Porn King: The Trials of Al Goldstein
I first heard about Al Goldstein as we passed the giant 11-foot middle finger that sat in the back of it—overlooking the intercostal on a trip with my mom who was an old New Yorker. The story of how he built up one of the world’s most famous porn empires is one rarely told, oft overlooked in favor of the more mainstream legends like Guccione, Flynt, and Hefner. The difference is that Goldstein had no time for the pomp and circumstance that those two regarded the topic of sex with. Screw was a celebration of all things smut.
It reviewed “fuck films” and had a public access show it coincided with called Midnight Blue that is the stuff of legend. He helped make Plato’s Retreat a household name. His life and legacy were one of a pure blend of entrepreneurial spirit and hedonism and his story is a true rags to riches tale. Porn King is the absolute best and most respectful cinematic telling of that tale—of one of the biggest lives in the history of adult entertainment.
Lost In La Mancha / Burden of Dreams
Alright, it is technically cheating to include these two but they’re both studies in how to bring an impossible dream to life—Gilliam with Don Quixote and Herzog with Fitzcarraldo—and have both been direct inspirations to me. I have always tried to treat a lot of my albums like a director on a film – the goal being to realize a concept much larger than yourself with the work of a team of dedicated artists and craftsmen whose talents you don’t have.
There is a part of Lost In La Mancha where Gilliam instructs his team to tell him when a request he makes is simply not possible, and that he relies on their limitations to guide his barriers of imaginative restraint. It’s almost a Buddy Rich style philosophy that you hold your team up to a standard beyond their highest previously displayed aptitude. Two wonderful films about trading madness for glory, and two that should definitely be checked out.
Titicut Follies
This is probably the most infamous documentary of all time. Fredrick Wiseman went into Bridgewater State Hospital for the criminally insane with a set of cameras and changed how the country treated and viewed our mentally ill. At it’s most primal, the film is truly heartbreaking – watching primitive and barbaric treatment of some of our most vulnerable citizens. Many of them told stories of their desire to be free of both the walls around them and the prisons of their own minds which shined a light on a system that was in dire need of reform. It’s a completely captivating piece of cinema, and it’s a shame that there is no restored version of this out there for new generations to watch and learn from.
I Think We’re Alone Now
Probably the worst nightmare of any musician, especially in the internet age, is the invasive behavior of an overeager “fan”. Telling the story of two very different individuals who are connected by their obsession with 1980’s pop star Tiffany through interviews with them, their friends and family – it shows a side of fandom entirely different lens than most documentaries that touch on the subject. This movie is a prime example of the gradient between the violent stalker and the fixated enthusiast. It’s also a portrait of two interesting people, and of mental illness. It treats its subjects with compassion and dignity, despite being very conscious of the weirdness around it.
Nollywood Babylon / Public Access Hollywood
Just like there are entire music scenes that remain underground, so there are film scenes. Before every 11-year-old had basic video editing skills, a YouTube channel and skills shooting 4K video on their iPhones – the idea of making a talk show or a short movie was really the domain of those knowledgeable and with access to equipment and was utilized with a sense of purpose. Public Access Hollywood is a portrait of the apex of that era, when Los Angeles was still a home for freaks and weirdos like The Goddess Bunny.
Both of these movies are portraits of the enduring spirit of a passionate community built around the creation of their own niche arts. The people in these films speak of areas like Lagos as if it’s Hollywood, and of cramped warehouses and crumpled blue screens as if they’re Lot 6 at CBS Studios. While there is no delusion that their audiences are limited, there’s a sense of importance in what they’re doing that shines through that anyone who’s ever volunteered at a venue or worked in a collective can relate to.
Attica
Documentaries about prison life are kind of a dime a dozen, with shows like Lockup Raw displaying many of the realities of what modern incarceration entails of in America – but before there were these exposes it wasn’t nearly as common knowledge. Prisoners around the country protested inhumane living conditions and unconstitutional treatment. The movie Attica is a gorgeous portrait of this collapse that touches on the issues of race relations and the breakdown of justice that led to the riots at the Attica Correctional Facility in 1971. The filmmaking is absolutely outstanding, with footage from in and outside the facility leading up to, during and in the aftermath of the events. It’s also, sadly, the lone film of director Cinda Firestone and has been unavailable to find on video.
Surviving Edged Weapons
From the dawn of time, man has embraced knife culture. Sound like an insane sentence? It’s the opening narration to a documentary issued to police in the late 80’s about how to best avoid knife attacks. Often called the “Citizen Kane of police training videos”, it goes through a ton of reenactments to show the potential danger that police can face at every turn in this crazy, knife filled world of ours. This is a pre-internet viral video for so many reasons, from the over the top acting to the insane situations they try and present. I’m not even telling you any more about it—just watch it on YouTube as soon as possible.
Honest Man: The Life of R Budd Dwyer
The image of Budd Dwyer with the barrel of a revolver in his mouth is one that has been cemented in counterculture through album covers and the footage used in countless music videos. One thing that many don’t know is the story behind the man who had reached his wit’s end right there in that press conference. The film follows a heartbreaking tale of a man who only wanted to do the right thing, and what happens when an honest man has his held under corrupt waters. Interviews with his family and friends, archival footage and news reports help piece together one of the most humanizing portraits of these kinds. I wish something like this existed for someone like Christine Chubbuck.
Wisconsin Death Trip
As much a documentary as it is an art film, Death Trip is a journey through the past—a time when ghost stories were much more real. Based on the photo book by Michael(?) Lesy, it’s got beautiful cinematography and an amazing score by DJ Shadow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMhr6JY352g
The Redemption of General Buttnaked
In the late 1980s in the African country of Libya, where a civil war raged well into the ’90s. A general who went by the name Butt Naked commanded armies of child soldiers- the most vicious and brutal group in the whole war. When the war ends, what happens to the victims and the child soldiers? Is there redemption for a man who has caused the death of over 20,000 people? After years in exile, a former general is now a minister of God.
He returns to the cities he once terrorized preaching a gospel of peace. Then he creates shelters for his former soldiers and confronts his former victims’ families face to face to look in their eyes and show his remorse. He comes out and testifies against himself to the country in order to apologize and change. If you like stories that cause you to question your own morals, stories of the human side of war and/or just enjoy well-shot documentaries- watch this film and decide if there truly is redemption for the man who is respected, feared, and forever known as General Butt Naked.
Honorable Mentions: Body Without Soul, Chickenhawk, Sick! The Life And Times Of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist, Hell House, Citizen Shane
