Paul Cook Movies
Although their career lasted a bit less than two years, few rock bands have made a more dramatic impact than the Sex Pistols, who quickly rose to international infamy as the best-known British punk band, then fell apart shortly after their first American tour in a tempest of drugs, ego, and infighting. Manager Malcolm McLaren began making a film about the group while they were at the height of their fame, but by the time McLaren and director Julien Temple completed The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, the group's best-known member, bassist Sid Vicious, was dead, and the remaining Pistols -- vocalist Johnny Rotten (aka John Lydon), guitarist Steve Jones, drummer Paul Cook, and original bassist Glen Matlock were in litigation against McLaren and refused to participate. In 1998, Temple began working with the group's surviving members (who reunited for a brief tour in 1996) for this definitive documentary of the Pistols' career, which combines new interviews with footage of legendary live performances (such as their infamous Jubilee Day show on a ship sailing past the Houses of Parliament), as well as newsreels of the chaos that followed in their wake, including the TV appearance that changed them overnight from a little-known cult band to national pariahs. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1982
- R
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A very inexperienced rock band flirts with fame thanks to a valuable assist from the media in this comedy-drama directed by veteran music producer Lou Adler. Corinne Burns (Diane Lane) is a fifteen-year-old orphan who gains a measure of local notoriety when she quits her job at a burger stand during a live television newscast. Corinne has few prospects but plenty of nerve, and she's formed a band with her sister Tracy (Marin Kanter) and cousin Jessica (Laura Dern) called the Stains. While checking out a gig by veteran hard rock band the Metal Corpses, led by flamboyant singer Lou Corpse (Fee Waybill), opened by British punk upstarts the Looters, Corrine sneaks backstage to ask advice just as Lou demands tour manager Lawnboy (Barry Ford) find a new opening act. Lawnboy impulsively gives the Stains the gig, and while the first show for the girls (who've had all of three practices) is little short of a disaster, Corrine's skunk-stripe hairdo, provocative clothes and defiant declaration "We don't put out" captures the attention of a television reporter who covered her before. A story on the evening news about the Stains turns the band into a cult sensation, and Looters lead singer Billy (Ray Winstone) tries to offer her some advice and emotional support as the Stains rise from opening act to headliners, but Corinne and her friends learn that their new fans are a very fickle breed. Shot in 1980 but released to only a handful of theaters in 1982, Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains gained a potent cult following after it appeared on cable television, largely among punk rock fans -- the Looters featured Steve Jones and Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols on guitar and drums as well as Paul Simonon from the Clash on bass, while L.A. punk troublemakers Black Randy and the Metrosquad briefly appear as themselves. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diane Lane, Peter Donat, (more)
Christopher Reeve got away from Superman and related costume roles in this dramatic fantasy film, adapted from Richard Matheson's 1960s vintage novel Bid Time Return. A young playwright, Richard Collier (Reeve), is approached by an elderly woman on the occasion of his first triumph in 1972 -- all she says to him is "Come back to me" and leaves him with a watch that contains a picture of a ravishing young woman. Eight years later, he visits the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island and comes upon a photograph of the same woman, whom he discovers was an actress who made an appearance at the hotel in 1912. He becomes obsessed with the image and what the woman -- who died the night she approached him in 1972 -- meant by what she said. In a manner somewhat reminiscent of the film Laura, he falls in love with her and her image as he learns more about her life and career. Then he comes upon the suggestion of a professor at his former college that time travel may, in fact, be possible, using an extreme form of self-hypnosis to free the person from the place they occupy in the time-stream. Collier's feelings for the woman are so strong that he succeeds, bringing himself back to the hotel in 1912 on the eve of her triumph. He meets the actress, Elise McKenna (Jane Seymour), and the two fall in love despite the machinations of her obsessive, autocratic manager (Christopher Plummer), who feels threatened by Collier's presence. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour, (more)
