Pencil This In

MUSIC: Not long ago we saw the movie Once, and absolutely loved it. Busker meets girl, deep connection through music...you get the idea. Now the two main characters are touring and singing the songs from the soundtrack. The male lead was of course the singer of The Frames, Glen Hansard, and his female counterpoint is Marketa Irglova. Tonight they take the stage at Gramercy, so it's your chance to see them off the big screen and right before your very eyes. We wonder if they'll stay in character?

7pm // Gramercy Theater [127 East 23rd St] // $20, buy tickets here

MOVIE: It's Tuesday, which means the L Magazine is back for another Summerscreen movie at Mccarren. This week it's Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains. We've never heard of this one! According to IMDB it's about a band called The Fabulous Stains which is led by Diane Lane's character, who tour with a "washed-out glam-rock group and a rising British punk band." Sounds pretty fitting for a movie at the pool.

7pm // McCarren Park Pool, Williamsburg // Free

THEATER: Two-time Tony winner and Nexium spokesman James Naughton has directed a new play at Symphony Space called Surface to Air. Set on the North Shore of Long Island soon after 9/11, the story concerns a family’s long, hard slog out of Vietnam. Two sons went to war but only one came back; the wounds are torn open anew when his remains are finally located three decades later. The play also features Cady Huffman as the daughter who made it big as a movie exec. (Curb Your Enthusiasm fans will remember Huffman from her funny turn opposite Larry in The Producers.) - John Del Signore

7pm // Symphony Space [2537 Broadway @ 95th St.] // Tickets cost $46

READING: Lee Siegel does not want you to kill your television. He just wants you to think a little before you turn it on. His book, Not Remotely Controlled, chronicles "the history of the cop drama," reveals the "inherent irony in Donald Trump's character on The Apprentice," and sheds light on the "unheralded gems that Neilsen ratings swept away prematurely." The senior editor at New Republic gives a complete review of American television, so put down the remote and head over to his reading tonight.

7:30pm // Barnes & Noble [267 7th Ave, Park Slope] // Free

EVENT: PopRally presents an evening of live performances, art, and music with Paper Rad. Here's what we know: "Influenced by 1980s mass media and pop iconography - from Garfield to Gumby to Trolls-Paper Rad playfully combines found footage from TV and the Internet with original animations to create utopian, rainbow-filled environments that elicit nostalgia for the throwaway technology and images that have permeated the last two decades." In addition to the psychedeli-pop landscape, there will be performances by Ben Jones, Cory Arcangel, Slow Jams Band, and DJ Jazzy Jexxx.

8pm // MoMA [11 W 53rd St] // $10

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Carlson in Arts & Entertainment on July 24, 2007 11:55 AM

Comments [rss]

guest

You didn't have to look it up, but Joe Strummer ain't in it.

citychik

I just... cannot... believe... there are people who never heard of Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains!!! You're kidding, right???

The Stains sing a song with the lyrics, "I'm a waste of time." In addition, the flick illustrates, mockingly, how the media sensationalizes stupid things, such as how a performer dresses, rather than critiquing or trying to understand their talent. In the movie, Diane Lane and her band all have some wacky hairdo and wear bras and lace (sound familiar, Madonna?), and all the fans imitate them, dressing like them at concerts, and they begin to feel trapped by the pressure of living up to an artificial image born out of a silly concept. It's a really cool movie. Joe Strummer was in it, too, I believe. I wrote all this from memory, I didn't have to look it up in Wikipedia - I saw it on TV at least 20 years ago and it left such a lasting impression.

guest

FROM WIKIPEDIA: (this movie is the BEST!)

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains was a 1981 film shot in Canada about three teenage girls, including Diane Lane and Laura Dern, who start a punk band. The film also featured ex-Sex Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook, along with Paul Simonon from The Clash and Fee Waybill from The Tubes. L.A. punk icon Black Randy from Black Randy and the Metrosquad also makes an appearance. There is also a brief cameo by a Elizabeth Daily as the hotel maid.

The film was directed by music business tycoon Lou Adler for Paramount Pictures in 1981, and written by Nancy Dowd who won the Best Screenplay Oscar for Slap Shot. Dowd took the pseudonym Rob Morton after being unsastisfied with the production process and the final cut of the film. The movie was produced by Joe Roth, who would later go on to become chairman of Walt Disney Studios. Punk rock journalist Caroline Coon was a technical advisor on the film.

It was never given wide release, but may have had a small theatrical release in 1982. A test screening was held in Denver, Colorado, with poor results. The film was shelved but eventually made its way to the Art-House circuit. Reported theatrical runs include the Theatre Of The Living Arts in Philadelphia (Friday, August 23rd and Saturday, August 24th, 1985) and the Film Forum in New York City, (Wednesday, March 6th, 1985).

The true audience for this movie found it on late night cable television. TV airings during the 1980s were spotted on the popular USA Network program Night Flight, Los Angeles local cable Z Channel and Showtime. Since then, the film has become a much sought after bootlegged cult classic. This movie has never been released on home video or DVD. Poor quality bootleg copies float around, though fans hope for a DVD release.

The film has a loyal cult following and does show up on the big screen once in a while. A projectionist at the Nuart Cinema in Los Angeles pushed for a print to be made. In 1998 the film showed at the Chicago Underground Film Festival. The film was shown in 2005 at the Sydney Film Festival. The film had its most recent television appearance one night in the late 1990s on VH1. Its most recent private screening was held at the Yale University Department of Anthology in December 2006.

In many ways, The Stains heavily influenced the riot grrl movement of the 1990s and bands like Bikini Kill. Other diverse fans of the film include musician/actor Courtney Love, writer/comedian Jake Fogelnest, musician/actor Jon Bon Jovi (who dated Stains star Diane Lane in the 1980s) and the late underground filmmaker Sarah Jacobson. In 2000, Jacobson directed, with Sam Green, a short documentary on the film for the IFC television show Split Screen.

AND A REVIEW AT BRIGHT LIGHTS FILM JOURNAL:

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains

Signed,

Susan from the Criterion Collection

guest

i've got a pair of tickets for the Hansard/Irglova concert tonight and cannot wait. very happy to see that it sold out, the movie was great, the music was great, glad to see them being sucessful.