{"id":23540,"date":"2016-12-31T04:17:24","date_gmt":"2016-12-31T09:17:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=23540"},"modified":"2017-02-13T05:09:53","modified_gmt":"2017-02-13T10:09:53","slug":"ladies-and-gentlemen-the-fabulous-stains-1981","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2016\/12\/31\/ladies-and-gentlemen-the-fabulous-stains-1981\/","title":{"rendered":"Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains (1981)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>\u201cThe Fabulous Stains\u201d is the classic story of a movie that was pushed in to the margins and rose to become one of the most elusive cult classics of all time. This is the classic story of how sometimes movies can avoid being cast out in to obscurity because of a strong fan base. \u201cThe Fabulous Stains\u201d is a very strong rock and roll drama about the rise and fall of a band known as the Stains due to dubious circumstances. The drama originally tested poorly in audience screening, and the studios basically released it in a limited run, and the movie was almost never heard from again. That is until it began to replay over and over on late night cable television in America, and often on the legendary rock show \u201cNightflight.\u201d Over the years, the movie\u2019s repeated airings earned it a huge cult following. Especially from young women that viewed \u201cThe Fabulous Stains\u201d as something of a statement about owning their sexuality.<\/p>\n

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\u201cLadies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains\u201d is quite a great rock and roll drama, and one that is dominated by a very young Diane Lane. Lane just completely makes the movie her own from the moment we see her cherubic teenage face puffing on a cigarette in defiance of a reporter who proclaims, in disgust, that her mother died of lung cancer from cigarettes. Lane as Corrine Burns, is the typical angry youth who has seen too much too soon and has little luster for life. When presented with more optimistic options for life, including an education, she is content with her workaday job in fast food, and has accepted her fate of supporting her family on minimum wage. She is simply another teenager looking for an outlet for her immense frustration. After catching a performance of the punk band the Looters, Corrine, her cousin and best friend (Marin Kanter and Laura Dern) form the female punk band the Stains.<\/p>\n

Before long it\u2019s an uphill battle to be taken seriously, as Corrine and her band mates learn firsthand what it\u2019s like to travel across the country touring for very fickle punk audiences. When one of the band\u2019s members dies from an overdose, Corrine takes advantage of the incidental connection, prompting something of a boom in the reputation and appeal of The Stains. Corrine and the group eventually have to ponder on whether their rise to fame is because of the statement they\u2019re making about their sexuality with their music, or if they\u2019re merely a flash in the pan. As they fall under scrutiny of a very uptight media, and their punk rock contemporaries, Corrine fights to maintain the credibility of The Stains. Lane as Corrine is certainly a powerful protagonist who is so much better than what the movie entails.<\/p>\n

There are also some great turns by a very young Laura Dern, and Ray Winstone, who is very good as Corrine\u2019s chief adversary and hard working punk rocker Billy. The narrative as a whole is a bit far fetched, and is not so much a chronicle as it is a story stretched over a few months. But the overall message about rebellion and a movement about sexual freedom breeding inadvertent conformity is strong. Much in the way Corrine is celebrated by her fans is eerily prophetic of Madonna\u2019s popularity in the mid-eighties. There\u2019s also a still relevant statement about women\u2019s sexuality, and how what they wear isn\u2019t an invitation for sex. Not to mention the struggles women still have in rock and roll to be taken seriously by their contemporaries. \u201cThe Fabulous Stains\u201d is a definite gem that deserves more discovering by rock and music buffs.<\/p>\n