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Thurs. Jan. 26 to Wed. Feb. 1- Color Me Obsessed

(Dir. Gorman Bechard - 2011 - 123m) Like many who were weaned on punk music, director Bechard latched onto this brash young Minneapolis band with fervor. Told through the eyes of fans, friends, and contemporaries, the film breaks from the traditional music documentary format of music and performances. “Not wanting to make a VH1/where-are-they-now style documentary, I decided to present the band in a more iconic way,” the director explains. Dubbed “the last best band” by Spin Magazine, Replacements' live shows could be miraculous or downright disasters. As critic’s darlings, their albums were wrought with angry guitars and passionate well-written lyrics that hinted at potential commercial success. Yet, somehow, the band managed to continually shoot themselves in the foot. Their relative obscurity was a motivating factor in presenting their story, an obsessive tale of the most influential band you've never heard of, The Replacements. And though containing not a note of their music, COLOR ME OBSESSED is a documentary that really rocks.

Also, Adam Hooks & friends will be performing some Replacements songs on opening night!

@ The Guild Cinema (3405 Central NE) 5/9pm each nite, ticket prices on the website

Vigilante Vigilante (Max Good & Nathan Wollman - 2011 - 86m)

The perfect split-screen matchup for Bad Posture! Are you paying attention, graf-heads & free speechers?

"A new breed of crime-fighter now stalks the urban landscape: the anti-graffiti vigilante.  These dedicated blight-warriors stop at nothing to rid their neighborhoods and cities of street art, stickers, tags, and posters. Yet several of these vigilantes have become the very menace they set out to eliminate. In their relentless attempt to stamp out graffiti, they have turned to illegally and destructively painting other people’s property.  VIGILANTE VIGILANTE is the story of two filmmakers who set out to expose these mysterious characters and discover a battle of expression that stretches from the streets to academia."

@ The Guild Cinema (3405 Central NE) Sun.-Wed. 5pm/6:45pm, check website for prices

And while on the subject, also fuck the handful of little men who make it their business to tear down flyers off of streetpoles locally. You are pathetic. We know who you are.

Fri.-Sun. Sept. 30- Oct. 2: Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure

Matthew Bate (What the Future Sounded Like, Mystery of Flying Kicks) explores the blurring boundaries between privacy, art and exploitation, in what has been dubbed “a sort of punk rock Errol Morris picture.”

The most important recording released in the grunge era was entitled SHUT UP LITTLE MAN!, covert audio recordings of two older alcoholic men living in a small flat in San Francisco, who spent their available free time yelling, screaming, hitting and generally abusing each other. The phenomenon began in 1987 when Eddie and Mitch (two young punks from the Mid West), moved next door to Peter Haskett (a flamboyant gay man), and Raymond Huffman (a raging homophobe). This ultimate odd-couple hated each other with great abandon, and through the paper-thin walls their alcohol-fuelled rants terrorized Eddie and Mitch. Fearing for their lives they began to tape record evidence of the insane goings on from next door.

These recordings accidentally created one of the world’s first “viral” pop-culture sensations and spread like wildfire long before the internet, through zine culture & the cassette underground, in its 90’s heyday.

The tapes went on to inspire a cult following, spawning sell-out CD’s, comic artworks by Dan Clowes (Ghostworld), stage plays, music & sampling by Devo, John Zorn & Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 (to name just a few), and a Hollywood feeding frenzy. For the newly-famous Eddie and Mitchell, this would be a life-changing experience that would see them ingested into the belly and fired out the orifice of the pop culture beast. View Trailer

Sat.-Tues. July 9-12: New Wave Cinema/No Wave Rockers & more

Blank City (dir. Celine Danhier, 2010, 95m): the long-overdue tale of a disparate crew of renegade filmmakers who emerged from an economically bankrupt and dangerous moment in New York history! In the late 1970's and mid 80's, when the city was still a wasteland of cheap rent and cheap drugs, these directors crafted daring works that would go on to profoundly influence the development of independent film as we know it today.

Directed by French newcomer Celine Danhier, BLANK CITY weaves together an oral history of the “No Wave Cinema” and “Cinema of Transgression” movements through compelling interviews with the luminaries who began it all. Featured players include acclaimed directors Jim Jarmusch and John Waters, actor/writer/director Steve Buscemi, Blondie’s Debbie Harry, hiphop legend Fab 5 Freddy, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, photographer Richard Kern as well as Amos Poe, James Nares, Eric Mitchell, Susan Seidelman, Beth B, Scott B, Charlie Ahearn and Nick Zedd. Fittingly, the soundtrack includes: Patti Smith, Television, Richard Hell & The Voidoids, The Contortions, The Bush Tetras, Sonic Youth and many more. View Trailer – this looks like it’s gonna be incredible.

@ The Guild Cinema (3405 Central NE) 3:30/7pm each day, see website for more info.