The thirty year cycle has come full “circle,” as it were, and ground-breaking annoyance-punkers The Germs finally have their own bio-drama, replete with some serious drama about the making of the movie itself.  The film, What We Do Is Secret, which spans the tail-end of the seventies to singer Darby Crash’s suicide in 1980, took roughly fifteen years for first-time director Rodger Grossman to complete.  This M*A*S*H* of a movie dwarfed the reign of the Germs themselves in terms of longevity, money and celebrity (not counting Pat Smear’s stint in Nirvana and the Foo Fighters years later).  And in many ways, Grossman’s struggle to put the Germs on the big screen was fought harder than the Germs’ own struggles to find stages to play on during their legendary heyday.

Grossman’s labor of love was nearly stillborn many times, his money repeatedly running out, and distribution deals constantly eluding him.  Eventually, in lieu of an official film release, actor Shane West, who played Crash in the biopic after David Arquette dropped out, started touring with original Germs guitarist Pat Smear, drummer Don Bolles, and bassist Lorna Doom at various Warped Tour type activities.  There were annoying appearances by co-star Bijou Phillips in dreary Nylon TV interviews, and articles about the unfinished film in various alternative press publications, and a couple film festival screenings, but no official release for the Film That Wouldn’t Die.
»continue reading What We Do Is Secret–Germs Biopic Officially Released

This Thursday night, the Don’t Knock The Rock ‘08 film festival continues with a double feature at the Silent Movie Theater, this time featuring punk rock from the Windy City.  When we think of early punk rock, we tend to think of New York, London, and Los Angeles, and even the more obsessive among us probably then tend to follow our fandom in cities such as San Francisco, D.C., even Akron and Detroit.

But Chicago also had a scene that included some pioneers in punk, both in the form of arguably the first punk-only club, La Mere Vipere, as well as “the producer who made grunge,” Steve Albini, whose pivotal industrial punk band Big Black appears here in early archival footage in tomorrow night’s feature documentary, You Weren’t There: A History of Chicago Punk 1977-84.

Following the film will be a DJ set by Terry “Dadbag” Graham (Gun Club, The Bags), and then the second half of the night’s entertainment will be brought by DFW Punk, a film all about, you guessed it, punk rock in Dallas and Ft. Worth (title says it all, really).  There’ll be director Q & A stuff, and probably giveaways, and likely you’ll see Hadrian Belove floating around with drinks and keys and stuff.  For the obscurantist who wants to be able to brag about early scenes in every city, this is your night.

In late 2002 I stumbled into the downtown Palace Theatre in Los Angeles for a 72-hour punk rock and shock film festival titled “Shock-o-Rama a Go-Go”. With a very liberal “bring your own booze and sleeping bag” policy, the festival featured all-night-and-all-day films, performances by bands such as the Nervous Return and 400 Blows, and general creepiness - all within the confines of the lovely (albeit rotting) Broadway district theatre. The highlight for me was a screening of The Forbidden Zone, a cult film by Richard Elfman starring Herve Villechaize as King Fausto, with Richard’s brother Danny Elfman playing the devil. (Richard, if you did not know, is the original founder of the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo.) The screening was followed by a Q&A with the director himself. Six years later, The Forbidden Zone has now been restored, the sound remastered and the film colorized. It will screen at the Egyptian on Wednesday, July 30, again with a Q&A with the director, and we’re stoked to give you the chance to win tickets to the screening at the end of this article. But first, a few brief questions with Richard regarding his film, his legacy, and Los Angeles.

I caught you and the film at a 72-hour punk festival back in 2002. What’s the kookiest place or festival you’ve ever personally attended a Forbidden Zone screening - any good stories? What should or shouldn’t we expect at the Egyptian?

Modesty and gentlemanly discretion prohibit me from discussing that particular night in 2002. In terms of the Egyptian screeing July 30, not much happening. Naked beauty-pageant mud-wrestling begins at 5 pm. Then unlimited free drinks for an hour while my brother Danny jams with Paul McCartney and Sting. Then the ritual slaughtering of the of the boars, subsequent barbecue and demented mass orgy dance. And then the screening begins at 8pm. (Susan Tyrrell, Matthew Bright, animator John Muto and other cast and crew will be joining us.) After the screening, we will all sit and relax, as we enjoy a reading of Homer’s Ulysses (in the original Greek), followed by a reading of James Joyce’s Ulysses. And then we can have a wonderful discussion about the two Ulysses. Hopefully it will all be over before the following night’s screening!

The parts I’ve seen in color look great. What was the primary impetus for colorizing (and remastering) the film?
»continue reading Delving Into Richard Elfman’s Brightly-Colored Forbidden Zone