Saw End of the Century a few weeks ago. I enjoyed it, but it was mildly depressing. Did everyone in that band hate each other, or what? The Clash documentary (Westway to the World) is excellent.
Jerry Lewis sings The Ramones, live on the Champs-Elysee: Gabba gabba wha-HOY!!!!
Welcome back, Michael.
Yeah, the Ramones did not like one another. I saw a cut of that film a few years ago while they were looking for distribution and it made me a little sad as well.
Westway to the World however… well, it’s hard to even speak of the Clash in the same paragraph as the Ramones. I don’t know how people who don’t care about the Clash would view that film, and even for me, the Clash’s best days were behind them by the time I figured them out. I never saw them play live, but man I wish I had. That film kills me. I guess that it’s well done, but I’m not really sure – I mean, the energy of those guys on stage and those songs – you can’t fake that.
I know that the Last Waltz is a great film, but for me, there is no finer music movie than Westway to the World. Becuase there is no finer band than the Clash.
Yes, WESTWAY TO THE WORLD is better than THE LAST WALTZ, but is it because The Clash is a better band than The Band? Mark raises a good point. How can one make a bad documentary about a band as good as The Clash? Even the low-budget toss-off thingy THE CLASH ON BROADWAY (included as a bonus feature on the DVD) is excellent. Anyway, WESTWAY is shot fairly simply. Talking heads and footage. But the band members are intelligent, so the interviews are quite good. The late great Joe Strummer is brilliant.
And speaking of late greats, the Wilco documentary I AM TRYING TO BREAK YOUR HEART is excellent as well. But wait…weren’t we talking about George Lucas?
Hey, I’ll start a new post on rock documentaries. Maybe tomorrow. It’s late now, and I’m pooped.
do not be alarmed–via some behind the scenes magic i have moved the “rock documentary” comments into their own topic.
carry on…
Thanks, John. I did not even know there was a recent Clash documentary–last thing I saw was Rude Boy. Has anyone seen the Sex Pistols doc, Filth and the Fury? that’s also on my netflix cue. and, out of interest in plumbing the depths of punk rock madness rather than any musical interest, a doc on G.G.Allin and the Murder Junkies. another candidate for best doc: “Don’t Look Back” I like the way Dylan resists the film by often being an asshole.
Cool and artsy, I must throw a good word in for one of the greatest rock docs ever: Stop Making Sense. David Byrne’s ludic sense of play and Jonathan Demme’s gleeful use of the camera makes this a dance in the aisles classic. I saw this tour live (in Lexington, Kentucky of all places) and I remember it being a remarkable show (and remarkably loud) but the film is also the real deal.
I rode in a van with the Ramones once. I was picking them up at the outskirts of my undergrad campus, and directing them to the venue where they’d play. They made fun of me for trying to open the van’s second door so that I wouldn’t have to push my ass into a Ramone face trying to squeeze into the back. “Everyone tries that door,” they laughed. After dropping them off at the hall, I collected stray dollar bills from them and did a beer run. Case of Bud, cans, as ordered.
Has anyone seen the Metallica movie? I have it coming soon from our library… (I actually think it’s interesting to see docs about music I hate. Up next, the Klezmer thing.)
And, yeah, I too liked the Wilco film.
ludic?
i’d also like to recommend the first season of “newlyweds” on mtv (now out on dvd…i think) which affords us privileged access to two of the most private and reserved musical geniuses of our time: jessica simpson and nick lachey. simpson resists the tag of genius by throwing her own intelligence into question over and over again; lachey plays the role of hayseed to perfection. no one would know that he is in fact a swiss-finishing school product and child of upper east side new york sophisticates. the episode in which they go hot air ballooning in san diego, in particular, not only dramatizes their genuine love for each other it also serves as a canny parable of our times. throughout the series simpson and lachey engage in repartee that is as charming as it is incisive. case in point: while bathing in a tub of ass’s milk simpson muses that “the technique of reproduction detaches the reproduced object from the domain of tradition. by making many reproductions it substitutes plurality of copies for unique existence”. lachey points out that it in addition it will net them $23 million in dvd and cd sales as well as in residuals. bravo!
FILTH AND THE FURY is good. The interviews are unusual (well, a bit). Very oddly lit. Everyone is drenched in shadow. Malcolm McLaren comes off as a tit.
GIGANTIC is excellent. And I’ve seen MEETING PEOPLE IS EASY several times and am always entertained. Especially the scene where Thom Yorke is hassled trying to get into a club in NY. He sulks, and then two guys off-screen (bouncers?) taunt him as he walks away: “Hey, write a song about it…Creep…Radiohead…dickhead.”
