Stop Making Sense

Jonathan Demme, 1984 (9.2*)
I guess it helps to be a fan of the rock band Talking Heads to really enjoy this concert documentary, but for any fan of concert filmmaking, this will also be a treat. There have been other good concert films, like Martin Scorsese’s The Last Waltz, documenting The Band’s last concert, but for me this one went a little more over the top.

When I saw this in the theater, there were people dancing in the aisles, and the crowd was a huge range of ages. I was already a fan of the band, so for me it was an unexpected treat that I felt like I was also at this concert at the Pantages Theater in L.A., shot over three nights.

The band had just been a more intellectual punk rock band than most, led by the cerebral lead singer-songwriter David Byrne, known as much for his out-of-sync gyrations as much as songs. Then they added two former members of the Funkadelic-Parliament funk bands, Bernie Worrell (keyboards) and Alex Weir (guitar, vocals) and suddenly discovered rhythm, notably from the James Brown school of funk grooves. This suddenly rejuvenated the band and it’s obvious in this concert; they’re now a fusion of musical influences working together to create something unique. My own favorite here is near the end, “Cross-Eyed and Painless”, and I can’t imagine it without the P-funk connection. Of course there’s the hits, “Burning Down the House” and “Psycho Killer”, but just as good are “This Must Be the Place” and “I Get Wild/Wild Gravity”.

Ironically, Byrne is now best known for wearing the big suit around this era. On a live tv interview (Letterman?), Byrne said "a friend told me 'onstage, you're bigger than life', so I said 'oh, then I need a really big suit'"

If you’re just interested in good rock concert films as well, this is one of the best ever (maybe the best) - along with The Police “Synchronicity Concert” (a live concert, unedited, from the Omni in Atlanta, Ga), and the all-time classic, Woodstock (1970) which did it’s best to record both highlights of three days of concerts and also document the event itself. For these reasons, it will likely forever remain the ultimate rock concert film.

Demme is best known for directing the Oscar®-winning best picture The Silence of the Lambs (1991), for which he also won a directing Oscar®. Demme is currently the 78th ranked director on our top ranked 1000 films compendium of all polls, with 4 titles in the top 1000, with Silence of the Lambs his top-ranked at #47 all-time.

See the full list of top ranked 100 directors here: Top Ranked 100 Directors, 2011 Edition

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Singles

Cameron Crowe, 1992 (8.4*)
This early comedy of Cameron Crowe's is about the lives and loves of six Seattle singles living in a common apartment complex. Most of the film centers around the emerging grunge rock scene (there are even cameos by members of Pearl Jam).

Matt Dillon is the funniest as a air-headed leader of an unknown garage band named Citizen Dick in his best comedic performance. He has problems with, and takes for granted, his girlfriend Bridget Fonda. Most will likely wonder why she bothers with him at all, he's so thick - maybe it's the guitar. Campbell Scott (George C's son) has some funny scenes with his emerging romance with new gf Kyra Sedgwick, including one hilarious cameo by an NBA player.

There is a healthy dose of grunge rock in the soundtrack that lends authenticity to the film overall (Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, others), and the entire movie seems to lay the groundwork for his later success Almost Famous (click for my recent review of that). A very good romantic comedy overall, of course, if you're not looking for a deep film but some light, fun entertainment. This was one of the first romantic comedies I added to my dvd collection, after Woody's New York Trilogy of Manhattan, Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters, of course.

Quote: This negativity just makes me stronger, we will not retreat, this band is unstoppable!
Quote2: I think that, (a) you have an act, and that, (b) not having an act is your act.
Quote3: When my dad left home, he told me to 'have fun, stay single'. I was eight.

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Almost Famous

Cameron Crowe, 2000 (8.8*)
When he was a 15-year old teen, Crowe convinced Rolling Stone magazine through some letters that he was an adult rock music critic. Surprisingly, he was selected to follow an up-and-coming rock band on the road and report on the tour. This film humorously documents that period in Crowe's life, and Crowe himself won an Oscar® for the screenplay.

Patrick Fugit plays the teen, William. Frances McDormand is terrific, as usual, as his mom, Mrs. Miller. Kate Hudson, daughter of Goldie Hawn, was a breakthrough as groupie "Penny Lane" (obviously named after the Beatles song); she steals the movie, and garnered an Oscar® nomination for supporting actress as a result. [photo rt, w Fugit]

Jason Lee and Billy Crudup are the singer and guitarist in the band. This is a funny and at times touching take on the lifestyle of rockers, from the band to the fans to the critics. This is one of the more fully realized rock music films, which should make it of interest to all film fans, not just rockers. If you like this, check out his earlier (and even funnier) grunge rock comedy Singles, from 1992.

Overall, the film won 44 awards and got 120 nominations (awards page at IMDB), making it one of the biggest critical successes of any rock film. Both Kate Hudson and Frances McDormand won multiple acting awards for this, and Crowe won several for his screenplay, several for film.