- 1980
- NR
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Let Malcolm McLaren show you how to achieve fame and fortune by making your pop group the most despised band in the world! This film about the brief but eventful career of The Sex Pistols primarily focuses on McLaren, their manager, as he presents his ten-point program on how to achieve success through chaos, ineptitude, and abusing the music industry. Despite some remarkable footage of The Sex Pistols' infamous Jubilee Day performance and clips from their final concert in San Francisco, there's surprisingly little screen time devoted to the group actually performing. Instead, The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle offers McLaren's agit-prop philosophies on music, culture, politics, and the entertainment industry, as well as an amusing (if often inaccurate) account of the band's rise and fall. Along the way, we're also offered some curious animated sequences, "film noir" episodes starring guitarist Steve Jones, footage of the band recording with exiled British train robber Ronnie Biggs, and Sid Vicious singing "My Way" (he had been dead for over a year by the time the movie was released). The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle began life as "Who Killed Bambi?", a project written by Roger Ebert and directed by Russ Meyer, which closed down after two days of shooting when funding fell through. By the time McLaren and Julien Temple got it off the ground (with a radically different script), Johnny Rotten had left the group, which explains why the band's front man is hardly in the movie. The rest of the group broke up a few months later. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Malcolm McLaren, John (Johnny Rotten) Lydon, (more)
- 1979
Based on a true story, Dummy stars LeVar Burton as Donald Lang, a deaf-mute teenager accused of killing a prostitute. Paul Sorvino co-stars as Lowell Myers, the hearing-impaired public defender who takes Burton's case. The court, deciding that Lang is incompetent to stand trial, orders the boy to be shunted away to a mental institution. Doggedly following the evidence trail, Myers argues for "due process" in the treatment of his client. While the film's ending is upbeat, real life does not always turn out so well, as the ironic closing title (which details what has happened to Burton's character since this case was resolved) demonstrates. Initially telecast May 27, 1979, Dummy was adapted by Ernest Tidyman from his own book. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Satan's son comes of age in this horror sequel. Shortly after the events of The Omen, a pair of anthropologists uncovers an ancient crypt that depicts the face of the Antichrist -- that of Damien Thorn (Jonathan Scott-Taylor), recently orphaned scion of a wealthy industrialist. Before they can warn the world of the child's evil lineage, both men are buried under tons of rubble. Seven years later, 13-year-old Damien attends military school alongside his cousin, Mark (Lucas Donat), and spends lots of time with his adoptive parents, Uncle Richard (William Holden) and Aunt Ann (Lee Grant). After the boy's Great Aunt Marion (Sylvia Sidney) tries to convince the Thorns that Damien is a malevolent influence on Mark, she dies suddenly, and, unbeknownst to the family, horrifically. Ravens, it seems, are the harbingers of Damien's power, and in addition to Aunt Marion, they visit a long procession of characters who get too close to Damien's true identity. The most horrible death is suffered by Joan Hart (Elizabeth Shepherd), an investigative reporter who's digging into the boy's life; she gets flattened by a truck after having her eyes devoured by those menacing birds. Meanwhile, executive Paul Buher (Robert Foxworth) climbs the corporate ladder at Thorn Industries and takes young Damien under his devil-worshiping wings. Sgt. Neff (Lance Henriksen), one of the boy's instructors, also helps initiate Damien. As the pile of bodies gets bigger -- and closer -- Uncle Richard begins to suspect the truth, and, like his brother before him, plot the death of Damien. The existence of another sequel, 1981's The Final Conflict, gives a good indication of the outcome. Although Damien: Omen II is his only Hollywood feature credit, Scott-Taylor appeared frequently in the theater and on television; he once even portrayed Damien's arch-nemesis, Jesus, on-stage. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Holden, Lee Grant, (more)
- 197z
"God Save the Queen," "EMI" and "Pretty Vacant" are featured in this live collection. ~ All Movie Guide
