This weeks screening was Sid and Nancy (1986) a tale of the punk Romeo and Juliet. Sid Vicious is the bassist for English punk band, the Sex Pistols who meets a groupie from New York named Nancy. They’d soon discover their shared love for heroin and fall in love and live happily ever after, we’ll not really. There addictions and relationship would soon eat the star crossed lovers alive as the film shows their tragic fall from grace

Before watching the movie I was completely unaware of the story of Sid and Nancy. I’ve heard the Sex Pistols and I’ve heard the name Sid Vicious but I’ve never put two and two together. Going into this I felt I was going to watch Train Spotting with a hyper romanticized couple but was happily surprised with what I saw. Yes maybe there was some romanticizing going on but still showed the reality of their actions at the same time. The two finding a comfort that their die for is incredibly beautiful but littered with drugs and abuse. The sense of their depression hovering around them grows more and more as the films color gets more monochromatic as time goes. Ending in what seems to be both of their deaths as Sid joins a Nancy for one last cab ride to no where.

This definitely wasn’t my favorite film watching as I might’ve gone in with high expectations or just expecting a different film. I found myself confused as to what was going on or why something was being shown and I felt the acting was alright but sometimes cheesy. I found a little video that shows side by side comparisons of the film and definitely spotted a huge difference that made sense in my head why I thought the acting was off. But as it sits with me I could see myself going back to this movie in the future. It’s gray essence was a great way to connect to the couples depression.

https://youtu.be/zc4VCnS1U3o

This weeks readings focused on drugs in cult films and heady culture. I was excited to see this ( not because of what you think smh) because I thought to myself we’ve seen 3 movies in a row with drugs being a topic in each of the whether it’s lil ol weed or grandpa H cult fans love drugs. I was also interested in this weeks readings as “heady” culture is also huge thing in the glassblowing community. In the beginning of the reading it says “cult film viewers have often differentiated themselves from mainstream film viewers and, by extension, mainstream society as a whole via attachment to films expressive of such difference.” Drugs are not your typical family flick so of course mainstream audiences aren’t going to find kids getting high relatable or even remotely enjoyable. I think that’s where a lot of cult fans come from. We’re all a bunch of weirdos who like weird thinks so when we see weird or out of the ordinary movies that’s what we flock too as fans.

Also this week was topped with two great movie presentations! Patrick presenters on the modern cult classic Fight Club. Growing up this was always a mysterious and iconic essence so it definitely deserves cult status. And Talulla knocked it out of the park with her presentation on La Haine, a French film depicting the Paris suburbs during its tension with the police. I’ve only seen parts of the film but can tell it’s amazing! The message, music and overall toughness of it all look so sick. And even has a cult fan base in Serbia where they have La Haine related graffiti and tattoos. So Sick! Great job Tal<3