Posts Tagged ‘Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché’

NEWSTALK 1010: Author Haley McGee + Director Celeste Bell + Actor Clark Backo

This week on the Richard Crouse Show Podcast we meet Haley McGee, a Canadian living in London, England, who has written a book called “The Ex-Boyfriend Yard Sale,” a memoir about her attempt to pay off credit card debt by selling gifts from her exes. In the book she tries to calculate exactly how much romantic relationships cost in time, money and effort.

Then we’ll get to know Celeste Bell, co-director of a great new music documentary called “Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché.” It’s the story of Bell’s mother, legendary punk rock singer Poly Styrene, whose band X-Ray Specs were one of the first punk rock bands to find commercial success with their album “Germfree Adolescents.” The documentary is a rarity, a movie about punk rock that casts its eyes beyond the musical anarchy to portray the real person behind the music.

Finally, we chat to Clark Backo. You know her as Wayne’s love interest Rosie, on the television series “Letterkenny.” You can now see her in “I Want You Back,” a very funny rom com now playing on Amazon Prime.

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

Here’s some info on The Richard Crouse Show!

Each week on the nationally syndicated Richard Crouse Show, Canada’s most recognized movie critic brings together some of the most interesting and opinionated people from the movies, television and music to put a fresh spin on news from the world of lifestyle and pop-culture. Tune into this show to hear in-depth interviews with actors and directors, to find out what’s going on behind the scenes of your favourite shows and movies and get a new take on current trends. Recent guests include Ethan Hawke, director Brad Bird, comedian Gilbert Gottfried, Eric Roberts, Brian Henson, Jonathan Goldsmith a.k.a. “The most interesting man in the world,” and best selling author Linwood Barclay.

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RICHARD’S WEEKEND MOVIE REVIEWS FROM CP24! FRIDAY FEBRUARY 04, 2022.

Richard joins CP24 to have a look at new movies coming to VOD, streaming services and theatres including the Johnny Knoxville and the unnatural acts of “Jackass Forever,” the reboot of “Scream,” the unhappily ever after fairy tale “The King’s Daughter” AND the great punk rock doc “Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché” and “Clerk” the documentary on the life and career of Kevin Smith.

Watch the whole thing HERE!

RICHARD’S CTV NEWSCHANNEL REVIEWS FOR FEB. 04 WITH MARCIA MACMILLAN.

Richard joins CTV NewsChannel and anchor Jennifer Burke to have a look at new movies coming to VOD and streaming services, including Johnny Knoxville and the unnatural acts of “Jackass Forever,” the reboot of “Scream,” the unhappily ever after fairy tale “The King’s Daughter” AND the great punk rock doc “Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché.”

Watch the whole thing HERE!

CFRA IN OTTAWA: THE BILL CARROLL MORNING SHOW MOVIE REVIEWS!

Richard sits in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk the new movies coming to theatres, VOD and streaming services including Johnny Knoxville and the unnatural acts of “Jackass Forever,” the reboot of “Scream,” the unhappily ever after fairy tale “The King’s Daughter” and the great punk rock doc “Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché.”

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

THE SHOWGRAM WITH DAVID COOPER: DOES RICHARD CROUSE LIKE THESE MOVIES?

Richard joins NewsTalk 1010 host David Cooper on the coast-to-coast-to-coast late night “Showgram” to play the game “Did Richard Crouse like these movies?” This week we talk about the nut-crunching action of “Jackass Forever,” “Scream,” the “requel” to one of the most famous horror franchises of the 1990s and “The King’s Daughter,” a fairy tale with no happy ending for anyone.

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

POLY STYRENE: I AM A CLICHÉ: 4 STARS. “casts its eyes beyond the musical anarchy.”

Few voices captured the liberation of UK punk rock like Poly Styrene’s otherworldly wail. Born Marianne Elliott-Said, she may have chosen her unusual stage name as a “send up of being a pop star,” but her voice and message were the real deal. A new documentary, “Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché,” now in theatres and on VOD, aims to remind the world of a ground breaking artist whose legacy can be heard in the riot grrrl and Afropunk movements and beyond.

Based on a book by Styrene’s daughter Celeste Bell, the film is an intimate look at the Anglo-Somali legend through the eyes of her child. “My mother was a punk rock icon,” Bell says. “People often ask me if she was a good mum. It’s hard to know what to say.”

The story begins in 1957 with the birth of Marianne, daughter of a Scottish-Irish legal secretary and a Somali-born dock worker. Her indoctrination to punk rock came via a 1976 Sex Pistols concert. The music was a revelation that led to the name change and formation of X-Ray Specs, the five-piece band whose sole album, “Germfree Adolescents,” is considered a genre classic.

Styrene became a regular target for the press who ridiculed the braces on her teeth, her weight and unconventional clothing choices. Her record company, much to her displeasure, slimmed down her album cover photo as they tried to position her as a sex symbol for a new generation.

“I wasn’t a sex symbol,” she said, “and if anybody tries to make me one, I’ll shave my head tomorrow.” And she did, at Johnny Rotten’s house during a party.

Her songs asked questions most other acts on the pop charts weren’t willing or equipped to ponder. “When you look in the mirror do you see yourself?” she sings in “Identity,” a slice of musical anarchy that was a rebuke to the images the media tries to foist upon people in the public eye.

Styrene’s rocky relationship with fame, her youth and a failed solo album led to a divorce from the music business as drugs, depression and a misdiagnosis of schizophrenia touched her private life.

Filling in the gaps between nicely chosen archival film clips are readings from Styrene’s personal diaries by Ethiopian-Irish actor Ruth Negga and Bell’s personal recollections.

“Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché” is an intimate film. Unlike most music biographies that focus on the sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll aspects of the story, this movie also weaves in the social history of Britain, mental health and fame, while maintaining a personal touch courtesy of Celeste Bell.

Bell looks beyond the image, the media-imposed identity of her mother, to find the rebel, the radical and the real person who struggled to determine where she fit into the world. The documentary, directed by Bell and Paul Sng, is a rarity, a movie about punk rock that casts its eyes beyond the musical anarchy to portray the real people behind it.