#poly styrene: i am a cliche

[honeyvenommusic]

man. knowing of Poly Styrene for years and what i just found out in her doc….. man

#hits. hits #what a tough go of it for anyone esp for such a sensitive person #and her daughter having to be in the wake of all of that. but i’m so glad they had their time at the end #not everybody gets that and i don’t i know it #poly styrene #i am a cliche #and i’m sure people thought her untouchable bc so many reasons (esp being a woc & as brazen as she was musically) #and then when shit flipped they were shocked & i can only imagine how cruel they were to her #huuuuuh. hits. how tough my god

[moviecriticseanpatrick-blog]

#Poly Styrene I Am A Cliche #movies #film #movie review #movie #film review #movie critic #film critic #film criticism #movie criticism #Documentary #Music Documentary #Punk #Punk Music #Icon #Legend #Biopic

[nizynskis]

tagged by matea @filmstar1997 for the 15 questions game thank you I love talking <33 you’re supposed to tag 15 people but let’s say 5

1) are you named after anyone? No my ma just thought the name was pretty. And it is. 🐑

2) when was the last time you cried? At the end of poly styrene: i am a cliche. The mother daughter stuff the.. 🥺

3) do you have kids? No thank God I will someday but not before I develop my brain

4) do you use sarcasm a lot? No I try not to I think it makes me into a person I don’t like

5) what is the first thing you notice about people? Their mouth! Not sure why it just pulls the face together

6) what color are your eyes? they’re green on summer nights in Seattle and gold in 70 degree weather on leap years ok enough fucking around theyre hazel but we all talk like that

7) scary movies or happy endings? Like matea said everything has a time and place but happy endings are all I can handle so I don’t go sleepless for a week

8) any special talents? Also like matea said I can fold both my legs behind my head so now I’m feeling less special about that. And I can pull off any ugly outfit perk of being a dyke

9) where were you born? Manhattan it’s a source of shame

10) what are your hobbies? I like to sew and embroider and occasionally knit but it’s been a long time since I did anything lmaooo

11) do you have any pets? My dog Willow is dachshund/pitbull she looks like a seal and she’s an angel that bites other people but not me

12) what sports do you play/have you played? I was very briefly on my high school wrestling team otherwise nothijg I have no coordination

13) how tall are you? 5’5 I think that’s 165 cm?

14) favorite subjects in school? I love English also sorry for being cringe but my economics class is very exciting

15) dream job? book editor .. 💞

tagging @franzkafkagf @gummirock @tavalen @gender444 @doradotcom

[sarkywoman]

“We didn’t use the word ‘feminist’ so much at the beginning. I was never afraid of the word, but people had their preconceptions and when somebody asks you, ‘are you this?’ and you know that you are your version of that, but you’re not the version of the person who’s asking...”

Ana Da Silva, speaking in ‘Poly Styrene: I am a Cliche’

#feminism #ana da silva #feminist

[greensparty]

Preview: 2021 Independent Film Festival Boston

My favorite film festival in Boston, in Massachusetts and possibly the world is Independent Film Festival Boston (read my coverage here).  I have a special place for this festival: in 2014 my documentary Life on the V: The Story of V66 had its World Premiere at the festival, and in 2015 I was on the Documentary Jury. 2020 felt very strange to not have IFFBoston, which usually occurs in late April / early May. However, we were lucky to get a virtual version of the their mini-fest IFFBoston Fall Focus last November. While we are not returning to the Brattle, Somerville and Coolidge Corner theatres for this year’s festival, I am over-the-moon that this year IFFBoston is back with an online festival from May 6-16, 2021. 

Here are the films on my radar for this year’s fest.:

Thurs. May 6:

Opening Night Film is the documentary Summer of Soul, the directorial debut of Questlove! I’ve been hearing nothing but great things about this concert doc since its Sundance premiere. Can’t wait!

Fri. May 7:

The documentary feature A Reckoning in Boston premieres. Directed by James Rutenbeck, who is no stranger to IFFBoston: he directed the short doc Class of ‘27 and was the editor on Intelligent Lives, which were both really good!

