Have you ever wondered what would happen if Mr. Clean fronted a Judge cover band? By now any oldz reading this already know that I'm talking about Southern California's kings of generic hardcore, STRIFE. To be fair, they started in 1990, which is perhaps the single worst year in the history of hardcore-- when your peers are Billingsgate, Mean Season, and post-Soulforce Revolution 7 Seconds, it's understandable for you to do some questionable things. In the case of Strife, not only did they put out some incredibly dull records, but singer Rick Rodney also appeared in a dreadful movie entitled GODMONEY.But first, a bit about Strife...
--
Rick Rodney today: MY GOD THIS ORANGE MUSTACHE
In addition to having what might be the very most generic name ever, Strife basically sounded like an even-less-interesting version of the Judge LP, with almost all of the songs featuring exceedingly drawn-out, melodramatic intros with Rick Rodney screaming about some unidentified, "deep" topic. Imagine a band who created several albums of "The Storm." Early 90s hardcore bands liked to do this kind of thing a lot: bad Metallica copy riffs with the singer talking about how their soul was on fire or something. Quick, fetch the soulfire extinguisher! [Credit to Andy Goat for that joke]
--
A "good" Strife song
Anyhow, Strife were very popular back in the day, up there with Earth Crisis, Snapcase, and Integrity, although as far as I can tell they're mostly forgotten these days. It's probably just as well, as you can tell from the song above, but they do have a certain special place in my heart as perhaps the since least interesting band in hardcore (the aforementioned Mean Season are in the running too).
--
This later Strife video combines a variety of tired, overused imagery so clumsily that it gives Jake Bannon a run for his money in the hack dept
Southern California was also home to Darren Doane, an up-and-coming music video director who you might know from his work with Christian ska legends Supertones, Christian pop punk legends MXPX and Christian metalcore legends As I Lay Dying. Unwilling to rest on his laurels as the king of videos moderately popular Christian rock bands, he teamed up with the singer of Strife to produce GODMONEY, an independent film about the dangers of drug use.
--
Christian ska: Exhibit A in the trial against the white race
From the back of the box:
"Godmoney" is a story of urban survival and set in the suburbs of Los Angeles. Nathan leaves New York and tries to leave his past of crime, drug addiction and life on the streets behind. Once in California he tries to put his life together, but is befriended by Matthew, a small time dealer who recruits Nathan to work for him. Nathan's life is turned upside down when Matthew offers him twenty thousand dollars to kill a rival dealer. Nathan must decide if everyone, including himself, has a price.One interesting twist is that Christian Bale was originally cast as the lead, but Doane ran out of money and swapped him out for Rick Rodney. That must have hurt, kind of like trading in your M5 for a Ford Fiesta. Bale's part is still in the film, but it's only the first 5 minutes or so.
Here's a few parts of the movie:
--
Part 1
I wish Rick would have sported this look in Godmoney
I wish Rick would have sported this look in Godmoney--
Part 2
Being a young mosher, I was super stoked for this film as soon as I heard that Rick Rodney was in it. I saw it in theater and thought it was fucking awesome-- so EDGY and POWERFUL! That feeling stayed with me until I bought it for $1 the other day at Walmart. While I loved the film when I was 17, suffice to say that Father Time has not been kind to Godmoney. Not even a little bit. This movie is positively wretched, as you already know if you watched more than 4 seconds of the clips above.
Groups of ppl you would like to spray with AIDS: XDoaneX kicking it with the singer of Buck Cherry.To be clear, I'm not trying to hate on Rick Rodney. He was real nice the few times I ran into him, and you can't fault him for playing the role he was asked to. When it comes to Strife, I kid because I love. I place the blame for this turd on Darren Doane. What else would you expect from the guy who has made videos for the likes of Underoath, Nile, Norma Jean, and Uncle Kracker? The guy sounds like the punchline for a joke I would have made while waiting to see Unashamed.
Some user reviews [via IMDB]:
The only thing interesting about this movie was the Jane's Addiction poster in the main character's bedroom.I agree with all of these, especially the last one. And remember, THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUTH!
I had a hard time sitting through the whole movie. I expected a lot and got zip. Any other movie in this genre would likely be better.
I usually can think of something good to say about a film, but I am at a loss for this one. What is even more disturbing is the director actually believes his actors were great in the film.
Darren Doane is the best is movie and music videos.
What do u think of Godmoney? Which is a bigger lolfactory, Rick Rodney's acting or his mustache?? What would this movie have been like with Karl Beuchner or Justin Pearson in the lead role?
