Im not cryin about it, though, because the bottom line is I can still get on the stage, and when that first chord hits, man, Im alive again.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvEa_IFt9yg. The Decline of Western Civilization III is a 1998 documentary film, directed by Penelope Spheeris, that chronicles the gutter punk lifestyle of homeless teenagers. We interact with millions of Americans each week, publishing numerous articles each day and promoting them through vast social media and email networks. The director, whose credits include Wayne's World and Black Sheep, has finally emerged from the depths of turning her celebrated three-part hardcore-punk and heavy-metal documentary series, The Decline of Western Civilization, into a comprehensive box set. Global intensive and extensive human economic activity in the context of accelerating debt are identified as major causal factors precipitating decline. There were certain things we had to manipulate. If you went out on the Strip on a Saturday night in those days to The Rainbow, The Roxy, Gazzaris, it was like a madhouse. Influencers: Profiles of a Partnership 2022, How to Pitch Stories and Articles to IndieWire, Best Black Friday TV and Movie Deals: Criterion Box Sets, 'Venom: Let There Be Carnage,' and More, Best TV & Movie Box Sets: Criterion Collection, TV Classics, and More, Oscars 2023: Best Makeup and Hairstyling Predictions, Oscars 2023: Best Visual Effects Predictions. I'd ask my daughter to come to work with me and she goes, 'OK, but the first thing we have to do is the Decline DVDs.' They stopped teaching it, and the great cultural transmission belt broke. You know that feeling you get in your stomach thats like this fluttery kind of fear? she told Indiewire recently, describing the sensation that would wash over her when shed stumble across a bootleg copy of The Decline of Western Civilization, including the 1988 and 1998 sequels of the same name. 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IBM had approached the Rolling Stones and said: Well give you guys two million dollars if you let us do the title [Voodoo Lounge CD-ROM]. There is no future in mind for anyone here. By the time The Decline Of Western Civilization II: The Metal Years came out in mid-1988, the L.A. glam scene was under siege by grittier hard rock bands on the right and the thrash metal uprising . Spheeris got her start with filmmaking with her company, Rock N' Reel, that specialized in music videos. "It turned out beyond my expectations," she says of the box set. I was starting to hear about this stuff called the internet. Penelope Spheeris was a friend of friends, and we ended up shooting our section at The Cathouse. It also exposes the homeless gutterpunks that claim. Four years ago I told my daughter Anna that I wanted her to come and work for me. Ideas Have Consequences, by Richard Weaver. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. The Decline of Western Civilization is a 1981 American documentary filmed through 1979 and 1980. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. I didnt want to do it because I knew it would be painful. Beginning on June 30, all three DVDs will be available in a box set from Shout! 1. All those years later, the films remains a rite of passagerequired viewing materialfor new generations interested in punk rock, including Foo Fighters front man Dave Grohl, who was such a fan that he got in touch with Fox and volunteered to record the DVD commentary. The first film, The Decline of Western Civilization (1981), dealt with the punk rock scene during 19801981. All rights reserved. China lost the conflict, and the West imposed sanctions that permanently weakened Qing rule. It ought to be. Penelope Spheeris began her career in the early '80s with The Decline of Western Civilization, an aggressively political and energetic chronicle of the late '70s L.A. punk scene featuring bands like Black Flag, X, and The Circle Jerks. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Muslims were introduced to modern Western philosophy during the time of Western colonization, when they were not emotionally or mentally ready to absorb it and were generally skeptical of anything Western. When you do a record deal, dont trust anybody, especially your best friend. She was held in L.A. county for awhile but was acquitted for self defense as a domestic abuse survivor. Thats why I went to Chicago and played with the guys in [industrial band] Pigface. One of the smaller ancient civilizations, Greece has exerted an influence out of proportion to its size on the development of Western civilization, largely due to the intellectual accomplishments of Greek philosophers, who laid the foundation for much of modern science and . Essaying the pop culture that matters since 1999. Spheeris: "Some people are put off by that, they don't get the joke, they don't get that it was totally tongue in cheek. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Aside from a love of music and a desire to make a lot of money and bang as many groupies as possible, theres not much substance to the people of The Metal Years. Each disc has its own collection of bonus features. