Snobbin: Beautiful Trash in the Pop Culture Gutter

When Definitely Maybe came out in 1994, I had not entirely solidified into my 1990s role as a primarily punk music listener. I loved much of what came out that year under the mantle of alternative rock. Cue Mr. T Experience's "Alternative is Here to Stay" for an appropriate soundtrack to the mainstream acceptance of alternative sounds that was foreshadowed by 1980s new wave. I bought records by Pavement, Wilco, the Meat Puppets, Tripping Daisy, 311, Liz Phair, the eels, and many others that popular media tangentially connected to the "Alternative Explosion" if they were not part of specific, related genres.  Oasis's first record was somehow different in my estimation because I seldom listened to other Britpop at the time. However, Blur's "Girls & Boys" and a track or two by Supergrass also caught my attention. There was something more rocking and seductive about their debut LP. Was it more specific rock and roll lyrical subject matter? Trac...

Film Twenty Six: Zebrahead (1992). Anthony Drazan's first film documents the relationship between two teenagers: a Jewish DJ Zack (Michael Rappaport) and a black girl Nikki (N'Bushe Wright) at a high school in Detroit. Somewhat of a Romeo and Juliet story, the film quickly establishes friction, stemming from how others view their relationship. Solid performances and an interesting soundtrack do not help the film's success. Zebrahead is an enjoyable film that could be better if it tied up the loose plotlines and actually developed the relationship between Zack and Nikki instead of attempting to comment on inner-city violence, infidelity, and other social issues.

Film Twenty Five: You Are Not I (1981). Sara Driver's adaptation of a Paul Bowles short story exemplifies her ability to tell a quiet story about relationships and agency as bolstered by haunting imagery from her regular collaborator, Jim Jarmusch. Not that different in tone or pacing from When Pigs Fly , the thesis film was feared lost after her projection copy became unplayable. Another turned up in Bowles's holdings in 2009. The film depicts Ethel's (Suzanne Fletcher) journey as she comes across a terrible car accident after escaping from a mental hospital. Responders at the scene take her to her sister's house instead of back to the hospital. Watch for an absurd or possibly satisfying conclusion, depending on your perspective.

 Film Twenty Four: X-Ray , or The Hospital Massacre (1981). A typical slasher film set in a hospital.

Film Twenty Three: When Pigs Fly (1993). Quirky is the word of the day in my reviews and apparently as all-too-common of a description of the films in this challenge. Sara Driver's indie ghost story fits that word to a tee. Minor key characters, particularly a fun turn by Marianne Faithfull as one of the ghosts, mesh with the supernatural as a jazz musician inherits a haunted chair that leads him on a quest to help the ghosts and perhaps assuage his loneliness. Like Baraboo , one of the first films I watched, despite being a slow character study, When Pigs Fly contains oodles of charm that makes up for the pacing.

Film Twenty Two: Vernon, Florida (1981). Errol Morris's quirky documentary captures the daily lives of citizens in a Florida town. Focusing on their stories, dreams, and philosophies, he creates a compelling portrait of small-town life and the larger-than-life, passionate characters that can inhabit out of the way places. Brief moments in the film with the turkey hunters, the police officer, or the man who collects various animals attests to the power of story telling and how human interaction can teach us a lot about how others see the world.

Film Twenty One: Uncharted (2022). Uncompelling.