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16 out of 17 people found the following review useful:
If only they hadn't ruined Times Square, 11 December 2004

Author: Shelagh from United States

People who love:

- depictions of New York City's Times Square (and New York City, for that matter) as gritty-as-you please and before it was remade as a family theme park

- Tim Curry (see him here as a late-night radio DJ speaking to nocturnal urban denizens in verse from the center of Times Square)

- movies about youthful rebellion that are half tongue-in-cheek

will get a kick out of this movie. I recommend it, especially if you don't require that you grow spiritually or expand your vocabulary every time you invest 90 minutes in a movie.

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9 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
I Love This Film, 15 August 2005

Author: aimless-46 from Kentucky

I must confess up front to a favorable bias toward "Times Square". Just before its release I recall seeing the trailer and being won over by the scene in the hospital where Nikki begins eating the flowers. Since this was only about 10 seconds into the trailer it is fair to say that I immediately connected with the film. The same trailer is included with the DVD and I was happy to see that my memory of the event was accurate. After seeing the actual feature I went out and bought the double album, which I still own.

I know more about films now than I did 25 years ago and thanks to the DVD commentary (by Director Allen Moyle and Robin Johnson-who played Nikki) I now know a lot about what went into the making of "Times Square". Unfortunately Robin's co-star Trini Alvarado (Pammy) was not available for the commentary. Although most viewers consider Nikki the central character, Nikki really needs Pammy to play off (much like Charlize Theron needs Christina Ricci's reaction shots in "Monster"), plus Pammy's scenes without Nikki are some of the best in the film and Pammy is the character who undergoes all the changes in the story, so you can't really say that one of them is more important than the other.

"Times Square" suffered the same fate that Orson Welles' "The Magnificent Ambersons" did 40 years earlier. The producers took control of the final cut, re-shot some scenes, deleted others, and released a version that did not reflect the director's vision. Apparently no one has ever been able to find the deleted footage for either film. Although "Times Square" was butchered even more than "Ambersons", it seems to have been less damaged. In part that is because the originally intended version would never have approached the perfection of the original "Amberson's". Perhaps more importantly, "Times Square" has a Haskel Wexler gritty documentary style that simply transcends the narrative elements of the story. So changes to the storyline could not take away from its basic ambiance nor from its preservation of the look of 1979 Times Square-something that was even then a ghost world.

Moyle now wishes he had not left the production after a dispute over including additional songs (so they could have a double album) because his continued presence would at least have had some damage control value. Producer Robert Stigwood ("Saturday Night Fever", "Saying Alive", "Jesus Christ Superstar", Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" ) was determined to release yet another of his musical exploitation films designed to make a lot of money on the soundtrack. This accounts for the inclusion of the completely inappropriate "Help Me" (The Bee Gees), the movie actually goes out on that song although they switch to something more appropriate midway through the credits.

The commercialization of the film also included dropping all obvious hints of a lesbian relationship between the two girls. This was probably a commercial mistake because a public controversy might have actually increased attendance. Ironically, if the lesbian angle had remained Moyle would have been accused of exploitation because it is really unnecessary for the storyline. Likewise the script changes needed when Alvarado refused to dance topless saved Moyle from looking like an exploiter.

While what survives has major continuity and character development issues, the core of the story may actually work better. Two emotionally damaged girls-polar opposites- bond and help each other. It ends with Altman's cool "Kansas City" twist where the seemingly weaker girl becomes protective of the tough girl.

I like the way that Pamela's father finally gets it and backs away, letting her continue to help Nikki until she feels that Nikki can continue without her. You first realize how strong and together Nikki has made Pammy by the end of my favorite montage sequence. After ordering her out, Nikki trashes their room, tries unsuccessfully to commit suicide, and completely breaks down at the radio station. Inter-cut with this is a shot of Pammy standing outside her father's home. At the station Nikki is screaming "Pammy" over and over as they agreed to do earlier in the film in moments of total despair. The audio of these screams is extended into the morning after establishing shot of their dock building. Johnny comes into the seemingly empty room and lifts the blanket revealing a peacefully sleeping Pammy sucking her thumb-she has returned to help Nikki.

