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Hated: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
A long, long time ago, when I was still a bright eyed lad attending Clemson University, I was a college radio DJ. I used to pride myself on having border-line-encyclopedic knowledge of obscure artists, but I have to admit to a complete, total, utter lack of familiarity with G.G. Allin. Sure, it's probably because my taste in music is closer to bands like Sloan and Jellyfish, and I had just finished my freshman year of high school when GG unceremoniously died in a New York apartment of a drug overdose. Allin, the frontman for countless hardcore punk bands, was much more of a performance artist than a musician, preferring to spend more time in the nude, roughing up fans and cutting himself, than singing (or, uh, whatever the hardcore equivalent is). An unconventional musician that met an all-too-conventional end, Allin's life and art was captured by budding documentary filmmaker Todd Phillips, recently of "Road Trip" fame, resulting in "Hated", which is the highest grossing student film of all time, if the quote in the theatrical trailer is accurate. "Hated", like Allin himself, is frequently disturbing, while somehow managing to remain intriguing.
Video/Audio: "Hated" is a zero-budget student documentary, so nitpicking about video quality is kinda pointless. Sure, it was looks like "Hated" was shot on film stock that makes it look twenty years older (same goes for the intertitles), grains rears its head from time to time, softness isn't uncommon, and there are occassional dust and specks. But hey, a bright, clean, sharp image wouldn't really suit this film anyway, would it? It doesn't appear "totally remastered" as a banner on the cover art screams, but given the likely condition of the source material, I'm guessing "Hated" looks about as good as can be expected. The audio in the documentary is also student film quality, with some dialogue sounding muffled, and there's one lightly-distorted musical performance late in the film. the music sounded a little distorted during one performance. Again, it's kinda ridiculous to quibble about the audio. A decent presentation.
Supplements: The documentary only runs a bit over 50 minutes, but the shot-on-video bonus footage, featuring a brief performance at the Gas Station the day of Allin's death, is a little longer than "Hated" itself. The actual performance is extremely brief, with most of the footage focusing on the riot Allin incites and his attempt to escape both his fans and the police. Shot with a handheld video camera, the extra footage is dizzying and difficult to watch, but it's nearly as interesting as the film itself. Rounding out the extras are a trailer and Todd Phillips bio, and interview segments with GG from "Hated" and song selection are accessible under the 'Special Options' menu.
Conclusion: Hardcore punk has never really done much for me at all, and typically, the thoughts of seeing an unattractive, heavily tattooed, overweight, bloodied man exposing his rather small genitals on film, vomiting urine and smearing his face with his own feces doesn't make me think 'Hey, there's a disc to buy!' I've never spent much time watching documentaries, but I think I can safely say that "Hated" is by far the most engaging, unflinching music-related documentary I've ever seen. Definitely not for the easily offended, but required viewing for anyone with an appreciation for film and rock-and-roll. Highly recommended.
Video/Audio: "Hated" is a zero-budget student documentary, so nitpicking about video quality is kinda pointless. Sure, it was looks like "Hated" was shot on film stock that makes it look twenty years older (same goes for the intertitles), grains rears its head from time to time, softness isn't uncommon, and there are occassional dust and specks. But hey, a bright, clean, sharp image wouldn't really suit this film anyway, would it? It doesn't appear "totally remastered" as a banner on the cover art screams, but given the likely condition of the source material, I'm guessing "Hated" looks about as good as can be expected. The audio in the documentary is also student film quality, with some dialogue sounding muffled, and there's one lightly-distorted musical performance late in the film. the music sounded a little distorted during one performance. Again, it's kinda ridiculous to quibble about the audio. A decent presentation.
Supplements: The documentary only runs a bit over 50 minutes, but the shot-on-video bonus footage, featuring a brief performance at the Gas Station the day of Allin's death, is a little longer than "Hated" itself. The actual performance is extremely brief, with most of the footage focusing on the riot Allin incites and his attempt to escape both his fans and the police. Shot with a handheld video camera, the extra footage is dizzying and difficult to watch, but it's nearly as interesting as the film itself. Rounding out the extras are a trailer and Todd Phillips bio, and interview segments with GG from "Hated" and song selection are accessible under the 'Special Options' menu.
Conclusion: Hardcore punk has never really done much for me at all, and typically, the thoughts of seeing an unattractive, heavily tattooed, overweight, bloodied man exposing his rather small genitals on film, vomiting urine and smearing his face with his own feces doesn't make me think 'Hey, there's a disc to buy!' I've never spent much time watching documentaries, but I think I can safely say that "Hated" is by far the most engaging, unflinching music-related documentary I've ever seen. Definitely not for the easily offended, but required viewing for anyone with an appreciation for film and rock-and-roll. Highly recommended.
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