This week’s screening is a film I have not seen before Detroit Rock City. As it reminds me of many of the movies I watched in high school I’m surprised I hadn’t come across it sooner, I honestly haven’t heard of the film before it was mentioned in this class, that being said, it hasn’t been my favorite film this semester but I did enjoy it very much! The film follows a group of teen boys in a kiss cover band as they go through obstacles to see the band they idolize. Of course, the quest was not easy, if it was I’m sure it would be a boring film, watching their conquest is what makes the movie so fun, along with the rebellious goofy boys. Like, seeing Kiss for these kids was nooooot easy, but that’s what makes the end, when they finally go feel so fulfilling, YES !! They’re finally seeing them after everything. This film like last week’s Dazed and Confused takes place in the 70s, further reflecting on that 70s nostalgia. Watching these two screenings made me think about our generation and if we have any nostalgia in contemporary film or a certain era, honestly the more I think about it the more I’ve come to the conclusion that a lot of contemporary films are focused more on political climates than longing for a certain aesthetic of the past. The world seems to be so crazy nowadays it’s hard to focus on much else. Maybe that’s also just where I find myself navigating within film though as that is a topic I am constantly thinking about.  That also only comes through from films I personally have been watching the past few years though so if anyone has anything to contribute to this though I’d love to know. Outside of film I definitely think there is a general at least in my generation a nostalgia for the 90s/early 2000s, our earliest childhood years.

Anyways, back to the film, at one point the kiss fanboys literally beat up a disco duo which is a funny relation to last weeks reading, I can’t remember which but one talked about how disco was literally the hype in 90s music films but Detroit Rock City and Dazed and Confused rebelled against this trend and we quite literally see it, the tagline is “Disco Sucks” that was just so fun.

Another part of this film that I thought was super funny was that the crazy christian  mother of the main character, Jam was soooo conservative, she was like a character straight out of reefer madness. She mentions pot being horrible SO many times in the most absurd dramatic ways (despite chugging down wine and chain smoking cigarettes) she was one of the highlights of the film just because of how ridiculous her character was.

The reading I enjoyed a lot was Cult Cinema And Music. This reading talks exactly what the title says, music, cult films and how they correspond. The first thing i was ever passionate about in life was music, stemming all the way back to elementary school being obsessed with the beatles. Music has always been a huge interest of mine which is why i belive i enjoy cult films so much. Just like the reading discusses cult film and cinema are intertwined. Many musicians pop up in cult films such as Kiss in the screening this week, Bowie in The Man Who Fell to Earth, the Beatles in all of their movies, and many more. Another type of film is the staged concert film, this reading talks about The Talking Heads film Stop Making Sense and how by being a band and making a film like this, it can get your audience into cult films or get the filmgoer interested in your band. Love the talking head and this film by the way! David Byrne is amazing.

Soundtracks to cult films in themselves have a major part of the cult movie experience and can get a cult following of their own, the author talks a lot about Quinten Tarantinos ability to create not only great films but soundtracks that accompany them that gain a cult following as well as the movie, the way he can juxtapose the brutal image with a sugary pop image and I agree, it is quite fascinating how he does it and great to watch! A film I can personally talk about is The Harder They Come (1972). I Had not seen the film until this summer but I have been listening to the films soundtrack by Jimmy Cliff for years, finally when I had time I sat down and watched the film and obviously loved it. That is just my personal experience with the relation between cult film and music, the reading was super interesting and made me think a lot about my self discovery in terms of music and films and how they correlate.