Another highlight is the scene I already mentioned of Nikki eating the flowers in their hospital room. What makes this work is its point-of-view dynamic. Moyle artfully connects us to Pammy for the first time by allowing us to see Nikki from her POV. Later he places us back into Pammy's POV as Nikki non-verbally convinces Pammy to leave the hospital with her. The hospital exit scene only works credibility-wise because the first scene set us up for it.

Finally there is Nikki's "people dig dyin on me" line.

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6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Truly A Classic!, 23 September 2004

Author: Kitale

First of all, I saw the preview of the movie before it came out and it had the scene where Nicky silently urges Pammy to run away with her from the hospital, to The Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated". That alone blew me away. Then I bought the 2 LP soundtrack before the movie came out and listened to it over and over. By the time the movie premiered, I was more than ready for it. It showed for two weeks at a local theater and I saw it once a day every day for two weeks. I really had no life! I ordered the VHS tape sometime in the 80's and paid $60 for it. Now I own the DVD and enjoyed the commentary. I don't have the CD and wonder if The Cars' Dangerous Type is on it.

Anyway, I don't have to tell you I loved it very much.

I know the editing was clumsy and they cut out so many scenes that sometimes it didn't make any sense, but it is such a fun movie. the soundtrack is the best ever. The Ramones, Suzi Quatro, Patti Smith, Pretenders, Robin Johnson, Roxy Music, XTC, Desmond Child & Rouge, The Cars (not included on the soundtrack), etc. This movie introduced me to New Wave and punk. There are so many neat scenes in the movie: - The seduction - non-verbal with only Ramones singing "I Wanna Be Sedated - of Pammy by Nicky to leave the hospital. - The card game on the street "You snooze you lose" - Running through the adult theater. - The hilarious hold-up - Dropping TVs to The Cars' "Dangerous Type" - "Your Daughter Is One" - Any scene with Tim Curry - "Life, more than Television."

- Both performances of "Damn Dog" - "Hit me again, you're a big man" - Pammy dancing to Lou Reed's Take A Walk On The Wild Side.

- Waking up to Suzi Quatro's "Rock Hard". - Tim Curry dancing to "Rock Hard" - "I may be brave but you're the pretty one. I'm a freak of f**king nature"

- Pammy dancing to Desmond Child & Rouge's "The Night Was Not". - Tim Curry's poetry. - The Sleaze Sisters and their imitators wearing trash bags.

- The opening credits to Roxy Music's "Same Old Scene"

- Stealing the ambulance and getting away with it. - "M-e-t-h-o-d-i-s-t- e-p-i-s-c-o-p-a-l" "Take a p*** you a**hole"

Do I love this movie or what?

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4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Recklessly edited, but "no sense makes sense," right?, 19 September 2001

Author: TelevisionJunkie from Texas

As Maltin said, the film is "scored for the deaf," which isn't a bad thing - it at least displays some good songs from the era. The bizarre script is made convincing through excellent performances from Alverado and Johnson. Tim Curry, who only spent a few days working on the film, turns in a good performance too, despite his hokey accent (Just what sort of accent is that supposed to be? Still, it beats the mind-numbingly-fake one he used in "Congo."). The film may be short on focused plot, but wry, cynical dialogue abounds, mostly uttered by Curry.

The main problem with this film is the editing. It's obvious watching this movie the first time that something is missing. In trying to make a double-album-soundtrack, they sacrificed character development by jamming in as much music as possible. By doing so, they made the already-unbelievable script even more thin, making it unable to compete with the screen-time that the musical sequences received. Which leaves a reckless coming-of-age story to play out like a two-hour music-video. Sad in one way, the film could have been so much better, but it did give the movie a cult-like quality which set it firmly in a specific place and time. What's left often seems unreal and senseless, but Alvarado and Johnson are just so convincing with the little bit that they were given that one isn't always inclined to notice (which leads me to wonder why neither actress went on to bigger and better things).

