Episode 138: Sid and Nancy (1986)

Movies, movies, oi oi oi!!! Shove off, all you wankers and tossers! This week in our “Semi-Real People” series, we’ve got a right bastard of cinema, too right! Yeah! Anarchy on your movie screen! Face piercings! Mohawks! Leather trousers! . . . Safety pins . . . atonal guitar riffs? Barely functional bass lines? Ok, look, neither Mike nor I were particularly into the punk scene when it slouched into town, but hoo boy, do we have some folks in this movie who were into it! “Sid and Nancy” tells the story . . . well, a story, about Sid Vicious, base player for the seminal punk bad “The Sex Pistols” and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen and their whirlwind . . . romance? Theirs was a passion fueled by sex, drugs, and rock and roll! Well, according to this movie, mostly by drugs. Lots and lots of drugs.  Director Alex Cox, probably best known for “Repo Man” brings this light-hearted, cheery romp through 70’s London and New York, just without anything light-hearted or cheery.  There’s also a distinct lack of romp.  Not the most upbeat movie we’ve watched, but is it worth the pain? Give a listen, mate! Oi!

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5 thoughts on “Episode 138: Sid and Nancy (1986)”

  1. My answer to your latest poll question (paraphrased): “Is there a movie you didn’t like the first time you saw it but did like it the second time?” The first one that comes to mind for me is “Robin Hood: Men in Tights.” First time I saw it I hated it. Then I was home one day with a combination of stomach flu and being pregnant and watched it again and liked it alot. Not sure if the flu was an influence, but I still like it.

    1. I’m with you on the first part, though I didn’t hate it, just didn’t like it. Thanks for answering the poll question! We will be sure to use your reply in the next episode and thanks for listening!

  2. I saw this when it came out and my friend Jeanette did a great impression of Nancy, mostly to annoy people. We thought it was funny, having been involved in the punk lifestyle and it keyed into the horror of that scene and the defeatist sense of offbeat humour that came often with it. Oldman was really good in it but Im not sure I would like it much these days.

    There have been quite a few films I liked and then disliked over time except “Apocalypse Now” that I just couldn’t relate to at all until David Mamet convinced me on a bet to watch it after I made a bet with him to watch Cocteau’s “Beauty and the Beast” and we both got a lot of of that exchange. I still don’t love “Apocalypse Now” but I appreciate a lot that is in it.

    1. So wait, you’re friends with David Mamet the playwright? Heck of a story, Vince! Thanks for sharing it. I have my own story about “Apocalypse Now,” which I’ll share off-air at some point though it’s not that interesting.

      As for “Sid and Nancy,” it feels like one of those films where your opinion of it as a younger person would likely change as one grows older. Oldman is still really good in it, not his best, but is worth seeing just for him. Otherwise, as a narrative, it’s not the strongest movie ever.

      Thanks for listening!

      1. He was a regular in the Video store I was manager and we would disagree (in a friendly manner) over movies. He loved war films and I hated them, he refused to watch Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast so we sort forced each other out of our comfort zones. I haven’t seen him in decades now!

        S&N really does depend on who you were when you saw it I think. A punk rocker is going to have one view and anyone else is going to have a completely different experience.

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