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3 items from 2012

13 April 2012 8:05 AM, PDT | Indiewire | See recent Indiewire news »

"Hit So Hard: The Life and Near Death Story of Patty Schemel," P. David Ebersole's documentary about the life of Patty Schemel, the drummer of Courtney Love's seminal rock band Hole, opens in New York today after playing at festivals worldwide, including SXSW and Sheffield Doc/Fest. The film expands to Los Angeles on April 20. To mark the occasion, Indiewire asked Ebersole and producing partner Todd Hughes to share with us their top ten music documentaries of all time. Check out their picks below: "The Decline of Western Civilization" (1981 Dir: Penelope Spheris) The ultimate Diy punk rock documentary. From the stark black-and-white interviews with teenage punkers against a bare light bulb to the gritty and hilarious “at home” interviews with superstars of the then exploding Los Angeles music scene (like Exene of X and Darby Crash of The Germs), Penelope Spheris’ effortless filmmaking wove together a vivid portrait. »

- P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes

14 February 2012 4:30 PM, PST | Moviefone | See recent Moviefone news »

Want to make a Gen Xer feel old? Tell 'em that 20 years ago today, on February 14, 1992, "Wayne's World" was released in theaters. ("'Wayne's World' is 20? No way?!" "Way!") Lots of now middle-aged folks who spent too long living in their parents' basements (like Wayne and Garth) have fond memories of what may be the funniest film ever spawned from a "Saturday Night Live" sketch, a film that made a bankable movie comedy star out of Mike Myers, introduced the world to Tia Carrere, helped rescue Rob Lowe's career, and spawned countless catchphrases that viewers couldn't stop repeating. ("Schwing!" "We're not worthy!" "That's what she said!") Yet behind the movie's blissful silliness lies a secret story of off-camera bitterness and strife that threatened to keep the film from partying on -- as you'll read below. 1. Myers created the Wayne Campbell character long before "SNL," when he was still in high school. »

- Gary Susman

15 January 2012 9:40 PM, PST | JustPressPlay.net | See recent JustPressPlay news »

Despite at least one seminal documentary (The Decline of Western Civilization) and a few good books (We Got The Neutron Bomb being one), Los Angeles punk largely lives in the shadow of its New York counterpart. Its modern fandom (though vociferous) is substantially smaller, and is regularly overlooked in the critical hosannas doled out by critical institutions like Rolling Stone, whose blinders generally obscure anybody who wasn't a mainstay at Cbgb. In that context, The Unheard Music is a valuable document, and presents as raw, unfiltered a look into that period of greatest productivity as you’re likely to ever see. It’s a shame that it isn’t stronger as a stand-alone film.

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- Anders Nelson

3 items from 2012