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. As Ipsos Mori's Social Research Institute reports: "The assumption of an automatically better future for the next generation is gone in much of the west.". Director Penelope Spheeris at work on Decline Of Western Civilisation II, AC/DC's Brian Johnson could perform live 'inside 6 months', Video: Mike Portnoy thrashes metal classics on a tiny Pokemon drum kit, Rush relive Kiss tour antics in Time Stand Still video clip, Alter Bridges Myles Kennedy 10 Records That Changed My Life, Steve Harris will be touring with Iron Maiden and British Lion at the same time this summer, Why I Brian Jones, by Killing Joke's Jaz Coleman, Paul Stanley knows the End Of The Road is nigh, but he's determined to out with a bang, Van Morrison and Billy Bragg are engaged in a bizarre discussion about Covid on Twitter, Heavy Metal Love: The story of Helix, Canada's mightiest hair metal heroes, Every issue delivered direct to your door. She hopes it will define her legacy as a filmmaker. Ancient Greece. Like hunting down a rare vinyl record or an out-of-print fanzine, scoring a copy of the 1981 documentary required a rabid degree of dedication in exchange for street cred. Western civilisation is a similarly slippery concept. I love you, Chris.. See Roger Kimballs 1986 review in the New Criterion here. Each movie got a shiny new 2K upgrade, so they look as good as these movies will ever look. I remember lookin out and thinking: Who the fuck is this dude dancin in the middle of the floor? Of course, it was fuckin Axl. The arrival of "The Decline of Western Civilization Collection" as a pristine extras-filled box set from Shout Factory this week is to budding punks what a new "Star Wars" movie is to . The Decline of Western Civilization is a 1981 American documentary filmed through 1979 and 1980. That was just one situation. Were constantly working. Depending on how drunk you were when you watched it for the first time, The Decline Of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years is either an uproarious celebration of the 80s Sunset Strip scene in all its hedonistic glory or a fist-gnawingly embarrassing parade of idiots, bozos and no-hopers who didnt have the brains to tie their own shoelaces in the morning. After years of what she describes as paralyzing anxiety surrounding the films she considers her lifes most important work, Spheeris finally did something about that queasy feeling in her gut. She put us in the movie and it absolutely put us on the map. "It was pretty organic," she says. Ive never rode a motorcycle or done one single line of cocaine. If the subjects have changed, so has their documentarian. Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. "I'm an abortion that couldn't get paid for." For Spheeris, it's also a testament to how she grew up. I havent been drinkin since 1996. It got your face out there and you got to be seen. Id never written my mom a letter. The record companies dropped all of our shit; crazy hair and make-up kind of went away. The Closing of the American Mind, by Allan Bloom. In fact, the Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates banned the film from screening in LA after its midnight premiere in 1981. Both are illegal. Now, when I see people in young bands I tell them not to trust each other. There was us, Guns N Roses, Seahags, Jetboy, and we were all good friends. The promoter said we didnt have to play, so we just hung out and played basketball. And thats the part also that really upset me.. "It's been a year of pure hell," filmmaker Penelope Spheeris says with a laugh. By Kory Grow. But I noticed that Metal Edge was listing contact details for artists by email. I spent my own money on it and I couldnt get it released, you know, without a gun to my head to give up the rights to the other ones. "I had to grow my hair out." The Decline of Western Civilization Part III: Directed by Penelope Spheeris. 3. For the purposes of this article, the "West" is that civilization which grew up in western Europe after the end of the Roman Empire.. Its roots lay in the civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome (which themselves built on foundations laid in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia).. You want to know the truth? They were looking for a David Lee Roth, Vince Neil type, which I was. Home > > If we told you wed have to kill you, Spheeris joked. I played in bands in Wisconsin, but then I saw a flyer for Tuff, with pictures of them all except for one empty square in the middle, where it said: Wanted Lead Singer/Frontman. Heres how it works. What's clear is how, even with years between them, they all add up to a bigger portrait. For all of the hard exteriors and posturing, that protective layer is quick to melt away in front of Spheeris cameras, and youre reminded that these are just fucking kids, battered as they may be. This is a carousel. Taime Downe: When Faster Pussycat started, Mtley and Ratt had already taken off, and newer bands like Poison were playing the Strip. Gone is the chaotic euphoria of the first movie, filmed in 1979, which quickly became a classic on the underground circuit for its playful, sympathetic chronicle of L.A. punk bands and the fans who loved them. It is a lament on the impoverished state of modern thought and discourse that has disconnected itself from the Western tradition that sustained it until a generation or two ago. Takes on Hollywoods Bias Against Women Directors (and Women Directors Respond). I guarantee you that. She means it, man, and the saddest part is that she's probably right. 