There are some great interviews here with Goldstein, shot over a year before he passed in December 2013 and adult film star, Ron Jeremy, who jokes about “the Slime Pack,” which consisted of Flynt, Goldstein and himself.ĭennis Hopper, Hustler’s Bill Nirenberg and Larry Flynt We’re talking right down from the latter’s “Shit List,” which begat Flynt’s “Asshole of the Month” column. The film delves into the origins of Hustler, which could not have taken root without Al Goldstein and his own equally infamous, legendary magazine, Screw.
HUSTLER MAGAZINE COVERS 2005 SKIN
Dirty! Dirty! Dirty! author Mike Edison talks about the Mount Rushmore of the skin rag publishers which includes the staid Hugh Hefner, the vasaline-covered-lens loving Bob Guccione, the original subversive ground breaker Al Goldstein and the man himself, Larry Flynt.
HUSTLER MAGAZINE COVERS 2005 FULL
It soon was expanded into a full fledged, glossy magazine. Founded by nightclub owner Larry Flynt in 1974, Hustler was originally a mini newsprint publication. The other journey is that of the magazine itself. Their interaction is humorous and revealing in a sweet-but-non-treacly sort of way. The film opens with the two talking about one of Hustler’s more ridiculous covers, featuring a glammed out blonde and one very excited German Shepherd. It begins partially as Nirenberg’s own journey, with his father Bill, who was the magazine’s art director during its golden era of the late 70’s and off and on during the early to mid 80’s. Unlike your typical documentary, Back Issues is a double story. Of course all of these are correct assertions but even better is that in addition to the obvious there is much more beneath the surface and for that, thank goodness for Michael Lee Nirenberg and his fantastic documentary, Back Issues: The Hustler Magazine Story.
Visions of crude cartoons, anatomical close-ups of assorted labia majora and minora and an overall commitment to bad taste in general usually comes to mind. Even to this day, people have a strong reaction to the name Hustler. Fewer publications wear that description like a well tailored latex suit better than Hustler Magazine.
It’s one of the best perks of delving into any type of fringe entertainment that resides completely outside the county line of respectability. The finest treasures are always the ones you have to sift and work for. Such a tasty word tied the fine art of discovering the hidden in unlikely places.