rock movies

Dugout Chatter: Greenberg Edition

Feb 012011

The other night I finally got around to seeing director Noah Baumbach‘s latest film, Greenberg, starring Ben Stiller, as the title character, a depressed 40-year-old former musician who’s house sitting for his successful brother in LA, scene of Greenberg’s dashed music dreams. I liked it, and Stiller was surprisingly restrained in playing the sort of pathetic dick I’ve known too well and verged on being myself. Greta Gerwig co-stars a the cute, goofy, young love interest and Rhys Ifans plays Greenberg’s old band buddy, who sucks it up and manages to help occupy his old friend’s time in hopes of moving past the dick he was and still is.

As in his previous two movies, The Squid and the Whale and Margot at the Wedding, the film is populated by the sort of liberal arts educated, 100% natural cotton-clad types who tend to dig the daily proceedings in the Halls of Rock. With characters who were former bandmates this movie is especially rock oriented, and the Greenberg character can’t help but see the world through his rock nerd–glasses. The soundtrack was compiled and scored by James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem. Whether you’ve seen the movie or not, I thought Greenberg touched on some good topics for today’s round of Dugout Chatter. Remember, it’s your gut answers that count!

What’s the best song you’ve heard in a Starbucks?

The first time Greenberg meets Gerwig’s he plays her “It Never Rains in California” and asks her if she remembers the days when LA radio stations played that song whenever it rained. What weather-related song do you most associate with radio stations of your youth?

SPOILER ALERT… Continue reading »

Rock and Roll Downer: Mick Taylor

Posted by hrrundivbakshi

Jan 102011

The other day, an eagerly anticipated vuh-deo showed up in the mail from my good buddies at Netflix: a Blu-Ray DVD of the Stones’ legendary Ladies and Gentlemen, the Rolling Stones concert documentary.

In general, it didn’t disappoint: the band was hot (gotta give out mad props to Bill Wyman and a surprisingly eager Charlie Watts), the song selection was choice (how could it not be in 1972?), and — well, it was just pretty dang great from one end to the other.

Except for one little problem: Mick Taylor.

Seriously, I’m a huge Mick Taylor fan. I even love his 1979 solo album! But, for crying out loud, every time the camera was turned on the dude, he brought the party down. Don’t believe me? Check out this clip, of Keef, Mick, and the boys blasting their way through “Happy.”

I swear, this bit of film gives me goosebumps — until MT takes his solo. Instant softie! Come ON, Mick Taylor! Aren’t you feeling the drive, the desperation, the swagger, the booze-n-heroin infused, grab-you-by-the-nutsatchel urgency of this song? Why you gotta go all Steve Howe on us now?! Save that standing in place, showing no emotion shit for some other tune, like “Midnight Mile” or something. No fooling, you don’t have to let the groove take over your body all the time — but, shit, man, would it hurt to give in to the music and at least tap your feet once in a while?

Sheesh. Who knew?

HVB

Martin Scorsese’s Mick Jagger’s Rolling Stones

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Nov 302010

A couple of nights ago E. Pluribus Gergely called me to ask if I’d ever watched Martin Scorsese’s Mick Jagger’s Rolling Stones (aka Shine a Light), the popular, star-studded Stones concert film from a year or two ago that critics agreed was their “best concert film since Let’s Spend the Night Together.” I had not. Although I’d had the opportunity to watch it for free on cable for months, I could not bring myself to watch even a second of what would surely be a shameful spectacle of two of my all-time favorite artists, the Stones and Scorsese, collaborating to get into the ripe pants of the likes of Fergie.

Last night, while waiting to watch Casablanca for the 263rd time I allowed myself a 10-minute peak at this movie, which was playing on basic cable.

I caught Jack White enthusiastically and badly wailing on the boring “Loving Cup” like a 15-year-old boy pulled out of a high school talent show. I can understand being intimidated by singing alongside even a long-washed-up Jagger, but White’s supposed to be a pro. He can’t complete a verse without falling out of character and out of key. Get it together, man! And find your own voice, even if it’s that whiny, “scary” voice you put on for most of your own music!

Then I saw Jagger awkwardly strain to hold a continuous flow of notes on “As Tears Go By.” The guy sounded like he was ready for a nursing home despite the fact that his hair was as healthy and well conditioned as any 68-year-0ld man’s hair has ever been. No wonder Marty’s cameras rarely strayed from Mick!

Finally I saw the Stones play “Some Girls,” with Jagger once more hogging the spotlight by bashing out the song’s two chords whenever he wasn’t talk-singing. Here’s what really irked me: the band bypassed the “dirty” verse on “Some Girls,” the “Black girls just wanna get fucked all night…” verse. In the theatrical release did the band really wuss out and skip that verse, or was it cut for the VH1 broadcast?

Oh, and Keef is as pathetic as anyone in that organization for writing a 500-page, holier-than-thou memoir after appearing in that slop!

And my man Marty should retire from making films and trying to bed cheerleaders. He can, however, continue to talk enthusiastically about the obscure, old films of his childhood.

If You Can’t Say Anything Nice About…Style Council’s Jerusalem

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Nov 102010

I’d never heard of Style Council‘s short film Jerusalem until the other day, when Townsman misterioso suggested that we see if we can’t say anything nice about it. Because this is likely to be one of the most difficult assignments that I have ever faced, I won’t even begin to watch this 4-part series of YouTube clips until after I’ve launched the post. As some of you may recall, I have already found Style Council (and Paul Weller, in particular) guilty of Rock Crimes. This film can’t be good news for his parole officer, but I’ll be…nice.