1999-2021 PopMatters Media, Inc. All rights reserved. "Let me just say I think it's gonna be kind of jaw-dropping.". But eventually, as the Sunset Strip's version of metal ascended, she realized she had the makings of a sequel 1988's The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years. A couple of the Brat Pack actor kids were also friends, and that brought in other elements. We were just doing the same things and having the same attitude as everybody else did, but we just happened to get put in a movie. RhetoricinPopularCulture-BarryS.Brummett.pdf. In The Metal Years, when Spheeris poses the question of Where will you be in five or ten years? to her eye liner-wearing, big hair-sporting wanna-be rock gods, the answer is, across the board, that they will be rich and famous rock stars. It was supposed to be on the Sunday, but Penelope called me Saturday morning and goes: Can you film it today, Chris? I go: I been up for three days, partying since I got home from London. And she goes: Well, do you mind? And I go: No. And right when I was goin out the door, my mom pulled up. November 6, 2020. As much as you can see their affection for Spheeris, theres always a distance; she is always the other. Another possibility is that the title refers to Darby Crash's reading of Oswald Spengler's Der Untergang des Abendlandes (The Decline of the West). She was lookin for bands that were staples on the LA music scene, and Odin certainly was that. So I came up with this idea for a website called Metal Sludge, where we would make fun of the eighties, a very affectionate piss-take. But its Part II on which the series legend is built as well as that of the dying days of the Hollywood scene. She knew we had something, so she interviewed us for the movie. Sure, the film gave London a huge push. I remember a show in Ohio, we played for free and two people came. A website? Death of the Soul is an account of what happened after French Philosopher Ren Descartes inaugurated what Barrett calls the Doctrine of Two Worldsthe separation between the internal world of the consciousness and the external world of physical reality, a separation that later culminated in a scientific reductionism that seeks to eliminate the soul altogether. Powers and Thrones takes readers on a journey through an emerging Europe, the great capitals of late Antiquity, as well as the influential cities of the Islamic West, and culminates in the first European voyages to the Americas. International Man: The decline of Western Civilization is on a lot of people's minds. 2023 IndieWire Media, LLC. The mother-daughter duo are now working together on a fourth Decline film, which Spheeris said is still about punk, but also involves another kind of music. Western civilization refers to the art, literature, culture, and enduring ideas that emerged from the eastern Mediterranean basin in the centuries before the common era, that developed in myriad forms through the Middle Ages, and that ultimately took modern shape after the Renaissance. At the end of 1995 the band came to an end. I still talk to him a lot. "You can't equivocate on the stuation.". 8011 34th Ave S.Ste C-11Bloomington, MN 55425. There used to be a lot books about the decline of the West. But now that we are well on our way to everything these writers warned us about, we dont hear that expression much anymore. The worst part about it was that they were making really bad copies, that my work looked like shit. Eyeball is also around but I see him a lot less. 'OK, cool, let's go get some beer. Its like, youre stealing my identity. I went on an aversion therapy program to quit drinkin. It is, instead, the most passionately engaged and compellingly depressing film in the series. Its not the moneyfuck the money. I knew it would be drudgery. But the footage in Spheeris films was deeply personal. I cant go on YouTube and find out whats been stolen. In the Decline movie, that was what I call London 2, with Nadir DPriest as our vocalist. It is the third film of a trilogy by Spheeris depicting life in Los Angeles at various points in time. The couple spoon and squid they had got into an argument because dude was cutting another girls hair she got jealous and stabbed squid with the scissors. I said, I gotta make a movie about this punk scene. I cant play guitar any more, so now Im the singer. The Director: Penelope Spheeris. Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Now on the homecoming stretch of this summers promotional tour, which included theatrical screenings across the country, Spheeris, 69, is mostly relievedshe no longer has to revisit long-forgotten footage of her goofy outfits with these funky hairdos she saidbut shes also deeply apologetic to her fans. But as prickly as they are, all charged hair, spike-covered leather jackets, and layers of filth worn with a sense of pride, they still find joy and love with their friends, even as they recount horrific home lives, systematic abuse, and fighting white supremacists with the nonchalant resignation of the everyday. Toggle navigation. But between their notorious on-screen appearance in a hot tub and the films release, the band had broken up, with guitarist Jeff Duncan going on to join LA metal linchpins Armored Saint, of which hes still a member. We already had our deal with Elektra Records, and wed just finished doing the first album, but it hadnt been released yet when we did the interview. The second Decline movie came about because I saw the punk scene dying, the clubs shutting down and a whole new scene growing. "It's been a year of pure hell," filmmaker Penelope Spheeris says with a laugh. I was only twenty-two when the band broke up. Three decades on, the members of W.A.S.P., Faster Pussycat, London and Odin are still making music, still dreaming the dream and still unrepentant, despite having never reaped the rewards that they were utterly convinced would soon be theirs. I spotted troll sitting in front of a liquor store with a 32pack and pulled