The final scenes of Secret are its best and, ironically, the original Germs' final moments were said to be their best, too.
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09/26/08
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What We Do Is Secret (2008)
43
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Reviews Counted:42
Fresh:18
Rotten:24
Average Rating:5.2/10
Consensus: Despite its dynamic subject and reckless anti-glamor, this biopic about the legendary punk rocker Darby Crash fails to translate the excitement its subject generated.
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Reviews for What We Do Is Secret
Some of the supporting performances, like those of Phillips and Gonzalez, are very strong, but it's West who lifts the entire film to a whole other level.
08/29/08
Not nearly as dramatic or visually captivating as last year's Control ... it does offer an interesting piece of the puzzle from the L.A. hardcore scene that hasn't been explored.
08/05/08
Hits quick, hits hard and never lets go.
09/17/07
What We Do Is Secret should be kept as anything but a secret.
09/22/07
A labor of love for writer-director Rodger Grossman, this entertaining if superficial biopic chronicles the rise and fall of LA punk pioneers the Germs.
08/21/08
It's a shame to see such vibrant material treated in such a routine, nostalgic manner, but the energy of the material and especially of the Germs music occasionally rescues the movie from its unimpressive, superficial stretches.
08/28/08
Where What We Do Is Secret succeeds is in the performances which (and this a compliment, I think) sometimes expose a stilted, amateurish strain that's oddly in tune with the characters' D.I.Y. aesthetic.
08/15/08
While What We Do Is Secret may not be remembered for much more than West's performance, it's an impersonation worth saluting.
10/10/08
First-time writer-director Rodger Grossman bangs out a visceral, energized biopic that captures the vibrant idiocy of punked-out youth and a tortured soul gaining his wish of cult status.
08/22/08
Infused with ragged unpredictability, What We Do Is Secret's wild concerts are its high points.
08/03/08
West is magnetic trying to fill the gaps in the pop psychology insight into how the Germs' brief candle burned out so fast, with performances, "interviews" and flashbacks.
11/01/08
West does an earnest job, but that's the problem: He never conjures Crash's psychotic danger. Neither does this eager, flawed, scrappy biopic.
08/11/08
Top CriticA highly personal take on the ins and outs of creating and maintaining a band.
09/22/07
The film's faux-documentary style is a distraction, but it fades in and out. Secret is most compelling when the people and places of L.A. tell this tragic but somehow still ebullient story.
08/08/08
The amateur vibe suits the subject matter, and the young cast rises to the challenge.
08/04/08
The best parts of Secret recall Sid and Nancy. The worst evoke the last, inferior A Star Is Born.
08/15/08
A low-budget but stylish recreation of the brief life and times of a pioneering LA punk band, What We Do Is Secret is fast and funny enough to make you overlook the fact that you've seen variants of this story before.
08/08/08
The battering live shows prove West's dedication to the role, but as always there's too little insight into both music and musicians and too much period design
09/12/08
With all his devotion to getting the story right -- and that's a worthy goal, don't get me wrong -- Grossman never captures the insanity and terror, or for that matter the seductive allure, of nihilist L.A. punk in its early years.
08/05/08
Top CriticLatest News for What We Do Is Secret
November 03, 2008:
RT on DVD: Get Smart, Futurama: Bender's Game and the Obama DVD Controversy
This week, pick up Steve Carell's sweetly bumbling spy antics (Get Smart), the promising new Futurama movie (Bender's Game), a few early holiday treats (Shrek the Halls, A... More...
October 31, 2008:
The hyperactive emotional landscape begs for psychological insights and cultural revelations that were tied to that historical musical moment.
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August 22, 2008:
The hyperactive emotional landscape begs for psychological insights and cultural revelations that were tied to that historical musical moment.
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August 10, 2008:
Trailer & Poster review
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