cult films

a film about the career of the notorious punk rock band, the sex pistols.

dir.: julien temple
documentary / biography / music
2000

the 1st movie j.temple made about the sex pistols was the great rock and roll swindle, which was released in british cinemas on 1980. this earlier effort was heavily criticised for being too skewed towards the pistols’ manager malcolm mclaren’s version of events about the band. “the filth and the fury” tells the story from the viewpoint of the band members themselves (albeit in silhouette during their contemporary interviews).

the title of the film is a reference to a headline that appeared in the british tabloid newspaper the daily mirror after an interview on itv’s today presented by bill grundy. the title of the daily mirror article was itself inspired by william faulkner’s novel the sound and the fury.

it shows the rise, decline and fall of the sex pistols from their humble beginnings in london’s shepherd’s bush to their disintegration at the winterland ballroom in san francisco. temple puts the band into historical context with britain’s social situation in the 1970s through archival footage from the period. this film was seen in some ways as an opportunity for the pistols to tell their side of the story, mostly through interviews with the surviving members of the group, footage shot during the era, and outtakes from the great rock and roll swindle.

+: imdb / wikipedia
+: read / watch an excerpt from the incident with bill grundy (yes, that blonde one is siouxsie sioux)

a documentary on the electric guitar from the point of view of three significant rock musicians: the edge, jimmy page and jack white.

dir.: davis guggenheim
music / documentary
2008

jimmy page
the edge
jack white

fact:

- all 3 participants have featured in music from a james bond opening credits. jimmy page reveals that he played on goldfinger whilst the edge and jack white contributed title tracks to goldeneye and quantum of solace respectively.

+: imdb
+: hoy en centro cultural chacao 7.30pm - caracas, venezuela (facebook)

your greatest creation is the life you lead.

dir.: jonathan caouette
autobiographical / biography / documentary / child / homosexual / drugs
2003

jonathan caouette as himself
renee leblanc as herself

a documentary on growing up with a schizophrenic mother - a mixture of snapshots, super-8, answering machine messages, video diaries, early short films, and more -culled from 19 years of his life.

some facts:

- was edited with apple computer’s “imovie” - a free dv editing program for macintosh computers.
- the original cut of the film ran over 2 hrs. and 40 minutes long.
- it cost $218 to make but the budget rose to $400,000, once music and video clip royalties were included. 

+: imdb

i used to encourage everyone i knew to make art; i don’t do that so much anymore. 
- banksy

dir.: banksy
art / graffiti / street artist / graffiti artist / documentary
2010

the story of how an eccentric french shop keeper and amateur film maker attempted to locate and befriend banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on its owner with spectacular results. billed as ‘the world’s first street art disaster movie’ the film contains exclusive footage of banksy, shephard fairey (obey), invader and many of the world’s most infamous graffiti artists at work.

+: imdb