The Belle & Sebastian thingy FANS ONLY is good, though a bit chaotic and confusing.
Then there’s the magnificent BEATLES ANTHOLOGY. God those guys are fun to look at. Excellent footage. Slightly lame commentary from the surviving 3 (selective memory and polite spin a-plenty), but overall a real treat. I’ve noticed a recent tipping of the scales towards McCartney. The author of the bio MANY YEARS FROM NOW has his tongue sraight down Sir Paul’s trousers. And a recent chronicle of the Get Back sessions makes it seem as if John was absolutely bonkers and George a chronic pout. Paul shines thoughout.
DON’T LOOK BACK is wonderful, especially the bit where Dylan curses out a guy for chucking a beer bottle from his hotel window. And is that Alan Price following Bob around? He never lets go of the Whiskey bottle.
Oh, and I drove The Clash to a show in Brixton. When the van broke down, Joe Strummer got so pissed off that he hit me in the face with the jack.
When renting Filth & Fury be sure to watch the bonus feature. It contains interviews, oddly, with many of the west coast punk rock icons – folks such as Keith Morris from Circle Jerks / Black Flag. I think my friend Jon Wahl did the original music for that part of it as well.
I also recently saw Gigantic, and ws really impressed with it as a film. TMBG are not one of my favorite bands (Reynolds used to try to explain the virtues of their later work to me – in vain), but it’s a sweet film.
As for Stop Making Sense; now there is a band that I’ve never particularly cared for – and I don’t like the film either. I know it must be good b/c everyone says so. But I dont get it. Likewise, I didn’t care for Demme’s Storefront Hitchcock very much, and I really do dig Robyn Hitchcock. So I guess it isn’t always a case of liking the musician = liking the movie.
The Wilco movie I thought was a failure in a lot of ways. The filmmaker seemed to have missed most of the key points he should have had on film, so instead you get their manager and Tweedy explaining what happened… It seemed like Tweedy was successful at getting a movie made about his band, while giving away almost nothing of himself to the film. I can’t help thinking Jay Bennett – though he might have been often annoying – got shafted a bit in the editing. Tweedy seems to simultaneously want Wilco to be a “band,” but also be his vehicle for his songs. Nothing wrong with that, but it doesn’t get addressed much in the film, or referenced that his previous REAL band, Uncle Tupelo broke up b/c the 2 songwriters had different ideas where to go next musically. I love Wilco, and I liked seeing them work out ideas on film, but I don’t think it’s a great music doc.
Also, I think that Wilco’s YHF is a great album, and that Ghost is Born is totally over-rated and self-indulgent. Jay Bennett’s presence is heartily missed in that band. Bennett’s recent solo album, Bigger Than Blue is quite good, very simple and acoustic, but with a lot of little touches that make it transcend bedroom acoustic demo type stuff.
YHF is the album it is in part because of Jim O’Rourke, who is silent in the Wilco film–visible for only a matter of seconds (he is given more time in the deleted scenes). O’Rourke is a genius, and I highly recommend a couple of his solo albums on Drag City records: Insignificance & Eureka.
I totally agree with Mauer about the film, though I think that the stuff not being “addressed” is precisely what makes the film so engrossing. Sam Jones doesn’t meddle. The manager is a bit of a tit, Bennett is fucked over, Tweedy is caught between Wilco-is-me/Wilco-is-us, etc. Anyway, one can’t come away from the film without thinking all these things. So how, then, did he fail?
From what I remember: much of the drama of the label/band breakdown is recounted to the camera by the manager and Tweedy. “They said this, so I said that…” We’re told about it, rather than see it happen.
There is that nice bit of arguement between Tweedy and Bennett in the studio that makes Jay look bad and foreshadows Tweedy’s decision, but other than that it comes out of nowhere, and is not further addressed. It get a kind of “Wilco lived happily ever after” treatment.
My impression is that Tweedy is a more complex guy than the film makes him out to be. The fact that he checked himself into drug rehab 2 years later for problems that had been going on for such a long time is one example. the acrimonious breakup of Uncle Tupelo is another. It seems very controlled, very “authorized biography.”
Mike–you rode in a van with the Ramones? may I touch you? Did you witness any of the legendary tension?
Barry Gibb broke a bottle in my face once. ah,memories.
and, as the great oral history of punk Please Kill Me demonstrates, Malcolm McClaren was a big tit–convinced the world somehow that he invented punk rock. is he still around? jesus, remember Bow Wow Wow?
OK using a word that means the same thing as the word you are describing is goofy.
