'Dinner In America' (2020) Movie Review

 

“Fuck the rest of them, fuck ‘em all but us.” So goes the refrain in a song written by Simon (Kyle Gallner, Veronica Mars) and Patty (Emily Skeggs, The Miseducation of Cameron Post). It also forms the general conceit and overall attitude of Adam Rehmeier’s middle-finger-flying, punk-rock-fuck-you of a love story, Dinner in America. Think Repo Man by way of Bonnie and Clyde and that begins to paint the picture.

'Fall Back Down' (2020) Movie Review

Sarah Beth Edwards’ Fall Back Down is the cinematic personification of living in a big punk house with a ton of roommates. It’s fun and chaotic, random and strange, frustrating and complicated, full of wild characters, and leads you into all sorts of off-kilter adventures. You’re going to drink too much, you’re going to write some songs, you’re going to wake to find an impromptu show in your basement, you’re going to make out with some people you shouldn’t. And it’s never going to wind up where you expect. 

Fantasia 2020: 'Dinner In America'

“Fuck the rest of them, fuck ‘em all but us.” So goes the refrain in a song written by Simon (Kyle Gallner, Veronica Mars) and Patty (Emily Skeggs, The Miseducation of Cameron Post). It also forms the general conceit and overall attitude of Adam Rehmeier’s middle-finger-flying, punk-rock-fuck-you of a love story, Dinner in America. Think Repo Man by way of Bonnie and Clyde and that starts to paint the picture.

'Riot Girls' (2019) Movie Review

An alternate 1995 where a mysterious disease kills off all the adults and warring gangs of kids—the poor kids from the East Side of Potter’s Bluff and the preppy jocks from the West Side—battle for turf and survival. With that logline, it’s no wonder Jovanka Vuckovic’s Riot Girls made my top 50 most-anticipated movies of 2019 list. 

'Desolation Center' (2019) Movie Review

This is an updated version of an earlier review.

If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to go on a punk rock field trip, like pile into school buses with a bunch of like-minded outsiders who are into the same kind of music as you, Stuart Swezey’s new documentary, Desolation Center, has you covered. 

'The Ranger' Trailer: The Woods Are Wild And Full Of Predators, And Punks

Punks in the woods battling for survival against a vengeful park ranger? These are things that I like quite a bit. They also happen to be the building blocks of Jenn Wexler’s upcoming horror film, The Ranger. It debuted at SXSW over the weekend, and now there’s a great new trailer so the rest of us can get in on the fun.

'Turn It Around: The Story Of East Bay Punk' (2017) Movie Review

Any movie with a Crimpshrine song playing over the credits has my immediate attention. And so begins Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk, Corbett Redford’s Green Day-produced, Iggy Pop-narrated documentary looking back at decades of loud, abrasive punk rock spawned by right side of the San Francisco Bay.

'Green Room' (2016) Movie Review

Being on tour isn’t nearly as glamorous as most people think, especially for a small band, or one clinging to DIY aesthetics and ideals. Sure, there are moments, but there is also sleeping in vans, breaking down, shows that fall through, driving 12 hours for shows that fall through, and, perhaps most disheartening, driving 12 hours to play a show where three people who don’t give a shit show up and leave in the middle of the set. I’ve been on some terrible tours over the years, played some god-awful disasters, but never has a show or tour sucked as hard as the one in Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room.

Blu-Ray Review: 'Decline Of Western Civilization' Box Set

Growing up a punk rock kid in a small or at least smallish town, Penelope Spheeris’ 1981 documentary The Decline of Western Civilization, chronicling the early Los Angeles scene, served as a de facto history text book. You poured over the footage of The Germs, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, and more, noting how they lived, how they dressed, the fuck you attitude they flaunted by their very existence. This was your primer, your roadmap to being an outsider.

SIFF '14 Movie Review: 'Razing The Bar'

The Funhouse was a bar in Seattle, and a dive bar at that. But, nestled in the shadow of the Space Needle, under the Monorail, the most useless piece of public transportation ever devised, it was also a community. For nine debauched, alcohol-fueled years, the Funhouse played host to countless shows, featuring everything from punk bands of all varieties to burlesque troupes and even some things that aren’t so easily classified. I’ve seen both semi-professional wrestling and public pencil fighting—yes, just like you remember from elementary school—go down there, as well as many other awesomely absurd events.