Sat. May 8:

 What a day for the fest: the scap metal drama Holler features the always reliable Pamela Adlon. We’re All Going to the World’s Fair is about an online role playing game. 

I’m very excited about the doc Spring Valley, from my friends director Garrett Zevgetis and producer Ariana Garfinkel, whose last doc was the excellent Best and Most Beautiful Things, one of the highlights of IFFBoston 2016. Full disclosure: I was a donor to this doc! 

Sun. May 9:

Next up is the Toni Collette-lead ensemble film Dream Horse. Also this day is the doc Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America.

Mon. May 10:

The Dry is a mystery crime story lead by Eric Bana.

Tues. May 11:

The Oxy Kingpins looks at the pharmaceutical companies and those responsible for the opioid crisis. 

Wed. May 12:

I’m a big fan of Edgar Wright’s films notably Shaun of the Dead and Baby Driver. Now he has made his documentary debut with The Sparks Brothers about the influential art rock duo Sparks. As someone who doesn’t know a whole lot about them (though I did like their song “Eaten by the Monster of Love” on the Valley Girl soundtrack), I am looking forward to this doc!

Thurs. May 13:

Marvelous and the Black Hole is a coming of age comedy about magic, featuring Rhea Perlman. Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliche documents punk singer Poly Styrene of X-Ray Spex and it’s co-directed by her daughter.

Friday May 14:

First Date is a coming of age comedy about a teen’s first date gone awry. Its been a long time since we had a movie like this, which is why I’m intrigued. 

Sat. May 15:

The drama Last Night in Rozzie is about friends from Boston’s Roslindale reuniting years later. I’m psyched it co-stars Kevin Chapman (who I worked with on Monument Ave). Strawberry Mansion is about a dystopian future where people have to submit their mind for dream audits.

Sun. May 16:

The Gig is Up documents the people behind gig-based economy such as ride shares and food deliveries. The Closing Night Film is How It Ends, co-directed by Zoe Lister-Jones (her film Band Aid was one of the stand outs of IFFBoston 2017) about a party on the night an asteroid is about to obliterate Earth.

In addition to all of the feature films, there are several shorts programs (narrative, documentary and student) the festival has scheduled as well.

For info/tickets for IFFBoston: https://iffboston.org/

#iffboston2021 #iffboston #independent film festival boston #summer of soul #a reckoning in boston #holler #we're all going to the world's fair #spring valley #dream horse #who we are: a chronicle of racism in america #the dry #the oxy kingpins #the sparks brothers #marvelous and the black hole #poly styrene: i am a cliche #first date #last night in rozzie #strawberry mansion #the gig is up #how it ends #film geek

[maxwelltait]

STILES Film Club Week #7

It’s been ten years since Marianne Joan Elliott-Said AKA Poly Styrene passed away at the age of 53. Few musicians can be said to have a more profound legacy than the founder and frontwoman of X-Ray Spex. Mixed race, braces, striking home-made clothes, a woman — it’s hardly a surprise that Poly achieved the difficult thing of standing out during the Punk era, amongst people that already stood out, though not so much amongst eachother. Listing characteristics — or labels — like this may seem contrary to what she stood for, but Poly had a capacity to celebrate her individuality without ego. Poly took ownership of what made her her, in a way that didn’t push people down, but lifted others up, and that was and is an everlasting inspiration to so many.

Well, as much ownership as is possible for a mixed-race woman in the UK. Poly was uniquely sincere, and tragically, her openness left her vulnerable to a great deal of unpleasantness from all sides. The last thing the world needs is an exploitative documentary about someone who’s mental health was prey to exploitation, and that’s why it’s so important that Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché gets things right.

-

For this week’s STILES Film Club I take a look at POLY STYRENE: I AM A CLICHÉ, the excellent new doc about the incredible X-Ray Spex singer, and ALICE COLTRANE & NICO ICON, two more films featuring incredible and influential musicians that had to put up with a lot of shit.