I love Robyn Hitchcock as well, but Storefront Hitchcock was boring (he’s a bit boring live to be honest). Still, Stop Making Sense! Damn, that’s an entertaining film and no talking heads (well, Talking Heads but no talking heads). Johnny Lydon crying over the death of Sid Vicious is priceless. The new Mountain Goats CD is fucking awesome. I want someone to make a documentary about that guy. He rules.
agreed. New Mountain Goats CD may be his best yet.
…now, who used a word that means the same thing as the word he was describing?
Also, Malcolm guested on Steve Jones radio show here in LA a couple of weeks ago. They had apparently not seen each other in 25 years. Jonesy kept yelling at him, “WHERE’S THE MONEY MALCOLM?!” Malcolm calmly said, “Oh, it’s all gone, dear.” Then they’d both laugh. It was disturbing, but very funny. It went on like that for several minutes. I highly recommend listing to Jonesy’s show on the internet – Indie 103.1 – weekdays from noon – 2 west coast.
Well, I really wasn’t gonna post. I was planning on continuing my silent lurking but you guys have failed to mention one of the greatest rock docs so I guess this as a good a reason as any to try and enter the conversation. What about the completely amazing Instrument detailing Fugazi over the years? The film is as odd and utterly intriguing as the band, which makes sense seeing how director Jem Cohen had been collaborating with them for years upon years. It is moody and intense yet certainly maintains a sense of humor. Plus, it really does a wonderful job conveying the inner dynamic of what seems to be one of the most functional and continually brilliant bands of the last 25 years.
I don’t mean to bring the age card into the picture so early on into my posting, but I feel that most of the previously discussed documentaries meant very different things to me than it did to the rest of you because I’ve watched them while I was (and am) still being introduced to and falling in love with these bands. I saw Westway to the World right when it came out, before I knew anything about the clash other than what my 18-year-old “punk rock” boyfriend told me. But that movie was the reason I started seeking them out on my own. That movie was what engaged me and encouraged me to go beyond being just another teen with a clash patch purchased at Hot Topic. Similarly, after discovering my parent’s Talking Heads albums and completely falling for them, Stop Making Sense secured my absolute adoration because it was the closest I could come to seeing them live, living the kooky-yet-so-very-compelling climate they create.
Gigantic was probably the only one of these I saw after being familiar with the band for a long time. And that movie certainly is entertaining and endearing but not much more.
I haven’t seen the Wilco movie yet. I feel dumb for it.
(is it possible that we have a readership outside ourselves?)
molly–don’t toy with jeff’s emotions. you’re really a man aren’t you?
seriously: thanks for the great comment. you’re absolutely right about the age thing. some (by which i mean all) of my fellow bloggers are really, really old. i, of course, am completely clued into the world of the young, being perenially young myself (though not in a dorian gray kind of way) and it is good to know that i’m not alone on the blog. is the fugazi docu out on dvd? either way, hope you’ll keep chiming in.
by the way, mike (reynolds) is going to be devastated by the age thing. back in nineteen dickety three, when we were green, young assistant lecturers at the writing program at usc, mike once said something about what “our generation likes” to his class; only to have a student respond, “yeah, and our generation likes this”. he still hasn’t gotten over it.
Hmm. I haven’t seen the Fugazi movie yet. And I feel REALLY dumb about it (given my supposed punk rock credentials. (At least that’s what my paychecks used to say.).) My respect for that band is immense, and I had heard good things about the film – particularly the length of time it had been worked on. I will rent it soon.
And Molly – that reminds me of something else you might like – a documentary about music put out by Thrill Jockey records called “Looking for a Thrill”
Description here: “Looking for a Thrill is a collection of personal stories about defining musical moments of inspiration (a record, a show, a musician, etc) for 112 musicians who themselves have inspired so many. The interviews on the DVD include recollections by Mike Watt, Thurston Moore, Hamid Drake, Bjork, Yo La Tengo, Tortoise, the Butchies, Jon Spencer, Vic Chesnutt, Kurt Wagner, Fred Anderson, and Giant Sand – as well as members of the Urinals, Califone, Jesus Lizard, the Boredoms, Mekons, Slint, the Sea and Cake, and Calexico (just to name a few). Over five hours of inspiration in total!
Although all were asked one simple question – to tell a story about a musical moment that inspired – the responses are as varied as the people interviewed. The film is a great resource for all those interested in the independent musical mind. As a collection it reveals much about the moments that inspire so many to pick up a guitar or a microphone, to start a label or a band.”
It’s probably not to be found at Blockbuster – but I’m going to check a few of the stranger video rental stores in my neighborhood looking for it.
