A version of this story about the designers behind “Angelyne,” “Impeachment: American Crime Story” and “Pam & Tommy” first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Drama issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
A nostalgic look in the rearview mirror is nothing new for television creators. But it is unusual when so many mine the same era, in this case reframing controversial personalities and events from the recent past. The frenetic landscape of the 1980s smashing directly into the 1990s was omnipresent in three different limited series: Peacock’s “Angelyne,” FX’s “Impeachment: American Crime Story” and Hulu’s “Pam & Tommy”. They not only provided viewers with a satisfying reintroduction to the excesses of those decades, but also gave their leading female characters a dissecting reevaluation. And the designers on all three projects were vital to the series’ success.
Also Read:
‘Succession’ Cast on the Secrets to Those Big...
A nostalgic look in the rearview mirror is nothing new for television creators. But it is unusual when so many mine the same era, in this case reframing controversial personalities and events from the recent past. The frenetic landscape of the 1980s smashing directly into the 1990s was omnipresent in three different limited series: Peacock’s “Angelyne,” FX’s “Impeachment: American Crime Story” and Hulu’s “Pam & Tommy”. They not only provided viewers with a satisfying reintroduction to the excesses of those decades, but also gave their leading female characters a dissecting reevaluation. And the designers on all three projects were vital to the series’ success.
Also Read:
‘Succession’ Cast on the Secrets to Those Big...
- 8/15/2022
- by Jason Clark
- The Wrap
Cruella de Vil has always been known for her notorious and outlandish sartorial statements, but how her signature black-and-white looks came to be is a story unto itself. Director Craig Gillespie traces the Disney villain’s origin story in the new live-action feature film “Cruella,” which follows Estella, a young, quick-witted, fashion-obsessed orphan in 1970s London. The budding talent crosses paths with her nemesis, iconic designer Baroness von Hellman (Emma Thompson), setting the stage for Estella’s descent into madness as vengeance-filled antihero Cruella, played by Glenn Close in 1996’s “101 Dalmatians.”
Gillespie tapped Jenny Beavan to bring Estella and the Baroness’ fashion faceoff to life, a feat the two-time Oscar-winning costume designer achieved with 47 costume changes for Cruella and 33 for the Baroness — the largest project Beavan has worked on to date.
“I was around in the ’70s, so I remember a lot of the feelings and the looks, and...
Gillespie tapped Jenny Beavan to bring Estella and the Baroness’ fashion faceoff to life, a feat the two-time Oscar-winning costume designer achieved with 47 costume changes for Cruella and 33 for the Baroness — the largest project Beavan has worked on to date.
“I was around in the ’70s, so I remember a lot of the feelings and the looks, and...
- 5/26/2021
- by Lesley McKenzie
- Variety Film + TV
Now this is what you call P-Funk. Nina Hagen, Germany’s Godmother of Punk, and Prime Minister of Funk George Clinton, America’s Dr. Funkenstein, came together for the iconic singer’s new single, “Unity,” according to Rolling Stone. Hagen, who wrote the song immediately after the murder of George Floyd, says this her tribute to the Black Lives Matter movement. Hagen also announced she will issue her first album in nine years, since 2011’s Volksbeat.
“’Unity’ was created immediately after the incredibly cowardly and brutal murder of George Floyd,” Hagen said in a statement, via Rolling Stone. “A song about the indestructible dream of charity. From the longing for human values, for social unity and justice.” Clinton is a strong presence on the dub track, which calls for “unity in the community.” While the song drips of both cosmic alliance and Christian Gospel, it is not quite as...
“’Unity’ was created immediately after the incredibly cowardly and brutal murder of George Floyd,” Hagen said in a statement, via Rolling Stone. “A song about the indestructible dream of charity. From the longing for human values, for social unity and justice.” Clinton is a strong presence on the dub track, which calls for “unity in the community.” While the song drips of both cosmic alliance and Christian Gospel, it is not quite as...
- 9/8/2020
- by Chris Longo
- Den of Geek
German punk and New Wave icon Nina Hagen recruited George Clinton for “Unity,” a new single inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement.
“Let’s all enjoy the unity in the community/There is no room for negativity,” Hagen sings over a dizzying reggae beat with whirling instrumentation. “Positive vibrations surround the world’s nations!”
“‘Unity’ was created immediately after the incredibly cowardly and brutal murder of George Floyd,” Hagen said in a statement. “A song about the indestructible dream of charity. From the longing for human values, for social unity and justice.