Much speculation has been given to the lesbian-theme-aspect of the film. While the finished film only hints at it, scenes were supposedly played-out more in the original drafts of the script, although much of that was never filmed. Johnson is so butch it's hard to believe she's not a biker in real-life. Alvarado, who's initially shy and insecure, winds up shedding her wallflower image to idolize and embrace the ideals of her new friend. When Alvarado's focus shifts towards Curry, a jealous and drunken Johnson lashes out as if she'd just been cheated on. And just to annoy fans of the film, scenes from the trailor showed a scene (that was ultimately cut out) where Johnson and Alvarado splashed around and played in the river. Wouldn't it have been scandalous at that time to have two young girls in their early teens portrayed in a gay relationship? (Then again, many didn't realize the gay-themes that were so blatant in "A Nightmare On Elm Street 2" when it was first released five years later.)

It's been rumored that other lesbian-themed footage was shot and subsequently cut out, but since the film was such a forgotten flop, we may never know how much. I'm willing to bet this could have been an epic four-hour movie. When the DVD was being compiled, Achor Bay Entertainment did a search for missing footage, but they were unsuccessful at locating any. We're left only to imagine what the film could have been if they had toned down the music and stuck to the original vision. Perhaps one day. ..

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4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Rock and roll cult movie with a lot to say, 25 May 2001

Author: Dehlia from New York

The 1980 movie Times Square is both a cult movie, and about cults, and seems to be a self-conscious attempt to CREATE a cult about itself (which failed -- the real cult following was entirely different).

Although Tim Curry was given top billing, his is a supporting role. The real stars were two teenage unknowns -- Trini Alvarado and Robin Johnson. The story follows these two opposites-who-attract as they escape together from a hospital where they're undergoing psychiatric and neurological tests. Alvarado's Pam is the daughter of a well-known politician; she is depressed and withdrawn and we clearly see that these tests are her father's way of throwing money at the problem rather than really be involved with his daughter. Her hospital roommate is Nicky -- Johnson's character -- who is clearly disturbed; she is also exciting, electric and incredibly bold, and Pam is intensely attracted to her.

Curry plays a DJ with a bit of a cult following, and here the movie is clearly playing on Curry's cult appeal to RHPS fans -- in 1980, Curry was still sexy as hell, was recording rock albums (remember I Do the Rock?) and RHPS fandom was in full swing. I certainly knew fans in those days who were happy to form a cult around any movie Curry was in -- they were even seeing Annie every week!

Curry's character reads warm platitudes and heartfelt letters from teenage girls between playing 80s punk and New Wave songs. He realizes that the runaway politician's daughter has written to him in the past and helps to create a teen cult following for the "Sleez Sisters," as the girls call themselves.

There's a lot going on here. The "Sleez" motif stands in opposition to a father who wants to clean up Times Square; of course he and his ilk have won by 2001. Although the movie -- through Curry's voice -- is very preachy about this, you also get to see for yourself the vitality and value of the filthy, un-cleaned-up streets.

In addition, there's the creation of a cult at work. The movie doesn't much examine what this means, and I had a sneaking suspicion that the real intention of the filmmakers was to create the very cult they depicted, which of course makes the whole thing irritating and heavy-handed. But it's there and available for the viewer to ask -- what happens when something real and vital becomes just another fashion statement? What does fandom do to its object of adoration?

There's also the story of the liberation of these two girls, which is over-done, and again seems designed to make other girls become adoring fans of the Sleez Sister message, but there's a core of real beauty to it.

The relationship between the girls is clearly romantic, and that's where it developed its real cult following -- from showings at lesbian festivals. Much of the lesbian content was never filmed, and most of the rest landed on the cutting room floor -- so much so that you know there are missing pieces as you watch; it's often obvious you're seeing the second part of something without a preceding scene to establish it. Nonetheless, there is passion, adoration, loyalty and tenderness between these girls, and it works.