Give it a read: https://www.stilesmagazine.com/post/stiles-film-club-week-7

#poly styrene: i am a cliche #poly styrene #x ray spex #alice coltrane #nico icon #nico #punk #cinema #film review #stiles magazine #stiles #documentary #music

[soundsof71]

X-ray Spex’s Poly Styrene by Gus Stewart, from a fantastic NYT profile on a new documentary about her, Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché, co-directed by her daughter Celeste Bell. Poly Styrene was as punk as it gets, and so far ahead of her time that we still haven’t finished learning her lessons. Highly recommended, to say the least.

#poly styrene #classic rock #women in rock #punk rock #punk #braces #shout #gus stewart #i am a cliche #x ray spex

[theeboyracer]

I am a cliche, poly styrene - Roxie theatre, SF

#roxie theatre #sf #san francisco #film #cinema #poly styrene #x-ray spex #i am a cliche

[iknowthesugarplumfairy]

Trailer for upcoming Poly Styrene documentary film

#poly styrene #xray spex #I am a cliche #Instagram

[gotankgo]

Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliche

official trailer

#poly styrene: i am a cliché #poly styrene #documentary #x ray spex

[industrial-horror]

[greensparty]

2021 IFFBoston Part 4

Last week was the kick off of virtual 2021 Independent Film Festival Boston. I’ll be covering the festival (which I’m an alumni of and a big fan of), as it continues to Sun. May 16, periodically over the next week. Check out Part 1 here, Part 2 here and Part 3 here.

Thurs. May 13: 

Marvelous and the Black Hole is a coming of age comedy about magic, featuring Rhea Perlman. Alas I didn’t catch it.

Miss Poly Styrene

Only a day after I caught the music doc The Sparks Brothers, there’s another music doc. Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliche documents punk singer Poly Styrene of X-Ray Spex and it’s co-directed by her daughter. I can’t say I was that familiar with them before this doc. Although, they were a part of the Rock Against Racism concert, which was documented in last year’s White Riot (see my review here). The band fell in with the British punk movement of that era, but I actually thought they were more like the Blondie than the Sex Pistols. The doc is co-directed by Styrene’s daughter Celeste Bell, who narrates and is seen re-visiting many of Styrene’s noteworthy locations. Styrene (who died in 2011 at age 53 of breast cancer) was bi-racial and used her music to rail against inequality. But there was a complexity to this doc in that its not so much an objective portrait of Styrne, but really about a daughter trying to understand her mother, who suffered from bi-polar disorder while Bell was young, didn’t have the best relationship with, but re-connected later in life. Its almost as if this doc is Bell working through some issues and coming to peace about her mother. There are a number of interviewees (her own bandmates and members of The Raincoats, Sonic Youth, Bikini Kill and more) who are heard but not seen over archival footage. Still digesting this as its very different than other docs that hit you with an immediate reaction after viewing.

Fri. May 14:

Shelby Duclos and Tyson Brown

First Date is a coming of age comedy about a teen’s first date gone awry. Shy teen Mike gets the chance to take girl-next-door Kelsey out, but he needs a car. After getting conned into buying a ‘65 Chrysler the whole night spirals out of control between criminals, cops and strangers who want the car. When I read the program notes about this film, I was intrigued. It had been a while since we had something like this type of movie, where a series of misadventures occur over the course of one night. The problem with this was that it was trying WAY too hard. It was aspiring to be a Quentin Tarantino mixture of crime and comedy...and failed. The program referred to it as “Superbad meets True Romance”. To tell you the truth this wasn’t even as good as the 1991 teen movie Mystery Date (the one where Ethan Hawke takes a girl out and finds himself dealing with criminals who think he’s the older brother). After Pulp Fiction, there were a ton of Tarantino rip-offs. Most were bad but every once in a while you had something like Go, which was highly influenced by Tarantino, but felt fresh and original. I had hoped First Date would be in that vein, but it was a major letdown. 

Next: There’s some big ones coming up at the fest in the last few days.

For info on IFFBoston: https://iffboston.org/

#iffboston2021 #iffboston #independent film festival boston #marvelous and the black hole #poly styrene: i am a cliche #poly styrene #x-ray spex #celeste bell #paul sng #first date #manuel crosby #darren knapp #film festivals #film geek