Our Staff Picks column takes you back to a time when video stores reigned supreme and the "Staff Picks" section was the place to find out what films were worthy of one's time. Of course, our version of Staff Picks has a decidedly skintillating angle, as we suss out which films from a particular subgenre are the best to find great nudity. This week let's check out punk rock movies.
What makes a punk movie? I'm putting that into two categories: movies made during the punk movement by people and with people who were there and movies after the late 70s-80s initial punk craze that was about or inspired by punk. Does that make sense? It does to me, so I'm sticking with it!
Admittedly, and surprisingly, so many great punk movies do not have nudity. There are no skintillating scenes in SLC Punk, Smithereens, or Repo Man. There isn't nudity in the pre-eminent punk documentary The Decline of Western Civilization either. That said, since punk was such an indie movement, there are a few early punk-influenced films that have the movement's edge, the music's soundtrack, and some badass babes showing skin.
Valley Girl
This romantic comedy took punk rock and made it cute! A young Nicolas Cage stars as a punker from the wrong side of the tracks in Los Angeles (are they even tracks there?). A sweet Valley Girl, raised by hippies, falls for Nic's badass attitude. But will her friends and family approve?
The star of the film does not go nude, but her best blonde gal pal does. Elizabeth Daily is a raspy-voiced valley girl who shows off her stunning suck sacks when she gets into bed with a preppy guy who doesn't show much respect for her.
Suburbia
Valley Girl may have been more on the mainstream side, but Suburbia was not. Penelope Spheeris - who went on to make The Decline of Western Civilization and Wayne's World - took a crack at California's punk scene in this drama about runaways making a chosen family through their aggressive music scene. The film definitely showed the softer side of punks while maintaining its punk edge through gritty filmmaking.
The punks' aging hippie parents saw chains and mohawks, but these punks look out for one another. Except for one scene where the mosh pit gets a little too intense and the guys start ripping off a young woman's clothes. Gina Carrera's clothes get torn off her body in a rowdy scene.
The film starred real punk Flea, the bassist from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. There is actually a very funny slip-up in the movie where one of the other characters calls his character "Flea" and he has to remind him that that's not his name (it's Razzle in the movie). That exchange is left in the movie! There are also great performances from TSOL and the Vandals which gives the film raw punk energy.
Jubilee
Hailed by some as "the first punk film" this 1977 look at Britain's rising subculture is so very watchable. Derek Jarman directed this fantastical film about a group called Her Majesty E. that travels through time and lands in a dystopian Britain that is ruled by rival gangs. So many punk icons are in this film like Adam Ant, Siouxie and the Banshees, and Jayne County.
The film is ultimately a negative view on selling out one's ideas, suggesting that anyone would do it if given enough incentive. Nell Campbell from Rocky Horror Picture stars and goes nude, showing off her signature strawberry red hair and her pink-nipped mounds.
Jenny Runacre plays the sexiest Queen Elizabeth we have ever seen! God Save the Queen...and her rockin' rack.
Class of 1984
Class of 1984 was made in 1982 by director Mark L. Lester. It's sort of like Stand and Deliver, but with punks. A new teacher at a high school tries to be a good influence on the punks in school, but it's not as easy as he thinks it's going to be. This is yet another Los Angeles punk movie!
There is a fantastic nude scene that gives us punk rock full frontal. Helena Quinton plays punk princess Sally who is naked and proud in a scene where she totally undresses. Her rock-n-roll hair and makeup make cool accessories to her birthday suit!
The Punk Singer
This documentary from 2013 focuses on the Riot Grrl movement which coincided with Grunge (and involved a lot of the same people in the same area). Kathleen Hanna heads the band Bikini Kill which rose to prominence in the Washington area in the early 90s. She became known for her screeching punk vocals and her defiantly feminist lyrics and looks. From writing slut on her tummy to performing in her underwear, Kathleen was THE Riot Grrl.
She does not go nude in the doc, but when she performs in her underwear things get really hairy down there. Literally. I think I see some pubes!
Unmade Beds
Underground filmmaker Amos Pie collaborated with Debbie Harry from Blondie to make this meta-punk-take on Breathless. Does that sound like a lot? It basically is. It's an experimental film, so I forgive it. There is no nudity, but we do see Debbie in her lingerie. Patti Astor also gives the camera a heaping helping of her cleavage.
I added this film because it's interesting to see the kinds of artists that ran in this late 70s NYC circle. This is Debbie Harry! She's the hot queen of New York City punk! I do think Debbie showed an obvious penchant for acting here which would be better utilized in David Cronenberg's Videodrome a few years later.
24 Hour Party People
This 2002 movie stars comedian Steve Coogan as Tony Wilson, the man who was behind Factory Records. He was a party boy who has done it all from New Wave to punk to rave culture. He brought Manchester's best music to the entire world! Sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll are the name of the game in this comedic retelling of Tony's life and career.
Obviously, he was surrounded by women - lots of hot women! Tracy Cunliffe is one of those gorgeous girls who shows her boobs during an orgy in a van. What a cool lifestyle this is!
Her Smell
Is this punk or is this grunge? Either way, the 2018 indie film starring Elisabeth Moss as a self-destructive punk singer is harrowing. It also feels to be loosely - or not so loosely - based on Courtney Love. Moss is fantastic in this film. Truly. Addiction and mental illness threaten to ruin her character's family life and career as a new girl group rises in popularity and her band struggles to record new music.
Rockers Ashley Benson and Cara Delevingne share a sultry lesbian kiss that promotes the idea that all-girl bands french kiss each other. Hey, I don't know what to believe! The movie suggests it!
Sid Nancy
Speaking of Courtney Love, she was famously Gretchen in the 1986 film Sid Nancy by director Alex Cox. In this movie, we see the relationship between the Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen. They were punk rock royalty, but they were also heavily addicted to drugs...and addicted to yelling at each other all the time.
Sadly, Nancy was found stabbed to death in their room at The Chelsea Hotel one morning in 1978, and Sid was thought to be the one behind her death. So, yeah, it ends badly. But before that? It's like a punk rock Romeo Juliet (but with a lot more needles).
Chloe Webb brought the complicated Nancy Spungen to life with her bleached blond hair and beautiful breasts. She actually looks a lot like her - breasts and all!
The Filth and the Fury
Once again, The Sex Pistols. Yes, there are numerous documentaries on the tragic punk band who took the world by storm (including D.O.A. which shows Nancy's breasts), but this one from 2015 shines a more modern light on their story. Here their lifestyle is not glorified, but rather all tinged in all-knowing doom.
Members of the band talk frankly about Sid Vicious and their rise and fall as a band. In this clip in another documentary about the band, Nancy Spungen herself quickly flashes her punk pair.
