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Release Date: July 7th, 2006 (Cinema Village) by Palm Pictures. Directed by S. A. Crary. BASIC PREMISE: A documentary about the alternative punk rock movement since the No Wave began in the late 1970’s. ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: Those who are fans of alternative punk rock music will be mildly entertained by Kill Your Idols, but everyone else will be bored out of their minds. Director S.A. Crary logically structures the film chronologically from the 1970’s to modern punk. A member of the punk rock group called Suicide discuss the birth of alternative punk rock and admits that it is meant to be different, bizarre, as well as chaotic—basically, it was a form of rebellion against the music of that time. Even a guitarist who has very little musical talent could seemingly perform punk rock; it’s more about the style rather than the content itself. Other brief interviews with the early musical groups include, namely, DNA, the Theoretical Girls, Swans, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, and Sonic Youth. Modern punk rock groups which try to somewhat mimic the music artists of the No Wave movement include the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Black Dice. It would have been much more intriguing to focus on a few groups and delve into their past experiences with longer interviews rather than include brief, dull interviews with many rock groups. Old concert footage doesn’t help to add anything other than to show what punk rock during the No Wave movement sounds like. However, unless you’re a devoted fan of punk rock music, you won’t be in awe by the music or care that it the movement has essentially died since the 1970’s and 80’s. On a positive note, the editing and cinematography in this documentary are quite stylish. SPIRITUAL VALUE: Unfortunately, none. INSULT TO YOUR INTELLIGENCE: Too much concert footage; not enough interesting interviews. NUMBER OF TIMES I CHECKED MY WATCH: 6 IN A NUTSHELL: Stylish and mildly entertaining, but not enough insight and intrigue. RECOMMENDED WAY TO WATCH: Fans of punk rock- VHS/DVD Main Page Alphabetical Menu The "K" Menu ______________________________________________________ |
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