Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
DVD Review: Suburbia
As part of their Roger Corman retrospective, Shout! Factory is releasing Penelope Speeris' Suburbia this week, an exploration of punk rock culture in a futuristic wasteland. The film follows two young runaways who end up staying at the local punk rock crash pad. The storyline revolves around this ragtag band of outsiders self-dubbed "The Rejected" ("TR") who are "bound together by tragedy and punk rock" and their clash with the local townsfolk. Classic. Just replace the Big Wheels and skateboards with Harleys and you have The Wild Angels.
Really, who better to make this movie than Corman, king of teens gone wild? When one of the local concerned citizens insists, "We’re talking about a bunch of sickos, mental rejects running wild in the streets” it's pure Blackboard Jungle.
The movie's singular voice of reason, a local cop who is also the stepdad of one of The Rejected responds, "Were talking about kids like yours ...and mine." It's timeless. The "Citizens Against Crime" are gun-toting rednecks out to clean up the neighborhood.
Support for LAist comes from
In an interesting pairing, Corman chose Penelope Speeris to write and direct the film after watching The Decline of Western Civilization, possibly the most accurate documentary of the Los Angeles hardcore punk scene.
The movie had plenty of punk rock cred beyond Speeris. They filmed with real punks we knew in lead roles -- Flea, Maggie Ehrig, Andre Boutilier, Mike Glass and Bobbie Brat. It's apparently easier to teach acting than punk rock. Gary Leonard was the still photographer. Admittedly, the punk bands represented more of the cheeseball aspect of punk rock. TSOL, The Vandals, and D.I. bordered on cartoonish. with songs like "Richard Hung Himself".
Film extras on the new release include a new anamorphic widescreen transfer to improve the video quality, theatrical trailers and audio commentary with Penelope Spheeris. The voice-overs are worth it, as Speeris swings between hilarious commentary and an amazing grasp of the obvious. Spheeris explains, "That's a wig she's wearing" over a girl wearing the most obvious wig ever and "that's a doll, not a real child" as a doll is attacked by a wild dog.
The film does a good job of capturing the early 80s zeitgeist of negativity and nihilism. Teens lived under the omnispresent threat of Reagan's nuclear stockpile, feeling that they had unfairly been left holding the ecological bag by previous generations. When one of the TR punks comments on acid rain, it's almost nostalgic, like, "Ohhhhh, I remember acid rainnn!" Jules Verne utopias had faded and the film depicts a futuristic nightmare where suburban neighborhoods deteriorate and wild dogs run loose in the streets.
Is it a good movie? No, not really. The acting is amateurish, the main characters are unsympathetic, the plotline is hackneyed and predictable. But is it a fun movie? Yes! As a cult movie, it is a resounding success. You can mock the bands and laugh at the John Waters-style overacting. Flea manages to stuff an entire rat in his mouth and Andre throws his prosthetic leg at the new kid. As the camera pans past the punkers in one scene, someone mumbles, "Yeah, hate the president, take some drugs, kill each other..." It's kind of meta.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist