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  • From: Fikri Yucel <fikri_y AT yahoo.com>
  • To: RTP-area local music and culture <ch-scene AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: Nouvelle Vague Films (was: Re: I think this guy...)
  • Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2005 07:58:52 -0800 (PST)

RE: Liquid Sky.

Haven't seen it in several years, but I have seen it a
couple of times pretty far removed from its release in
1982. It's by no means a great film, but I never
thought it sucked, even after viewing it with more
perspective than my former teenaged self could muster.

Yeah, the androgyny was shockless, but shoot, the
whole 80s marked the utter mainstreaming of androgyny,
so that should come as no surprise, really. Even so,
the film does a fine job of presenting an abject
rejection of EVERYTHING--from petty bourgeois society,
to the baby boomer "hippie" rejection of bourgeois
bullshit, to the post-everything deconstruction of
traditional gender and social structures as
represented by the denizens of the new wave
music-fashion-club scene depicted in the film. Call
it nihilism or some twisted version of transcendance;
either way, it provides a satisfyingly bleak and
wickedly amusing skewering of humanity.

Beyond that, the hair, makeup, and costumes are a joy
to watch, the soundtrack kicks ass ("Me and My Rhythm
Box" anyone?), and much of the dialogue is total campy
fun. And let's face it, the basic premise of the plot
is so absurd (aliens are among us, and are out to
harvest (addicted to?) the brain chemicals that are
released when we humans do heroin, or achieve orgasm),
that much fun can be had in the watching as long as
you don't take any of it too seriously. Worth taking
a second (or first) look, methinks.

Damn. Liquid Sky. Hadn't thought about that one in a
while.

-Fikri

PS: RE: Androgyny. Love that Replacements song, too.

"Here comes Dick, he's wearing a dress, here comes
Jane y'know she's sportin' a chain, same hair
revolution, same build evolution, tomorrow who's gonna
fuss? And they love each other so, androgynous ...
Mirror image, see no damage, see no evil at all..."





--- bendy <bendy AT duke.edu> wrote:

> I haven't seen URGH! in about 14 years, and this is
> all I remember:
>
> 1. Lux.
>
> 2. Gary Newman, caked in make up, motionless and
> rolling around the
> stage on a golf-cart. He saw the future. Of
> Christopher Reeve.
>
> 3. Gang of Four may have been leftists, but they
> sure dressed a lot like
> Duran Duran.
>
> Has anyone watched Liquid Sky recently? Does it
> still suck, or has it
> taken on a patina of amusement that glosses over the
> shockless androgyny?
>
> Smithereens, at last viewing, still sucks. I never
> liked Diva, but then,
> other than Nomi, I've never like opera. Repo Man
> holds up. I find Rude
> Boy ten times more powerful now than I did in it's
> day. They made a film
> about how they dicked over a fan!
>
> Bendy
>
>
>
> domcasualties AT yahoo.com wrote:
> > As far as URGH! goes, I really enjoyed Nomi's
> performance and thought
> > his early 70s take on
> an-alien-in-Fleischer-cartoon makeup was
> > stunning. However, Skafish's performance put me to
> sleep. My favorite
> > piece would have to be the Cramps' version of
> "Tear It Up." Lux rules
> > that movie.
> >
> > Jamie
> >
> > -- ch-scene: the list that mirrors
> alt.music.chapel-hill --
> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ch-scene
> -- ch-scene: the list that mirrors
> alt.music.chapel-hill --
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ch-scene
>




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