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You can never go back and watch Wild Style for the first time. Or The Warriors, for that matter. But you can observe that era in a more slice-of-fashion thanks to the re-release of this rare Gary Weis documentary that peers into the real life dramas of two of the South Bronx’s more notorious gangs, The Savage Nomads & The Savage Skulls. This is grainy late 70’s/early 80’s fare; the re-enactments are regrettable but let’s not forget this film was originally released expressly for those awkward film projector teaching points in grade school and junior high (circa 1985, straight to VHS, Beta was already passe apparently). Shit, I would have loved to peep this cautionary tale during 7th Grade history class.
The phrase ‘film projector’ surely just shorted out my age gauge, but this offering is worth previewing in micro form, …
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If this video from SNL was the highlight of your weekend, I applaud you. It’s awesome and it almost–almost–redeems Julian Casablancas. Be warned, the boombox is not a toy!
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Lots of folks are excited about this weekend’s SNL skit that featured cast member Fred Armisen leading a fictional ’80s hardcore band Crisis of Conformity, now middle-aged performing at Armisen’s daughter’s wedding. More than just a funny gag, the group—which also featured Dave Grohl in an awful greying ponytail wig—hit all the right cues when it comes to this semi-forgotten punk rock sub-genre. From the Reagan fascism references to Armisen’s Darby Crash-meets-Herny Rollins stage postures, and the song, “Fist Fight In A Parking Lot” that could have easily come off your old Black Flag cassette tapes.
Off course, Armisen has genuine punk rock credentials, starting his entertainment career in the Chicago math-rock band Trenchmouth. And Armisen got into a serious discussion of punk rock in an URB feature last spring. Here’s some of our favorite clips of Armisen waving his punk flag high.
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THE GOVERNOR? HE AIN’T LOVIN’ YA
Just before this interview, I watch Fred Armisen’s Saturday Night Live performance as New York ’s legally blind Governor David Paterson—the unexpected fill-in for disgraced politicaltitan-in-the-making former Governor Eliot Spitzer, who’d made enemies on Wall St., City Government, and Organized Crime in Gotham. The newly-promoted Paterson is six days away from selecting a senatorial replacement for Hillary Clinton, and is currently embroiled in a campaign with powerful allies of Caroline Kennedy, who are pressuring him to select her to fill the Senate vacancy.
Armisen’s impersonation of the Governor delivers what can be seen as either the exponential scale-up of a lunchroom bully turning the cafeteria into a Parthenon of shame, or a bold bit of in-your-face physical comedy. It serves as a garish eminder of our unfamiliarity with the disabled, whom society de-normalizes—as evidenced …
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