Nick Name and the normals The Documentary

Director Howie Skora opens his rockumentary on an ex-Mormon-missionary-turned-incensed-gay-punker with the question "Who is Nick Name?"; Viewers unfamiliar with Name and his straight bandmates, the Normals, soon discover that the rural that the rural Utah-born spitfire has the body of a Chelsea gym bunny, the voice of Elvis, and a potty mouth that could put Eminem to shame (try these lyrics on for size: I fucked your boyfriend / He squealed like a pig.

...whereas Latter Days has one eye fixed on box office takings with its gentle approach to love, Nick Name is a bitter, American, shaven-headed muscle boy and punk singer who regularly gets thrown out of pride events. Nick Name and the Normals charts his testosterone fueled trip around the states with his backing band (they are anything but normal, incidentally), singing songs with hardcore lyrics and taunting the pink bourgeoisie and unreceptive heteros in equal measure. Howie Skora's documentary receives its world premiere at the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, but if Nick himself intends to visit, once can only hope he has got wise to English immigration. Watch out for his attempts to enter the UK for a widely publicized visit to The Cock, and watch out, too, for the reactions of a straight fetish crowd at one of his concerts. Nick Name and The Normals screens at The British Film Institute's National Film Theatre on Friday, April 2nd.

This entertaining documentary about the notorious gay punk rocker Nick Name (aka Kent James) somehow manages to balance an obvious reverence for Nick with a willingness to push and probe for more uncomfortable truth. Where it really comes to life is in its examination of James' youth. He was born in a strict Mormon family in Utah and grew up in the church, even completing his missionary service in Argentina as a young man. From here he became a rising-star country and western singer in Nashville, until one day he finally had enough of pretending to be something he wasn't. He...shaved his head, moved to San Francisco and became the outspoken gay revolutionary Nick Name. Writer-director Skora paints a remarkable portrait of this man using concert footage, interviews with his band-mates (Morris and Rattner), manager (Lucky) and former collaborators (Helmut and Ryzie). And he really goes after Nick himself with the camera, never letting him dodge tough questions or situations as he follows him for a year on tour. dir-scr Howie Skora with Kent James, Ben Morris, Rachel Rattner, Lucky, Helmut, Ryzie, Pascal, Robbie, Ralph Balzer, Tony Jardine, Stewart Who release UK 2.Apr.04 llgff/world premiere 04/US 1h15 From the British Film Institute's 18th London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, Mar-Apr.04