“The Decline of Western Civilization II: The Metal Years” (1988) dir. Penelope Spheeris

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“The Decline of Western Civilization II: The Metal Years” is Penelope Spheeris’s follow-up to her groundbreaking documentary on hardcore punk from 1980 (“The Decline of Western Civilization”). “Decline II” chronicles heavy metal, circa 1988 in Los Angeles, predominately glam metal, which was the rage at the time.

“Decline II” is often cited for being extremely funny because many of the participants seem absolutely delusional about their prospects at future success in music … and in life. There are interviews with stars (Ozzy Osbourne, Steve Tyler, Joe Perry, Poison, Dave Mustaine, Lemmy, Alice Cooper, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Chris Holmes) and interviews with up and comers, most of which you’ve never seen nor heard from since this film came out.

However, the most compelling part of the film is arguably the interview with Chris Holmes of W.A.S.P. Lying in a pool chair, literally pouring vodka down his throat, explaining he’s a piece of s–t, while is mother is sitting next to him, trying to put on a good face, but looking like she wants to cry. One of the saddest and most disturbing scenes from a documentary ever.

Despite this, the humor outweighs the pathos. One of the best scenes in the film comes near the end where legendary club owner Bill Gazzarri hosts his annual “Miss Gazzarri Dancer” contest and Gazzarri tries to get everyone excited about a band called Odin, which he claims are going to be the next big thing. Needless to say, they fell far short of this goal. I’ll let you be the judge as to whether the public was ignorant in their mass rejection of Odin through this clip:

Spheeris later hit the box-office jackpot as the director of “Wayne’s World” in 1992, a job she got in no small part due to her success with “Decline II.”

“Last Night at the Alamo” (1984) dir. Eagle Pennell

Posted on March 10, 2013 by Dave's Strange World

Before “Eastbound and Down” and the rest of Jody Hill’s brilliantly dark and funny oeuvre of delusional losers, there was Eagle Pennell’s funny and sad “Last Night at the Alamo.” Written by Kim Henkel, the man who wrote the original screenplay for “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” and one of the best truly indie movies of all time, “Last Night at the Alamo” tells the tale of the Alamo’s (a Houston dive bar) last night in business. The regulars are an interesting bunch: William (aka Ichabod) is a hot-headed, but dim young man in his early 20s; Claude is a man whose blue collar world is threatened when his wife insists they move the suburbs and she subsequently throws him out for drinking too much; and then there’s Cowboy, the legendary BMOC at the bar, who has a big plan to save the bar … or go to Hollywood to become a cowboy actor. There’s other regulars too, as well as assorted bartenders, girlfriends, wives, and former lovers, who fade in and out of the scenery, as the night continues.

The Alamo’s closing represents more than the closing of their favorite watering hole. This is a place where all the men go to be big shots after difficult days on the job or in their lives. It’s obvious the men feel small outside the Alamo, because they strut around and pathetically act like badasses within its confines. The Alamo’s closing means that these men will now be reduced the lives they lead … with their favorite escape hatch closing behind them.

The film has some serious moments, but it’s also hysterically and profanely funny. One of the best scenes in the film is the very first one, where William drives to the Alamo after work with his girlfriend and he rants and screams about everything from having to borrow an undesirable vehicle because his regular ride needs repair to his girlfriend complaining about his cursing and drinking, etc. If the opening scene doesn’t grab you, the rest of the film won’t.

If you’re at all a fan of Jody Hill or Danny McBride, “Last Night at the Alamo” is an absolute must-see.

In addition, you must see the feature length documentary about Pennell, called “The King of Texas: The Life and Death of Independent Filmmaker Eagle Pennell,” a terrific but painful and sad documentary about the tragic life of “Last Night at the Alamo”‘s director.

“Sid and Nancy” (1986) dir. Alex Cox

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I saw “Sid and Nancy” in 1986, during the week between Christmas and New Years Day when school is not in session and I was visiting my Dad in Washington D.C. I saw it at the (now defunct) Key Theater, a Georgetown multiplex that showed nothing but art films. I remember this was the first time I had been in Georgetown by myself and was particularly excited because I also managed to find a (then-rare) CD copy of the Dead Kennedy’s “Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables” at Olsson’s Books and Music (sadly out of business).