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A Hard Day's Night

Richard Lester, 1964, bw (8.6*)
Perhaps dated a bit by time, talented British director Richard Lester attempts to comically show the world the typical day in the life of The Beatles at the height of the mania inspired by their combination of pop music hitmaking and photo-congeniality, which made them the new Elvis in the hearts of teenage girls worldwide. This movie was in such demand that I remember having to buy tickets in advance, like a music concert, that every showing sold out, and we had to try to hear the film over the unending screaming of all the girls in the theater, especially when they showed Paul onscreen.

Lester does a great job combining the wackiness of silent era comedies, particularly Buster Keaton, with the quirky personalities of the individual Beatles, which was more on the side of amiable British eccentricity rather than frightening sociopathic menaces. These were guys that our moms wouldn't mind having over for dinner, even though, of course, they'd like to give them haircuts first.

This film will remain a seminal rock history movie, as the world could barely take another bad Elvis film, and this gave the genre a needed shot in the arm. The film's cinematography and editing are top notch, placing it levels above all rock music films that preceded it. The film ends in a short version of a Beatles concert, so we're given basically a live performance rather than the canned and dubbed fare that Hollywood was dishing out to pop music audiences. Unfortunately, it also spawned the tv pop pablum beginning with the Monkees, which almost made one hate Lester for what he started.

This will remain a must-see for Beatles and 60's music fans, for others it will be a shallow and silly mockumentary style slapstick comedy, with hardly the weight of a guitar pick. There's no real story here (the Ringo attempt at drama is laughable), it's just an excuse for a dozen music videos, and to introduce the world to more Beatles songs and a ready-made multi-million selling soundtrack.

Unfortunately, this refreshing and well shot black and white classic was followed by the atrocious color disaster Help! That had an even worse pseudo-plot about a magic ring of Ringo's, him being chased by primitives, and there the music videos seemed entirely injected and out of place, so neither the story nor the music worked in that one. At least it produced one of John Lennon's best songs, "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away".

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I'm Not There

Todd Haynes, 2007 (8.8*)
Done in the rambling style of a 60's Fellini film (notably 8 1/2) by director Todd Haynes and given the name of an unreleased song from Dylan's "Basement Tapes", this is an inventive and non-formulaic fantasy, not a docudrama, but an inventive art film that improvises on the various mythic personae (7 here, played by 6 different actors) of Bob Dylan, some self-created, such as an 11 yr old black "Woody Guthrie" based on Dylan's own tale give to NY journalists, and character "Billy" from the Pat Garrett/Billy the Kidd songs.

Cate Blanchett deservedly won 9 int'l acting awards (but curiously not the Oscar® or BAFTA) for her dead-on portrayal of the 'electric era' Dylan often at odds with his folk-purist fans, capturing his personality without trying to impersonate him; as always, she is simply brilliant. Christian Bale is also effective as the early folk singer making his mark in Greenwich Village, and as the later 'newborn evangelist'. Heath Ledger plays an actor made famous by playing Dylan in a mid-60s biopic, while Charlotte Gainsbourg is subtle and stunning as his troubled artist wife. Along with Ledger's, perhaps the most incongruous story line is the western "Billy", played by Richard Gere, seeking solitude in a mythic 1800's town and location (Riddle County); this storyline is not about Dylan but his musical characters, and his own occasional retreat into reclusivity to escape the media and fan limelight.

Often shot in 60's style black and white, often jumping from one character/story to another, sometimes feeling improvised, these variations in style actually help the film stay lively and interesting, as well as constantly surprising the most jaded of film fans. Only those expecting a straight narrative will be disappointed, and this should interest both Dylan fans and those who simply respect his amazing achievements, of giving a voice to the most important era of the postwar generations: the emerging movements for both civil rights and ending the Vietnam war. In fact, Dylan gave voice to both 'beatnik' and 'hippie' generations, when non-conformity and exercise of freedom became the battle cries of youth disenfranchised with the military-industrial war machine controlling the world's governments.

This deservedly WON a Rolling Stone magazine poll for non-documentary music biopics (over Ray and The Doors); even had Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" not given the name to both the magazine and the rock group, it still would likely have won this poll as it's the most ambitious and inventive rock film since Richard Lester's A Hard Day's Night, which is itself parodied in one scene with Cate's "Jude" character cavorting in the grass with the Beatles on the set of that film. This is a film that almost immediately begs for a re-watch, and will certainly be on every list of must see rock movies.

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Jeff Beck: Live at Ronnie Scott's (2007)

Stuart Watts, 2008 (10*)
..audio by Alan Branch..
Jeff Beck is an amazing guitarist, the best of the three from the Yardbirds (Clapton and Jimmy Page were the other two). He eventually moved into rock-jazz fusion, which this set from Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London in 2007 ably demonstrates. Even though there's not a lot of rock here, fans of Beck or rock history will still be surprised at the melodic virtuosity he displays here, now in his mid-60's! There are guest vocals from Eric Clapton, who kills the mood somewhat with some more of his wimpy blues vocals, Joss Stone, who does her best Aretha impression on "People Get Ready", and Imogen Heap, who mixes best of the three with Beck, especially on a rock-hard version of "Rollin and Tumblin", done ironically after Clapton leaves the stage, perhaps as if to show how much more rockin Jeff is than Eric, as this song was a famous Cream cover of Clapton's.

