Straight Edge Documentary in Theatres Now

Edge the movie is out now in theatres. Check the schedule on their site to see if it's playing in a theatre near you. It's playing this Saturday, October 3rd, in NYC. I'm hoping to make it out, I just moved to Long Island so it's a bit further of a trek than previously.

Edge the Movie

A new documentary about Straight Edge called "Edge the Movie" is circulating the film festival circuit mailings. So it might appear at a local film festival near you soon. I do want to see this one as it appears that will at least have a more positive look at SxE despite the fact that they mention they will talk about the negative aspects as well. I do feel though that it isn't that necessary to even discuss these aspects at all. Enough has been documented about those that claim Edge and are violent and ruin the scene and name for the rest of us. That would be like doing a movie about Christianity and saying well we have to talk about the Crusades and the Spanish Inquistion, not if you focus on the positive aspects as your documentary. I feel like the iea of doing an unbiased balanced documentary can be lame as a proper focus on the positive aspects can be just as important and fullfilling in a documentary. I'll keep my official judgement quiet until I see the film though.

They do plan to do a DVD release so even if you can't catch it at a film fest or local independent theatre, you can still watch it at home.

the edge project

A new documentary on Straight Edge is coming out, it's titled "the edge project", the website is a little bare, but keep checking back to find out when it will be out.

Smoking, the MPAA & the American Lung Association

The MPAA announced that they will give new movies R ratings for showing images of people smoking (however the rating isn't mandatory.) Granted I agree with the American Lung Association that smoking in movies and TV shows is sometimes portrayed as sexy and cool (almost every episode of America's Next Top Model (my girlfriend watches it) shows the models lounging and smoking), but I'm not sure that it warrants an R rating. Definitely no G or PG movie should portray it in a cool way, but what about Cruella Deville, she's certainly not the image of beauty she thinks she is, and the fact that she smokes is a sure indicator of her unatractiveness (pretty much only adults think she's cool.) I think the context and situation should indicate the rating. I don't think an X-Files movie that features the smoking man should automatically be rated R, but if a new Bogart movie was to be shot today any character he would play shouldn't smoke unless it's an R movie. I know that parents are supposed to teach their children right from wrong, but as a country we need to also say that certain things are just not right for anyone.

I would like to know what the rules are for movies that feature alcohol and drunk driving. I'm going to have to do a little research, cause I think that's something that warrants stricter ratings in my opinion when you take into account underage drinking.

Update: I wanted to add something else to this. MOVIE RATINGS ARE NOT CENSORSHIP!!! People can watch any movie they want. Movie ratings only disallow children from viewing certain movies until they are adults and are capable of making decisions for themselves.

Punk Goes to the Movies

This Friday American Hardcore opens here in NY at the Angelika. It looks to be a great movie. I can't wait to see it. Unforunately I'm not sure I'll be able to see on friday, but once it goes to more theatres around the city at least it should be easy to catch. I definately am interested to see what amount of the film involves Straight Edge. I don't want it to be a passing phrase that's barely uttered and whispered. It seems that the stigma behind SxE has made it into something it's not. But we'll just have to wait and see.

Also coming out soon is the film Punk's Not Dead that will take on the more recent punk scene as opposed to a historical documentary view. This will be a film I am very interested to see since I didn't grow up in the hardcore scene or the early punk scene, being born during the start of punk I didn't quite experience it, so I have a more current interest. Hopefully it will be worth the wait, since no release date has been set yet.

Threatening

Threat is a super low budget film about the streets of New York and centered around the life of Jim a homeless 20's something and his Straight Edge friends. I personally would've appreciated a more positive view of SxE than the "One Less Drunk" crew, but at the same time, there truly is that aspect of SxE in reality. Many of us do feel there needs to be one less drunk around.

I enjoyed the dialog in first half that brought out the characters and even had a slightly Clerks like vibe. But I felt it was too drastically different from the violence infused second half. The violence of the second half was graphic, jarring and felt realistic. The fight that stemmed the violence seemed to start completely out of nowhere and lead to extreme acts of violence upon innocents that didn't make sense to me.

I liked the hand drawn comic transitions through out and thought it helped bring a very indie feel to the film. Now the thing that got me most was the final scene with Jim and Kat on the street. I thought it was very thought provoking and really should have been the point of the film. The fight and struggle of the working class should be brought to the level of the upper class, so that they will take notice.

As a side note there are also 2 soundtracks for the movie. The one I appreciate the most is Threat: Music that Inspired the Movie which is a unbelievable mash up of great straight edge hardcore with industrial and hip-hop flare. It's truly a masterpiece and worth owning whether you liked the film or not.