Pub: the Movie (2022)- Munsters Weird and Awesome Films.

 

Director: Andrew Leavold

The Players: Fred Negro, Sam Crassweller, Mark Carson, Phil Miles, Ross Knight, Paulie Stewart, Dave Moll

(Warning: Article contains spoilers)

Now. Not sure if I can be impartial with this review, considering im interviewed for the film and count both the star and director, as well as several people in this talkie great friends. But sod it, i/ll do it anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkvQI-AOjyQ

Pub: The Film is the telling of the life and work of the mayor of St Kilda, Fred Negro. Yes, he is the unofficial mayor, but hes done more for the suburb by the sea then any member of council has in the last thirty years. I ave no idea wot the tourism/advertising budget is down at the Port Phillip Council, but for me, Fred has done more for St Kilda, in terms of advertising the place and documenting it/s history, with a pencil and paper then any lame advertising campaign or festival has ever done.

Musician, cartoonist, barfly, father, husband it/s all here.

While Fred and St Kilda go in hand in hand, Freds early years took place in Richmond. Fred, along with his brothers Dez and Ross, talk about growing up in the heart of Tigerland, which back in the day was a working class suburb. When football is brought up, Dez makes the clam anyone that wasn/t into the football was a nerd, then said Fred was one as he had no interests in the game. While Dez and his mates were playing kick to kick Fred was inside drawing. A surprising revolution as most know Fred as a diehard Collingwood fan. And given his Richmond upbringing im curious to know how the great club entered his life? Taunted by kids from rival schools for actually reading books, Fred found the cartooning bug early on. American toons that appeared in newspapers was an early influence on young Fred, but discovering the late great Peter Lillies work changes Fred style. At a young age Freds work also gets recognition from Weg, the cartoonist from the Herald, who tells a teenage Fred come back when your 18 and will put you on staff. Now thats a sliding doors moment. I/d like to think if Fred went down that path he would take over Wegs famous AFL Premiership posters after his passing in 2010.

Most of Freds bands are covered. I Spit on your Gravy gets a big focus as it is probably, alongside the Fuck Fucks, Freds most well-known band. We meet band members Sausage, Sam and Pog, all very entertaining and informative.

I loved seeing the footage of the Ballroom and the Thursday night crawl. As Hoody from the Johnnys said St Kilda seemed like heaven on earth, and for me it really did appear that way. It was also a sad reminder of wot has become of the place since. Too many venues to name hosted over 50 bands on a school night, where theres now five places running live music in St Kilda on a Friday/Saturday night. As Paul Elliot said it really was the home of live music back in the 80s.

Of course one ugly aspect of that era is drugs, specifically heroin. The evil drug was rampant in the scene, and also effected the Gravys. Its not a pretty story, most in the cinema had a tear during this part of the film. That said, those that survived are here to tell their story and are still standing and doing well, which is something to celebrate.

Home life is discussed, and like anyone, Fred certainly has his ups and downs, but the words he says bout his loved ones is beautiful, and is now happily settled with the lovely Viv, and you can hear the sheer joy in his voice about how he gets to collaborate with his partner, in both music and art.

A few years back, after well over 1000 strips, Inpress dropped the strip due to complaints. I was lucky enough, towards the end of the Inpress run, to be able to see the strip, in uncensored glory, at Monday night book club at the Balaclava Hotel. I would read the strip, laugh hard, take note of wotever books Fred mentioned, and would be shocked at wot would be censored when I would pick up the strip on Wednesday. Yes, the comics do contain nudity, swear words, sometimes violence (hence the strip where I demanded then Collingwood coach Nathan “Shoehorn” Buckley tell Jack Frost to kill Tom Hawkins), and always contains Collingwood propaganda. It/s not for kids, but if you look past the private parts, you/ll see a wonderful telling of one fellas life, in cartoon form, and also is a true time capsule of a time and place. You got household names like Tim Rogers and Tex Perkins, plus local identities such as Steve Prictor and Dave Last, and then all of Freds mates from the various pubs he would perform/drink at. And in that, his mates became local identities. This is a man who doesn/t know the meaning of quiet day, and he could do a daily strip if he wanted. Speaking of Tim Rogers, he summed it up best, by saying there’s a lot of humanity in wot he does, and if you cant see past the nudity well you’re a bit of a pervert.

For me, yes it can be crude at times, that said, there is a lot of warmness to his comics, and there is never any malice in wot he does. Anyone whos spent anytime with Fred will know hes a sweetheart, and would never go out of his way to upset people. He just likes to entertain, and like Tim said, if you cant look past one or two panels that feature some boos or dicks, well, says more bout you then Fred.

 

As said, the Pub strip is an incredible document of St Kilda from the late 80s onwards. I don/t see any difference him writing about St Kilda then Joyce did writing about Dublin, or Jeffrey Bernard did writing about all the ratbags of Soho.

After losing the Inpress gig, Pub was picked up by some charlatan for a disgraced Melbourne publication, and still runs to this day.

(photo by Jason “Mothman” Coldicott)

The archive footage is incredible, as given it was a pre internet age. The footage sounds great, and its brilliant that this incredible period of Oz music has been captured.

As mentioned, hes the mayor of St Kilda, and Pub is a wonderful tribute to the man, his work, and the town he rules over. Onya Stumpy. Love you Fred. Just please stick to the deadline for the next pub strip in Munster. I beg you.