Category Archives: movies

Film Pass Give-Away: The Ballad Of Genesis And Lady Jaye

Film Pass Give-Away: 
The Ballad Of Genesis And Lady Jaye

Rick: I love Throbbing Gristle. Love ’em. I love the individual projects (and paired, etc.) that have come after. I love the myriad projects that have been influenced by the mere existence of T.G. (not all of ’em, but y’ know). So, it’s incredible that this film is playing in Hartford and equally incredible that I now get to offer pairs of free passes to the first three (3) people (3×2=6 people getting in free) to tell me what the following symbol is associated with  in regards to post-T.G. projects and this film:

ALL PASSES ARE NOW GIVEN AWAY!

You should still go to Real Art Ways and maybe you’ll see me there!

 Movie Synopsis (http://www.balladofgenesisandladyjaye.com/ballad/synopsis/)

Genesis P-Orridge has been one of the most innovative and influential figures in music and fine art for the last 30 years. A link between the pre- and post-punk eras, he is the founder of the legendary groups COUM Transmissions (1969-1976), Throbbing Gristle (1975-1981), and Psychic TV (1981 to present), all of which merged performance art with rock music. Celebrated by critics and art historians as a progenitor of “industrial music”, his innovations have transformed the character of rock and electronic music while his prodigious efforts to expand the boundaries of live performance have radically altered the way people experience sound in a concert setting.
But that’s just the preamble to the story. Defying artistic boundaries, Genesis has re-defined his art as a challenge to the limits of biology. In 2000, Genesis began a series of surgeries in order to more closely resemble his love, Lady Jaye (née Jacqueline Breyer), who remained his other half and artistic partner for nearly 15 years. It was the ultimate act of devotion, and Genesis’s most risky, ambitious, and subversive performance to date: he became a she in a triumphant act of artistic self-expression. Genesis called this project “Creating the Pandrogyne”. Influenced, like so much of Genesis work, by Brion Gysin and William Burroughs Cut Ups , it was an attempt to deconstruct two individual identities through the creation of an indivisible third.
This is a love story, and a portrait of two lives that illustrate the transformative powers of both love and art. Marie Losier brings to us the most intimate details of Genesis’s extraordinary, uncanny world. In warm and intimate images captured handheld, Losier crafts a labyrinthine mise-en-scene of interviews, home movies, and performance footage. The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye documents a truly new brand of Romantic consciousness, one in defiance of the daily dehumanization of the body by the pervasive presence of advertising and pornography, conveying beauty, dignity and devotion from a perspective never before seen on film.

Give-Away: Everyday Sunshine (The Story Of Fishbone) + CD + Signed Poster!

Movie Ticket Give-Away: 
Everyday Sunshine (The Story Of Fishbone)

Our friends at Real Art Ways (click for show times and more info – including information on post-film discussion with the directors) have been nice enough to extend some more tickets our way to see a screening of this funky flick (seriously, it’s has to be funky, right?). The film-makers have been nice to us as well and have given us permission to give away a CD and a signed poster (by the band, not the film-makers).  We have the tickets on hand and the CD and poster will be mailed to the winners.  


We can have 2 winners (each will get a pair of tickets, a CD and a signed poster). All you have to do is come in and tell whoever is at the front counter one thing you like about Fishbone. 





Here’s the rundown straight from the film’s website:

EVERYDAY SUNSHINE is a documentary about the band Fishbone, musical pioneers who have been rocking on the margins of pop culture for the past 25 years. From the streets of South-Central Los Angeles and the competitive Hollywood music scene of the 1980’s, the band rose to prominence, only to fall apart when on the verge of “making it.”

Laurence Fishburne narrates EVERYDAY SUNSHINE, an entertaining cinematic journey into the personal lives of this unique Black rock band, an untold story of fiercely individual artists in their quest to reclaim their musical legacy while debunking the myths of young Black men from urban America. Highlighting the parallel journeys of a band and their city, EVERYDAY SUNSHINE explores the personal and cultural forces that gave rise to California’s legendary Black punk sons that continue to defy categories and expectations.

At the heart of the film’s story is lead singer Angelo Moore and bassist Norwood Fisher who show how they keep the band rolling, out of pride, desperation and love for their art. To overcome money woes, family strife, and the strain of being aging Punk rockers on the road, Norwood and Angelo are challenged to re-invent themselves in the face of dysfunction and ghosts from a painful past.