Adding more virtuosity are amazing 22-yr old Aussie bassist Tal Wilkenfeld, whose solo on "Cause We've Ended as Lovers"(perhaps Beck's best composition) dazzles both the crowd and Jeff - by this time she had already played with the Allman Bros, Herbie Hancock, and Chick Corea, after just three years of playing bass, switching over from lead guitar. Former Zappa and Sting alum Vinnie Colauita is perfect and complex on drums, and another Sting alum Jason Rebello is intricate and dazzing on keyboards. This will more resemble a Zappa show musically, being mostly jazz-rock fusion, than Beck's first group, the Yardbirds, but will amaze fans, guitarists, and rock historians alike. Look for Beck's Grammy-winning cover of the Beatles' "A Day in the Life".

This is a "must-see" music concert dvd, shot in an intimate club setting. Look for many rock luminaries in the crowd, including Jimmy Page, Steve Perry, and I believe Ian Anderson.

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Sleepwalking Through the Mekong

John Pirozzi, 2009 (8.6*)
Mostly in English, with some subtitles.

There’s a very unique L.A. band called Dengue (‘din-gay’) Fever, whom you might have heard on NPR. They play a unique sixties-based 'L.A. filtered' Cambodian rock, which they say was derived from surf music, but you couldn’t tell from what Dengue Fever puts out, it sounds closer to psychedelic rock to me, with some almost Garcia-like guitar. The Holtzman brothers who formed the band hired a strong-voiced Cambodian singer, Chhom Nimol, who was famous there before immigrating to the U.S. Their music is actually covers of famous Cambodian rock singers, who, due to the massacres committed by the Kymer Rouge regime, sadly did not survive that turbulent era. Along with Nimol, they are keeping this music alive in the world, and in this film, they take the music back to its people.

Director Pirozzi has filmed an engrossing documentary of Dengue Fever as they travel to Cambodia for the first time to perform what is essentially that culture’s modern music, and for singer Nimol, it’s a homecoming after five years absence. Pirozzi often shows the band’s performances from a close and wide-angle view (see photo), making the viewer feel that they are seeing the music live themselves, sometimes from onstage, sometimes as part of the crowd.

Rather than concentrate on just the band, Pirozzi also shows many wonderful images of Cambodia and its people, successfully using a montage effect at times, like traveling is shown in old b&w classic films. Since the entire country seems to travel on motor scooters, a hand-held camera is often used from a scooter in the middle of the traffic so we get a feeling of how chaotic the streets are there, yet everyone seems safe enough that no one wears helmets, not even entire families of 4-5 people on one scooter. The band was lucky enough to be there during the Water Festival, celebrating the end of monsoon season when the Mekong River actually changes direction, so we get to see what looks like their Mardi Gras, as thousands pour into Phnom Penh from the countryside for a festival of fireworks, music, water sports, and food.

Pirozzi includes encounters with local Cambodian music masters, and we see some of the effort being made with young people to keep this culture alive, which barely survived the war years and in some cases has a lone surviving instrumentalist. The Cambodian people appear very outgoing and friendly, a friend of mine who lived in Thailand said as much. Director Pirozzi has created a wonderful film of cross-cultural meetings that created lasting impressions and immediate friendships.

My only complaint with this film is that at 65 minutes, it’s about half an hour too short, so it feels 'tv length'. Thankfully, Pirozzi added about another 45 minutes of short films to the dvd so viewers won’t be disappointed. In fact, one song, “1000 Tears of a Tarantula”, is a wonderful jazz excursion that blends the best of both American and Cambodian music into one ethereal musical journey – this is the best music on the dvd, and should have been included in the film. If you like the music, there’s an excellent soundtrack to the film on CD released as part of the dvd package. We need more music films this rare, stories that show good music, a joyous cultural exchange, and a window into a society that’s been overlooked far too long by the rest of the world.

Here’s the website for the film: Sleepwalking Through the Mekong
For artwork: Dengue Fever Promo Art

To be released in April 09

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Woodstock

Dir: Michael Wadleigh, 1970 (8.6*)

A monument to a culture and a three-day concert, featuring some vision-boggling split-screen editing that maintains your interest in between the rock and folk (yikes!) performances (there must be two dozen at least). The new director's cut is nearly four hours long. Believe it or not, Santana played here free and without a recording contract (Carlos was just 19)! They are a highlight, so is Jimi Hendrix, in a bittersweet performance after a rain delay to a waterlogged and sparse crowd; his feedback-laden, instrumental "Star-Spangled Banner" is a paeon to both the Vietnam war and electronic rock. Mind-altering is optional. 8* due to mediocre sound (and some folk music!), but still one of the best and most ambitious documentaries ever filmed.

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Police: Synchronicity Concert

Dir: Godley & Creme, 2005 (10*)

The rating is for the concert, one of the best ever recorded. The DVD also features the multi-camera format, you can switch from one camera angle to the other, or keep with the directors' choice as edited (10cc's Godley and Creme were the directors, who were criticized for too many crowd shots). Shot at the Omni in Atlanta, I can't imagine their music being performed any better. If you're a fan, this is a must see, as The Police are one of the best rock bands in history!

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