While certainly flawed, this film comes closer than any other I've seen to an accurate cinematic representation of jazz. Shirley Clarke's editing has a great sense of rhythm that perfectly marries sound and vision. But she also understands the importance of solos. Sometimes the music gets to be front and center. Sometimes the visuals are allowed to take the lead. It's a delicate tapestry of new and old media that is filled to the brim with recurrent themes that are both aural and visual. Even the incorporation of video games seems to suggest the ways in which jazz assimilates new styles and techniques. As far as I know Shirley Clark didn't play an instrument, but through this film she pulls of a remarkable duet with one of American Music's most original voices ever.
This film is a real Catch-22 because the only way to tell the story of a chameleon like Bob Dylan is to have the film change along with him...creating a fragmented experience that never really comes together as a cohesive whole. It's like a really great album with a few bum songs thrown in to knock you off balance. And I'm sure that really pleased Dylan. This is the man who willfully alienated most of his audience by going electric and by becoming Born Again. While some of the metaphors, allusions and homages help to bring us deeper into Dylan's mind, others only serve to alienate us further. The result is a film that's nearly as enigmatic as its subject. It will never be a perfect film, but it is absolutely perfect in its imperfection.
While it might seem weird to say in this era of everyone having a camera on them at all times: This film really reinforces the importance of documenting your scene. If you aren't doing it, who is? The Germs only have one full-length album and frontman Darby Crash was already dead by the time this film was released. But thanks to Penelope Spheeris' camera, he can live on for forever. I know we are all supposed to put our phones down and actually experience life, but if you really think something is awesome and worth sharing, please record it and share it. The world needs more awesome things. Don't be so selfish. Spread the wealth. You might be preserving something which would have otherwise been forgotten.
The first time I saw this movie I knew next to nothing about jazz. Though I still know absolutely nothing about chords and blue notes, my jazz collection now numbers more than 2,000 tracks. I don't really understand the music on a technical level, but I love it. I love the expressiveness of it. I love how it can be one thing for one person and a different thing for another. There's dixieland, swing, big band, be-bop, modal, free, fusion, etc. and it's all still jazz. It's loud, it's quiet, it's classical, it's experimental. While I still hope for Spike to make a movie that's really "about" jazz (perhaps a period film?), I think with Mo' Better Blues he was able to succeeded at making a film that mirrored the style of jazz. There are quiet moments, there are loud moments. There are moments that look like they could be set in the 50's (complete with questionable ethnic stereotypes) and then there are the moments that are distinctly set in the late 80's. There are also the more conventionally shot scenes that butt right up against the more show-boaty "solo" shots with cranes and actors on dolly carts. Even Spike's tendency to cram in an excess of ideas contributes to the overall jazz stew feeling. Every time one of his pet themes shows up in the film, it's like when a theme comes back around in a song. While it's extremely far from perfect and audience interest wavers here and there, I defy you to find fault with that coda. Underscored by John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme, Pt. I – Acknowledgement" it is absolute cinematic perfection. Is it coincidence that this film ends with one of the greatest beginnings in jazz? I wouldn't bet on it. Ya dig? Sho' nuff!
Let me start by saying that it doesn't take much to get me crying over a movie. I just like to think that I'm very in-touch with my emotions! Something that I really respond to in a movie death or otherwise tragic scene is a well-place music cue, a callback to an earlier song that amplifies the importance of the moment and gives us a sense of history with the character. Here are some of my favorites. Major spoilers ahead!
Pan's Labyrinth - Ofelia's Lullaby
Young Ofelia has been completing tasks assigned to her by a magical faun, proving herself a princess against the backdrop of the brutal aftermath of the Spanish Civil War. She is eventually shot by her vicious stepfather, and as she lies dying, we hear her lullaby in both the score and in the gentle hum of her friend who cradles her as she dies.
West Side Story - "Somewhere"
Romeo and Juliet in New York. As Tony AKA Romeo lies dying, his Juliet holds him and sings a line from an earlier song: "Hold my hand and we're halfway there, hold my hand and I'll take you there, somehow, someday..." They never got to that place. The score takes over the rest of the song and closes out the film as the makeshift funeral procession carries out his body.
Les Miserables - "Bring Him Home"
After the bloody battle at the barricade, Inspector Javert surveys the aftermath, the fatalities. He is shaken by the sight of one casualty in particular: young Gavroche. He pauses to pin his own medal on the boy's jacket, as the score plays the melody from "Bring Him Home," a song earlier sung by Jean Valjean pleading with God to bring back his daughter's love interest safely. In the stage show this melody is heard when the audience sees the dead bodies of Gavroche and revolutionary leader Enjolras. These boys, none of them, will be brought home.