Is anyone pleased with “The Year that Punk Broke”? I found it good in parts, but I’d have to watch it again. The only thing I can recall is Sonic Youth in a kitchen. Oh, and Kurt Cobain throwing himself into the drum kit.
The Maysles brothers’ “The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit” is excellent, as is the bonus footage. Like I said before, I can’t take my eyes of these guys. And Murray the “K” is wonderfully obnoxious. Put it in you Netflix queue. Do it.
Molly rocks and should chime in more often!
I finally saw Dig! which is pretty good, if only cause Anton of the Brian Jonestown Massacre is such a huge ass/oddbucket that anyone could have captured two hours of him on film and it would have been compelling. I don’t know about having Courtney of the Dandy Warhols narrate. He feels reliable and likable at first so it seems to make sense for him to tell the story, but it soon is obvious that he’s a jerk himself and his band is kinda flakey, which makes you feel like you have to choose between the flakey, in-it-for-the-good-time successful band or the brilliant-but-screwed-cause-they-are-scary-and-untamable band. All I know is that i already have my tickets for the BJM concert next weekend and I’m half hoping that I’ll end up in a fistfight.
so, finally got around to watching “i am trying to break your heart”. thought it was okay. i was expecting the firing of phillip seymour hoffman to be a far more traumatic event. he does come off super-annoying and needy. i agree with mark that this does have a “authorized” feel to it; at the very least jones comes off as a big tweedy fan. tweedy’s migraine puking is covered but not more than 10 seconds of the rest of the band’s relationship with each other. and on the commentary track (i only watched parts of it with the commentary) he goes out of his way to say how gracefully he thought tweedy went over the seymour hoffman firing with the interviewer. something else that is left untracked, and which lends some credence to bennett’s claims about tweedy feeling threatened by him and wanting “the band back” is that almost all the songs on “yankee hotel foxtrot” were co-written by tweedy and bennett. what does it mean to fire the person who co-wrote most of your Great Album after you finish recording it? and what does it mean for the documentarian covering the recording/release of this album to downplay this issue?
however, i thought the person who comes off as the biggest tit in the movie is david fricke from rolling stone.
still, interesting to watch. and, oh yes, “a ghost is born” is pretty damned good.
Just watched Peter Gabriel’s “Growing Up on Tour.” Not bad for less than 60 minutes. A nice, intimate look at life on the road. He’s hardly paying his dues these days, though.
Watched “Metallica: Some Kind of Monster” and really liked it. I knew very little about this band, but that didn’t interfere with my viewing. Anyone have any thoughts? I was hoping there would be more uncomfortable moments. I really wanted to squirm. But the estrangement (and self-estrangement) bits were handled well, “performed” with dignity and grace. Some petulance here and there, but not much. Downplayed, like YHF.
I’m looking forward to “No Direction Home,” the Dylan documentary by Scorsese.
Anyone seen “DiG!”?
Next in my queue is a documentary about the “Z” channel (“Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession”). I spent a little over a year in L.A. back in 1981-82, and I have fond memories of the “Z” channel. I think it gave me my very first glimpse of “The Wild Bunch.” And of boobies.
Arnab – I think that over the next 10 years, there may be more to glean from IATTBYH than there is now.
Being a rather big fan of this band – and of Jay Bennett’s, even before he joined Wilco – I have to say that I think his contributions to the band – are significant.
I do NOT like Ghost is Born. I think it’s a lazy, dull bore of an album.
It’s interesting that the other Jay in Tweedy’s life- Farrar – recently explained a bit about why Uncle Tupelo broke up; and it had very little to do with what Tweedy has said about it. (info here: http://pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-09/08.shtml )
As talented as Tweedy is, he also seems to be a pretty fucked up guy, and I don’t think that movie did more than skimthe surface and downplay that aspect of him.
mark, whatever the reality of uncle tupelo’s breakup i think it is safe to say that son volt is a very boring band. i think you will eventually come around on “a ghost is born”. it does sound a bit like “yankee hotel foxtrot II” but you can’t reinvent yourself with everything you do. “hell is chrome” and “at least that’s what you said” are as good as anything they’ve ever done and there’s at least 3 or 4 other good songs on it. you can’t ask for much more.
um, this is a movie blog, right? i must watch that clash documentary, and re-watch “don’t look back”. now, why hasn’t someone made a ween documentary?
I forgot about that Z channel doc–gotta get that, too.
I didn’t like “Some Kind of Monster”–too tame. Too Doctor Phil, and I quickly grew weary of Hans or Vigel or whatever the hell the German guy’s name is.