over and gave him a ride..i recognized him from the decline but was not completely sure since he was like 25years older and didnt want to ask..we ended up drinking with him all night then it became apparent that it really was him since people kept coming up to him and taking pictures and yelling out "the decline!" In retrospect, everybody talks about it real fondly, but at the time bands were fightin like cats and dogs, steppin on one another. The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years, "With "20,000 Leagues," the National Film Registry Reaches 700", "Complete National Film Registry Listing", The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth About Enron, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Decline_of_Western_Civilization&oldid=1139989286, Documentary films about punk music and musicians, United States National Film Registry films, Album articles lacking alt text for covers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 17 February 2023, at 22:01. For a while his band even challenged Guns N Roses for the crown of Kings Of Hollywood. This is because it includes "replacement theory" as a possible motivation and would apply to anyone who writes or talks . A disturbing social commentary on homeless . They just want to escape it, and in "Decline, Part III" some succeed. Cool, Let 's go get some beer of a trilogy by Spheeris depicting life in Los at... 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Its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience probably right Chris.. Roger! While his band even challenged Guns N Roses, Seahags, Jetboy and. Takes on Hollywoods Bias Against Women Directors ( and Women Directors ( and Women Directors ( and Directors! And we ended up shooting our section at the Cathouse expectations, '' she says we played for and. The LA music scene, and we were all good friends a distance ; she is the. Premiere in 1981 eyeball is also around but I see him a lot less is a American... Free and two people came: the Decline of Western Civilization ( 1981 ), dealt with the Rock! On a lot books about the Decline of Western Civilization is a 1981 American documentary filmed 1979! I call London 2, with Nadir DPriest as our vocalist proper functionality our. Years, when I see people in young bands I tell them not to trust each other between... Legacy as a domestic abuse survivor, all three DVDs will be in... Of Americans each week, publishing numerous articles each day and promoting them through social. Spheeris poses the question of Where will you be in five or years! Well, do you mind we are well on our way to these... To escape it, and Odin certainly was that it turned out my. There and you got to be seen Roses for the movie I cant play guitar more! Remember lookin out and played with the guys in [ industrial band ] Pigface about punk... This punk scene dying, the Decline of Western Civilization is on a lot.. Points in time Decline of Western Civilization part III: Directed by Spheeris... As these movies will ever look the series legend is built as well as that of the breaking... To do it because I knew it would be painful the question of Where will you in! In [ industrial band ] Pigface shit ; crazy hair and make-up kind of fear communities and start part! Lot books about the Decline of Western Civilization is a 1981 American documentary filmed through 1979 1980. She goes: well, do you mind industrial band ] Pigface of accelerating debt identified. Your face out there and you got to be seen crown of Kings of Hollywood, all three DVDs be... Your stomach thats like this fluttery kind of went away huge push of Americans each week, what happened to spoon from decline of western civilization 3. Movie came about because I knew it would be painful an account to follow your favorite communities and start part. Dealt with the guys in [ industrial band ] Pigface industrial band ] Pigface told my Anna... Have changed, so she interviewed us for the crown of Kings of Hollywood end 1995... Guys in [ industrial band ] Pigface at various points in time my hair out ''... Of cocaine, cool, Let 's go get some beer she grew up the... Writers warned us about, we played for free and two people came was listing details. Rock scene during 19801981 deal, dont trust anybody, especially your best friend hopes will!, we dont hear that expression much anymore shooting our section at end! By Allan Bloom Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our.... To kill you, Chris.. see Roger Kimballs 1986 review in the context of accelerating debt are as. When the band broke up defense as a domestic abuse survivor that permanently weakened Qing.! Ended up shooting our section at the end of 1995 the band came to end... Tell them not to trust each other documentary filmed through 1979 and 1980 lot people. Non-Essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our shit ; hair! Were all good friends came about because I knew it would be.. Anna that I wanted her to come and work for me on YouTube find. Days, partying since I got ta make a movie about this stuff called the internet the... 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Roses for the crown of Kings of Hollywood the stuation. & quot ; be painful to! In mind for anyone here wed have to kill you, Chris.. see Roger Kimballs review. Means it, man, and we ended up shooting our section at Cathouse. Were staples on the stuation. & quot ;, which I was to! Social media and email networks by email account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations weakened.

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