The King and I - "Something Wonderful"
As the King of Siam lies dying (of heartbreak?), his son makes proclamations nearby as he prepares to assume the throne. As the old world dies to make way for the new, the King, surrounded by Miss Anna and his right-hand servant, breathes his last breath. The score plays the melody from "Something Wonderful," a song sung earlier by his wife about loving him in spite of his stubbornness and imperfections.
La Vie En Rose - "Non, je ne regrette rien"
Singer Edith Piaf had a difficult life full of some triumphs and lots of heartbreak. Her final moments are intercut with shots of her childhood and her performing on stage "Non, je ne regrette rien": I regret nothing.
On the commentary track for Zodiac, David Fincher describes the infamous overhead shot of the ill-fated Paul Stein's taxi making its way around Presidio Heights thusly:
"The idea here was to have this sense of both detachment, you know. God's POV looking down on something he has no control over and also this way of...you're both locked on to what's happening and powerless to change it."
For me, that sentiment perfectly encapsulates the experience of watching Gimme Shelter. You know where this is heading. You know it is headed somewhere bad because you have the advantage of hindsight and can see all of the foreshadowing. But there is also absolutely nothing you can do about it. All you can do is silently sit there and bare witness to the end of an era.
I'm sort of perplexed at the inclusion of a 5.1 soundtrack on the Bluray. Of course the music is excellent. But it is really hard to party when rape and murder is just a shot away. But then again, the show must go on.
Let me start by saying that while I have fond nostalgic memories of the first Land Before Time film, I wouldn't rank it with my favorite animated films. It's pretty good, but not great. However! Something this film really has going for it is that fantastic James Horner score. My roommate and I were on the hunt for a not-ludicrously-expensive copy of the soundtrack (it's out of print) and I was so excited when he finally got it (and burned a copy for me, obviously). The score really elevates the film. You can listen to it and remember all that emotion you felt as a kid when you first saw this film - the heartbreak, the fear, the laughs - without having to actually dig up your VHS and watch those goofy dinosaurs running around saying things like "Green food!" and "Sharptooth!" Although, if you want to do that too you're more than welcome.
Apparently in the early days of working on the script for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, director Edgar Wright and his co-writer Michael Bacall toyed with the idea of not actually showing any performances by the various bands in the film. Similar to what Gareth Edwards did this year with the fight scenes in Godzilla, you'd see everything ramping up, and just as things were about to get good, BAM! it would cut to the aftermath. This way they could avoid having to produce musical numbers that lived up to whatever fans of the books imagined Sex Bob-omb or The Clash At Demonhead to sound like. And let's face it, most bands in movies are crap, right?
While that statement might be true of most movie bands, one of the most notable exceptions is The Carrie Nations from Russ Meyer and Roger Ebert's Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. Written by Stu Philips, performed by studio musicians and belted by the awesome Lynn Carey (accept no substitutes), these songs truly ROCK! Barn burners like "Find It" and "Sweet Talking Candy Man" have easily accumulated more plays in my iTunes library than songs by some of the more respected artists of the period. Slap one of these babies on a mix disc and you're almost certain to be asked, "Who's that awesome band?" And once you've hooked them with the music, then you can subject them to the weird world of Z-Man, Bentleys and mayonnaise.
Like a lot of fellow cinephiles, I loved Under the Skin. It was original, strange, and had a mesmerizing performance by Scarlett Johansson. This film has a lot going for it, and my favorite thing about it, hands down, is the score by Mica Levi.
A film with science-fiction elements needs an interesting score. Too many sci-fi films resort to standard sounding music, but an unsettling and unconventional film like Under the Skin needs an equally unsettling and unconventional score. I was absolutely hooked. It gave me the creeps, in a good way. It has a simple theme, both screechy and dreamlike, repeated, everything else stripped away, and it's effective as hell. In a film with almost no dialogue, the score complements the visuals to create a real masterpiece.
In this film about two women living mirrored, distant-yet-connected lives, music was a key ingredient. Both women have a passion for music, and it plays a vital role in their lives and their fates. Composer Zbigniew Preisner created a hauntingly beautiful soundtrack to this unusual and unforgettable film, perfectly setting the tone for unease and wonder. Being a practically lifelong pianist, I tend to focus on the music when watching a film for the first time, and the first thing I did after watching this was track down sheet music to this gorgeous score. I couldn't get enough. The soundtrack is hard to find, but you can listen to individual tracks on YouTube (desktop only, unfortunately). It's well worth looking up if you're looking for something melancholy and lovely to kick off your weekend.
