Play it like it's fiction and play it really cool

[sovay]

Today: dentist's appointment, voice lesson, and with any luck we buy a new futon frame. The Brattle is showing Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1982). I hope I'm still conscious by then.

1. Critters! When rose_lemberg asked what kind of critter I wanted, I gravitated naturally toward the sea—I said I liked all sorts of invertebrates and things with fins and spines. The fins and spines turned out to belong to Russian river fish, but I got both in spades. I am delighted.

2. The table of contents for Issue #3 of Lackington's has been announced. I have an illustrator! And a fantastic array of ToC-mates! I am looking forward to this issue so much.

3. All of this is very good Doctor Who news. (That coat is pretty classy, too.)

Comments

[sovay]

Oh man, The Fabulous Stains was a late-night cable discovery decades ago, and I still remember it.

We saw a crackly reddened 35mm print and it was fantastic. I knew almost nothing about it going in. I liked finding out it was an unapologetically feminist film that did not punish its characters for either their successes or their screwing up.

First documentary evidence of Diane Lane's utter inability to carry a tune

Are you kidding? She was perfect! "Waste of Time" is like the best parts of the Shaggs and X-Ray Spex, only with less saxophone.

"Join the Professionals" was performed by the remnants of the Sex Pistols.

We found that out when we got home (along with supporting appearances by bits of The Clash and The Tubes. I had never heard of Black Randy and the Metrosquad, but I don't hold that against him). Excellent placement of an in-joke.

[mrbelm.livejournal.com]

Agreed that Diane's tone deafness was an asset in this movie, but it makes "Streets of Fire" utterly unwatchable.

And why does EVERY movie about a rock band follow the "rise and fall" plot arc?

[sovay]

Agreed that Diane's tone deafness was an asset in this movie, but it makes "Streets of Fire" utterly unwatchable.

I loved Streets of Fire. Lane didn't do her own singing in that one, though.

I wouldn't call her tone-deaf, either. She has a limited instrument and a lot of anger and commitment. It's exactly what's needed for Corinne Burns.

And why does EVERY movie about a rock band follow the "rise and fall" plot arc?

The Fabulous Stains doesn't entirely, though, which is one of the things that made it stand out. The concert fiasco is devastating for the Stains and Corinne in particular, but it doesn't crush her back to her depressing post-industrial pit of a hometown for life; the smarmy TV anchor who is basically the voice of the patriarchy tries to gloat that she's a has-been at sixteen, but the film doesn't actually agree with him. There are skunk-haired girls in the streets still with their boom boxes. In a couple of years, the Stains have a single with Red Stripe Records (so you know Lawn Boy came out all right; you never have any idea what happened to the Looters and that's okay) and they have a video on nascent MTV. They're not the biggest band in America, but they don't have to be. It was a realistically positive ending and a refreshing change from all the ones where it's fine for girls to shout and rebel so long as they lose out to society in the end. Corinne and Tracy and Peg are really young. The movie isn't about their entire lives. We both really liked that.