The first time I saw this movie, I saw the surface stuff; "No Sense Makes Sense" and "they" think that bad girls are crazy. But Nicky clearly IS crazy, and the script and acting portray that with a clear eye.

Finally, Times Square has one of the best rock and roll soundtracks around; Suzi Quatro, The Pretenders, D.L. Byron and Patti Smith among others. The soundtrack itself has a cult following, and deservedly so.

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2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
I love this movie, 15 April 2006

Author: veday67 from United States

This movie was so important to me as a teenager. It was very empowering. I have visited New York City several times now due to my interest that was kindled by this movie. I started looking for it on DVD literally 2 weeks before it was released and was thrilled to find it available. A reunion of some sort would be well received I am sure. They are making me submit at least ten lines so I am filling those up with more accolades for the movie, I love this movie yeah yeah yeah.

The soundtrack is amazing...I have it on cassette and have recreated most of it from Napster. Hello Robin and Trini where ever you are..thank you.

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2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Punk Movie Ethic: The Fabulous Revolt of the Spectacularly Alienated (spoilers), 8 September 2005

Author: Pepper Anne from Orlando, Florida

Times Square is a film inspired by a young woman's diary found by director Allen Moyle. It was many years before I was finally able to obtain a copy of 'Times Square,' although I was ultimately disappointed with what has established itself as a steady cult classic (to no surprise) that represents the old days of real New York (filmed entirely on location) and the emergence of New Wave (not so much punk, despite the "official" synopsis).

Robin Johnson plays gutsy social street misfit, Nicky, who is placed in a hospital because, for some reason, "reasonable" doctors have attributed her crude behavior with some sort of mental defect. There, she befriends quiet, shy Pamela (Trini Alvarado) who is being tested by doctors in the hospital much to the urgings of her wealthy, but misunderstanding father who is unwilling to listen to Pamela and realize that she's just a normal kid that needs some attention and natural affection.

Nicky, never willing to be held down (as characterized by her "Feed Me/I'm A Dog" song later in the film), helps Pam bust out of their little prison to become street nomads, doing what they have to for cash. But, they become youth idols and popular rebels when Pam's father gets together his team of social workers and legal aid to track Pam down under the assumption that she has been kidnapped. With the help of Nicky and their assorted troublemaking around New York, Pam eventually breaks out of her shell while speaking back to her father through local radio DJ, Johnny LaGuardia (Tim Curry!), among other things.

It's the typical punk rock ethic movie, though not done quite as harshly nor probably as honestly as other punk rock ethic films have (such as Suburbia or the more light-hearted selections). That is, the tales of the misunderstood youth who try to vocalize their frustrations to the very people (usually some form of dogged authority such as parents or school officials or law enforcement) through some of revolt. Here, it happens to be a culturally motivated one. The story, then is nothing new, and could've been much more enjoyable, at least for me, if there was more variety within the story. As the movie progresses, it becomes too much about Nicky, and I know that this was obviously done for a reason--because while Pamela can reform to at least some sense of normal, this is something that Nicky has never really known (or no longer knows) and has no one else to turn to. Besides, her personality means that she would never acquiesce as easily as Pam did (although Pam had her reasons, too).

However, Tim Curry fans or cult classic fans, particularly those who enjoyed cult classics motivated by the punk/new wave culture themes of youth alienation and good-natured rebellion and alienation (like Suburbia, Repo Man, Rock N' Roll High School, Tokyo Pop, and, outside of this music-influenced genre, The Legend of Billie Jean), then this is at least worth giving a try.

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5 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
THE Seminal US Punk Rock Movie, 23 June 2004

Author: heavenuphere from London, England

I saw this film when I was 12 and it changed my life. I formed my first band the very next morning... I've just seen it for the second time. After 20 years of waiting to see it again it is every bit as great as I remember it. For me, this is absolutely the greatest punk movie of them all. Trini Alvarado's performance is staggeringly mature, and Tim Curry gives a career best turn as a rebel-rousing DJ. The music (Patti Smith, Ramones, if you love it it's probably here) is to die for, and Alan Moyle's direction paints an masterly picture of urban street life in the late 1970s (it's New York, but everyone will see echoes of their city in this film). However, it is Robin Johnson's performance that really hits home. This wonderful, moving, dark, witty movie belongs to her. No wonder it had such an effect on me. "Times Square" is a masterpiece!!! It'll brain your blows out...