“Let’s all enjoy the unity in the community/There is no room for negativity,” Hagen sings over a dizzying reggae beat with whirling instrumentation. “Positive vibrations surround the world’s nations!”
“‘Unity’ was created immediately after the incredibly cowardly and brutal murder of George Floyd,” Hagen said in a statement. “A song about the indestructible dream of charity. From the longing for human values, for social unity and justice.
- 9/4/2020
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
The bass-playing singer and songwriter, Suzi Quatro, is an icon. Maybe not so much in the U.S. where she is best known for her Happy Days role as Leather Tuscadero, backed up by The Suedes and playing sock hops in middle America. But to the rest of the world, Quatro was the first female face of the rock generation.
Directed by Australian filmmakers Liam Firmager and Tait Brady, the documentary Suzi Q shows Quatro as a true pioneer. She redefined the role of women in rock ‘n roll. There were female singers and musicians before Suzi, but she was the first to break through as lead vocalist who was also just part of the band. Female musicians took note and took notes, if not patterns. In the new documentary, Tina Weymouth of the Talking Heads says Quatro was the reason she chose the bass.
Quatro was a British sensation...
Directed by Australian filmmakers Liam Firmager and Tait Brady, the documentary Suzi Q shows Quatro as a true pioneer. She redefined the role of women in rock ‘n roll. There were female singers and musicians before Suzi, but she was the first to break through as lead vocalist who was also just part of the band. Female musicians took note and took notes, if not patterns. In the new documentary, Tina Weymouth of the Talking Heads says Quatro was the reason she chose the bass.
Quatro was a British sensation...
- 6/24/2020
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
Tony Sokol Oct 2, 2019
Groucho Marx's Duck Soup soliloquy makes a sap out of Hamlet.
When I was a teenager, I had to learn the “to be or not to be” speech for honors English. I had two weeks to commit Willie “The Bard” Shakespeare’s words to memory and on the day I was called to recite, I choked like I had TB, or not TB, that was congestion. I think I finished with the George Carlin “spare hair is fair” poem and slunk back to my desk.
I didn’t think I had a problem with my memory. When I was nine, I could toss off Rufus T. Firefly’s preface to the big finale of Duck Soup on command. And this was in the days before video tape. It was easier to remember because it is the best monologue ever performed in theater or film.
Groucho Marx...
Groucho Marx's Duck Soup soliloquy makes a sap out of Hamlet.
When I was a teenager, I had to learn the “to be or not to be” speech for honors English. I had two weeks to commit Willie “The Bard” Shakespeare’s words to memory and on the day I was called to recite, I choked like I had TB, or not TB, that was congestion. I think I finished with the George Carlin “spare hair is fair” poem and slunk back to my desk.
I didn’t think I had a problem with my memory. When I was nine, I could toss off Rufus T. Firefly’s preface to the big finale of Duck Soup on command. And this was in the days before video tape. It was easier to remember because it is the best monologue ever performed in theater or film.
Groucho Marx...
- 9/1/2015
- Den of Geek
SundanceTV’s series Deutschland 83 ends its run Aug. 5 at 11pm Et, so this is a good time to get into the mind of the man who composed the musical score for the series, Reinhold Heil. In a twist, Heil and another composer, Charlie Clouser — who most recently scored Wayward Pines — both interviewed each other recently about their art and business, exclusively for Channel Guide. They chatted about everything from finding the right tone for a series to what happens when the series they have invested their creative energy in is canceled, and here are some of the highlights. Reinhold Heil: Nina Hagen, I … Continue reading →
The post Composers Reinhold Heil and Charlie Clouser on scoring TV shows appeared first on Channel Guide Magazine.
The post Composers Reinhold Heil and Charlie Clouser on scoring TV shows appeared first on Channel Guide Magazine.
- 8/3/2015
- by Jeff Pfeiffer
- ChannelGuideMag
Reinhold Heil stood at the precipice of an evolving Berlin soundscape. Him and his fellow singers and musicians formed what is now referred to as the New German Wave (working with the likes of Nina Hagen and the band Spliff). Toted as one of the best keyboardist in Europe, Heil has taken his multi-instrumental talents to film, lending his hand to great titles like Run Lola Run, Cloud Atlas, and now the Syfy series Helix. Garret and I collaborated to dig deeper into the Golden Globe nominated composer's time behind the scenes.
Garrett: What was it like being a successful writer and performer in a rock band in Germany during the 70’s and 80’s? How did it feel to be at the forefront of a rapidly changing musical landscape?
