Lydia Lunch Movies

The desert heat rises to scorching levels when a lone female warrior (Surgeon Scofflaw) and her servant (Billy Rough) abduct a lonely desert beauty, only to find their subsequent threesome interrupted by a lusty trespasser (Sophia St. James). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Take a trip back to a time when New York City wasn't all glitz and glamour as filmmaker Celine Danhier offers a look at the birth of "No Wave Cinema" and the vibrant art scene that exploded out of the East Village in the late '70s. In the years before Ronald Reagan took office, Manhattan was in ruins. But true art has never come from comfort, and it was precisely those dire circumstances that inspired artists like Jim Jarmusch, Lizzy Borden, and Amos Poe to produce some of their best works. Taking their cues from punk rock and new wave music, these young maverick filmmakers confronted viewers with a stark reality that stood in powerful contrast to the escapist product being churned out by Hollywood. Interviews with the aforementioned artists as well as Debbie Harry, Steve Buscemi, John Waters, John Lurie, Lydia Lunch, and Thurston Moore reveal how a group of young visionaries pooled their resources to birth a film movement that produced some of the most challenging art of the 20th century. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A soft-spoken, thirteen-year old dreamer enters into a tentative friendship with a decidedly older and more popular boy in director Cam Archer's compassionate coming of age drama. Logan is an adolescent boy who just doesn't seem to fit in. Though the majority of the kids in his school view Logan as an outcast, cool older kid Rodeo Walker is one of the few students in the school who don't seem to go out of their way to make Logan's life miserable. As Logan begins to get in touch with his sexuality and a strange bond forms between he and Rodeo, the newly empowered Logan soon begins to take on the persona of Leah, an assured and seductive girl who seems to possess the self-confidence that has long been bullied out of her male alter ego. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Actress and filmmaker Asia Argento directed this faithful screen adaptation of the fictional J.T. Leroy's fictional memoir, which documents a boy's truly harrowing road to adulthood. Jeremiah (Jimmy Bennett) is the seven-year-old son of Sarah (Asia Argento), an unstable and unwed mother who abandoned her son and left him to be raised by foster parents. Jeremiah has come to love his guardians, and is devastated when Sarah arrives at their doorstep, demanding her child back. Threatening Jeremiah with torture if he tries to run away, Sarah introduces her young son to drugs and encourages her one-night-stand paramours to help "discipline" her son when she feels his behavior is inappropriate. Sarah marries a man named Emerson (Jeremy Renner), but abandons him shortly afterward; Emerson responds by molesting Jeremiah, and soon the child is left in the care of his grandparents (Peter Fonda and Ornella Muti), members of a fundamentalist Christian sect which emphasizes child discipline that's strict to the point of abuse. After three years, Sarah returns with a new husband, Kenny (Matt Schulze), and takes Jeremiah (now played by Dylan Sprouse and Cole Sprouse) with her; Kenny spends most of his time on the road as a trucker, and Sarah supports the family at home as a stripper and a prostitute. Sarah also begins dressing her son is girl's clothing, which excites the perverse appetites of Sarah's latest boyfriend, Jackson (Marilyn Manson); she soon leaves Jackson and pairs off with Chester (Jeremy Sisto), a biker with a dangerous way of making a living. The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things premiered at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, where it was screened as part of the "Directors Fortnight" series. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This documentary by filmmaker Maria Beatty explores the lives, careers, and creative inspirations of the beat poets, forging insight into the minds of such artists as Gregory Corso, Marianne Faithfull, Richard Hell, Allen Ginsberg, Lydia Lunch and Henry Rollins. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi

Scott B and Beth B, successful makers of short, experimental films made The Vortex an attempt at a "camp" film with a pessimistic "noirish" atmosphere. The detective Lunch (Lydia Lunch, a popular underground musician and poet) investigates a band of corporate businessman who seek government defense contracts through real "corporate wars" and the manipulation of politicians. Though a bit confusing, this film does have an excellent performance by Lunch, as the detective. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi

Hailed as a "punk melodrama," this feature started out as a serial and was originally shown at the popular New York City punk club Max's Kansas City. The homemade saga begins when Young Turks abduct performer Adele Bertei and her dad. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi