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Story Of A Junkie
''Story of a Junkie'' is a 1987 drama film directed by Lech Kowalski and starring John Spacely. Distributed by Troma Entertainment. Filmed in documentary-style, the film follows the character of Gringo, a young man looking for fortune in New York City, only to fall into heroin addiction. The movie has amassed quite a reputation in certain circles for its depictions of hard drug usage in New York City's East Village area. Many of the cast members, including leading man John Spaceley, are actual junkies. The numerous shooting-up sequences are reportedly entirely real, as are many of the drug dens and their denizens. Perhaps even more notable than the cinéma vérité structure is the almost total lack of moralizing on the part of the producers or its characters. Lead actor Spacely died in the early 1990s, reportedly from AIDS, which he contracted through intravenous drug use. His final moments are chronicled in yet another Lech Kowalski film, "Born to Lose: The Last Rock & Roll ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lech Kowalski
Lech Kowalski (born 1951) is an American film director of Polish descent. He was born in London to Polish parents. His most notable film is the documentary, ''D.O.A.'', subtitled ''A Rite of Passage'', which chronicled the burgeoning UK punk scene at the tail-end of the 1970s, and included footage of the Sex Pistols' abortive 1978 American tour. He also directed '' Story of a Junkie'', a film starring John Spacely, and ''Born To Lose: The Last Rock and Roll Movie'', about Johnny Thunders of the New York Dolls and The Heartbreakers. He also created ''Hey! Is Dee Dee Home?'', which focused on Ramones bassist Dee Dee Ramone and his struggle with heroin addiction. Filmography *''D.O.A. DOA may refer to: * Dead on arrival * Dead or Alive (other) Film * ''D.O.A.'' (1949 film), a ''film noir'' * ''D.O.A.'' (1988 film), a remake of the 1949 film * '' D.O.A.: A Rite of Passage'' (1980 film), a documentary on the gene ...'' (1980) *'' Story of a Junkie'' (1987) *''Rock S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Spacely
John Spacely, also known as Gringo, was an American musician, actor, and nightlife personality. His life was chronicled in two Lech Kowalski documentaries, '' Story of a Junkie'' and ''Born To Lose: The Last Rock and Roll Movie''. Personal life He was born in Venice, Los Angeles, and his birth name is unknown. He adopted the stage name of John Spacely at a young age. His father abandoned his family, which made him not want to use his father's last name. While in California, he was nicknamed Whiskey John. He later was known in New York City as Gringo. His grandfather was of Hispanic descent, and he had one brother and one sister. He attended Venice High School. Spacely began hustling on the Venice Beach boardwalk after high school. He then moved on to hustling in the San Francisco area, and on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. Various reports have stated he had multiple long-term girlfriends/wives. In 1980, Spacely's wife, Cindy Elaine Houldson, became pregnant with Spacely's son, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Troma Entertainment
Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974. The company produces low-budget independent films, primarily of the horror comedy genre. Many of them play on 1950s horror with elements of farce, parody, gore and splatter. In 2012, the company officially released many of its films on YouTube. However, their YouTube channel was eventually terminated for not meeting community standards. Troma has produced, acquired and distributed over 1,000 independent films since its creation. Its slogan in 2014 was "40 years of Disrupting Media". Another slogan the company has used is "Movies of the Future." The company also has its own streaming service called Troma Now. Company information Troma films are B-movies known for their surrealistic or automatistic nature, along with their use of shocking imagery; some would categorize them as "shock exploitation films". They typically contain overt sexuali ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drama Film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-genre, macro-genre, or micro-genre, such as soap opera, police crime drama, political drama, legal drama, historical drama, domestic drama, teen drama, and comedy-drama (dramedy). These terms tend to indicate a particular setting or subject-matter, or else they qualify the otherwise serious tone of a drama with elements that encourage a broader range of moods. To these ends, a primary element in a drama is the occurrence of conflict—emotional, social, or otherwise—and its resolution in the course of the storyline. All forms of cinema or television that involve fictional stories are forms of drama in the broader sense if their storytelling is achieved by means of actors who represent ( mimesis) characters. In this broader sense, drama ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood on the East Side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is roughly defined as the area east of the Bowery and Third Avenue, between 14th Street on the north and Houston Street on the south. The East Village contains three subsections: Alphabet City, in reference to the single-letter-named avenues that are located to the east of First Avenue; Little Ukraine, near Second Avenue and 6th and 7th Streets; and the Bowery, located around the street of the same name. Initially the location of the present-day East Village was occupied by the Lenape Native Americans, and was then divided into plantations by Dutch settlers. During the early 19th century, the East Village contained many of the city's most opulent estates. By the middle of the century, it grew to include a large immigrant populationincluding what was once referred to as Manhattan's Little Germanyand was considered part of the nearby Lower East Side. By the late 1960s, many artists, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cinéma Vérité
Cinéma vérité (, , ; "truthful cinema") is a style of documentary filmmaking developed by Edgar Morin and Jean Rouch, inspired by Dziga Vertov's theory about Kino-Pravda. It combines improvisation with use of the camera to unveil truth or highlight subjects hidden behind reality. It is sometimes called observational cinema, if understood as pure direct cinema: mainly without a narrator's voice-over. There are subtle, yet important, differences between terms expressing similar concepts. Direct Cinema is largely concerned with the recording of events in which the subject and audience become unaware of the camera's presence: operating within what Bill Nichols, an American historian and theoretician of documentary film, calls the "observational mode", a fly on the wall. Many therefore see a paradox in drawing attention away from the presence of the camera and simultaneously interfering in the reality it registers when attempting to discover a cinematic truth. History Cinéma và ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New York Dolls