I think I didn’t appreciate it enough at the time. Sometimes a city becomes the center for development in rock or pop music.
Garrett: What was it like being a successful writer and performer in a rock band in Germany during the 70’s and 80’s? How did it feel to be at the forefront of a rapidly changing musical landscape?
I think I didn’t appreciate it enough at the time. Sometimes a city becomes the center for development in rock or pop music.
- 1/17/2015
- by feeds@cinelinx.com (Aaron Hunt)
- Cinelinx
Reinhold Heil stood at the precipice of an evolving Berlin soundscape. Him and his fellow singers and musicians formed what is now referred to as the New German Wave (working with the likes of Nina Hagen and the band Spliff). Toted as one of the best keyboardist in Europe, Heil has taken his multi-instrumental talents to film, lending his hand to great titles like Run Lola Run, Cloud Atlas, and now the Syfy series Helix. Garret and I collaborated to dig deeper into the Golden Globe nominated composer's time behind the scenes.
Garrett: What was it like being a successful writer and performer in a rock band in Germany during the 70’s and 80’s? How did it feel to be at the forefront of a rapidly changing musical landscape?
I think I didn’t appreciate it enough at the time. Sometimes a city becomes the center for development in rock or pop music.
Garrett: What was it like being a successful writer and performer in a rock band in Germany during the 70’s and 80’s? How did it feel to be at the forefront of a rapidly changing musical landscape?
I think I didn’t appreciate it enough at the time. Sometimes a city becomes the center for development in rock or pop music.
- 1/17/2015
- by feeds@cinelinx.com (Aaron Hunt)
- Cinelinx
Birthday shoutouts go to Anton Yelchin (above), who is 25, Johnny Knoxville is 43, Christopher Rice is 36, Alex Kingston is 51, and the Queen Of German Punk Rock Nina Hagen is 59. Worship!
Sex Box! The British reality show is being adapted for We TV. “In Sex Box, real couples whose relationships are on the rocks enter a soundproof box to have sex and, upon exit, immediately address their issues with a panel of experts.” Okay, Brit readers, what’s your verdict (and don’t tell me you haven’t watched). And have they ever had same sex couples?
Out actor Ben Daniels will star in the Starz! ballet drama Flesh & Bone. Hmmm … I see a ShoutOUT in his future.
Linda Hamilton will star in the Syfy Original Movie Bermuda Testicles on April 12th. “Hamilton’s character is heading a rescue team sent to find the president after Air Force One goes down over the Bermuda Triangle.
Sex Box! The British reality show is being adapted for We TV. “In Sex Box, real couples whose relationships are on the rocks enter a soundproof box to have sex and, upon exit, immediately address their issues with a panel of experts.” Okay, Brit readers, what’s your verdict (and don’t tell me you haven’t watched). And have they ever had same sex couples?
Out actor Ben Daniels will star in the Starz! ballet drama Flesh & Bone. Hmmm … I see a ShoutOUT in his future.
Linda Hamilton will star in the Syfy Original Movie Bermuda Testicles on April 12th. “Hamilton’s character is heading a rescue team sent to find the president after Air Force One goes down over the Bermuda Triangle.
- 3/11/2014
- by snicks
- The Backlot
From Tarantino's raucous new western to a Duchamp tribute at the Barbican, the pianist and composer picks the cultural events catching his eye
Volker Bertelmann, better known as the experimental pianist and composer Hauschka, grew up in Ferndorf, Germany and began learning the piano aged nine. He later wrote pieces for pianos modified by attaching objects to their strings to create otherworldly sound effects. His first album in this vein, Substantial, was released in 2005. His innovative compositions are frequently compared to the work of Eric Satie and John Cage. His Salon Des Amateurs Remixes album is out now.
Festival: Dancing Around Duchamp, The Barbican
A season of events celebrating Marcel Duchamp will be on at the Barbican until June. I love the stories and provocation that you can find within his art. He uses humour in an intriguing way, and it's great to observe how the art world reacted to that.
Volker Bertelmann, better known as the experimental pianist and composer Hauschka, grew up in Ferndorf, Germany and began learning the piano aged nine. He later wrote pieces for pianos modified by attaching objects to their strings to create otherworldly sound effects. His first album in this vein, Substantial, was released in 2005. His innovative compositions are frequently compared to the work of Eric Satie and John Cage. His Salon Des Amateurs Remixes album is out now.
