The Decline of Western Civilization Part III: In the third of the Decline films, director Penelope Spheeris revisits the punk scene she illuminated in her first Decline film. Here she finds the struggle of street kids and young adults in West Hollywood trying to make it day by day, fighting off attacks from skinheads and following the ever decreasing number of punk bands that remain in the scene.The Good: Like her previous two films Spheeris highlights some bands and one of them is actually pretty good. Naked Aggression led by lead singer Kirsten Patches seemed like America's answer to Chumbawamba. The band even shows their not inconsiderable classical music chops. As Todd in the Shadows would say they deserved better.The Bad: In 1999 Rory Kennedy made a documentary about a family in Appalachia that had been beset by poverty for the last 100 years. Being the youngest daughter of Robert F Kennedy this was a topic that was close to her heart. Her film American Hollow would expose us to the real people behind the poverty and help bring in a new age of help for those folks dependent on handouts whom the American Dream had passed by.Unfortunately for Rory, her film features the laziest bunch of yokels this side of Jerry Springer. Rory simple didn't see it. One cannot watch her film and not think we need to cut welfare of yesterday and get these people a clue.Spheeris doesn't see it as well. Yes, the kids featured are broken. In reality, many of them are pretty horrible people. There is a scene where they all crash at a poor black man's apartment. He is in a wheelchair from an auto accident, doesn't drink and lives in a humble one bedroom. About sixty of these street hooligans pile in there as if it was a scene from Aronofsky's Mother!. They trash the place beyond recovery and the look of pain in the man's eyes is haunting. He just wanted a friend.Spheeris does her interviews like the previous two films and once again most of her subjects are understandably about as deep as a puddle. She seems interested in the dirt about how they left home but leaves some obvious questions on the table. Starting with why are they dressed in fashions that went out of style before they were born.In conclusion: Punk is long dead by the time the documentary starts. The bands, with one exception noted above, are barely garage bands and the fans are begging for a dollar to buy a pint of MD 20/20. Apparently, there are skinhead Nazis that prey on these youth but we never see one and Spheeris really drops the ball not getting one to sit down and tell their story.On some level, it is an interesting look at a slice of life on the margins but the combination of bad people and bad music make this an unpleasant ride. One wishes for a filmmaker who could see what she really was looking at.

I like P. Shpeeris, so I might be a little biased toward this movie. I think she did a good job with it, but as an interviewer, she comes across as a frustrated mother. Then again, how can anyone not be frustrated with the kids depicted in this film. From the opening interview, it's apparent that the movie's subjects are lazy and pretty stupid. Yes, I know some of them came from broken homes, etc., but they all come across as degenerates. It's hard to be sympathetic toward these teen-age train wrecks, but it's even harder to turn away from this film. And one has to question why these kids are the way they are? Has our country bred a subculture of mohawked hobos? Or, are things really that screwed up for troubled youth? The answers will vary depending on whom you ask, but go into this movie knowing you will be either very sad or very angry.

From the Ashes Of the first wave of Punk Comes a New Generation Of Discarded Youth in LA. this Movie is humorous,exciting,sad,real, and absolutely brilliant. A must for fans of Punk or fans of Penelope Spheeris, and if you like this movie also see Suburbia,Dudes, and of Course The Decline of Western Civilization 1. The New Breed Of Punk will make you laugh,cry, and most of all think. Also Containing Live Performances From Final Conflict, Naked Aggression, Litmus Green, And The Resistance. Penelope Spheeris delves into the lives, mindsets, and culture of these youths, and is also there for various highs and lows which shows a terrific commitment to this terrific document.

Before seeing this movie, i heard a bit of hype that it was the bell tolling the end of Punk. Now, i wouldn't attribute it with that kind of importance, but in defense of that statement, the music of the bands depicted in this installment of the "Decline of Western Civilization" series, pales in comparison to the music of the bands featured in the first of the series, (i.e. the Germs, the Circle Jerks). But, it must be said that this movie is more about the lives of a handful of homeless punks in LA. It is a touching film, despite Penelope Spheeris' constantly embarrassing and exploitive interviewing techniques. The punks in the film are too interesting to be exploited to the point of their own embarrassment, however, but i couldn't help but want to see their lives documented by a better, more trustworthy director.