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National Features >
City Pages
Michele Bachmann, Unmuzzled
You don't need to read Sarah Palin's book to hear the ravings of a mad woman.
By Matt Snyders
Miami New Times
Pimp Daddy
The rise and fall of a chubby sex-cult leader.
By Natalie O'Neill
Riverfront Times
Babe 'n' Arms
Tom was a hot-tempered cross-dresser with a garage full of guns--and then he became Rachel.
By Nicholas Phillips
Looking Pretty
After 20 years, Downtown 81 barely qualifies for an audience
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By David Ehrenstein
Published on March 07, 2002
Shot 20 years ago and languishing unfinished on the shelf until 1998, this tale of an artist working at the edges of the New York music scene would have had a hard time finding an audience back then. Now, it just barely qualifies for one. The late Jean Michel Basquiat--playing, more or less, himself--stars; he's no actor, but he's a great camera subject. Director Edo Bertoglio and writer-producer Glenn O'Brien gave him little to do but walk around and look pretty. They had more luck with the film's many musical numbers that feature Kid Creole and the Coconuts, James White and the Blacks, Arto Lindsay and DNA and Walter Steding and the Dragon People. If you're a Basquiat fan, or were around in New York back then, you'll want to take a look. If not, this film has little to recommend.