New York Dolls were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1971. Along with the Velvet Underground and the Stooges, they were one of the first bands of the early punk rock scenes. Although the band never achieved much commercial success and their original line-up fell apart quickly, the band's first two albums—'' New York Dolls'' (1973) and '' Too Much Too Soon'' (1974)—became among the most popular cult records in rock. The line-up at this time consisted of, vocalist David Johansen, guitarist Johnny Thunders, bassist Arthur Kane, guitarist and pianist Sylvain Sylvain, and drummer Jerry Nolan; the latter two had replaced Rick Rivets and Billy Murcia, respectively, in 1972. On stage, they donned an androgynous wardrobe, wearing high heels, eccentric hats, satin, makeup, spandex, and dresses. Nolan described the group in 1974 as "the Dead End Kids of today". According to the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' (1995), the New York Dolls predated the punk and glam m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnny Thunders
John Anthony Genzale (July 15, 1952 – April 23, 1991), known professionally as Johnny Thunders, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He came to prominence in the early 1970s as a member of the New York Dolls. He later played with the Heartbreakers and as a solo artist. Early life and career Thunders was born John Anthony Genzale in Queens, New York, the second child of Josephine Genzale (née Nicoletti, 1923–1999), who was of Italian descent, and Emil Genzale (1923–1982), who was of Italian, Russian-Jewish, and German-Jewish ancestry. Thunders had an older sister, Mariann (1946–2009). He first lived in East Elmhurst, Queens, East Elmhurst and then Jackson Heights, Queens, Jackson Heights. His first musical performance was in the winter of 1967 with The Reign. Shortly thereafter, he played with Johnny and the Jaywalkers, under the name Johnny Volume, at Quintano's School for Young Professionals, around the corner from Carnegie Hall, on 56th Street near 7th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lloyd Kaufman
Stanley Lloyd Kaufman Jr. (born December 30, 1945) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. Alongside producer Michael Herz (producer), Michael Herz, he is the co-founder of Troma Entertainment film studio, and the director of many of their feature films, such as ''The Toxic Avenger (1984 film), The Toxic Avenger'' and ''Tromeo and Juliet''. Many of the strategies employed by him at Troma Entertainment, Troma have been credited with making the film industry significantly more accessible and decentralized. Early life Kaufman was born to a Jewish family in New York City, the son of Ruth (''née'' Fried) and Stanley Lloyd Kaufman Sr., a lawyer. Career Early career Kaufman graduated from Yale University with the class of 1968, where he majored in Chinese studies. His fellow Yale classmates included Oliver Stone and George W. Bush. Originally intending to become a social worker, he became fast friends with student filmmaker Robert Edelstein and Eric Sherman (s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Herz (producer)
Michael Herz (born May 9, 1949) is an American film producer, director and screenwriter. With the director and actor Lloyd Kaufman, the two are the co-founders of Troma Entertainment, the world's longest running independent film studio, known for their comedic horror films, including the cult favorite '' Toxic Avenger'' series and ''Tromeo and Juliet''. Life and career Herz and Kaufman first met when both of them were attending Yale University. Initially, the two didn't get along; Kaufman has stated that the only reason the two hung out with each other was that Herz owned a pinball machine and Kaufman was the only person in their dormitory who owned a television. Regardless, he was cast in a small part in Kaufman's first feature film, ''The Girl Who Returned''. After graduating from Yale, Herz went on to study law at New York University. Although he was quite adept at the subject, he secretly harbored a desire to become a screenwriter. His girlfriend Maris, who was a friend of L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1987 Films
The following is an overview of events in 1987 in film, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies and festivals, a list of films released and notable deaths. Paramount Pictures celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1987. Highest-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1987 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows: Events * January 31 - ''The Cure for Insomnia'' premieres at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois, to officially become the world's longest film according to Guinness World Records. * May 23 - ''Starlog Salutes Star Wars'' is held in Los Angeles, California, the first officially sponsored Star Wars convention to commemorate the franchise's 10th anniversary. * June 29 - The ''James Bond'' franchise celebrates its 25th anniversary and premieres its 15th film, ''The Living Daylights'' * July 17 - Walt Disney's classic masterpiece ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' is re-released worldwide for its 50th anniversary. * 1987 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Independent Films
American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, people who self-identify their ancestry as "American" ** American English, the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States ** Native Americans in the United States, indigenous peoples of the United States * American, something of, from, or related to the Americas, also known as "America" ** Indigenous peoples of the Americas * American (word), for analysis and history of the meanings in various contexts Organizations * American Airlines, U.S.-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas * American Athletic Conference, an American college athletic conference * American Recordings (record label), a record label previously known as Def American * American University, in Washington, D.C. Sports teams Soccer * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