Anyway, I was really excited to see this not only because this was a major film about punk history, but was also because it was directed by Alex Cox, who directed one of my all-time favorite films, “Repo Man.” The theater was thoughtful enough to include a very killer punk mix of music before the film started. My verdict of “Sid and Nancy” at the time? I thought it was good, even though I knew a lot of it was bullshit. This film gets a lot of stuff wrong, but it was still damn exciting to watch. This was the first time I had seen Gary Oldman (who plays Sid Vicious) and thought he did a magnificent job. The start of a brilliant career… Chloe Webb as Nancy Spungen was also damn good. I’m sorry to see that after an appearance in the Arnold Schwarzenegger / Danny DeVito film “Twins” and a role on the TV show “China Beach” she didn’t do much after that aside from the occasional TV appearance and supporting role. She’s always been memorable in everything she’s been in.

My verdict now? I still think it’s quite remarkable. Yes, it includes a bit too much of Cox quirkiness and while I realize it has even more wrong about the facts than I knew at the time, it still packs quite a wallop. At times, funny and extremely depressing, “Sid and Nancy” is a great rock and roll film, one of the best films ever made about a mutually destructive relationship, and a genuinely thrilling attempt to document the highs and lows of the punk scene in Great Britain and New York City during the late 1970s.

“Take the Skinheads Bowling” – Camper Van Beethoven

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I know this seems to reek of the “ironic quirky alternative culture from hell” that most rational (aka real) people roll their eyes at. However, it also presents a nice, alternative, and (dare I say it) utopian view of the way things should be in a better world. You can sneer about this all you want to, but being a perpetual curmudgeon only works if you have the wit and talent of W.C. Fields or Groucho Marx. Since this doesn’t apply to 99.99% of the population, you’re better off buying into the sunnier approach. From the 1985 album “Telephone Free Landslide Victory.”

“The Big Lebowski” (1998) dir. Joel and Ethan Coen

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I’m a day late, but not a buck short on this 15th anniversary greeting for one of the greatest cult movies of the last 25 years. “The Big Lebowski” was the Coen Brothers’ follow-up to the the critically-acclaimed, multiple-award winning “Fargo” from 1996. Having loved “Fargo,” I went to see “The Big Lebowski” on its opening weekend in 1998.

My initial reaction? I enjoyed some parts of it, but ultimately thought this was a kind of “f–k you” film they made after the success of “Fargo.” There were just so many weird parts that (at first) didn’t seem to fit together that I concluded that this was a film that was going to be repository of every weird and cool idea that the Coen Brothers had, but weren’t able to put into their other movies.

It wasn’t until I watched it again a few years later that I (finally) got what made “The Big Lebowski” one of the best films the Coens ever had any involvement with. The film is not a mere depository for strange ideas. It’s a wonderful take on Raymond Chandler L.A. detective noir, only instead of a a cynical detective with a secret heart of gold as the hero, we get an aging, overweight stoner who just wants his damn rug back, man. I don’t know why this second viewing struck me more funny than the first, but it did. And I laugh more and more each time I see it. This would make a great double-bill with Robert Altman’s piss-take on Raymond Chandler “The Long Goodbye.”

“The Big Lebowski” arguably contains Jeff Bridges’ best-ever performance as Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski, John Goodman’s best-ever performance as Jeff’s gun-crazed bowling partner Walter, and a host of other stellar supporting performances by Steve Buscemi, David Huddleston, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Tara Reid.

The scene here is Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski’s porno film fantasy based on his love of bowling and his general dudeness. Nothing too salacious here, but probably not safe for work. The Dude abides!

“Sweet Talkin’ Candy Man” – The Carrie Nations (aka The Kelly Affair) from Russ Meyer’s 1970 film “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls”

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Here’s the fake Clinger Sisters … OK, not really, but this is the kick-ass female band The Carrie Nations from the Russ Meyer-directed and Roger Ebert-scripted 1970 film “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.” In addition to the killer song, there’s lots of groovy editing, overacting and dialog in this scene. Oh, and needless to say, women that actually look like women. Gotta love the late 1960s … and Russ Meyer for that matter.