Movie Ticket Give-Away: Gainsbourg

Movie Ticket Give-Away: Gainsbourg

(Still from Gainsbourg)

Basically, everything good you know about France was encapsulated in Serge Gainsbourg. Hell, he’s probably what you think of when you think of France. Sophisticated and sexy and a smoking notorious lady’s man (also, he was architecture – all right, maybe not everything good). Perhaps there are some negative connotations in there too.  Perhaps that was all part of what made him interesting enough to have this movie made about him.  Perhaps you’ve heard or seen the work of Serge’s daughter, Charlotte.  Perhaps you’ve heard his own work with Beck. He also made his own music (I am not leaving this as a given as I thought to initially). 

Synopsis:
Best-selling comic book artist Joann Sfar delivers an inventive biography of famed French singer Serge Gainsbourg (Eric Elmosnino). Born Lucien Ginsburg to Russian-Jewish parents, Sfar follows him from his childhood in Nazi-occupied Paris, his transition from painter to jazz musician to pop superstar and his many relationships including Juliette Greco (Anna Mouglalis), Brigitte Bardot (Laetitia Casta) and Jane Birkin (Lucy Gordon) while employing a witty surrealistic style and a soundtrack that acts like a time capsule to ‘60’s Paris.
So, we have a couple pairs of tickets to give away for this thanks to our friends at REAL ART WAYS in Hartford.  It’s playing up at R.A.W. for the next week.  Come by the store (anytime after 3PM on tomorrow/Friday; the tickets will be here by then) and find any record having to do with Serge Gainsbourg (we have many) and ask for the passes and you’ll get them (you don’t have to buy the record – just show it to any of us).  I’ll post when they’re gone.    

Movie: Blank City (Win Free Passes)

Movie: Blank City (Win Free Passes)

 All right, so there is this movie playing at Real Art Ways in Hartford starting tomorrow (Friday, June 10, 2011).  It looks cool.  I have only seen the trailer so far.  I’ll definitely watch it. Perhaps I’ll see you in Hartford.  Perhaps you’ll get one of these pairs of passes I have to give away.  The passes are good for the entire run – so you don’t need to go to a particular showing of it. To get a pair of free passes email redscroll@gmail.com with the subject “Blank City Passes” and answer this simple question: What band was this Mr. Thurston Moore involved with at the tail end of the initial No Wave movement?  Super easy really. The first couple people to email the right answer (I mean, c’mon, really easy) will get these.  
[Some press material for the film follows – check it out y’all.]
Blank City A film by Céline Danhier
USA • 2010 • 94 MINS. • INSURGENT MEDIA

BLANK CITY tells the long-overdue tale of the motley crew of renegade filmmakers that emerged from an economically bankrupt and dangerous period of New York history that crossed over with the East Village Art Scene and thriving music scene. It’s a fascinating look at the way this misfit cinema used the deserted, bombed-out Lower East Side landscapes to craft daring works that would go on to profoundly influence Independent Film today. Unlike the much-celebrated punk music scene, this era’s thrilling and confrontational underground film movement has never before been chronicled. Directed by French newcomer Celine Danhier, BLANK CITY captures the idiosyncratic, explosive energy of the “No Wave Cinema” and “Cinema of Transgression” movements. Featured players include acclaimed directors Jim Jarmusch and John Waters, actor-writer-director Steve Buscemi, Blondie’s Debbie Harry, Hip Hop legend Fab 5 Freddy, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, artist James Nares, photographer Richard Kern as well as Amos Poe, Eric Mitchell, Susan Seidelman, Beth B, Scott B, Charlie Ahearn and Nick Zedd. Fittingly, the soundtrack includes: Patti Smith, Television, Richard Hell & The Voidoids, The Contortions, The Bush Tetras, Sonic Youth and many more.

Colin McEnroe Show and More

Today’s Colin McEnroe Show (on 90.5 FM WNPR) was on the subject of Record Stores.
The show’s in-studio guests were Malcolm Tent (Trash American Style, Ultrabunny, WNHU Radio), Brendan Toller (Documentarian, I Need That Record), and Doug & Mary (Replay Records).  Dan (Mystic Discs) called in and so did Josh (Redscroll!) and so did a few fans of vinyl.
If you didn’t get a chance to hear it live, do not fret, it is available here:

Malcolm Tent (http://www.malcolmtent.net/) will also be performing live here at the shop on Record Store Day (Saturday) at 6PM.  He’ll be bringing his sparkly blue acoustic guitar and reveling listeners in song. It’s actually his second stop of the day – his first will be at 3PM in Brookfield at Gerosa Records.
 
And on Sunday, at 4PM on the campus of Wesleyan University Josh, Malcolm, myself (Rick) and others will join in a viewing and discussion of the film I Need That Record.
Information is also up on the WESU FM website here: http://wesufm.org/