Monday Morning Critic – 5.9.2011 – Rock of Ages Thoughts & The Metal Years, La Dolce Vita

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Every Monday morning, InsidePulse Movies Czar Scott “Kubryk” Sawitz brings an irreverent and oftentimes hilarious look at pop culture, politics, sports and whatever else comes to mind. And sometimes he writes about movies.

One of the films that I’ve become curious about is Rock of Ages, if only because of my love of ‘80s glam rock. It’s got a great cast, so far, and the soundtrack will probably be pretty killer. The stage show is popular enough to make into a star-studded musical, which is a recipe for success, but one thing stands out in the back of my mind. One film that I’ve seen a handful of times, one that would give us an awesome insight into the whole Sunset Strip years: The Decline of Western Civilization Part 2: The Metal Years

For those of you who’ve never heard of this film, it’s a documentary on the Sunset Strip scene of the glam metal scene of the ‘80s. If you were a metal band looking to make it big in 1982 that wasn’t in the Anthrax/Metallica mold, like Poison or RATT, you were trying to make it in Los Angeles. The strip was the place to make it back then as you could play every night of the week if you really wanted to. There was something still innocent back then about it all despite the sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll aspect of it; this was the ‘80s, after all. And while I don’t think Rock of Ages will actually change music, just give us a couple month resurgence of ‘80s hits that comes every couple years, one thing keeps striking me.

There’s a Cadillac Records waiting to come out about this whole era that could be an epic film. Cadillac Records came and went quickly from theatres but was about the era before rock ‘n’ roll, led by Elvis, took over. Back then Blues was the king of music and Muddy Waters was the man. And hair metal had its own moment when glam metal was swept off the airwaves as rock bands from Los Angeles were no longer the flavor the moment. Seattle, Washington, was now the place to find bands. Just like that big hair and big guitars were out for flannel and angst.

With Rock of Ages doing a singing and dancing number involving the scene, and a bunch of the biggest songs from that era, there’s a great film waiting to come out about the end of that era. We’ve already covered it in VH1 documentaries, et al, but there’s a great film waiting to come out about the era that doesn’t cover itself in hair spray. It’s what This is Spinal Tap managed to lampoon so successfully and what could be handled quite well. Why? Because the end of glam metal didn’t come because grunge just happened in a box, unleashed like a weapon to kill the power of Poison and their power ballad.

Grunge came as a reaction to the excess and conveyer belt/assembly line style of putting together a glam metal band. And in every VH1 documentary about the scene they all mention one thing the mob mentions when they talk about Las Vegas: “We had it all … and pissed it away.”

Years ago Mark Wahlberg popped out Rock Star as a fictionalized version of Judas Priest’s shenanigans after Rob Halford left and it hit on a lot of things about the era. It captured a popular glam rock band as it reached the end of the popularity of hair metal, with Nirvana and such coming out as a reaction to it (complete with Marky Mark turning into a coffee shop Kurt Cobain), but it felt follow because it was a superficial look. It was more of a film about a kid who figures out that sometimes the fantasy is just that, a fantasy, as opposed to being a harder-edged look at the era.

You know what would be better? Following a guy like Riki Rachtman, who was there for the whole of the rise and fall of glam rock, would be an infinitely more interesting film about the era. That’s the better ‘80s glam metal film I want to see.

A Movie A Week – The Challenge

This Week’s DVD – La Dolce Vita

Fellini’s classic never gets old. It really doesn’t. Why? Because he created a film that gave us the phrase paparazzi, amongst others, and is one of his many classics that still resonate all these years later. Without La Dolce Vita he never would’ve done 8 ½, amongst others. It also kind of inspired Adrian Grenier to explore the dark side of fame, as well, but the whole “exploration of fame as a means in and of itself” has never been finer than La Dolce Vita.

Marcello (Marcello Mastroanni) has a girlfriend and a mistress who both have issues. He’s a tabloid reporter tasked with following an American starlet (Anita Ekberg) in Italy, going through the emptiness that is the good life. It’s hard to watch as Marcello, who dreams of something greater, is stuck in this life.

A brilliant black and white film, Fellini grew as a film maker from this film and stands out as his finest work. It’s a bit of a long watch, though, at nearly three hours.

Strong recommendation.

What Looks Good This Weekend, and I Don’t Mean the $2 Pints of Bass Ale and community college co-eds with low standards at the Alumni Club

Bridesmaids – Kristin Wiig gets her Hangover on.

See It – It’s gotten solid buzz so I’m willing to give it a chance.

Priest – Paul Bettany continues his quest at becoming an action hero. Vampires have taken over the world

Skip It – I like Paul Bettany when he acts but his taste in action films isn’t very good. Legion was a religious themed Terminator wannabe and I don’t think this’ll be any better.

Everything Must Go – Will Ferrell decides to sell everything in his life after his wife leaves him, dumping his possessions on the front line. In limited release.

See It – Ferrell always takes interesting roles on the indie circuit and this could be a fun one.

Hesher – Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a jerk and insinuates himself into people’s lives. Rainn Wilson and Natalie Portman have supporting roles. In limited release.

See It – JGL makes the sort of indie films James Franco thinks about when he’s smoking pot and being a general poser.

Do you have questions about movies, life, love, or Branigan’s Law? Shoot me an e-mail at Kubryk@Insidepulse.com and you could be featured in the next “Monday Morning Critic.” Include your name and hometown to improve your odds.

Scott “Kubryk” Sawitz brings his trademarked irreverence and offensive hilarity to Twitter in 140 characters or less. Follow him @MMCritic_Kubryk.