Thank you Alan Moyle, words can hardly express how I feel about this film!

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1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
In a Mishandled Cult Classic, Two Alienated Girls Find Each Other and Themselves, 9 February 2011

Author: madbandit20002000 from Queens, New York, USA

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Time can be a cruel mistress, but it can also be a kind one when it comes to films that don't hit the vibe of moviegoers as a whole. "Times Square", a gritty, quirky, unconventional coming-of-age tale, which I saw twice on the NYC affiliate of one of the Big Three networks (guess which one and someone lost a bet), is one of those movies.

We introduced to Nicky Marotta (then newcomer and NYC native Robin Johnson), a 16-year-old homeless orphan whose guttural voice and foul vocabulary makes her a neo-Damon Runyon character and she has a volatile attitude to boot. That attitude and an act of vandalism land her in a hospital's psych ward. Her roommate is Pamela Pearl (flower-child like and fellow native Trini Alvarado of "Rich Kids", "Little Children" and "The Good Girl"), a smart but timid and sad soul whose politically ambitious father (the late stage actor Peter Coffield) plans to revitalize the then-seedy Times Square section of NYC. She's there because of her public meltdown when her father carelessly exploits her at a public hearing. Finding a kindred soul, Nicky sways Pamela to run away, and the two, after jacking an ambulance, make a home out of an abandoned pier at the Lower East Side and decide their own destinies. Aw, youth…

While making money at a Times Square nightclub (Pamela's a dancer who doesn't go topless [!]; Nicky's a kick-ass rocker), they befriend late night radio DJ Johnny Laguardia (Cheshire Cat-grinning Tim Curry of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show"), a fan/reader of Pamela's poems she sends to him. LaGuardia takes an interest in Pamela's alleged kidnapping and turns the girls into fringe celebs, a rock duo known as The Sleez Sisters that also run street scams and throw TV sets from roofs. The girls revel in their anarchy and freedom, but Pamela's father, Nicky's social worker (Anna Maria Horsford of "Amen" and "The Wayans Bros") and Nicky's instability drive the two apart, putting them in deeper malaise.

Like Sam Peckinpah's cavalry adventure, "Major Dundee", "Times Square" is an interesting failure, due to the row between its' producer, record mogul Roger Stigwood ("Saturday Night Fever"), who wanted the film to cash in on the emerging punk/new wave music at the time and its' director/co-writer Allan Moyle ("Pump Up The Volume", "Empire Records") who, with script assist from Leanne Unger and Jacob Brackman, wanted to tell (pre-Reaganism) a coming-of-age lesbian romance, inspired by the portions of a journal, penned by a young, mentally ill woman, Moyle discovered in a second-hand sofa while living in Times Square. Stigwood won the fight, canning Moyle (who wrote many unproduced scripts for a decade!) and had his people edit the film, but "Times Square" was panned, critically and financially, due to its' awkward narrative (karma for Roger perhaps?). There have been rumors of edited romance scenes that were filmed, but it's doubtful, due to the ages of the leads at the time of production and SAG child labor laws.

However, due to being on TV, home video (the DVD's sadly out of print) and lesbian film festivals, "Times Square" stands as a cult classic, courtesy of its idiosyncrasy and cast. Though it's a sad shame she didn't have a stronger career, Ms. Johnson's a force of nature, embodying the spirit of the film's once-decadent locale; sleazy, rude, dangerous and subversively romantic. Ms. Alvarado, who survives now as a character actor, seems to be a tagalong, but holds her own as a shy flower, finally outside out of the geranium and loving it (her first gig as a dancer is awkward but fun); the two girls compliment each other with their opposite personalities, protecting each other and themselves in a "Red Light" district. It's oddly unrealistic (they would have pimped out at the time), but it oddly works.