As much as I despise the idea of a remake of this classic film, I do have some casting ideas if one ever comes to fruition: Johnny Depp (or Robert Downey Jr.) as the flamboyantly fey Ronnie “Z-Man” Barzell, Ashton Kutcher as gigolo Lance Rock, Lindsay Lohan as Kelly McNamara, Beyonce as Petronella Danforth. If you have better or different casting ideas send them to Dave’s Strange World Productions via the comments section below …

“Lenny Bruce Tries to do a Clean Show” from “Lenny” (1974) dir. Bob Fosse

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From Bob Fosse’s terrific, but sad biopic of the late comedian Lenny Bruce comes this scene where Lenny (played by Dustin Hoffman) attempts to do a stand-up routine without saying a certain word that got him arrested a few nights earlier. As he points out, the routine is far dirtier without the bad word than with the word. A funny and clever way to make a very crucial point … that the truth, as ugly as it may be at times, is far less offensive than the lie that’s often used to mask the truth.

“One of our base commanders … went a little funny in the head…” from “Dr. Strangelove” (1964) dir. Stanley Kubrick

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One of the funniest scenes in movie history. Peter Sellers plays an American president giving a courtesy phone call to the Soviet premier letting them know that nuclear weapons are heading their way. As Sellers’ president Merkin Muffley advises: “I’m sorry, too, Dmitri… I’m very sorry… All right, you’re sorrier than I am, but I am as sorry as well… I am as sorry as you are, Dmitri! Don’t say that you’re more sorry than I am, because I’m capable of being just as sorry as you are… So we’re both sorry, all right?… All right.” The fact that Rex Harrison won on Oscar over Sellers that year is a major tragedy.

“White Girl” – X

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Live in the studio, here’s the band X with arguably their best and most famous song “White Girl” from their stellar 1981 album “Wild Gift” and album that placed #2 for the year (behind the Clash’s “Sandinista”) in the Village Voice Pazz and Jop poll for album of that year. In this clip, you’ll see producer Ray Manzarek of the Doors working the knobs and nodding his head. From the terrific documentary about X “The Unheard Music.” The song was later sampled in the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s song “Good Time Boys.”

Trivia note: Singer Exene Cervenka used to be married to Oscar-nominated actor Viggo Mortensen. In addition, singer / bassist John Doe has acted in a number of films over the years, most notably as Julianne Moore’s character’s ex-husband in “Boogie Nights.”

“Matador” (1986) dir. Pedro Alomodovar

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I discovered the films of Pedro Almodovar at just the right time in America, around 1988 or so. Almodovar was just about to release his American breakthrough “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” and my college film class that fall showed his 1984 comic masterpiece “What Have I Done to Deserve This?” to a bewildered, but otherwise appreciative audience. I loved “What Have I Done …?” so when our college film society showed “Matador” later that semester, I made it a point to go.

If there was ever a film to see with an audience, “Matador” was it. I remember the college theater was about 3/4 full (unusual for a foreign-language film showing on a Sunday night). The opening sequence features a montage of some of the most graphically violent scenes in recent movie history while the lead male character (played by someone named Nacho Martinez … one of the greatest actor names in film history) frantically masturbates while watching it. At that point, the audience started nervously laughing. And the laughs continued throughout. As I walked out of the theater, I thought “Matador” was one of the most deliriously obscene and funny films ever made. It was as crude and as nasty as any John Waters underground masterpiece, but unlike Waters, “Matador” looked like it had a decent budget and production values. I thought, “Finally, someone blended art and extreme sleaze in a wonderfully shot, acted, written, and directed package.”

Almodovar has continued to top himself over the years and won Oscars for Best Foreign Film in 1999 for “All About My Mother” and in 2002 for Best Original Screenplay for “Talk to Her.” Almodovar consistently is one of the most bracingly original filmmakers working today. However, “Matador” remains my favorite. Its combination of high art and NC-17 rated sex, violence, and sleaze is still remarkably potent.

The attached trailer is in Spanish with subtitles in a language that’s not English. However, the trailer does give a pretty good idea of what this film is about. Antonio Banderas plays a pivotal supporting role in “Matador.” If you’re not a prude and are looking for a walk on the wild side, check out “Matador” pronto. Not to be confused with the 2005 film “The Matador” starring Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear.