Inside/Out: Athens GA

[sevp@pwcs.stpaul.gov (Sev Pearman)]

(OK, so this should probably have been filed under net.rec.movies,
but...)

LAst night I saw _Athens Georgia - Inside/Out_ at Film in the Cities
here in St. Paul.  I thought I'd post a review, as it is my understanding
that it will be shown only in NYC, Chicago, St. Paul, and San Francisco.

dir Tony Gayton   1986   82 mins

A documentary of "the Athens scene,"  Gayton has assembled interviews,
"live" footage, and beautiful old color 8mm silent footage of the Athens 
bands.  Predictably, it is heavy on the Rockbill/Spin/Stone "listen-to-
these-bands-'cuz-we-think-that-they-are-cool" of the so-called new
Athens sound , Love Tractor, Dreams So Real, Kilkenny Cats (sp?) and of
course, REM.

Thankfully, he fleshes the film out w/ some attention on some grungy
garage bands such as The BBQ Killers and the Flat Duo Jets, and interviews 
with other local celebrities, such as the Rev Howard Finster, who began
painting "sacred art" after his finger spoke to him (he painted the album
cover for "Little Creatures," by Talking Heads)

Another interesting character is the guy who runs this dumpy BBQ place, where
all the bands seem to hang out.  In one segment, he tells that "...there was
this one band;  the Asshole Surfers or sumpthin' like that -- well they
came in and tried to pass themselves off as REM, but I wouldn't have none
of that..."   Hmmm.   Gibby as Stipe.  What would happen on stage???

Best of all for me was the vintage footage of the B-52's and Pylon, circa
78/79.  Interviews w/ Kate, where she tells of 'discovering' Fred in a res-
taurant, where he was waering Spandex leopard-print bell-bottom pants!!
(This, of course, went over the heads of the trendies, who kept screaming
for more of Michael Stipe, but I'm not gonna get into that.)

Not a great documentary, but if you are an old Pylon or '52's fan, and
can stand a visual homage to the great Athenian God Michael Stipe (it
DOES wear thin after a while...) it may be worth your while

"No really -- I LIKE REM.  Really.  I do."

s e v