Post by Fuggle on Sept 30, 2004 16:14:52 GMT -5
Disturbing tribute to a doomed, lost soul
Published Thursday, September 30, 2004
by Skip Sheffield
What a sad, bizarre, yet compelling tale “Rockets Redglare” is – a documentary film by Luis Fernandez de la Reguera.
Rockets Redglare was the stage name of Michael Morra, born to a 15-year-old drug addict mother in New York City in 1949.
The dice were loaded against Michael from the very beginning. It’s a small miracle he survived childhood, but Rockets grew up to be an occasionally brilliant actor, stand-up comic, a clever con man, a body guard and friend of the rich and famous, and all around bad influence on those around him.
This film is produced by one of Rockets’ best friends, actor Steve Buscemi, and it includes appearances by actors Matt Dillon and Willem Dafoe, directors Jim Jarmusch and Gus Van Sant, artists Julian Schnabel and Jean Michel Basquiat and doomed Sex Pistol Sid Vicious.
Rockets appeared in more than 30 films, mostly bit parts, but he did not have the disciple or self-control to have a steady career. You could call Rockets Redglare a poster boy for an addictive personality. Weighing a hefty 12 pounds, Rockets was one of the first heroin-addicted babies born in New York City, and he was on methadone before he was weaned.
Rockets’ mother hung out with a series of criminal types who frequently beat up little Michael. One of the low-lifes, a guy named Harry, killed Michael’s mother when he was a teenager. From that point Rockets was on his own in the mean streets of New York City. Name a drug and he got high on it. Rockets was a drug dealer to Sid Vicious and his girlfriend Nancy, and he was the one who discovered them dead of an overdose.
Rockets was a chain-smoker all his life and a copious drinker. In an attempt to get off drugs he once vowed to drink beer as his only mind-altering substance. He guzzled three cases a day. Not surprisingly his weight ballooned, to an incredible 670 pounds.
Some of the most poignant footage was shot by director de la Reguera in Puerto Rico not long before Rockets’ May 8, 2001 death. Rockets had slimmed down to about 400 pounds, but his body was so ravaged he had to walk with a cane. Still he insisted in hobbling into the surf and splashing around like a big kid.
“I don’t know if there is peace or oblivion,” mused Rockets in one of many on-camera interviews. “I just know I will die. I will feel vindicated.”<br>“Rockets Redglare” is a touching, disturbing tribute to a doomed, lost soul. Ironically, this film will probably make Rockets Redglare more famous than he ever was in life.
Published Thursday, September 30, 2004
by Skip Sheffield
What a sad, bizarre, yet compelling tale “Rockets Redglare” is – a documentary film by Luis Fernandez de la Reguera.
Rockets Redglare was the stage name of Michael Morra, born to a 15-year-old drug addict mother in New York City in 1949.
The dice were loaded against Michael from the very beginning. It’s a small miracle he survived childhood, but Rockets grew up to be an occasionally brilliant actor, stand-up comic, a clever con man, a body guard and friend of the rich and famous, and all around bad influence on those around him.
This film is produced by one of Rockets’ best friends, actor Steve Buscemi, and it includes appearances by actors Matt Dillon and Willem Dafoe, directors Jim Jarmusch and Gus Van Sant, artists Julian Schnabel and Jean Michel Basquiat and doomed Sex Pistol Sid Vicious.
Rockets appeared in more than 30 films, mostly bit parts, but he did not have the disciple or self-control to have a steady career. You could call Rockets Redglare a poster boy for an addictive personality. Weighing a hefty 12 pounds, Rockets was one of the first heroin-addicted babies born in New York City, and he was on methadone before he was weaned.
Rockets’ mother hung out with a series of criminal types who frequently beat up little Michael. One of the low-lifes, a guy named Harry, killed Michael’s mother when he was a teenager. From that point Rockets was on his own in the mean streets of New York City. Name a drug and he got high on it. Rockets was a drug dealer to Sid Vicious and his girlfriend Nancy, and he was the one who discovered them dead of an overdose.
Rockets was a chain-smoker all his life and a copious drinker. In an attempt to get off drugs he once vowed to drink beer as his only mind-altering substance. He guzzled three cases a day. Not surprisingly his weight ballooned, to an incredible 670 pounds.
Some of the most poignant footage was shot by director de la Reguera in Puerto Rico not long before Rockets’ May 8, 2001 death. Rockets had slimmed down to about 400 pounds, but his body was so ravaged he had to walk with a cane. Still he insisted in hobbling into the surf and splashing around like a big kid.
“I don’t know if there is peace or oblivion,” mused Rockets in one of many on-camera interviews. “I just know I will die. I will feel vindicated.”<br>“Rockets Redglare” is a touching, disturbing tribute to a doomed, lost soul. Ironically, this film will probably make Rockets Redglare more famous than he ever was in life.