Hard Core Logo II

Bruce MacDonald’s post-modernist, wryly self-conscious Hard Core Logo II, the sequel to his celebrated punk-rock faux doc, doesn’t so much mock the notion of sequels as take a blow torch to it. Protagonist is “Bruce” (McDonald), the director in the original film. He’s been living the Hollywood life in Laurel Canyon, until his series is cancelled and the only gig offered him is a doc for Wiccan TV about a singer, Care Failure, who claims she’s been possessed by Joe Dick, the leader of the punk band Hard Core Logo and the principal in “Bruce”’s doc. The focus here is the filmmaking process, but the film also poses questions about the unavoidably invasive role of the documentary filmmaker -- and, more significantly, friendship and betrayal within the film world.