Posts Tagged ‘Documentary’

‘Paranoid’ Documentary Will Be Released Soon

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

The Black Sabbath album Paranoid is going to be the subject of a documentary.  (The full article is available at Gibson.)

This is another documentary that I’m going to have to keep an eye out for.  (I still haven’t found a copy of the Anvil movie in a local store.  I’m going to have to give up and resort to Amazon.)

This is one of the best Black Sabbath albums of all time.  And it was highly influential in shaping my taste in music.  Black Sabbath was one of the first bands that I really explored after I finally figured out that metal and hard rock were the way to go when it came to what I truly enjoyed.  And I’ve always had a weakness for music documentaries.  (I guess that traces back to when I was in college and I used to leave ‘Behind the Music’ on the TV while I did my homework.)

Some people find that documentaries and stuff like ‘Behind the Music’ ruins their appreciation for the music after they see it.  I find that it increases my appreciation for the music once I know more about the creative process that it came from.    Especially in a band like Black Sabbath, where the influence of their music is so widespread.  The more I know, the more I can understand the common threads that tie the music together, and the differences that bring it to life.

Anyway, this sounds really interesting.

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Anvil: The Story of Anvil – You Need to See This Movie!

Monday, January 4th, 2010

I managed to catch part of the Anvil documentary on VH1 Classic Saturday night. (That has actually been the one good thing about all of the stuff the cable company has been doing lately; they added VH1 Classic to the standard cable lineup, which is awesome.) I’ve been meaning to watch it since I first heard about it from Eddie Trunk’s show on satellite radio, but the nearest theater showing it was over an hour away, and the DVD has proved to be difficult to find. But I finally got to see it on Saturday night.
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Flight 666

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

Somehow, I completely missed hearing about the Iron Maiden tour documentary, Flight 666. I guess this is probably due to the change in my commute since I moved, since I haven’t been listening to Eddie Trunk’s show on XM nearly as much as I used to when I had a 45 minute commute home every night.

Can’t say I’m disappointed though since it’s out on DVD now. I’ll have to see about picking up a copy, and then I’ll start doing more tour/concert DVD posts. (I’ve been meaning to start doing posts on my collection of Bon Jovi DVDs. The VHS collection will just have to wait until I can get a VCR hooked up around here.)

The LA Times makes a lot of interesting points about this DVD and how Iron Maiden is one of the last bands to do this kind of tour. They are right; this kind of tour is really not something that newer artists do. Only the strongest remaining metal and hair metal bands do this kind of thing.

I would say that rock is dying, but then I see this kind of thing, or I see a Steel Panther video, and I realize that there’s still hope for those of us who prefer our rock with a side of devil horns and sleaze, and hold the social conscience please.

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When We Were Beautiful

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

Well the first reviews from the premiere of When We Were Beautiful are out. Looks like it might not be as bad as I was afraid of, but still a little weak. I’m not sure why Jon insists on sucking up to reviewers. I guess it’s the last frontier for him to conquer.

Also, I understand that the movie is in black and white. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised; Jon has been obsessed with black and white film for years. There’s usually at least one black and white video from just about every album they’ve released. I had thought that they’d finally grown out of that, but then they did the video for Whole Lot of Leaving in black and white again.

Other than that, it sounds pretty much exactly like I expected. There should be some eye candy and some good music, and that’s really all that we ask of the movie. It certainly was all that I would have expected. But realistically, if I’m going to watch this at all when it comes out on DVD, I’d really rather have had it in color.

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When We Were Beautiful Premiere

Friday, May 1st, 2009

Yes, I know, the new Bon Jovi documentary debuted at the Tribeca film festival. Unfortunately, I was not in any kind of position to get in to see the movie.

(I do, theoretically, live close enough to drive to Tribeca. However, driving into Manhattan is somewhere near elective dental surgery on my list of fun activities, and besides, I actually have to work in the morning. Not happening.)

So far I haven’t heard much–just enough to be reassuring that this movie, despite its awful title, did not descend into art-house garbage. Now we’ll wait for it to make it to DVD–I don’t hold out any hope for this to make to an actual theater in my area.

Still bugging the local theaters about the Anvil movie though. Somehow, I think that will be the ultimate winner in terms of pop culture in the long run. Anvil finally made the cover of Rolling Stone thanks to that movie.

I so want to see both movies. The Anvil movie I want to see just because it sounds like a good movie. As for When We Were Beautiful, I understand there’s eye candy–there’s at least one backstage shot of Jon taking his shirt off. He always does know how to play to the women.

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Pretentious Much?

Monday, April 27th, 2009

The buzz is building for the premiere of Bon Jovi: When We Were Beautiful at the Tribeca Film Festival. Right now, if you search for Bon Jovi on Google News, two out of every three articles that come up are about the documentary.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m as interested in seeing the movie as any other fan. Honestly, from what I’ve seen so far, it looks like there is plenty of eye candy to be found in the film. That alone will make it worth watching.

But that title? Really now. It sounds like the title of a nineteenth-century Gothic novel, not a rock music documentary. It sounds like Jon let his ego get a tad out of control on this. Never mind releasing it at a festival for art films. A documentary on Bon Jovi is hardly going to be the kind of excruciating high art film that usually gets shown at these kind of events.

At least I hope that it doesn’t end up being that kind of movie. Art films are so horribly pretentious. Bon Jovi is (or was) a blue-collar, working class band. That’s why the music appeals to most of us. It would suck if Jon started pretending to be a “fine artist”. I don’t want to listen to that kind of junk. That’s why I listen to metal in general and hair metal in particular.

So–two rock and roll documentaries being released this spring–Bon Jovi’s and Anvil’s. It’ll be interesting to see which gets better reviews, and in the long run, which DVD spends more time in my DVD player.

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The Anvil Movie needs a wide release

Thursday, April 16th, 2009

For a movie with an almost unprecedented 98% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it sure is hard to find a theater playing it.

I first heard about Anvil: The Story of Anvil on Eddie Trunk Live on XM Radio. (I didn’t hear about it on That Metal Show because nobody in this house is willing to shell out for that extra package that includes 500 obscure channels that you only spend 45 minutes a month watching. VH1 Classic is never in the basic tier.) So far the trailers look excellent. The critical reviews are high, with that extra little touch of condescension that indicates that not only is it a Good Movie and High Art, but ordinary people actually stand a chance of understanding and liking it.

Unfortunately, the movie is in extremely limited art-house release. It’s playing at theaters in Philadelphia and New York City, but no place really closer than two hours away by car. That’s a bit of a drive for a movie, even with gas prices having gone down. Never mind that one location involves driving through the Meadowlands and the other involves a drive down the Schulkill Expressway, neither of which ever appeals to me.

Call your local theaters and bug them about the movie. You want to see it. I plan on bugging every theater I can call, because I want to see this movie without risking my life on the highway. You should do the same, especially if you’re an unreasonable distance from a theater showing it.

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