Filmmaker Susan Dynner finally turns in the punk music documentary we all deserve, and one that punks can finally relate to.
Punk's Not Dead (2007)
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Reviews Counted:20
Fresh:18
Rotten:2
Average Rating:7.2/10
Theatrical Release:Jul 27, 2007 Limited
Synopsis: On the edge of the 30th anniversary of punk rock, Punk's Not Dead takes you into the sweaty underground clubs, backyard parties, recording studios, and yes, shopping malls and stadium shows where... On the edge of the 30th anniversary of punk rock, Punk's Not Dead takes you into the sweaty underground clubs, backyard parties, recording studios, and yes, shopping malls and stadium shows where punk rock music and culture continue to thrive. Thirty years after bands like the Ramones and the Sex Pistols infamously shocked the system with their hard, fast, status-quo-killing rock, the longest-running punk band in history is drawing bigger crowds than ever, "pop-punk" bands have found success on MTV, and kids too young to drive are forming bands that carry the torch for punk's raw, immediate sound. Meanwhile, "punk" has become a marketing concept to sell everything from cars to vodka, and dyed hair and piercings mark a rite of passage for thousands of kids. Can the true, nonconformist punk spirit still exist in today's corporatized culture? Featuring interviews, performances, and behind-the-scenes journeys with the bands, labels, fans, and press who keep punk alive, Punk's Not Dead dares to juxtapose pop-punk's music and lifestyle against the roots in the 70s and 80s, resulting in unexpected revelations. A DIY search for the soul of a subculture and a celebration of all things loud, fast, and spiked, Punk's Not Dead shows punk is stronger and more relevant today than it's ever been. --© Official Site [More]
Director: Susan Dynner
Director: Susan Dynner
Producer: Susan Dynner, Todd Traina
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Reviews for Punk's Not Dead
Structured very loosely along chronological lines, Punk's Not Dead takes core samples from musical forefathers, mid-period bands, and snotty young kids, building a jangly, contradictory mosaic as it goes.
Director Susan Dynner’s documentary Punk’s Not Dead is an ambitious documentary that seeks out to portray exactly the idea expressed in its title.
[It's] a documentary that's more about the enduring lifestyle of basement shows, crust-punk houses, and aging rebels than the music. And that can be fascinating stuff.
Even the title sounds like a hardheaded comeback to a proclamation nobody made.
Poor punk. Such a bundle of complexes, most of them encapsulated in the needlessly defensive title of Susan Dynner's documentary Punk's Not Dead.
Pacy, broad-based overview of the punk rock scene from 1977 to present packages a who's who of luminaries and rare performance clips into a vibrant proof-of-life statement underpinned by keen analysis of sociopolitical issues.
It's a hell of an accomplishment to make a kinetic, hard-driving and visually arresting talking-heads documentary.
Punk's Not Dead is a documentary of immense personality and information...a film that enlightens the debate and demonstrates without a doubt that when punk disappears, it never truly dies.
Whether you’re a kid with a fresh coat of shellac on your Mohawk or an aging hipster still clinging to the Johnny Rotten school of snot, it’s a film that enlightens the debate and demonstrates without a doubt that when punk disappears, it never truly dies
This film has an absolutely stellar cast of interviewees, so if you like punk music you’ll be in hog heaven watching it, I guarantee you.
Susan Dynner's documentary about the past 30 years of punk music doesn't exactly break any new ground. But it does offer an entertaining overview that is leavened with humorous philosophical digressions.
Punk's Not Dead is more than a nostalgia trip. Rather than just capturing what punk sounds like, Dynner shows us what it feels like, what punk really means -- present tense.
Punk's Not Dead serves as a diehard's scrapbook of three decades of living punk, not a eulogy for an extinct underground retrofitted as a fashion trend.
About as in-your-face and raggedy as its subject, Dynner's film is really less of a history than a psychological profile, rooting around for the meat of what makes punk so resilient, cross-generational and communal.
Dynner delights in presenting a wealth of contrasting testimonies, and has no intention of delivering a judgment on any of it.
The movie covers a lot of time and territory, and some of its questions are great ones. (The biggest, for true punks: Is getting a big record deal a sign of ultimate success, or final defeat?)
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