glass’s “This American Life” to discuss the trial and for Guarino to apologize.  Guarino also admitted that his son became a huge Dead Kennedys fan in later years and would blast their music to the annoyance of everyone on their street.

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/285/transcript