It was over a year ago now that we introduced you to young LA band Starcrawler, a talented too-tall, too-cool quartet who we described at the time as “weirdo grunge kids straight out of a 90s movie”. Well, since then the Arrow de Wilde-fronted group have released their eponymous debut album (“like being slapped by rock ‘n’ roll once again,” according to guitarist Henri), toured their wild live show extensively (Hi Fuji Rock! Hey Primavera!) and blown the fuck up.
But there’s more! Oh how there’s more. At the tail end of 2018, the band shared the Ryan Adams-produced Hollywood Ending / Tank Top double A-side on Rough Trade Records. “Hollywood Ending, to me, shows a loss of innocence and the dramatic yet sometimes bitter ending of a first love,” 19-year-old Arrow told i-D over email. “Everyone has to go through different Hollywood endings in their own lives, whether they’re good or bad. Sometimes it’s the Wizard of Oz and you wake up from a crazy nightmare dream and you’re fine, or sometimes it’s Carnival of Souls where you’ve been dead all along.”
One of our favourite songs of last year, we were stoked when we were approached to premiere the accompanying music video, directed by Starcrawler’s close friend and serial collaborator, Gilbert Trejo. “Arrow and I started sowing the seeds for this video when we first met,” the director remembers. “One of the first things we bonded over was shared love for old Hollywood… not golden age 40s Cary Grant, but old Hollywood like, our parents’ generation and the Weetzie Bat version; washed out hotels and restaurants like TOI On Sunset.”
The duo bonded over familiar freeways and 20s apartments covered in Christmas lights — the Hollywood they were both dragged around as children by their actor, musician and photographer parents. “It felt magic at a young age,” Gilbert told us. “Full of freaks like my aunt Vicky and Arrow’s uncle Jimmy, who stars as the ‘spirit of Hollywood’ in the video. It’s John Doe and Exene’s Hollywood meets that of Tommy Lee and Bobbi Brown”. With this shared vision, they joined forces and set to work on bringing their all-time favourite disappearing neighbourhood back to life in this brilliant straight-out-of-90s-MTV music video. This is Hollywood Ending.
Once you’ve watched that, why not work your way through Arrow’s watch list of movies with the best Hollywood endings? Here goes!
Jerry’s Cousin
“Where Jerry’s cousin Muscles the mouse comes over and just fucks up Tom and all the other cats, then Muscles gives Jerry the hat and sweater, and he can punk Tom whenever he wants with nothing but a single whistle. Who wouldn’t want that?”
Harold and Maude
“Because this movie’s basically about Tim (Starcrawler bass player). That’s his ideal “ending” haha.”
Last Unicorn
“Because The Last Unicorn defeats the Red Bull and survives! Wait, is that where they got the name for Red Bull from?”
Bugsy Malone
“Dancing with all your friends and enemies, covered in whipped cream, seems like a fucking blast to be honest.”
There Will Be Blood
“Everybody likes milkshakes!”
Double Jeopardy
“The whole time you’re like, ‘she’s gonna kill him if she doesn’t kill herself first, acting like an idiot’. But then, she kills him. It’s tight.”
Children of the Corn
“He wants you too, Malachi!”
Biodome
“Cause they prove that it’s alright to cause trouble in the bubble! Who wouldn’t want to get away with that, honestly.”
Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie
“Cause Cheech becomes an Aztec god, they do space coke and fly off into that joint rocket.”
The Killing (56)
“After all those people die, after they get the money, after there’s a clean getaway, a poodle ruins everything. Sterling Hayden has to watch all of his money fly away on the tarmac because that rich lady can’t hold her dog. That’s a real Hollywood ending.”
Silence of the Lambs
“It’s a perfect ‘fly off into the sunset’ kind of happy ending.”
Desperate Teenage Lovedolls
“This has to be the best Hollywood ending of all time… they play the Forum, become one of the biggest bands in the world, and get Johnny Tremaine to jump off that roof for being a dick.”
North by Northwest
“Cary Grant’s train goes in Eva Marie Saint’s tunnel… get it?”