The punk-est thing since the Ramones

This caused a fair amount of buzz at the LA Film Fest last summer, but I have an innate instinct that keeps me at least 5 miles away from anywhere anything cool is happening so I missed it.

I have to admit on paper it sounds kind of goofy, but I keep hearing great things about it.

Looking forward to checking it out.

I've always considered punk to be the existentialism on a social level. Where an existentialist reacts to an indifferent universe with indifference to that indifference, punks react to the way square society has rejected and overlooked them by rejecting and overlooking square society. Whatever poor British kids and rich white suburbanite brats think they know about alienation, old folks have the market cornered on being disregarded, ignored, and excluded from society.

The best punk song of the last ten years was Common People as covered by washed up, overlooked, and laughed-at actor William Shatner.

I thought they were singing "I wanna be committed." Oh, but what if they had been?

Love the video!

P.S. Glad you talked me into switching to Netflix. I loved Shortbus!

This caused a fair amount of buzz at the LA Film Fest last summer...

I, for one, can't wait to experience the film that brought audiences to the feet with spontaneous appluase at the Los Angeles Film Festival.

This film is opening the Philadelphia Film Festival next week. The insiders (who I shall not name) who've seen it told me not to see it, but I don't know if that means they didn't like it, or they think I wouldn't like it.

In any case, it will, at least, be playing to a packed crowd in Philly next week.

What makes punk great, the best of it anyway, is how true it is to the spirit of rock and roll. What rock and roll originated as, anyway. It's rock and roll without the sugar coating, stripped down to only the rebellion. Some of it, however, is just noise.

As much as I run away from things like this typically (I worked at a theater for a long time that was driven by seniors..."Boynton Beach Club" and "Mad Hot Ballroom" were epic hits...but this film really sparks my interest. I don't know what it is...maybe its the mesh of old and new that should be a lot of fun, or maybe it's just a damn funny/good topic. Either way, I'm totally there.

Ryan Kelly: Yes.

Good punk is the Rock and Roll answer to watered down, inoffensive, rehabilitated rock and roll. The Ramones are the true Rock and Roll answer to a fat Elvis who your grandma loves, the rock and roll hall of fame which institutionalizes rockers and declares them safe for consumption.

I feel like Rock and Roll isn't supposed to be completely anti-society, but the symptom of societal disease. We may hate having a runny nose, but it's how our body tells us we have a cold and need to drink some orange juice. Rock and roll that's allowed to mingle with the crowd and do duets with Michael Bolton can't afford to offend people by being the first to cry that the emperor is wearing no clothes.

If there's something else picking up the slack now that punk is largely watered down and consumer-safe, I'm probably just too old and out of touch to know what it is.

@Gman:

Arcade Fire