Sunday, March 23, 2008

Richard Kern - "Extra Action (And Extra Hardcore)" DVD


Forget the Suicide Girls and their glammy burlesque swill. Veteran filmmaker/photog Kern captures the essence of REAL girls, sans the trappings of some supposed or imagined 'scene'. Emerging in the 80's amidst the cacophony of the influential New York noise/scum/rock scene (which spawned monolithic acts like Sonic Youth, SWANS, Live Skull, Lydia Lunch, and grew to encompass Foetus and others), Kern has been creating, on no budget, short films that emblazon the unbridled, uncensored creativity of the downtown NY art/hipster rock elite. He uses sex and violence in often shocking ways to shock and repulse (or titillate) viewers. He's certainly a polarizing artist in this respect.

Anyhow, to dispense with the foreplay (hah, pun intended)...this new hour-long film features brief vignettes of a number of girls (some barely born when Kern's dangerous filmmaking began) in various, eh, predicaments - being themselves and just 'being interesting' for the camera. There's no semblance of plot or story here, so no confusion with that. Is it porn? Probably, by most definitions. Lots of writhing and naked young ladies, in bed, in the bathtub, shower, in public, you name it.

And with a playful soundtrack by Thurston Moore, I place this into a new category altogether...indie porn? To make this doubly worthwhile, there are, as an added bonus, 6 more older Kern shorts included, mostly from the early 90's, and these are even rougher and more jagged bits of disturbing, dirty, dangerous, even violent skits - darkly humorous and perverse, yet entertaining in their over-the-top assaults on 'taste'. Kern is a master of visual raunch, and his films have always carried with them the weight of his musical compatriots, who add another angle to what could be pretty pedestrian work. An entertaining collection of amateur 'indie porn' with a decidedly dark twist. (MVD Visual)

1 comment:

john campbell said...

Have been seeing your reviews in LEO. Keep up the good work. Hope all is well. Would like to get back in touch with you.