Overrated and overhyped

Good concept, poorly executed.

Expected more

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Corinne Burns (Diane Lane) calls herself Third Degree Burn as the leader of the band The Stains with her sister Tracy Burns and her cousin Jessica McNeil (Laura Dern). Her mother recently died from cancer. Jessica's mother Linda (Christine Lahti) is her aunt. The girls attend a concert and Corinne talks her way onto the tour. The tour manager Lawnboy is trying to appease the conflict between aging singer Lou of The Metal Corpses and their young opening act The Looters led by Billy (Ray Winstone). The girls are not that good. When The Metal Corpses' guitarist turns up dead, Lawnboy makes the girls the new opening act. The girls become an overnight sensation for Croinne's attitude, her feminist tirades, and her edgy look championed by TV reporter Alicia Meeker despite the band's lack of musical skills. Her young female fans call themselves Skunks.This is a cult movie from the 80's. I do remember the trailer back in the day although I don't think it had much of a run in the theaters. This is about fame in the new age of MTV. It's a little dated now but it has a certain punky indie edge. The best part is Diane Lane. She has IT. She is this young girl with attitude. There are also some notable big screen newcomers. This movie thrives on Lane's attitude but it can get monotone.

Excellent little rock-and-roll satire. A teenage Diane Lane stars as a young woman who hates her dead-end life. Along with her sister and cousin (Laura Dern), she cons her way onto a tour bus as the nonexistent band The Stains. The gals can't play a lick, but get themselves on the local news, and they ignite like a meteorite - and come crashing to Earth just as fast. It's a biting little picture, and Lane shines brightly in the lead. Ray Winstone co-stars as the lead singer of a British punk band with whom the Stains tour. The movie was barely released when it was made, but it became a cult favorite later on through frequent airings on the USA cable network.

Unreleased theatrical feature financed by Paramount was once an '80s staple on the USA network (in their weekend "Night Flight" movie slot). It's a satirical comedy-drama with music which finds angry, rebellious teen Diane Lane caught by reality-TV cameras getting fired from a fast food restaurant; soon, she, her sister, and a cousin hit the road with their barely-rehearsed punk band and find failure, success, unintended exploitation, and life's little ironies outside of their blue-collar town. Reminiscent of the later "This is Spinal Tap", the film has a sense of humor far more sly, less forced and obvious. Lane is so tough at first, one doesn't know how to respond to her (she pushes everyone away); somewhere down the line she begins to soften and becomes more flexible, and you see the desperation underneath her scowl--you see her pathos just once, when she gives the bus-driver money for his brother (a subtle scene that speaks volumes). Harsh in both its writing and directing, unblinking in its teenage hostility, the film still manages to be funny (intentionally so) and with a cutting edge; it's like a breath of fresh air to the disenfranchised. *** from ****

I was a student in high school when the film crew and actors/actresses came to Vancouver, British Columbia Canada to film this movie.They had a radio contest at the local radio station called 14 CFUN and they wanted people to come down to the radion station to sign up to be "extras" in the movie. I had never done this before, but took a chance and was selected. I was to play a "skunk".We filmed down at the exhibition grounds of the P.N.E. {Pacific National Exhibition}. I missed 3 days of school to do this movie and had the time of my life! Actually, it was even more fun when I found a friend of mine was also picked as an extra.I remember meeting and getting the autographs of the Sex Pistols and Clash members who were there. I actually didn't even know that there were other "stars" in this movie until I had found this website and saw the cast list.I also remember eating way too much "White Spot" {burgers and fries}. It seemed like that is all they fed us. I had been "called back" for a 3rd day of the shoot because they had chosen me for some "close-up shots".....much to my surprise. I remember the costume and the makeup that we wore as "skunks". We all wore see-through red blouses with very high pumps on our feet. The makeup was kind of "skanky" and the big white stripe that they put down the middle of your hair. I can barely remember what we looked like.I signed a contract with Paramount Pictures when the movie was still called "All Washed Up". I never did see it. Actually, when I was in Waikiki, Hawaii a couple of years later, we had been watching "sumo wrestling" on one of their channels and had fallen asleep. When I woke up, the credits to this movie were scrolling by!!!!!I was soooooo upset about it, because I had never even seen the movie.I have still yet to find this movie and would like very much to attain a copy of it on DVD.