Festival: Dancing Around Duchamp, The Barbican
A season of events celebrating Marcel Duchamp will be on at the Barbican until June. I love the stories and provocation that you can find within his art. He uses humour in an intriguing way, and it's great to observe how the art world reacted to that.
- 3/17/2013
- by Gemma Kappala-Ramsamy
- The Guardian - Film News
Birthday shoutouts go to Christopher Rice (above), who is 35, and the Queen of New Wave Nina Hagen is 58. In ratings news, Revenge was up in its return, and hopefully regaining momentum. Warehouse 13 has released a new promo for the return on April 29th, and it features Steve running from some kind of weird bat thing. And poor Artie Are Gay Men A Gay Man's Worst Enemy?Anderson Cooper Talks coming out as gay, brother's suicide and GLAAD Awards with Madonna Big congrats to Ellen, whose talk show has been renewed for four more seasons.Below you can see the first couple of minutes of Bates Motel, which premieres March 18th on A&E.
How's this for a pairing!
Below you can see the debut episode of web series (which is a potential TV pilot) Just Us Guys, about a gay father and his straight son.
Below you can see the IndieGoGo campaign for G.
How's this for a pairing!
Below you can see the debut episode of web series (which is a potential TV pilot) Just Us Guys, about a gay father and his straight son.
Below you can see the IndieGoGo campaign for G.
- 3/11/2013
- by snicks
- The Backlot
Programme for May's three-week arts celebration – released today – will feature Emil and the Detectives, Judith Kerr and Michael Rosen's orchestral work for kids, The Great Enormo
Emil and the Detectives – Erich Kästner's 1929 classic story about a boy who enlists the help of friends to foil a bank robber – is the book at the heart of this year's Brighton festival, which is guest-directed by author, broadcaster and former children's laureate Michael Rosen.
Rosen, who was read the book in weekly instalments by his class teacher when he was nine – and who remembers elaborating and acting out episodes of it with his friends – said the book was "very special in a variety of ways. It was the first of its kind: the first book in which children are detectives and solve a crime. And it was completely new in its attitude to the city. There's a tradition in literature of...
Emil and the Detectives – Erich Kästner's 1929 classic story about a boy who enlists the help of friends to foil a bank robber – is the book at the heart of this year's Brighton festival, which is guest-directed by author, broadcaster and former children's laureate Michael Rosen.
Rosen, who was read the book in weekly instalments by his class teacher when he was nine – and who remembers elaborating and acting out episodes of it with his friends – said the book was "very special in a variety of ways. It was the first of its kind: the first book in which children are detectives and solve a crime. And it was completely new in its attitude to the city. There's a tradition in literature of...
- 2/27/2013
- by Charlotte Higgins
- The Guardian - Film News
Original Score Composed and Produced by: Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek, and Reinhold Heil
Release Date: Digital download Oct. 23, 2012, physical CD Nov. 6, 2012
Format: Audio CD and digital download
Number of Discs: 1 (23 tracks, approx. 1.2 hours)
Label: WaterTower Music
Summary: WaterTower Music will release the Cloud Atlas: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack at all digital retailers on October 23, with a physical CD release to follow on November 6. The original music was composed by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek, and Reinhold Heil. Tykwer also shares screenwriting and directing credits with filmmakers Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski, in bringing David Mitchell’s best-selling novel to the big screen in the October 26th release Cloud Atlas.
Music is a central part of the Cloud Atlas story, particularly in one sequence of the film’s narrative involving a young composer who struggles to complete his life’s work, entitled The Cloud Atlas Sextet. This musical theme then recurs...
Release Date: Digital download Oct. 23, 2012, physical CD Nov. 6, 2012
Format: Audio CD and digital download
Number of Discs: 1 (23 tracks, approx. 1.2 hours)
Label: WaterTower Music
Summary: WaterTower Music will release the Cloud Atlas: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack at all digital retailers on October 23, with a physical CD release to follow on November 6. The original music was composed by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek, and Reinhold Heil. Tykwer also shares screenwriting and directing credits with filmmakers Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski, in bringing David Mitchell’s best-selling novel to the big screen in the October 26th release Cloud Atlas.
Music is a central part of the Cloud Atlas story, particularly in one sequence of the film’s narrative involving a young composer who struggles to complete his life’s work, entitled The Cloud Atlas Sextet. This musical theme then recurs...
- 11/6/2012
- by Erin Willard
- ScifiMafia
Here is last week's caption pic winner. This week's caption pic is at the bottom of the page.
Thanks to everyone for participating! The winner is ...
""No, Miss Aguilera...I expect you to die.""
