The arrival of "The Decline of Western Civilization Collection" as a pristine extras-filled box set from Shout Factory this week is to budding punks what a new "Star Wars" movie is to . She knew we had something, so she interviewed us for the movie. Axl and Izzy were at our very first show. Every day the staff of Intellectual Takeout come to work eager to do their part to restore and improve our great nation. Penelope Spheeris rounds out her Decline of Western Civilization trilogy with this in depth look at the lives of self-proclaimed 'gutter punks,' homeless punk rockers that squat in abandoned homes or sleep on the streets, panhandle or steal, and live lives of alcoholism and drug addiction. Most classicists believe that a combination of factors including Christianity, decadence, the metal lead in the water supply, monetary trouble, and military problems caused the Fall of Rome. Subscribe to Paper; Sign Up for Emails; Where to Pick Us Up; Submit Stuff; Place a Classified or Legal Notice In Part III, the answer is almost universally, Dead. But the footage in Spheeris films was deeply personal. youtu.be comments sorted by Best Top New Controversial Q&A Add a Comment Another possibility is that the title refers to Darby Crash's reading of Oswald Spengler's Der Untergang des Abendlandes (The Decline of the West). Four years ago I told my daughter Anna that I wanted her to come and work for me. After years of what she describes as paralyzing anxiety surrounding the films she considers her lifes most important work, Spheeris finally did something about that queasy feeling in her gut. Chris Holmes: When Penelope asked me to be in the Decline movie, I went: Why dont you ask Blackie [Lawless, W.A.S.P. At first glance, it seems that remarkably little has changed over the course of a generation. Three decades on, the members of W.A.S.P., Faster Pussycat, London and Odin are still making music, still dreaming the dream and still unrepentant, despite having never reaped the rewards that they were utterly convinced would soon be theirs. I remember lookin out and thinking: Who the fuck is this dude dancin in the middle of the floor? Of course, it was fuckin Axl. The 11 most pivotal periods in western history. I carried London on even after Lizzie left. As more and more funds were funneled into the military upkeep of the empire, technological advancement slowed and Rome's civil infrastructure fell into disrepair. Theres also a commentary track from Spheeris, as well as additional commentary from Foo Fighters and Nirvanas Dave Grohl. Difference #1: Unlike all previous civilizations, modern industrial civilization is . Heres how it works. Gone is the chaotic euphoria of the first movie, filmed in 1979, which quickly became a classic on the underground circuit for its playful, sympathetic chronicle of L.A. punk bands and the fans who loved them. I didnt think grunge would kill our shit, but it did pretty much. I now have two children, I still do twenty to thirty shows a year with Tuff, and I play with a band out of Germany called Shameless. They just want to escape it, and in "Decline, Part III" some succeed. I know a lot of the rest of them have been dead for a long time. I remember hanging out with Penelope at the Cat Club in New York for the release party. Movie Info. Muslims were introduced to modern Western philosophy during the time of Western colonization, when they were not emotionally or mentally ready to absorb it and were generally skeptical of anything Western. These are, in many ways, the bastard children of Darby Crash. Sure, the film gave London a huge push. Takes on Hollywoods Bias Against Women Directors (and Women Directors Respond). The expression in the title is widely known, but the book that made it famous is little read today. The Closing of the American Mind, by Allan Bloom. Now, when I see people in young bands I tell them not to trust each other. Penelope Spheeris and her boyfriend, Eyeball Penelope Spheeris, creator of The Decline of Western Civilization series, is a veteran Hollywood filmmaker, a "den mother" and most importantly, a cheerleader for punk rock. Starting decades ago, many people, especially in the universities, lost faith in the Western civilization narrative. They offer definitive looks at turning points in underground music while showing both the upsides and downsides of fame often with a sense of humor. I was only twenty-two when the band broke up. The Tragic Decline of Music Literacy (and Quality). The `Decline' of L.A. Street Punks / Kids in `Part III' lack euphoria of earlier scene, 'Zero visibility' conditions: All roads to Tahoe are closed, My meal at this landmark SF spot was too expensive to be so bad, One of the largest movie theaters in SF to close permanently, 'Really cool sight': Rare waterspout forms in Northern California, Report: Matthew McConaughey has a massive Salesforce paycheck, Man shot dead near San Francisco Ferry Building, A different horse': Bay Area will likely continue to see rain, 'Life threatening': Tahoe braces for massive blizzard, 'Lady in the fridge' murder victim ID'd as Bay Area mother of 3, Snow shuts down over 70 miles of I-80 in Northern California, These East Bay gems are a haven for music lovers, Freezing temps into the 20s may soon hit parts of Bay Area, You can still overpack the smaller Monos check-in suitcase. Maher said part of the problem of losing civilization is you fail to make judgments. Chris Holmes, the towering guitarist with W.A.S.P., was central to the films most memorable scene, in which he mugged, hammed, drank and swore his way through an interview while perched precariously on a lilo in a swimming pool, watched by his evidently bemused mother. Its not as if she hadnt tried before. And we faked the spilling of the orange juice. Jeff Duncan: From what I remember, Penelope Spheeris contacted our manager at the time. Culture of Respect: Conservatives Need Not Apply? Penelope Spheeris: My family background was chaotic, so when I saw the punk thing happening