But then I’m not so fond of just about any music doc which ostensibly ‘reveals’ the musicians. I think it doesn’t work, not here anymore than in politics. But, like those docs, what can be revealed is something less individual, more connected to our narratives about the form: I liked “IATTBYH” because I enjoyed watching the thing, that amazing album, come together.
Tweedy schmeedy–fucked up, sure, but the nerdy guy he screwed over was someone I would probably screw over and kick out of my band, and I don’t even have a band. He still couldn’t join it. He’d get on my nerves. I’d rather room with Brian Wilson.
And I still really can’t find a way to enjoy Dylan–and yet I’m very, very interested in the doc. (Again: I’m curious about the form, how the art develops.)
My thoughts are vague–but perhaps this is why I think A Mighty Wind–and to a lesser extent Spinal Tap (funnier, but less acute about music)–are actually among the greatest “documents” of how music develops and affects audiences (and performers).
Oh, and I really like “Ghost is Born.” My favorite track is actually “Handshake Drugs”.
Not a documentary but definitely an interesting document.
Just want to give a shout out to Tell Me Do You Miss Me, Matthew Buzzell’s documentary about Luna’s last tour. Not a farewell tour, as fans know. Luna disbanded very quietly in mid-tour and refused to make a big deal about it. In fact, Luna never made a big deal about anything, especially itself. This makes for a very interesting subject: how will a self-disinterested band respond to its own demise? Not surprisingly, they respond quietly. One of the final shots of the film is of the four members of the band, Wareham, Eden, Phillips, and Wall, gathered around a table backstage after their final gig. It’s clear they’ve had a good cry, and thankfully Buzzell doesn’t intrude. here’s also some nostalgia (belonging to the fans, not to the band) for the old New York…the Lower East Side when it was really low, Television, the Underground, etc. I can’t connect with that. To me, the film reveals everything that’s brilliant about this band. I wish I knew how to write good music criticism so I could express how much I like the band and this film. But even good music criticism is hard to take (there’s a cute scene in the van where Wareham et al. mock the reviews of their latest album). So I’ll just quote a few lines from a Galaxie 500 song. That should give you an idea of how this film will make you feel.
Well I listen to the weather
And he’s changed his tone of voice
And he can see it on the radar
Only seven hours away
Well there’s gonna be a snowstorm
When the t.v.’s goin wild
And they got nothin else to think of
And they’re letting me go home
Uh oh: I was very mean about Jay Bennett, wasn’t I? I hope he didn’t see it before he died.
I enjoyed Anvil: The Story of Anvil for reasons similar to why I liked Chris Smith’s American Movie: what begins (and, honestly, ends) as a straightfaced examination of a passion that seems determinedly loony still attains a kind of deep, wondrous empathy with the silly protagonist’s dreams. Lips, the lead singer of Anvil, a heavy-metal band that flirted with fame in the early ’80s before disappearing back into the Canadian void, is now in his fifties, still singing, raising a family, working as a delivery-truck driver for a kids’ food catering service. The doc follows his attempts both to make the dream happen and to make the failure of the dream to happen seem not so bad.
I find heavy metal flat ridiculous in most incarnations, mostly because the “heavy” hangs so annoyingly on the backs of its fans and performers. (Some wonderful exceptions exist: Ted Nugent is batshit crazy, but he seems to be having a good time. Ozzy is… well, so fried he barely can function let alone philosophize. But the lyrical stylings of, say, Metallica always seem so fucking eighth-grade, and I didn’t take that shit serious when I was IN eighth grade.) And Anvil takes it on the chin: their lyrics when not juvenile in sexual innuendo are juvenile in their existential sensibilities. The music thumps (‘though drummer Robb Reiner–yes, no joke–is really pretty talented, if about the most taciturn subject of a documentary EVER), and I could appreciate the metal side. Again, it’s the heavy that wears me down. Still, there’s something moving about Lips’ heart-on-a-sleeve emotions about this band and its mission. As the film wears on, he doesn’t so much reveal hidden depths as you begin to open up yours — I found myself genuinely appreciating their game enthusiasm and general energy. And love. Lips and Reiner love the music, love the idea of the music, love one another.
So, yeah. Good. Way better than the Metallica doc.
i watched end of the century last night. wow, to say those guys didn’t like each other is an understatement. i can’t imagine what it was like to be in that band for that long with those dynamics. i really liked the film itself–its general slapdash production seemed of a piece with the subject matter. i liked that it didn’t go for deep insights or for too much hagiography but let the prickly personalities play out.
i’m trying to think of other bands which had members who not only hated each other (every other band) but also had diametrically opposed politics.
also: johnny ramone and christopher guest were separated at birth.