Thanks to David for this week's winning caption!
Weekend Birthdays! (Note: Birthday shoutouts are for out entertainers, allies, or for any celeb that seems to have a following on Ae). Jon Hamm (above) is 41, out and faboo Warehouse 13 exec. producer Jack Kenny is 54, Emmanuel Lewis is 41, Mitchell Lichtenstein is 56, Jasmine Guy is 50, Neneh Cherry is 48, Edie Brickell is 46, Robin Thicke is 35, Carrie Underwood is 29, Johnny Knoxville is 41, Christopher Rice is 34, Cheryl Lynn is 55, Nina Hagen is 57, and Martin Fry is 54. Okay, what are your top five ABC songs? Here are my picks: 5."How To Be A Millionaire." 4. "When Smokey Sings", 3. "Look Of Love" 2. "Poison Arrow," 1. "Be Near Me" As expected, John Carter is shaping up to bomb spectacularly.
Thanks to everyone for participating! The winner is ...
""No, Miss Aguilera...I expect you to die.""
Thanks to David for this week's winning caption!
Weekend Birthdays! (Note: Birthday shoutouts are for out entertainers, allies, or for any celeb that seems to have a following on Ae). Jon Hamm (above) is 41, out and faboo Warehouse 13 exec. producer Jack Kenny is 54, Emmanuel Lewis is 41, Mitchell Lichtenstein is 56, Jasmine Guy is 50, Neneh Cherry is 48, Edie Brickell is 46, Robin Thicke is 35, Carrie Underwood is 29, Johnny Knoxville is 41, Christopher Rice is 34, Cheryl Lynn is 55, Nina Hagen is 57, and Martin Fry is 54. Okay, what are your top five ABC songs? Here are my picks: 5."How To Be A Millionaire." 4. "When Smokey Sings", 3. "Look Of Love" 2. "Poison Arrow," 1. "Be Near Me" As expected, John Carter is shaping up to bomb spectacularly.
- 3/9/2012
- by snicks
- The Backlot
An advertisement featuring a scantily clad Pamela Anderson frisking and stripping travellers has been rejected by Hong Kong airport, animal protection campaigners have said.</p><p>The commercial is the latest to be made by the group People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in their long-running campaign against the use of animal furs and skins in fashion.</p><p>In it, the former Baywatch star is seen dressed in a revealing airport security guard uniform stopping people and stripping them of leather belts and shoes and fur coats.</p><p>The advertisement, titled "Cruelty Doesn`t Fly", also features comedians Steve-o, Andy Dick and Carol Leifer, a pair of nude models and German punk icon Nina Hagen.</p><p>PETA had hoped to place the advert on large-screen televisions throughout Hong Kong International Airport over the peak, year-end holiday period when more than 100,000 people a day pass through the airport.</p><p>However, JCDecaux, the company...
- 12/28/2010
- Filmicafe
Cinematographer Jessica Gallant (Dimples) shot, directed, and edited this documentary chronicling the 2006 Drop Dead Music Festival in New York City, New York, featuring Deathrock, Psychobilly, Post-Punk, Synthpunk, Punk, Goth Rock, Experimental, Batcave, and Minimal music by Din Glorious, Lene Lovich, Din Glorius, Nina Hagen, Kastle Greyskull, Psychocharger, Lugosi's Morphine, Gain and the Grave Robbers, Monster A Go-Go, and dozens more.
- 5/27/2010
- by Superheidi
- Planet Fury
MySpace is apparently not quite fashionable enough a locale for a hot, gay Austrian fashionista like Bruno. He's opened up his own exclusive niche at MeinSpace, where he shows off his body, his fashion sense, his new trailer, and his unique brand of pidgin German (some sort of odd derivative, perhaps, of Hogan's Heroes and Nina Hagen).
The page is already chock-full of salacious tidbits about Bruno's love life, background, and aspirations. He proudly confesses, for example, to have been "ze first Austrian to have bulimia -- 3 years before Diana." He has also positioned himself in the twitterverse, posting tweets under the name brunovassup. Only one post so far, though, informing fans that his new movie is "basically ze most important documentary made about a hot vhite guy since Passion of Ze Christ."
And just when you think his ego couldn't get any bigger, he picks up another couple of rave reviews over at AICN.
The page is already chock-full of salacious tidbits about Bruno's love life, background, and aspirations. He proudly confesses, for example, to have been "ze first Austrian to have bulimia -- 3 years before Diana." He has also positioned himself in the twitterverse, posting tweets under the name brunovassup. Only one post so far, though, informing fans that his new movie is "basically ze most important documentary made about a hot vhite guy since Passion of Ze Christ."