in clubs I felt very at home with it. These days, the mythology of that era now revolves largely around Guns N Roses, Aerosmith and Alice Cooper, all of whom feature prominently in the film, but its most memorable moments and unforgettable utterances came from the eras young hopefuls who never quite scaled the heights they dreamed of. They treated us really good, but Id been shoved into the industry for the first eight years of my adult life. A website? It's unique among the world's civilizations in putting the individualas opposed to the collectivein a central position. She means it, man, and the saddest part is that she's probably right. Depending on how drunk you were when you watched it for the first time, The Decline Of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years is either an uproarious celebration of the 80s Sunset Strip scene in all its hedonistic glory or a fist-gnawingly embarrassing parade of idiots, bozos and no-hopers who didnt have the brains to tie their own shoelaces in the morning. Last night I saw The Decline of Western Civilization at Cornell Cinema (everybody, go support your campus movie theater). Spheeris: "Some people are put off by that, they don't get the joke, they don't get that it was totally tongue in cheek. Filmmaker Penelope Spheeris looks back as her L.A. rock trilogy readies itself for a box-set reissue. For a movie about the underground punk scene, the . Western civilisation is a similarly slippery concept. IBM had approached the Rolling Stones and said: Well give you guys two million dollars if you let us do the title [Voodoo Lounge CD-ROM]. After her revelatory look at the punk scene of LA, and her follow-up on "the metal years," Penelope Spheeris took another decade to complete a trilogy of documentary films with The Decline of Western Civilization: Part III, a "social commentary of the true punk aesthetic." Chronicling the gutter punk lifestyle of teenagers and young people . It was a terrible burden to have, to have everybody asking for all these years. I remember driving down Sunset Strip in my car, seeing all these strangely dressed people spilling out on to the sidewalk. Decline Of Civilization Quotes. All Rights Reserved. So just as we were beginning to make an impact, they came along and we had no chance. Lizzie Grey: London became like a launching pad for rock stars. We found all the complete original interviews, additional live performances, re-edited them, cleaned up the film, added commentaries And thats whats coming out.. Some days I cant get to rehearsals. Whether you have a nostalgic connection to the subjects, or just want to glimpse into a couple of under-examined subcultures, this is a set well worth adding to your collection. As the singer in Faster Pussycat and co-founder of the notorious, heroically debauched Cathouse club, Seattle-born Taime Downe or Gustave Molvik to his parents was perfectly placed to witness the rise and fall of the Sunset Strip scene. Ironically, its nearly the same thing she was told when she tried to get distribution for Decline of Western Civilization Part I: punk is dead. The Germs' performance was replicated in the 2007 Darby Crash biopic What We Do Is Secret. As well as Armored Saint I also have my own band, DC4. All we had was a bag of weed, two bottles of booze and our guitar players credit card. The cut- and-paste editing, harsh lighting and seat-of-the-pants production that made the first film's technique a perfect reflection of its content have been replaced by MTV-era aesthetics. Through live performance . In a way, you can look at Decline II as the research and then Waynes World as the final product. God instructed Adam to obey his Word . Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. You get two million and well handle everything else. But The Stones go: no, we want this long-haired guy and his team to handle our shit. I dont have the budget. So I agreed to do the interview. The Decline of Western Civilization III is a 1998 documentary film that follows the gutter punk lifestyle of homeless teenagers. But Greer's assumption is built on shaky ground because industrial civilization differs from all past civilizations in four crucial ways. Its not the moneyfuck the money. The second consideration depicts its slow decline with the internal problems like slow economic growth, unemployment, stagnant population, government shortfall, deteriorating work ethic, crime, and . "I'm not saying that as a selling point because that's not why we did it. A subscription makes a thoughtful gift for both family and friends. With the box set slated to come out on June 30th, the director selected 10 clips from all three Decline of Western Civilization films and explained what they meant to her in the pages that follow. Spheeris resolved to ignore it. Mostly still in their teens, these subjects, with names like Squid and Spoon and Troll, tell harrowing stories of abuse and neglect and homes so broken most viewers cant even imagine. ", At a certain point, Spheeris started seeing "these guys with the torn-up jeans, bandanas and long hair with hairspray"; she and her friends would laugh at them, watching punks and metalheads brawl in parking lots. Her experiences on The Decline Of Western Civilization Part II would bear fruit when she went on to direct blockbuster comedy Waynes World. So I quit my job and bought a one-way ticket for a hundred and nine dollars from Chicago to LA-X. He has interviewed three of the four Beatles, all of Abba and been nursed through a bad attack of food poisoning on a tour bus in South America by Robert Smith of The Cure. It continued to dominate the cultural discussion for years after its publication. That was difficult, because Nadir was hungry to have one of those heavy metal record deals, but chasing deals by trying to prove how metal you are wasnt where I wanted to be at. Recent films like What Happened, . This was your primer, your roadmap to being an outsider. 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