The Rolling Stones are no strangers to celluloid. Their celebrated, occasionally infamous career has been saved for posterity every step of the way by some of the most formidable filmmakers of all time. Jean-Luc Godard, Hal Ashby, and the Maysals all offered up their take on the danger, the swagger, the damage, and the glory of the World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band. While each of those filmmakers did something unique and memorable, it took Martin Scorsese to figure out how to make a film about the aspect of band that matters most – that they are men who love to play music. By filling the oversized IMAX screen with the weathered, leathered faces of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, and Ron Wood, Scorsese never lets his audience forget that these men have lived the kind of lives that give these powerful songs their visceral kick. They have earned the right to play these songs not because they wrote them, but because they feel them as strongly as ever. An old chestnut like As Tears Go By means so much more coming from a sixty-something Jagger than from the twenty something who wrote it, primarily because he seems to care about the song now even more than he did then.
Film buffs curious to catch a long-lost part of cinema history can finally do so thanks to the arduous efforts of film preservationist Eric Spiegelman, whom after learning of a never-before-seen propaganda film executive produced by the late John Ford personally rescued the reels of the Rio Grande director’s “Vietnam! Vietnam!” from the National Archives. Spiegelman’s story regarding the efforts that he and his cousin made in restoring the film are pretty fascinating, and while the “Vietnam! Vietnam!” was apparently deemed “obsolete and embarrassing” the moment it was finished it’s still interesting to have this unique record of a crucial point in history.
Check out the embedded video for the full-length film, and hear the story of it’s restoration in Spiegelman’s own words here.
Daddy Day Camp: If you squint, the leads in this look a lot like Eddie Murphy and Jeff Garland. And if you squint harder and plug your ears, watching it might not make you want to jump out a window.
The Comebacks: If you’re one of the people who propelled Meet the Spartans to the top of the box-office over the weekend… well, you probably aren’t able to read this, are you?
Ricco the Mean Machine: The English translation of the original Italian title for this 70s exploitation flick is Some Guy with a Strange Face is Looking for You to Kill You. And yes, the movie pays off on the promise of that title.
King of Kong - Fistful of Quarters: See the film critics have called one of the fifteen greatest documentaries about Donkey Kong released in the second-half of this decade so far.
As the release of Diary of the Dead draws near and zombie fanatics across the globe shiver in anticipation, what better way to celebrate the cinema of a true living legend than to reflect back on his remarkable life and career? Independent filmmaker Rusty Nails has been working on a documentary about horror visionary George A. Romero for some years now, and recently, a trailer for his film Dead On: The Life and Cinema of George A. Romero debuted online.
Take a look at the trailer below, and when you’re done why not head on over to the official website for the film to find out more. Judging by the looks of things, Nails has really outdone himself in crafting a comprehensive retrospective on the man who frightened generations of horror fans into seeing the world from a unique, and truly thought-provoking vantage point.
Last week I received an unexpected telephone call from Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker Kevin P. Miller. Apparently, the health-conscious filmmaker and President/CEO of Well TV had stumbled across the All Movie Guide pages for his previous films, and was seeking to get the word out about his latest project – a passionate and informative look at the questionable methods often used to diagnose and treat children deemed to be afflicted by the behavioral disorder du jour. The call couldn’t have come at a more serendipitous time: Just two nights prior, my parents-in-law and I had engaged in an extended conversation about this exact topic, and having witnessed firsthand the shattering effects that Prozac had on a close family friend, the subject was still very much fresh in my mind when the telephone rang. Kevin seemed like a very sincere guy, and much to my surprise, he asked if I would be willing to take a look at his latest documentary, Generation Rx.
The Rolling Stones are no strangers to celluloid. Their celebrated, occasionally infamous career has been saved for posterity every step of the way by some of the most formidable filmmakers of all time. Jean-Luc Godard, Hal Ashby, and the Maysals all offered up their take on the danger, the swagger, the damage, and the glory of the World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band. While each of those filmmakers did something unique and memorable, it took Martin Scorsese to figure out how to make a film about the aspect of band that matters most – that they are men who love to play music. By filling the oversized IMAX screen with the weathered, leathered faces of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, and Ron Wood, Scorsese never lets his audience forget that these men have lived the kind of lives that give these powerful songs their visceral kick. They have earned the right to play these songs not because they wrote them, but because they feel them as strongly as ever. An old chestnut like As Tears Go By means so much more coming from a sixty-something Jagger than from the twenty something who wrote it, primarily because he seems to care about the song now even more than he did then.