Curry's quite the reliable prankster who doesn't know when to say "when" while Coffield and Horsford are reliable killjoys. Look out for a young Elizabeth Pena ("La Bamba", "Resurrection Blvd"). The soundtrack, filled with tracks by XTC, Patti Smith, The Ramones, Talking Heads, Lou Reed and others is a treat for punk/new wave fans, yet a happy disco beat co-sung by Robin Gibb ("The Bee Gees") is a sore thumb.

For a hugely "forgotten" thirtysomething film, the impact it has made is fascinating, predating MTV (their music video heydays) and D.I.Y. culture; influencing the filmmaking likes of Peter Jackson (directed the similar "Heavenly Creatures") and the looks of comic book characters (Ms. Johnson's raccoon mask and garbage bag-tunic prophecies Hit Girl from the "Kick-Ass" comic book and film) and outlasting the infamous area, now a soulless tourist trap. Like Travis Bickle in "Taxi Driver", there are a lot of girls like Pamela and Nicky, regardless if their environment is changed.

"Times Square" isn't perfect, but its fringe charm and yearning to be itself makes it worthy to watch. Good luck looking for it.

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1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Let me tell you something Slick. We sure had it going for a while didn't we!, 28 July 2009

Author: sol1218 from brooklyn NY

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

**SPOILERS** Movie about two punk rockers Nicky & Pamala, Robin Johnson & Tirni Alverado, who set the city of New York on fire with their Punk Rock music and flying TV's! It was the girls way of expressing themselves, in their total disgust with modern society, in a way that had people's heads turn! Especially when an 19 inch TV dropped from a high rise building was about to land on top of them!

This all started when the two troubled girls met in the New York Neurological Hospital and realized that it was not them but the adults who put them there should have been committed. Nicky was a homeless person who didn't know in which direction to go with her life but the well off and far fortunate, in having a home and family, Pamala's hang-us even exceeded hers. Her old man the city's Environmental Commissioner David Pearl,David Coffield,now wants to turn Times Square, what turned out to be her and her friend Nicky's happy stomping grounds, from the gritty and anything goes swinging district that it is into a Disneyland on the Hudson gaga-land with no personality at all!

It's not until popular radio disk jockey Johnny LaGuadia, Tim Curry, started giving the on the run from the law, and men in white suits, girls free publicity on his all night radio show that their, Nicky and Pamala's music as well as Punk Rock ideas about life, really started to take off! To the point where entire New York City's, and it's surrounding, population of disenfranchised and ignored young people revolted against the establishment with both Nicky & Pamala leading the way.

The road to the top of the heap, in the Punk Rock world, was not without is hard knocks for the two girls who had to suffer through a number of heartbreaking incidents that almost had them beak up and join the crowd, the entrenched establishment, that they so desperately tried to escape from. It was late in the film when both Nicky and Pamala went on their own, with the behind the scenes help of Johnny LaGuadia, as the popular "Sleaze Sisters" to express their feelings about life hope and the future of America's youth as well as their relationship with each other. It's then that the whole Times Square District exploded, in a pre-announced concert that they gave there, that even Pamala's stuffed shirt dad David finally saw the light and joined in along with them!

Sing along and snap your fingers type of movie that despite its many inconsistencies you just can't dislike or turn off no matter how ridicules it gets!

Even though the film was the non actor Brooklyn born Robin Johnson's debut she did as good a job playing the punk rock and incorrigible Nicky Marotta as any establish and polished actress could have possibly hoped to do. The scenes with both Nicky and Pamala even though corny were touching in that they seemed to come straight from the heart not the script. Among all the other good things to say about the film "Times Square" what stuck out more then anything else, beside Nicky and Pamala, was it's memorable and catchy soundtrack that packed some twenty, count em' twenty, songs in the less then two hours in length motion picture!

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