So what do you think of my school, guys?

Tonight's viewing, Rock 'n Roll High School, the bargain-basement Ramones pop pic from 1979, featuring their traditional lyrical complexity. Executive Producer Roger Corman originally wanted Cheap Trick (who might've worked) or Todd Rundgren (who I love but would have been completely wrong for the role) but they were both unavailable. In the end Paul Bartel, one of the film's actors, suggested the Ramones and the rest is history. You can see Bartel in this clip as the formerly-square, bald music teacher rocking out in his white Ramones t-shirt. I love how scuzzy the band are, which is absolutely impossible to disguise, particularly when they're juxtaposed with the shiny shiny actors playing the highschoolers. The movie's cinematographer Dean Cundey went on to film Escape from New York, Romancing the Stone, the Back to the Future trilogy, Who Framed Roger Rabbit (for which he was nominated for an Oscar), and a couple of little films called Jurassic Park and Apollo 13.