The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years
The Decline of Western Civilization Part II:
The Metal Years is a 1988 documentary film directed by Penelope Spheeris.
Filmed between August 1987 and February 1988, the film chronicles the late 80s Los Angeles heavy metal scene.
It is the second film of a trilogy by Spheeris depicting life in Los Angeles at various points in time as seen through the eyes of struggling up-and-coming musicians.
The first film, "The Decline of Western Civilization" (1981), dealt with the punk rock scene during 1979–1980.
The third film, "The Decline of Western Civilization III" (1998), chronicles the gutter punk lifestyle of homeless teenagers in the late 1990s.
The film features a mix of live concert footage and interviews with established heavy metal performers such as Lemmy, Ozzy Osbourne, Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Kiss, Megadeth, and W.A.S.P..
Several unsigned L.A. club bands are also prominently featured, such as Odin and Seduce.
Dudes (film)
Dudes is a 1987 American independent film directed by Penelope Spheeris, written by Randall Jahnson, and starring Jon Cryer, Catherine Mary Stewart, Daniel Roebuck, and Lee Ving.
A Western revenge story in a contemporary setting, its plot concerns three punk rockers from New York City who attempt to make their way to California.
When one of them is murdered by a vicious gang leader, the other two, played by Cryer and Roebuck, find themselves fish out of water as they pursue the murderer from Arizona to Montana, assisted by a tow truck driver played by Stewart.
Continuing Spheeris' theme of highlighting the punk subculture as in her prior films" The Decline of Western Civilization"( 1981) and" Suburbia"( 1984)," Dudes" features several rock musicians in various roles, including Fear singer Lee Ving as the gang leader, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea as the murdered punk, and John Densmore of the Doors, Axxel G. Reese of the Gears, and punk artist and promoter" Mad" Marc Rude in minor roles, as well as punk rock band the Vandals performing in the opening scene.
Spheeris had previously worked with Ving in" The Decline of Western Civilization", and with Flea and the Vandals in" Suburbia".
" Dudes" was shown in only a few theaters and did not receive a wide release through a film distributor.
Several parties involved in making the film, including Spheeris, later attributed this to its mixing of multiple genres and tones.
Written as a dramatic, action- filled" punk Western" set in the modern era, the finished film also contained elements of comedy, road movies, and a heavy metal soundtrack, the combination of which made it difficult to market.
It received a home video release on VHS, through which niche interest in the film persisted in subsequent decades.
In 2017 it was given a new release in the DVD and Blu-ray formats.
Richard Smoley
Richard Smoley is an author and philosopher focusing on the world's mystical and esoteric teachings, particularly those of Western civilization.
The Decline of Western Civilization III
The Decline of Western Civilization III is a 1998 documentary film, directed by Penelope Spheeris, that chronicles the gutter punk lifestyle of homeless teenagers.
It is the third film of a trilogy by Spheeris depicting life in Los Angeles at various points in time.
The first film," The Decline of Western Civilization"( 1981), dealt with the punk rock scene during 1980 – 1981.
The second film,( 1988), covers the Los Angeles heavy metal movement of 1986 – 1988.
Spheeris would later credit the 1998 film with having a profound effect on her.
She began a relationship with a man she met while filming the movie, signed up to be a foster parent, and eventually fostered five children.
The Holy Mountain (1926 film)
The Holy Mountain is a 1926 German mountain film directed by Arnold Fanck and starring Leni Riefenstahl, Luis Trenker and Frida Richard.
It was the future filmmaker Riefenstahl's first screen appearance as an actress.
Written by Arnold Fanck and Hans Schneeberger, the film is about a dancer who meets and falls in love with an engineer at his cottage in the mountains.
After she gives her scarf to one of his friends, the infatuated friend mistakenly believes that she loves him.
When the engineer sees her innocently comforting his friend, he mistakenly believes she is betraying him.
The Decline of Western Civilization
The Decline of Western Civilization is a 1981 American documentary filmed through 1979 and 1980.
The movie is about the Los Angeles punk rock scene and was directed by Penelope Spheeris.
In 1981, the LAPD Chief of Police Daryl Gates wrote a letter demanding the film not be shown again in the city.
The film's title is possibly a reference to music critic Lester Bangs' 1970 two- part review of the Stooges' album" Fun House", for" Creem" magazine, where Bangs quotes a friend who had said the popularity of the Stooges signaled" the decline of Western civilization".
Another possibility is that the title refers to Darby Crash's reading of Oswald Spengler's" Der Untergang des Abendlandes The Decline of the West").
In" We Got the Neutron Bomb", an oral history of the L.A. punk rock scene collected by Marc Spitz, Claude Bessy claims that he came up with the title.
The film is the opening act of a trilogy by Spheeris, depicting music scenes in Los Angeles during the late 20th century.
The second film,( 1988), covers the Los Angeles heavy metal scene of 1986 – 1988.
The third film," The Decline of Western Civilization III"( 1998), chronicles the gutter punk lifestyle of homeless teenagers in the late 1990s.
In 2016," The Decline of Western Civilization" was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, being deemed" culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
David Foster (novelist)
David Manning Foster( born 15 May 1944) is an Australian novelist and scientist.
He has written a range of satires on the theme of the decline of Western civilization, as well as producing short stories, poetry, essays, and a number of radio plays.
Arnold Fanck
Arnold Fanck (6 March 1889 – 28 September 1974) was a German film director and pioneer of the mountain film genre.
He is best known for the extraordinary alpine footage he captured in such films as "The Holy Mountain" (1926), "The White Hell of Pitz Palu" (1929), "Storm over Mont Blanc" (1930), "Der weisse Rausch" (1931), and "S.O.S. Eisberg" (1933).
Fanck was also instrumental in launching the careers of several filmmakers during the Weimar years in Germany, including Leni Riefenstahl, Luis Trenker, and cinematographers Sepp Allgeier, Richard Angst, Hans Schneeberger, and Walter Riml.
Penelope Spheeris
Penelope Spheeris( born December 2, 1945 or 1946; sources differ) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter.
She has directed both documentary film and scripted films.
Her best known works include the trilogy titled" The Decline of Western Civilization", each covering an aspect of Los Angeles underground culture, and" Wayne's World", her highest- grossing film.
Mr. Right (2009 film)
Mr. Right is a 2009 British film directed by David Morris and Jacqui Morris.
The jointly- made gay- themed film is the debut for both directors.

Question: Do both directors of films The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years and The Holy Mountain (1926 film) share the same nationality?
Answer: no