Here’s what Modculture.com had to say about this film:

The one that’ll leave you wondering the most, though, is ‘JerUSAlem’. Those who have seen it already will probably recall the slightly bewildering feeling one experiences when it’s viewed for the first time. Whilst I won’t admit to understanding it fully, visually it’s aged very well. The clips of the band roaring into the village square on their scooters still pleases, as do the performances of ‘It Didn’t Matter’ and ‘Heavens Above’ in particular. Whether you get it or not, it’s nice to own it and finally be able to pass judgement on it. It’s not brilliant, but it’s not entirely bad either.

Note how they manage to find something nice to say. Let’s see if we can’t follow their lead. Parts 2 through 4 follow…after the jump!

Soundtrack: The Movie

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Nov 012010

This is a concept that’s been bouncing around in my head for a few months, ever since an old discussion we had concerning the sometimes obtrusive use of rock songs in movie soundtracks. The degree of difficulty is high, but I have faith in us. What if a movie was composed solely around a soundtrack selected by members of Rock Town Hall?

Perhaps some movies have been developed on the bare bones of a soundtrack, such as that Beatles-based movie from a couple of years ago, Across the Universe, which I still haven’t had the nerve to see. But that’s just a movie pieced together around a soundtrack from a single band. Similarly, that old Ralph Bakshi animated turd, Heavy Metal, may have been developed according to as suspect a plan as I propose, but that was an animated film. I think we could put together a cinematic masterpiece (or disaster, if that’s what the job calls for) by using a rock soundtrack to construct the guts of a film.

Can we work together to develop the feature-length film Soundtrack: The Movie, using a 3-act structure, as described here, by the legendary and recently deceased television screenwriter and producer Stephen J. Cannell (The Rockford Files, 21 Jump Street, Silk Stalkings, The Commish)?

In Act 1 we should be introduced to the main characters and learn what the problem of the story is.
In Act 2 we introduce the complication, that point in the plot that makes the problem even trickier than expected. By the end of Act 2 the protagonist should be nearly defeated in his or her plight.
In Act 3 the protagonist rises from the ashes and achieves a resolution, or what you may be more familiar with as The Healing, in Rock Town Hall terms.

Think about this. See if we can’t piece together a coherent film that is told almost entirely through a rock soundtrack.

What the Hell Happened to the Age of Rock Video?

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Oct 222010

Townsman cherguevvara twice posted this link in hopes of fostering discussion with no luck. That happens sometimes. Perhaps the fact that this 20/20 piece from 1980 on the bold, technological new age of rock videos went in so many directions that would become long-overgrown trails that it was difficult to break down the application of this clip to the futuristic guitar thread in which it first appeared. Watching it again, though, I think there’s a lot of meat to chew on, particularly around the question of What the hell happened to the Age of Rock Video?

Before getting to this theme, it must said that this clip contains scenes of Boss molestation and a primo Stevie Nicks, a laughable segment touting the high-tech promise of a fingerprint-laden Laserdisc, and a funny excerpt for a 1950s ad for a 45 player. The reporter also refers to Mike Nesmith‘s music as “fair to middlin’,” which is a criticism that’s not heard often enough for the one Monkee granted the Lennon Pass.

One of the well-known label execs—I think Clive Davis—doubts that this age of video rock will come to fruition because of issues of repeatability: “What would you want to watch repeatedly?” Davis, critic Dave Marsh, or the reporter eventually ask. Some survey conducted by Nesmith concluded that adults would watch music videos with porn and kids would watch them if they featured cartoons. My long-desired concept of PornMTV never took off, so clearly the actual answer would be “Not much.” Do even box sets of rare concert footage from legendary bands get played more than three times? I bought that Led Zeppelin box set of concert and rare tv performances from about 10 years ago, and although it’s a great collection, I don’t know that I’ve watched it more than three times.

The high-falutin’ video concept albums that the likes of Nesmith and Todd Rundgren had their eye on went nowhere. Not even CDs with bonus video content make much of a dent, do they? The video aspect often bogged down my computer, if I tried to watch it that way.

What happened to the age of rock video? Few cable television networks play videos. MTV abandoned them altogether, and VH1 only features the same two dozen “Best of the ’80s” clips. Videos, as easily accessed on YouTube and other websites, have become a worthwhile means for sampling new music, but the rock video as a distinct art form never approached its destiny as PornMTV. Or did it? Continue reading »

A Bit of the Old Chepooka*

Posted by ladymisskirroyale

Oct 042010

One could make a strong case that Anthony Burgess A Clockwork Orange has had a significant impact on the literature scene (vocabulary, style, etc.). And I think many of us would agree that Stanley Kubrik‘s movie also has lasting cultural significance. But what about that novel’s impact on music? As recently mentioned in a recent RTH post, Heaven 17 is the name of a band referenced in the novel and in the movie. Other bands have also acquired their “eemyas” from characters or vocabulary in the book (see “Devotchka,” “Moloko”). The Echo and the Bunnymen label out of Liverpool was named Korova, in reference to the club, Milkbar. And The Libertines have a song called, “Horrorshow.” Blur also referenced the look of the movie in their video, “The Universal.”

Can you think of other A Clockwork Orange references in music? Are there other novels that have had an effect on Rock (eg, J. G. Ballard’s “Crash.”)?

*chepooka = nonsense in the Nadsat argot.

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