And just when you think his ego couldn't get any bigger, he picks up another couple of rave reviews over at AICN.
- 4/6/2009
- by Bill Stouffer
- Reelzchannel.com
"Dandy'' is a poseur, a dim and grungy piece of experimental exhibitionism from Germany. Technically amateurish and philosophically blowsy, "Dandy'' kicks off the venerable Vagabond Theatre's new direction.
The Wilshire Boulevard revival house will now screen art-house fare, hopefully better than this filmic flotsam.
A shrill barrage of non-linear images and abstract acts punctuated by the musical-dance morass of Nick Cave, Nina Hagen, Yoshito Ohno, among equally untalented others, "Dandy'' is bargain-basement underground filmmaking -- low on ideas, style and backbone.
Kindergarten counterculture, "Dandy'' is an unimaginative, monotonic grind revved up only intermittently by its sophomoric shock shots and its wide-ranging geographical images.
Times Square, Marrakech, Cairo, Himalaya, Tokyo are among the disparate settings for this dark hodgepodge of philosophical mumblings and guitar strummings. While it has minor appeal as a travelogue, this techno-jumbo struts as bigger stuff, repeatedly pontificating about the nature of death.
Example: A female punker is asked the burning question, "What would you do if you had only 10 days left to live?'' She replies, "I'd like to be stoned.''
The camera then lingers over a stone desert, blearily focusing on a running coyote. Such is the thematic and visual level of this punk gunk.
Peter Sempel's directorial style, and we use the term loosely, is characterized only by its grim, in-your-face tonality. The sloppy transitions, the underlit images, the off-kilter framings are not so much a marriage of style with substance but seem rather a cop-out to have neither.
DANDY
Pandora, Peter Sempel
Producers Niko Brucher, Pandora-film, Peter Sempel
Director Peter Sempel
Directors of photography Frank Blasberg, Jonas Scholz, Norimichi Kasamatsu, Peter Sempel
Editor Wolf Ingo Romer
Sound Drago Hari, Takashi Endo, Kai Wessel, Susanne Greuner, Stefanie Hesse, Roxana Herbst
Color/Stereo
Cast: Blixa Bargeld, Nick Cave, Dieter Meier, Yoshito Ohno, Nina Hagen, Lene Lovich, Rattenjenny, Imke Lagemann
Running time -- 89 minutes
No MPAA rating
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
The Wilshire Boulevard revival house will now screen art-house fare, hopefully better than this filmic flotsam.
A shrill barrage of non-linear images and abstract acts punctuated by the musical-dance morass of Nick Cave, Nina Hagen, Yoshito Ohno, among equally untalented others, "Dandy'' is bargain-basement underground filmmaking -- low on ideas, style and backbone.
Kindergarten counterculture, "Dandy'' is an unimaginative, monotonic grind revved up only intermittently by its sophomoric shock shots and its wide-ranging geographical images.
Times Square, Marrakech, Cairo, Himalaya, Tokyo are among the disparate settings for this dark hodgepodge of philosophical mumblings and guitar strummings. While it has minor appeal as a travelogue, this techno-jumbo struts as bigger stuff, repeatedly pontificating about the nature of death.
Example: A female punker is asked the burning question, "What would you do if you had only 10 days left to live?'' She replies, "I'd like to be stoned.''
The camera then lingers over a stone desert, blearily focusing on a running coyote. Such is the thematic and visual level of this punk gunk.
Peter Sempel's directorial style, and we use the term loosely, is characterized only by its grim, in-your-face tonality. The sloppy transitions, the underlit images, the off-kilter framings are not so much a marriage of style with substance but seem rather a cop-out to have neither.
DANDY
Pandora, Peter Sempel
Producers Niko Brucher, Pandora-film, Peter Sempel
Director Peter Sempel
Directors of photography Frank Blasberg, Jonas Scholz, Norimichi Kasamatsu, Peter Sempel
Editor Wolf Ingo Romer
Sound Drago Hari, Takashi Endo, Kai Wessel, Susanne Greuner, Stefanie Hesse, Roxana Herbst
Color/Stereo
Cast: Blixa Bargeld, Nick Cave, Dieter Meier, Yoshito Ohno, Nina Hagen, Lene Lovich, Rattenjenny, Imke Lagemann
Running time -- 89 minutes
No MPAA rating
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
- 11/1/1992
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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