If you were to buy a David Lynch film on DVD in the early 2000's, odds are pretty good that it wouldn't include chapter stops. Though he has since come to embrace them, Lynch opposed them on the grounds that movies should be experienced as a whole rather than in parts. While I agree with him on that front, sometimes (after you've already seen the film through a first time) you just need a little cinema fix. Sometimes you just need that shock to the system that only moving pictures can provide.
If you're a longtime reader of this blog, you know that my favorite types of films are the ones that provide a variety of experience. Unlike the people in charge of Warner Brothers' DC Comics movies, I don't want JUST funny or JUST serious. The best films are the ones that can mix it up. One of the best ways to mix things up is by throwing in a musical number when you aren't expecting one. There's really nothing like watching a performer, "do their thing" and do it well. It's a great way to add humor or pathos when things have been too, "one note". Here are five personal favorites for your consideration.
"Cry Me a River" from The Girl Can't Help It
"Put the Blame on Mame" from Gilda
"Let My Baby Ride"from Holy Motors
"Prelude in C-Sharp Minor" from A Day at the Races
As much as I dig Border Radio and Sugar Town, I feel like Strutter might be the crown jewel of Kurt Voss and Allison Anders' LA Rock Trilogy. Liberated by crowd funding and energized by the endless possibilities of cost-effective digital technology, this film has a spark that you simply can't force. It has the formal experimentation of a student/first film, but executed with the sure hands of filmmakers who've been around the bases a few times. Scenes aping other film styles/genres are able to effortlessly coexist alongside more traditional ones thanks to the absolutely singular voice of these two collaborators, united in vision. Everything here is unified by a palpable sense of understanding and compassion that reaches out of the screen and hugs you. Though some characters may make us laugh, it is because we've also been there. We might not all be rock stars, but we've all been fans and we've all been in love. This film doesn't have a cynical bone in its body. It sees the future as absolutely bright and filled with Sunday brunches. I really hope it eventually gets a formal release of some sort. I could absolutely see a cult growing up around this film...and it's awesome soundtrack!
Since it's likely to be a while before this film makes the rounds, here's a clip to give you a taste as well as the audio of an interview I moderated with the filmmakers following a recent screening.
Few filmmakers merge music and film as well as Allison Anders and Kurt Voss. While other filmmakers have dabbled with the occasional rockumentary here or there, Allison and Kurt have made a careers out of it with films like Grace of My Heart and Down and Out with the Dolls. They make films about musicians, starring musicians and scored by musicians. Together and separately they have worked with everyone from Burt Bacharach and Sonic Youth to Lemmy Kilmister and Ice-T. They just can't help it. Film and music are simply essential parts of their souls.
Which is why (when they're not busy making films) they're busy watching them. Here are two "Top-5 Movies That Rock" lists created by Allison and Kurt exclusively for This Cinematic Life! Allison Anders
And now that you've seen their credentials, come on out to beautiful downtown Santa Ana this Saturday, July 12th to see their most recent collaboration, Strutter at The Frida Cinema! Allison and Kurt will be there in person to answer your questions!
I wrote a gushy love letter to this movie a few years ago, but I wanted to write a little something about the beautiful score by Dario Marianelli.
I'm a sucker for a pretty film score. The kind that you shut your eyes to fully appreciate, the kind that soothes the senses and gives you the feeling of floating among the notes. From the dreamy piano to the upbeat dancing music to the rhythmic drums of the soldiers marching into town, every note is pitch perfect, transporting the listener into a time long past. The film itself gives you time to really appreciate the score, whether it be during an intimate dance, or while Elizabeth Bennet stands wordlessly on a cliff, the wind blowing around her and the music taking center stage. It's a wonderful listen and I recommend it.
At the start of the digital cinema revolution, the few cinematographers who chose to work in the medium were met with a lot of animosity. Their work was called ugly and amateurish. Even among the cinematography community they were outcasts. Does this sound familiar at all? To me it sounds like all the stories I have ever heard about the birth of rock, punk and electronic music. It’s just noise! They don’t know how to play their instruments! They aren’t even using instruments! Doesn’t it make absolutely perfect sense that the film about the rise of electronic music was shot digitally? And not even smooth, crisp, hi-def digital either. The digital noise in some scenes is so pronounced that it is almost a character in the proceedings, bouncing around to the pulsing soundtrack. How’s that for poetic imagery? One revolution dancing with another. Both bouncing away with beautiful, joyous, chaotic abandon. Marshall McLuhan was right: The medium is the message.
