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AH, PORTLAND , Ore.: its eco-friendly streets paved an escape route for dot-commers and hosted many a rock dream. With Down and out with the Dolls, writer-director Kurt Voss gives us an ode to the city's music scene as he charts the lightening-quick rise and fall of a fictitious all-girl punk band. Fauna (Zoe Poledouris) is a famous but ruthless local veteran of multiple band fallouts. After the demise of her latest group, Fauna latches onto a young admirer, Kali (Nicole Barrett), and her emerging band in a last bid for fame. The Paper Dolls – as they dub themselves – also consist of Lavender (Melody Moore), a bassist on the verge of domestic contentment, and a waywardly bisexual drummer named Reggie (Kinnie Starr). When the foursome move into a house together, the toilet paper runs out and the bitch slaps fly. The Paper Dolls are not a grrrl band, in the sense that Voss doesn't place them in the context of the Northwest's riot grrrl punk scene. Instead, they exist in a Portland slice-of-life vacuum. Voss directs natural and humorous performances from his inexperienced actors, most of whom are real-life musicians. The film also features some rock-star cameos, including Janis Tanaka of L7 and Motörhead's Lemmy Kilmister (as a sagelike character who dispenses advice from a closet). Although not perfect, the film is lighthearted and sarcastic and has a great soundtrack. One just needs to pop the similarly themed Satisfaction or Josie and the Pussycats into the VCR to understand the merits of Dolls. (Laurie Koh)