LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE FABULOUS STAINS (1982) Label: Imprint Collection #189
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating:
Duration: 87 Minutes
In the 80's punk rock classic Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains (1982) smalltown teenager Corinne Burns (Diane Lane, The Outsiders) is a standard-issue, frustrated teen, who along with her sister Tracy (Laura Dern, Wild At Heart) and their cousin Jessica (Marin Kanter, The Loveless), have formed a punk garage band called The Stains. The band doesn't seem to be all that serious until they catch the Brit punk band The Looters playing alongside aging shock-rockers Metal Corpse at a local club. The promoter of the tour Lawnboy (Barry Ford) decides to bring the girl-band on the tour with the them, despite having never heard them. Despite the fact that the girl have little to no musical talent they gain some media exposure and become a bit of a pop-culture phenomena once Corrine unveils her new look, a striking black and white hair-do with a sheer see-through blouse, and that look catches on with teens who see footage of her through the local new reports. On the short-lived tour they experience the rigors of a touring band, band rivalries, and the instant hype generated by media coverage, and the fickle fortunes of fleeting fame.
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Audio: English DTS-HD 5.1 Surround, LPCM 2.0 Stereo
Optional English Subtitles
Director: Lou Adler
Cast: Diane Lane, Ray Winstone, Peter Donat, Laura Dern
In the 80's punk rock classic Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains (1982) smalltown teenager Corinne Burns (Diane Lane, The Outsiders) is a standard-issue, frustrated teen, who along with her sister Tracy (Laura Dern, Wild At Heart) and their cousin Jessica (Marin Kanter, The Loveless), have formed a punk garage band called The Stains. The band doesn't seem to be all that serious until they catch the Brit punk band The Looters playing alongside aging shock-rockers Metal Corpse at a local club. The promoter of the tour Lawnboy (Barry Ford) decides to bring the girl-band on the tour with the them, despite having never heard them. Despite the fact that the girl have little to no musical talent they gain some media exposure and become a bit of a pop-culture phenomena once Corrine unveils her new look, a striking black and white hair-do with a sheer see-through blouse, and that look catches on with teens who see footage of her through the local new reports. On the short-lived tour they experience the rigors of a touring band, band rivalries, and the instant hype generated by media coverage, and the fickle fortunes of fleeting fame.
I think I saw this on cable TV the first time, and I liked it a bunch, the story of an all girl band's rise and fall (and rise again) from a trio with no-talent teens, to a band that just accidentally captured the a teen-rebellion Zeitgeist without really trying. Watching it now the film is a bit of a mess but the purity of it bleeds through for me, and I still love it. The band The Looters are fronted by actor Ray Winstone (Scum), but interestingly the backing band consist of The Clash's Paul Simonon and The Sex Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook, and their big song in the film "Join The Professionals" is a tune originally by the Jones/Cook post Sex Pistols band The Professionals. Meanwhile the Kiss-inspired band Metal Corpse band features both Fee Waybill and Vince Welnick from shock-rockers The Tubes. The film also features an appearance from punk rockers Black Randy and the Metro Squad, and just based on the punk bands associated with the film it's quite an interesting watch. Also interesting is the examination of how the media can latch onto something authentic and real but co-opt it, and bring it to a wider audience before it's properly ripened, commercializing it and snuffing it out.
Audio/Video: Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1981) makes it's worldwide region-free Blu-ray debut in 1080p HD widescreen (1.78:1). This HD scan was prepared by Paramount Pictures but there's no information about the source; regardless, it looks quite good. Grain levels are strong and organic, colors are true-looking, and black levels are strong. It's has an almost documentary feel about it that doesn't make for a colorful presentation, there's a dingy pallor to it all, with only reds occasionally shining from time to time, but the depth, clarity and fine detail far surpass the previous DVD edition. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD 5.1 Surround or LPCM 2.0 Stereo optional English subtitles. I preferred the uncompressed stereo track, dialogue is as well-defined as the source limitations will allow, and the punk rock soundtrack and performances have some nice punch to them.
For it's worldwide Blu-ray debut Imprint Films offers both archival and newly produced extras, archival stuff comes by way of an Audio Commentary by director Lou Adler, which is solid but sedate, and a more fun Audio Commentary by actresses Diane Lane and Laura Dern, who chat it up while remembering the shooting of the film, plus we get a Photo Gallery. New stuff comes by way of Audio Commentary by film critic/author Lee Gambin and musician/ journalist Allison Wolfe (Bratmobile), plus a pair of new video essays; the 16-min I Don’t Put Out: Punk, Anger, X Feminism – video essay by film historian Kat Ellinger and the 17-min Lizard Music: The Late Night Culture of the Fabulous Stains – video essay by author Sara Marcus. We also get a 26-min Audio Interview with actress Marin Kanter and an 11-min Keep On Rocking! – interview with actress Debbie Rochon who appeared in the film. The single-disc release arrives in a clear keepcase with a two-sided, non-reversible artwork option, plus a Limited Edition slipcase on the first 1500 copies with different artwork, mirroring the previous Rhino DVD artwork, the same artwork is featured on the disc inside.
Special Features:
- 1080p High-definition presentation by Paramount Pictures
- Audio Commentary by director Lou Adler
- Audio Commentary by actresses Diane Lane and Laura Dern
- NEW! Audio Commentary by film critic / author Lee Gambin and musician / journalist Allison Wolfe
- NEW! I Don’t Put Out: Punk, Anger, X Feminism – video essay by film historian Kat Ellinger (16 min)
- NEW! Lizard Music: The Late Night Culture of the Fabulous Stains – video essay by author Sara Marcus (17 min)
- Audio Interview with actress Marin Kanter (26 min)
- NEW! Keep On Rocking! – interview with actress Debbie Rochon (11 min)
- Photo Gallery
- Limited Edition slipcase on the first 1500 copies with unique artwork
- 1080p High-definition presentation by Paramount Pictures
- Audio Commentary by director Lou Adler
- Audio Commentary by actresses Diane Lane and Laura Dern
- NEW! Audio Commentary by film critic / author Lee Gambin and musician / journalist Allison Wolfe
- NEW! I Don’t Put Out: Punk, Anger, X Feminism – video essay by film historian Kat Ellinger (16 min)
- NEW! Lizard Music: The Late Night Culture of the Fabulous Stains – video essay by author Sara Marcus (17 min)
- Audio Interview with actress Marin Kanter (26 min)
- NEW! Keep On Rocking! – interview with actress Debbie Rochon (11 min)
- Photo Gallery
- Limited Edition slipcase on the first 1500 copies with unique artwork
Screenshots from the Imprint Films Blu-ray:
Extras:
