The PikMe-Up
Directed By: Andrew P. Crane,
James Keitel, USA, 2006, video, 71 min.
During the late 1980s, the Pikme-up cafe opened its doors on 6th off La Brea, starting in the process an underground bohemian revolution. The Pikme-up was no Starbucks, but a place where a happening of ideas, poetry and performance was the order of the day. Featuring music by Roddy Bottum, this eclectic look at a fertile moment in L.A. cultural history recalls the recent past with readings, concerts and a few undefinable events from the storefront-window stage by Viggo Mortensen, Vaginal Creme Davis, Sean deLear, Exene Cervenka, Possum Dixon, John Fleck, Phranc, Luis Alfaro and Summer Caprice. Take a funky ride to a wild time in L.A. history where a motley group of outcasts formed a unique community in a small coffeehouse where "the buzz wasn't from the coffee". - EM..