I think I saw this movie for the first time back in middle school. I know it was around the time that all my friends and I were “discovering” punk rock. We’d been blown away by Green Day’s Dookie album and instantly started plundering the genre’s back catalogue. Suddenly we were all taking a crash course in The Clash, The Exploited, Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, and of course The Ramones and Sex Pistols. For some reason I’ve still never seen The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle, but boy oh boy have I seen Rock ‘n’ Roll High School. I distinctly remember my friends hating it for being cheesy and “not punk”, but I secretly loved it. It was funny, it had cute girls, a kicking soundtrack and was about rebellion. How is that NOT punk rock? THEY BLOW UP A SCHOOL! As I’ve learned more about the “Corman School” of low-budget filmmaking, my love for this film has only grown. The cast and crew is a who’s who of awesome: Allan Arkush, Joe Dante, Paul Bartel, Clint Howard, P.J. Soles, Mary Wornov, Dick Miller, Dean Cundey, Don Steele, and Rodney Bingenheimer! Though it might not be high art, this film is a load of fun and makes me feel young again. Do your parents know that you're Ramones? Hey ho, let’s go!
I once read an interview where Quentin Tarantino said that any filmmaker worth their salt should be slightly embarrassed to show their latest film to friends. This has nothing to do with quality. He was referring to how many personal details have ended up in the film (ie: foot fetishism). Jean-Luc Godard's films were so personal that the dialogue would be written the day of filming so as to more accurately reflect his feelings at precisely that moment in time. Now I know it might sound precarious, but I'd like to throw Richard Elfman into the conversation.
Say what you will about its aesthetics, but The Forbidden Zone is an absolutely towering achievement in terms of personal art. If you were to look inside Elfman's head this is EXACTLY what you would see. The old novelty songs, the B-movies, the poop jokes, the raging libido and even his Jewish upbringing and some rather unsettling racial depictions are part of the mix. For people who respond to honesty, you can't get much more honest than The Forbidden Zone. 32 years ago Richard Elfman let us into his own forbidden zone by laying himself bare on the screen (warts and all) and today we are still talking about it. He must have done something right.
It's been a little while since I invited our readers to revisit a particular film's score, but this one is very near and dear to my heart and I thought it was worth a shout-out. Edward Scissorhands (AKA the patron saint of angsty teens everywhere) is such a profoundly sad and wonderful character, and his tale is perfected captured by the music of Danny Elfman. Yes, the team of Tim Burton and Danny Elfman at this point is easily parodied, but when it works it works. This is a fairy tale, and the music takes you to that world of pastel houses, hedge animals, crazy hairdos, and Edward. The track below is my personal favorite, used in the scene where Edward is carving an ice sculpture and the girl he loves is dancing...
I don't think I could possibly love a fake band any more than I love Spinal Tap. A completely genius "mockumentary" directed by Rob Reiner, this film paved the way for the Christopher Guest-directed mockumentaries Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, and A Mighty Wind. This is Spinal Tap tells the story of sort-of-legendary rock band Spinal Tap (the world's loudest band!) with members Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), and Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) desperately trying to remain in the spotlight as tensions rise within the band.
They have to deal with their own egos along with problems like getting lost backstage, having to eat bread that's too small, trying to rock onstage with a teeny tiny Stonehenge, a bitchy girlfriend, and losing all their drummers to sudden death. And it is HILARIOUS. It's kind of mindblowing that these same actors went on to be the nerdy-but-talented Folksmen in A Mighty Wind. Trivia time! They actually toured as Spinal Tap in 2001 and occasionally opened for themselves as The Folksmen! I love it.
I don't know what else to say about this film except that it's a hilariously on-point look at the world of a rock band, from its early days to fame to near-obscurity. The acting is all excellent, and the music is both hysterically funny and incredibly well-performed and enjoyable. But don't take my word for it! Enjoy!
The unbelievable true story of three brothers from Detroit who were doing punk before anyone else and how after 35 years their music finally found an audience.
* * *
Man is this a great story! If you strip away the interviews with Henry Rollins and Jello Biafra, if you lose all the fancy editing and fish-eye lenses, what you're left with is one hell of a yarn. Unlike a fiction film, no nuance or subtext is necessary to make this story profound. It has everything: familial love, familial loss, passion, rejection and triumph. The story of how the music was rediscovered is unbelievable enough on its own. But when you bracket that story within the story of three brothers who marched to their own beat no matter what anyone said? Suddenly you have a tale for the ages. Without a doubt, this is this year's Searching For Sugarman.
So how do you see this little gem? For the price of an average theater ticket this baby can either be streamed right to your computer or downloaded onto your hard drive where it can live for forever. Then all you have to do is invite some friends over, turn on the good speakers, and prepare to rock out. I know I didn't mention it, but it should go without saying that the soundtrack is pretty kickin' too...
